From: "T_MULLEN" <TMULLEN@atlas.nafb.trw.com>
|>
|> >> Wanker (n) One who purchases a british roadster for the style
|> >> it imparts to the owner but has no interest in taking
|> >> proper care of it.
|>
|> >Britcars only? I think not. This is one subject that really sets me off.
|>
|> I agree with the first, however, lets modify "British roadster" for
|> sports car. I do tend to believe that for many, the people who buy
As someone who would probably be considered a "wanker" were it not for the
help of people on this list, I think someone needs to stand up for "wankers".
When I bought my first MGB two + years ago, I bought it for one reason and
one reason only, I wanted a convertible sports car. I couldn't afford a
Miata (they were going for $18k +). I had never even changed the oil on
a car (not everyone grows up in a household where Dad (or Mom) is
mechanically inclined.) I was a wanker with high hopes though, I
bought an absolute basket case '75 B Roadster. Five minutes into the drive
home, I realized I probably shouldn't have. It sat for a little over
a year before Uncle Sam returned to me more dollars than sense on my taxes
and I went out bought a very drivable, solid, though not pretty '74 B
Roadster.
Fortunately, fate smiled on me and for over a year, this car ran with little
more than oil changes and usual stuff (the few problems I did have were
solved with much patience and assistance over the net from SOLers like
Scott Fisher and Roger Garnett.) This summer it has been a different story
with the car demanding tires, brakes, exhaust, oil pressure problems, a
head gasket, etc., etc. etc.. Now, however, I have learned a lot about
what I am doing when I am under the hood (although I still do a lot wrong
and most stuff takes a couple tries.) I'm not considering letting it rot
away, on the contrary I'm trying to get it back on the road asap. However,
I can see how people get overwhelmed by this stuff and can empathize with
them.
The point I am trying to make is that a lot of people like me buy an LBC
for style or because it would be really "cool" to have a convertible or
they've always wanted one, but they don't know how to do anything with
cars and maintainence suffers. They fall into what Pirsig, in "Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence", calls a "gumption trap" of not
knowing where to start. This can be very frustrating (I've "been there,
done that.") So, if someone doesn't know what to do and their car suffers,
don't blame them, teach them. Manuals only can help only so much.
|>
|> Ever notice that many (no most...) of the people that ran out and
|> bought the Miatas when they first came out, just "had to have a
|> convertible sports car", now drive around with the top up and the A/C
|> on all the time?...
This is sad but true. Although, maybe some of them buy it not because they
want a convertible, but because they like it as a little sports car
(people do buy MR2, Fierro's, etc. too)
|> I see this with British roadsters too...
Really? Most LBC roadsters I see on the road usually have the top down
when it's nice out.
|> Hmmmmm.... Me, I always been amazed at how much heat my old
|> Triumph put out when driving around on snow covered mountain roads
|> with the top down :-) ...
Top down driving is definetly addictive!
|>
|> Tim Mullen tmullen@thor.nafb.trw.com
Would be wanker,
Bob Jones
bobj@meaddata.com
Mead Data Central
Dayton, OH
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