I just finished my latest copy of Sports Car International and noted two
articles that would be of real interest to folks on this list. They had one
on the new Lotus ???, as well as one on the Lotus Elan (complete with a recent
driving test). I remember back in college in the mid 60s when some rich jerk
drove around campus with a brand new Elan...I hated him, but slobbered over
his car anyway. With some pleasure I recall that he had a mechanical problem
that kept the car off the road for about 2 months while the parts came from
England. This article was fascinating. The car sounds like a piece of
work to drive...especially if you're less than 5'8" tall. It's tiny, but
apparently it'll starch your collar good. The new one has so much less
panache and individuality.
There's a few pictures from some auto show. Check out the design of the
Toyota 4500GT...talk about strange. The back end looks like the car that
Harold drove in "Harold & Maude". The front looks like the new 300ZX.
There are also 3 interesting articles on the Ferrari 348, the Porsche 944 S,
and the Pontiac Gran Prix. They also have a comparison sheet on a bunch of
similar cars that they've tested in the past year. The Ford Probe compares
extremely favorably to even the Ferrari's in many areas. Hard to believe, huh?
But the numbers don't lie, nor does the order of magnitude difference in price.
They love this new Porsche 4 cylinder (16 valves, 2 vibration dampers, non-
turbo), but the Mazda RX7 turbo offers more (for +$15,000 less).
Last month they took us on a test drive of a new Ferrari Testarossa....I guess
for $145,000 it ought to be as good as great sex! For $17 per year, this
mag is a great!! deal. The articles and the pictures are excellent; the
paper is high quality; every issue has a poster included. I can't believe
that they can make money this way.
Eric Dashman
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