Garry Archer writes:
BRG Miata:
> The other thing that makes the Miata relevant in this mail list is
>that since the car was introduced, the interest (and therefore sales) of
>British sports cars has risen significantly. This is assuming that many
>folks cannot afford (or condone) a $13,000 to $20,000 Japanese roadster
>when they can have the real thing at a fraction of the cost.
"A fraction of the cost?" I'm not so sure about that. To get a British
sports car to the level of condition of a new Miata will, if it can be
done, probabably cost as much as a base Miata. If we throw performance
into the equation, it's still tough to match, because that takes out
the MGBs and under. To get equivalent performance, you have to delve
into six-cylinders or the more pricey fours. A base Miata, I believe,
compares favorably to the level of equipment and cost of the classic
British roadster, all-in-all. And if you get smacked in it, there's
an air-bag instead of a steering column in the the chest or wind-screen
frame the head.
steve valin writes:
> The Miata is a fun car to drive (drive one for yourself before you
>speak out against them).
Amen to that. I was so surprised and impressed by the Miata, that had I
the room, I'd have one. Not only that, the car doesn't require a major
restoration, or extraordinary maintenence.
>The Miata is just like the Bugeye was 30 years ago, an inexpensive
>fun sports car.
It's kind of hard to swallow, but the car has a lot more going for it
than that. Though the price positioning isn't too far off the dollar-
equivalent of what the basic roadsters went for, the performance is
more like that of the very expensive small roadsters (I have to say it...
Lotus). Again, with no quality or maintainability penalty.
> Who cares if the designers listened to tapes
>of exhaust noises? Does it make it a bad car?
It seems to me that Miata did, on a grand scale, what a number of small
shops have been praised for. They said "gee, those were fun cars, how
come nobody builds those things? Let's put in everything that people
liked about them, take out the things they disliked, and make it meet
modern safety and emissions standards, and prove that 'you can build
them like they used to.'" They've met with fabulous success. It was a
gutsy move, one that we'd been asking the British for for years. One
which they never bothered to do.
>I'm sure I'm going to be thought of as a heretic for saying this but the
>British don't have a monopoly on affordable fun sports cars.
Matter of fact, they aren't even in the game, and haven't been since
the early seventies (some would say the late sixties). The only people
who've been in the game, really, are those (like those on this list)
who've preserved the old machines. BMC, JRT, Rootes, and B-L certainly
don't deserve much credit. They let the marques die.
I think the reason that the Miata is so resented is that it is
painful to see what COULD have been, had the parent companies in
Britain got their acts together. At the same time, the Miata has
to a great degree, obsoleted the old roadsters in terms of
price/performance. Now you have to keep your old Brit roadster
for love, because for fun balanced with practicality there is a
real alternative. And if you choose the Brit car, more power to
you, because there is a magic in an old, low-tech machine, that's
different than anything new.
Greg
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