> with all the comments (mostly negative) over the last few months over
> Italian cars, specifically FIATs, I was wondering why?
(By the way, I can either stick a smiley on every paragraph of
this posting, or I can ask you once up here to do so.)
The rivalry between British and Italian sports cars is of long
standing, and generally good nature. It's like the rivalry
between MG and TR owners; in the good old days, when both
were still being made and competing on the showroom floor and
on SCCA racetracks around the country, there was pretty much
continual good-natured argument over the fact that, while
Triumphs were solid and torquey, MGs were so much more *refined*.
Nowadays, of course, the factories have long since ceased to
compete on the showroom, but the cars still manage nicely on
racetracks and autocross courses, even if the SCCA has put a
D Production Triumph into E Production because it takes a
6-cylinder, 2.5-liter Triumph to beat a 4-cylinder, 1.8-liter MG.
(Hardy Prentice? Never hoid of him.)
Fiats fit the same niche as TRs and MGs used to, with a modicum
of refinement in such things as rear disc brakes, twin-cam engines,
and five-speed transmissions. This leads to my observation about
the difference between Italian sports cars and English sports cars,
namely that English sports cars work in spite of their specifications,
while Italian sports cars fail in spite of theirs. I fondly remember
admiring the beautifully finned casting on the differential housing
of the Alfa GTV in Chris K's driveway, immobilized by a 5mm nut on
the fuel injection pump having sheared off the stud, while we were
there to wax and polish his running Triumphs. Italian cars come from the
great Renaissance tradition of craftsmanship, emotion, and internecine
strife, while British cars come from the tradition of the Industrial
Revolution, Calvinism, and stiff upper lips. This of course makes
devotees of the two sects bitter and perpetual enemies, for reasons
at least as rational as those that make Catholics and Protestants
want to kill one another to this very day. It would not surprise
me to learn that Catholic extremists make their car bombs out of Fiats,
while Protestants prefer Austins.
There's my other observation, made famous on this list and elsewhere,
that it is better to drive an English car to an Italian restaurant
than to drive an Italian car to an English restaurant. But the less
said about English food, the better.
> Having owned a '73 FIAT 128 coupe SL 1300cc for about 5 years now, I can
> tell you that these things are great! For a '73, the car is far advanced
> (technically) over most american cars.
So is your average Hittite chariot, Greg. Of all the many things
American cars have been famous for -- lawsuits, recalls, whining
CEOs and cup holders being the first that come to mind -- technical
advances have not made anyone's Top 100 List. The last great American
technical advancement was the invention of the government bailout.
> How about getting:
>
> - X/1.9 Bertone : a 128 class mid engined car with 'retracts' that
> actually work (unlike my TR7s) and a targa top?
Oh, THAT is why you think Fiats are reliable. You have a Triumph.
All is made clear now...
> or a
>
> - Spider : front engine, rear drive (132 class?) that has a truly
> exquisite appearance?
(124, actually.) We on this list could never consider such a creature.
The top goes up in, what, 15 seconds with one hand? It can't be any
good; the only good tops are those that take 5 minutes to erect, involving
two people, a team of draught horses, and a hydraulic ram, and involve
the breaking of at least three fingernails. Having a top that's easy to
put up inspires laziness and leads to moral decay, as the driver is
tempted to put the top up *while stopped at a traffic light* whenever
the weather turns even slightly inclement. This alone indicates the
true moral superiority of British car owners, who never put the top
up in anything short of a Force 7 gale with hailstones the size of
Yugos, and *then* only because the precipitation is likely to damage the
fine Connolly leather.
So there's your answer, Greg. I hope it solves some of these agonizing
and important moral dilemmas for you, and that it also guides you on the
path to true spiritual enlightenment. And remember, the De Lorean was
built in the British Isles because it was an *ethical* sports car.
--Scott "Just like Moynihan's ethical tax reform package" Fisher
|