Now, now Graham. That sounded a bit pouty.
Over here in North America we are up to our ears in bland-looking wheeled
eggs. When a bog-stock Chevy Lumina sedan could blow the doors off any MG
built prior to 1980 - on a winding road - we're kind of blase when it comes
to another badge-engineered eurocar with sporting aspirations. We've
suffered with a steady diet of Japanese "sportscars" with tin roofs and
front-wheel drives. We've had it with fragile, expensive German wundercars
which can't survive a few years of real weather and we gave up on spindly
French quirks years ago. We could also use a few less
environmentally-delightful Swedish safety cars.
We're technoed out and could use something different and imaginative. We'd
like something that *looks* like a sportscar, not like an egg with a roof
job. Yeah, it's fast. So is the Lumina. Yeah it corners. So does the
Lumina. Yeah, it's stylish. So is the Lumina. It looks boring as hell.
So does the Lumina.
If we're going to have a new MG let it be something special. Let it show
it's roots. No body ever designed better-looking cars than the designers
of the great sporting LBCs of the '30s, '40s and '50s. Where is that
designing spirit today? Did it emigrate when the factories closed down, or
did it just die out?
You talk about hair-dressers cars. Add the MGF to the list. It'll fit
right in with the Miata, MX2, RX-whatever. At least the Germans are doing
something imaginative and in the process looking back to their roots. The
soul of any truly sporting machine is not just in the driving. If the
great cars of the past were ugly they would be forgotten now.
John McEwen
PS: The name Rover is unlikely to create a wave of warmth and affection in
North America after the various disasters which occurred as a result of its
previous attempts to sell inferior cars to a dubious public. In fact when
Rover tried to hide its origins with the Sterling, the result was
predictable. Utter failure and even more people unlikely to ever consider
a Rover automobile again.
JMM
>At 07:23 pm 12/12/97 -0800, Donald Scott wrote:
>>Comments from Mike:
>>
>>>I just returned from a week-long visit in Paris. I had a great time and
>>>everything, including the weather, was wonderful. I made an effort to rent
>>an MGF for a couple of days while in France, but to no avail. I did,
>>however, manage to inspect one that was parked on the street. I must
>>confess, when I first saw the MGF, I did not like
>>>it. I thought it looked too much like every other new sports car. This
>>>particular car was BRG, LHD, and gorgeous. It was parked next to a
>>>little Italian restaurant just off of the Champs-Elysees. Now I really
>>>wish that they were for sale in the US.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>I've never seen an MGF in the flesh, only in magazine photos. The Mazda
>>Miata seems more like the proper evolutionary successor to the MGB in both
>>looks and concept. The MGF with its ungainly appearance mid-engine seems
>>more like an updated Fiat 850 or something.
>>
>>I have driven MGB's for 25 years, and still own one. Last year I bought a
>>'91 Miata and it is a fine automobile. Too bad the British couldn't have
>>built it.
>>
>>Don Scott
>>
>
>Don,
>
>How about seeking some informed opinion or, dare I say it, actually see or
>experience the MGF before firing off such nonsense.
>
>Needless to say we have the MX5 (Miata to you) and the MGF here and I can
>assure you I know which has seen the approval of the non "hairdresser"
>section of the car market and it's not the Jap car!
>
>I think Rover are right not to market the MGF in the US, some of you don't
>deserve it.
>
>
>Graham
>97 MGF
>
>
>
>Graham McCann Rivett, ACT. Australia
>gmccann@pcug.org.au
>Phone/Fax: +61 2 62889055
>______________________________________________________________
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