I was in Europe this fall and rented an Opel Vectra. It had a feature that
I had never seen before. On the dash was a dial that would adjust the
headlight aim. I don't know why noone has offered this feature here. Is
it because the government doesn't believe that we can be trusted to adjust
our own headlights or is it that the auto makers assume that we don't care
about active safety and prefer airbags and cupholders for our technology
dollar.
I was lucky to have Thursday off so I took a drive from Holland through
Germany to the River Mosel. On the way I saw a sign- Nurburgring, next
exit. I wonder why they don't highlight these things on the tourist maps?
I had heard that you could buy laps on the track so I figured, why not?
When I got there, the old track was being used for a bicycle rally so I
couldn't do hot laps. However, there was race practice on the new track
for a vintage race that weekend and admission was free! I spent a few
hours wandering around the pits looking at Blower Bentleys, D-types, Aston
Martin DB3's, an Elva Courier that got too familiar with an Armco, Ford
Cobras and GT-40's, One lone MGA Twin Cam, Vaious T series, and a host of
others that I didn't get pictures of.
After the track, I went to a hotel in Nurburg where the cafe was decorated
with old race car parts that had been signed be the drivers such as a
crunched hood from a goup 5 Porche. I had the typical fatty meat German
meal, toured the castle in the center of town, and left. On the way out of
town, I had the good fortune of following and Aston Martin Ulster that the
owner had taken out on the road for a test run.
I went south and west from Nurburg to the Mosel through the most wonderful
hilly terrain with twisty roads. Mostly bikes on the road going like
gangbusters. The slow cars would pull off when they could and let the more
adventerous by. This is much differant than my experience here where
people get mad at you for even thinking about driving faster than they are
like they have some unalienable right to set the pace.
The Mosel is wine country and is absolutely beautiful but too touristy for
my tastes. Also this was late September and, as such, the end of Holiday
so the roads were very full.
I drove back to Maastricht that night again through the switchbacks and
hills of northern Germany. Those more powerful European lights were much
appreciated. I hit the Autobahn and just caught the corner of Belgium. I
drove right by Spa but it was about 10 P.M by then so I didn't stop.
All in all a very nice day of driving. The Opal was a pretty good car
although an MG would have been more fun although I don't know how my A
would take the Autobahn. When I returned the Vectra, I noticed an MGB on
the rack. It turns out that the guy that runs Europcar In Maastricht
collects MG's! I wonder if he'd rent me one of them next time?
Also, concerning the 62 Mk1 1600, I would not be surprised by this. It was
common for European cars not sold the previous year to be sold as the next
year's model. In fact my "61" is actually a 1960 model by its serial
number.
Regards
Bill Eastman
61 MGA
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