At 09:12 PM 2/24/99 -0500, Greg Monfort wrote:
>One problem was availability. The majority of folks bought relatively
>inexpensive British cars. The manufacturers didn't / couldn't afford the new
>Federal and State safety and emission laws, and one by one fell by the
>wayside. England's labor problems and the emerging J. A. Pan Co. hastened
>their demise.
That and several of the British Co.s lost their shirts when they geared
up and depended on the American Market and we had a long shorman's strike
or something. All their assets were tied up on a ship sitting in some
harbor. One compainy inparticular was TVR.
Another problem was how raw the sports cars were. The 'merican
people didn't want to have to do anything to their cars cept stick
the key in the hole and go. Then they wanted their radios, air
conditioning, etc. To get those features you had to go to something
like a Facell Vega at beaucoup $$$$.
>
>The baby boomers settled down, buying homes and starting families. Most
>couldn't afford to keep an expensive toy for two. If they could, they bought
>boats instead, so the whole family could participate.
>
>Never fear though, those same boomers are now becoming empty nesters again
>and the manufacturers are taking note.
>
Yes Greg, but at what price? The 60s era sports cars we priced well
within the range of most of the common cars. For instance a 67 Spitfire
was about $2,100 while the TR4 was about $3,300 and a 67 Olds 98LS was
about $6,400 and a Chevy Belair was about the price of a TR4.
While I do see an awful lot of late model Corvetts on the road, I don't
know too many people that can actually afford one. Even the Miata has
become priced out of my reach. In fact with the exception of something
like a KIA or a Hundai I can't afford any of the new cars.
Price and performance were the 2 biggest points to the 240Z and the
original RX7.
Just my 2 cents.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
71 Saab Sonett III 75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire
www.team.net/www/morgan bricklin.shel.olsy-na.com/bi
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