>
> As I was driving home on the 101 freeway here in Los Angeles
> this evening, I ran into an all too frequent traffic jam. As I
>approached the culprit of the tie-ip, I was disheartened to see that
>it was a beautiful Jag XJS convertible with its passenger
>compartment completely engulfed in flames. I've heard of this type
>of thing happening to Jags in the past, but this car couldn't have
>been more than 3 years old. Oh well, it was probably owned by one
>of those Hollywood-type jerks who cut me off everyday. Maybe he cut
>someone off and they firebombed him. This is LA, you know.
>
> John Miller
> 76 MGB(patiently awaiting my return to Denver)
Many years ago I bought a Reliant Scimitar some time after there had
been a recall to stop the brass petrol inlet pipe from coming out the
alloy body of the Weber carb. I took mine in to be checked and it
hadn't been done so I left it with the dealer. When I got it home I
looked to see what had been done but couldn't see anything, but
wasn't too bothered since I didn't know what the fix was. Later I
found out it was to put a brass pin through the alloy body to hold
the brass pipe in, and I couldn't see any pin. Rang the factory who
told me it had been done and I should be able to see it, took it back
to the dealer who said it hadn't! Following a couple of engines
fires that completly burned out the car (have you ever seen a
fibre-glass bodied car after a fire? Nothing left put bundles of
glass strands) I happened to see a TV interview (Princess Anne had
one hence the media interest) with a factory spokesman who said that
"Scimitars are no more likely to catch fire than any other car".
Well, I suppose that may well be true if your starting point is
chucking a couple of gallons of petrol over an engine that is hot and
running, but then we didn't have the Trades Descriptions Act in those
days. Brilliant car, though.
PaulH
73 Roadster (HD&H)
75 V8 (DD)
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