You know, I've often wondered lately about something. Do you suppose that
if this British Cars mailing list was around when Triumph, for example,
went from side curtains to (*gasp*) wind-up windows there would have been
a similar bifurcation of the list into the "Real Sports Cars" vs "New
Fangled Pretenders" encampments? Granted, those in the "NFP" class would
still be in a position to champion British cars, rather than some other
foreign make, but the general trend of comments may have been similar.
Exactly so. In the case of MGs, anyway, there have been, oh, seven or
eight cases in which the old guard has said "Well, the (next year's car)
is all right for these youngsters today, but the last *real* MG made
was (whatever the old guard owns)." When the PB was replaced by the TA,
a heavier car with a pushrod engine, the Truly Shriven decried it as the
first long step into oblivion. Cecil Kimber himself described the
circumstances around its introduction as the inescapable effects of "the
soul-deadening hand of the big business interests." Fate was probably
being kind to Kimber, who died in a railway accident in 1944 and didn't
have to live through British Phlegmsucking Leyland.
When the TC gave way to the TD, there were similar gasps of heresy from
those who thought that independent front suspension was suitable only
for women, the aged and the infirm, in spite of the improvement in
roadholding and ride comfort that it gave the later cars. The TF was
met with a weird combination of insouciance and horror by faithful and
non-faithful alike; Road & Track's subtitle on their road test of the TF
was "Too little, too late, so what?"
Then came the MGA, and MG's death knell was assured in the eyes of the
faithful. Not only did it have independent front suspension, but the
windscreen was *fixed* -- though it was fixed to a very sleek envelope
body that had first been introduced at Le Mans. But worst of all, the
venerable XP[A,E]G engine of the T series -- yes, the same one which
had been execrated by ohc fans when the PB was retired -- was replaced
by some pedestrian lump from the British Motor Corporation's parts bin.
Well, yes, it will probably have mass appeal, but it's not a *real*
MG, don't you know. The fact that they sold almost a hundred thousand
of them was merely proof that MG had sold out.
The last step, of course, was the introduction of roll-up windows and
a *unibody* on the MGB in September 1962. Surely somewhere there were
T or P (or J or maybe M) series die-hards who cried into their beer
and swore bloody oaths that the MGB would be the last car that MG built.
Sadly, they were right, even though it wouldn't be for almost two
decades and over half a million cars.
More sadly, of course, is that the B got better for a few years, then
gradually slid into oblivion, this time because the managers of the
company refused to let the car be updated any more than the absolute
minimum required for smog and safety laws. A shame that when they
finally listened to the purists, it was used as an excuse to kill
the company -- and eventually the British sports car industry as it
had existed for some fifty years. True, TVR continued making their
products, Morgan kept soldiering quizzically away down in Malvern
with their Edwardian design, and Aston Martin still occupied something
like its old niche, but the bulk of the market -- inexpensive sports
cars, something the average bloke could probably afford with a little
sacrifice here and there if he could talk the trouble and strife into
letting him have one -- died when they shut down the Abingdon factory
and was buried when the last TR-8 rolled out the door.
Meanwhile, I have all sorts of reasons, reasons arrived at through geometric
logic, as to why I own one of the Last Real MGBs Made. The fact that the
same claim could be made in 1964 (last three-main engine), 1967 (last year
before smog), 1969 (last year for chrome grille and leather seats), 1971
(last year for HS4 carbs and 18G instead of rationalized 18V engines), 1974
(last year for chrome bumpers and dual carbs) and 1980 (last year, period)
doesn't faze me; I'm comfortable in my justification.
So yes, every change brings about a split between those who embrace it
and those who view it as The Imminent Death Of The Universe As We Know It.
The Athenians in Pericles' day, considered by later scholars to be history's
most enlightened race at the zenith of their civilization, believed
themselves to be living in an age of lead when compared to the bronze,
silver, and golden ages that preceded them the farther back one went.
Fortunately, with old cars at least, you have the option of returning to
any decade you like, to whichever point you feel the world started its
long slide into the handbasket of entropy on its bumpy journey to hell.
Do you yearn for a Golden Age? We have them, fully restored and ready
to drive home on easy monthly payments.
But what the hell do I know. My newest car is an '84 GTI. The newer
ones are more comfortable, sure, but they just don't have the character
of the early ones...
Just idle musings while finishing my 403rd cup of coffee for the day.
Well, Billy, sounds like you might qualify for your very own official
Captain Caffeine Decoder Ring! Another ninety-seven cups and you'll
earn a merit badge!
--Scott "You'll believe a man can fly" Fisher
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