About 12 years ago, I drove the Bishop from an hour north of Chicago to
Lufkin, TX for Texas Healey Round and back over a long weekend. I remember
it being 17 hours one way non-stop.
I was younger then, but I'm no smarter now... I'd do it again.
;)
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net [mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Robert E. Shlafer
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 5:04 PM
To: David Lieb
Cc: Spridget List
Subject: Re: Spridgets at car shows
Crash (you weirdo, you:):)
YOU are telling ME what a fun ride the
original 948 BE is???
My first sports car was a 948 BE.
I had my first sexual experience on it's
bonnet (between the headlights) and you're telling ME how much fun a BE
was?? Hell, it "got" the girls so I could "get" the girls! :):)
Nevertheless, with no offense intended at
all Crash, I totally agree with David Leib in his most recent post on
this subject.
I mean you try commuting on the highways and byways of the NYC Metro
area in your 948/4spd BE!! Good luck,
Kimosabe!!!
Unless one lives out in the very less traveled "sticks" (wherein you
better
have hills rather than mountains) the
948 is simply "lost" in modern traffic
and thus, pretty impractical as a *safe" daily driver today in terms of
"modern" traffic flow. And I don't own my BE so
it can sit at home. I bought the car to
drive the car, whenever possible.
The stock original 948 BE was a lot of fun
as a town driver in these parts back when
I grew up in the late 50's.
But today's machines are doing 40-50+
on virtually the same roads wherein they
were doing 30-40 (considering their weight, suspension and braking
abilities)
back in the late 50's and 60's.
We've got stop signs going up everywhere
today just to slow people down. Today's
cars with their excellent braking and handling abilities are just being
driven
faster.
With a 5 speed and mildly tuned 1293
I can safely stay with the flow. With a
948/4 speed, this would not be "safely"
possible. You'd be in everbody's way while you'd be beating the hell out
of
the equipment in an effort to keep up.
And it's not just a question of more
"go" in the "go" department. The disc
brakes are just as, if not more important.
The appearance (and "go-kart" handling)
of the car is all the BE nostalgia I need!
Weatherwise, I could stop under any bridge and quickly erect (or take
down)
the top on my '74 Midget. Took about
10 seconds!! Far more practical as
a commuting daily driver than any
roadster, including my current beloved
little Frogeye.
Yes...I remember the the original 948
and the sexy, raspy sound of it's exhaust
note with it's Abarth free-flow muffler.
But those were the days where all I
required was a town driver and the traffic
was a LOT slower.
Things are different today.
Check out the new British Cars Forum:
http://www.team.net/the-local/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=8
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