At 9:22 AM 3/27/95 +0500, Will Zehring wrote:
>Fellow fiends:
>
>Well, members of my local car guy support group met over the weekend and we
>were discussing possible "next" car projects. Without going into the
>psychology of why we need "projects" and why can't we all just enjoy what we
>have here-and-now...
Oh, but that's the *fun* question!
>"If I could pick either a Spridget or a Mini as a next project,
>which would it be?"
The answer comes from an examination of your Car Wardrobe, and what
it already has. From conversations we've shared in the past, I'd guess that
the Spridget will duplicate much of the fun that your MGB provides, while
a Mini will provide a completely unique *kind* of fun. However, let's do
the exercises now:
1. Visualize yourself in the car you're planning to buy -- not in the car
itself, but *doing the thing* you want to get this car for. What is it?
How does it feel? How does it *smell*? What does it look like, this
thing you're doing? And -- based on your either/or question, I'm
assuming you can only do one of these at a time -- can you do it
effectively in any car you currently own?
2. What are the Car Tasks you require of your Car Wardrobe on a
weekly or monthly basis? That is, what kinds of things do you
already do that would be easier, more enjoyable, or just plain
different in a different *kind* of car? What kinds of things do
you *not* do now because the car's not right? Examples might
include driving your LBC in the rain/snow/dark because it
doesn't have a roof/wipers/defroster. Examples might also
include autocrossing your LBC because you don't want to mess
up a nice original example of a car you like very much, yet you'd
like to be competitive. Or for that matter, examples might even
include going out to dinner with the Significant Other, because
you've spent the sushi money on things stamped MOWOG.
3. What do you like doing on a car? Do you like re-engineering
things or are you content with replacing, upgrading, and otherwise
just sort of driving and having fun with it?
4. What would give you the feeling of riches, having more than
one of the same *kind* of car (for example, having multiple open
sports cars) or having more than one *kind* of car (for example,
having an interesting closed car *and* an open sports car)?
5. And this is the kicker: Which one, when you see it, makes your
heart go pitter-pat? Which one makes that little leap just below your
breastbone, makes your head snap around the way certain members
of the appropriate sex just snag your eyes and don't let go? Which
one makes you grin, makes you wax eloquent about it to friends and
relations, makes you think "I simply MUST have one of these or I'll
never be a fully self-actualized human being!"?
Homework: Go find a good example of each of these kinds of cars
and drive them. Try to drive them realistically for your own style,
your intended use, etc. Try to do more than a take-her-around-the-
block-now-sign-here test drive. If possible, find someone who lives
in the hill country and have him or her take you to the best winding
country road they know, the kind of road where the owner will be
able to tell you "now over this blind ridge, there's an off-camber
sweeper that leads into a little one-lane bridge, and after that it
opens up into..." *You* know what I mean. The kind of road
that makes you think about Moss, and Fangio, and screaming
through the darkness in the Italian countryside, watching the
white-painted elms at the side of the road flicker past like a
picket fence.
After that test drive, which one can you not stop thinking about?
(Well, among other things, this just answered MY question for me.
I'm getting the Giulia Sprint GT Junior, not the Spider! But that's a
message for another mailing list altogether... and no, of COURSE
I'm not getting rid of my M.G.)
--Scott "Sicurezza velocissima!" Fisher
--
Scott Fisher
fisher@avistar.com SEFisher@AOL.com
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