Well, Jim TenCate (how do you pronounce that, jim?) invited me to join the
Austin, Houston, and San Antonio Triumph clubs at a rendezvous in Brenham,
TX on Saturday, and then *he* didn't show! (Brenham is the home of the
locally famous Blue Bell ice cream, and only 40 mi from here.) So, Jim, I
hope you scare away those gremlins before the next outing. Only a handful
from each club made it, probably due to the rather ominous weather that has
threatened us for several days.
The TR count was: a couple of 3's, a 4, several 6's, an 8, and several
Spits. The 6's included Don Carter's '74 (Houston) frame-off restoration
that is absolutely knock-dead beautiful. Everything in the cockpit is brand
new, and I mean down to the screws and rivets, and a look underneath makes
me wonder if my frame will ever even think about looking that way again. He
claims he was told by TRF employees that his giant one-time order a couple
of years ago was the record largest. I hope that his eastward trip back to
Houston missed the open-the-floodgates storm that I went through on my
northward trip. The best part about his car is that he *drives* it, and he
says "I drive it pretty hard, too".
Which brings me to the Miatas. Every one of the Triumphs in Brenham had
the top down, even though the weather alternated between blazing sun and
theatening storms. And every Miata I've seen over the past several days
HAS THE TOP UP! So I join the call recently sent out --- Get those tops
down! The automotive press gave the Miata the highest praise when it came
out, and I agreed. The designers did everything they could to embrace the
feel of the classic roadster and still meet everything the governments
require to allow it to be sold. They probably did a lot of give and take
with the top brass to get the thing marketed, and in my opinion they did a
great job keeping as much of the feel as possible while giving in on an
item here and there in order to keep the front office happy. Believe me,
in 2013 the Miata will be what the MGB is in 1993.
Lee M. Daniels - Laboratory for Molecular Structure and Bonding - Texas A&M
daniels@lmsbvx.tamu.edu | DANIELS@TAMLMSB.BITNET | (409) 845-3726
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