[Mgs] wanted

[David Breneman]

--- On Wed, 1/20/10, Chad Cooper <mgb72 at airmail.net> wrote:

> The new Automatics in Vettes are
> putting out better track times than the
> standards were...
> Nothing but calf workout and replacing a clutch to having a
> standard 6 speed anymore.

As always, American car companies confuse sports cars
with drag racers.  There's more to a car than straight-
line accelleration.  A true sports car is a balanced
machine that can be *driven* with gusto no matter
what its horsepower.  MG understood this.  Mazda seems
to. But Chevrolet is making midlife crisis hyper-Eldorados
for the white shoe and belt set with which to impress
their friends at the country club.  If I was going to
spend that kind of money for a car, I'd want to be able
to *drive* it, not just steer it around a little.

And yes, I think that German car sompanies like BMW
and Mercedes are getting away from the concept of 
drivers' cars with their emphasis on paddle-shifted
automatic transmissions (a position that many
European buyers seem to agree with).

That said, it's nice that an American car company
can still make the most affordable mega-car in the
world.  It's just a shame that so few buyers of those
cars can appreciate what a gift they are wasting 
with the same transmission that goes into a schoolbus.