>The other problem is that 'soul' thing. As in the Japanese are clueless at
>building a car that has any. Well folks, 'soul' is a car that is charismatic,
>has flaws, has eccentiricities that the owner lives with and chalks it up to
>'soul'.
I have to disagree. Yes, a majority of Japanese cars are boring (eg:
Taurus/Tracer/Protege, Corolla, etc) but some of the Jap sports cars (Rx-7,
Supra, 300zx) can be quite "fun" and to many they also have souls.
While the drivers of Jap sports cars may not be as 'refined' as us
LBC-lovers, let it not be forgotten that the 'soul' that a car has come
with interaction with the driver - any schmoe can buy a MGB and claim that
it has no soul, because they don't let the car have one. Even the most
un-assuming of cars (my Mercury) has a soul, because of the interaction
between it and myself. My girlfriends Protege would probably have one as
well, if I was driving it everyday (and it had a 5 speed...)
Another thing to note is that at one time Mazda claimed that the
inspiration for the Miata was based "on the British sportscars of
yesteryear..."
>I happen to like the Z-3. What I don't like is that it costs $40K to get one
>with a motor in it. There is no value. Whatever the market will bare is how
>they price the things, I guess.
Blah. Restyle the hood on the thing. I think it looks like the Munster mobile.
>The Z-3 is the classic long hood/short deck like the XK-120, E-type, Healey,
>MGA, (from Bill's favorite list) as well as the 1st gen Monte Carlo, Plymouth
>'cuda, etc. It also maintains the BMW styling cues and has modern
>underpinnings. I think it has unique looks and serious sporting flavor (with
>the six) but I don't see how anyone can say it is a 'value'.
Not a value. It's a status symbol, and most of the time the status symbols
are the biggest cheap pieces of junk there are.
</RANT>
BEN RUSET
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78 MGB Roadster (RMS Titanic)
89 Mercury Cougar (The Love Boat)
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Crossroads - http://www.monomouth.com/~bruset
Saftey Fast! - http://www.infi-pos.com/~oasis
^^^ Note: Under construction, and taking submissions!
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