Picking up the thread on British reliability I'd like to relate a
story that I intended to send in earlier but haven't had the time
to send.
A couple of years ago I was at the Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock
Park wherein the sponsors were unveiling their latest Teutonic
wonder; the BMW 850. Several people were standing around looking
under the hood in awed silence so I went over to see what could
leave so many car types speechless. The engine compartment was as
neat and clean as a surgical cart. There were covers over everything.
No wires or hoses were visible anywhere. Only aluminum and crackle
finish black covers.
I commented that it looked more like a plastic model car than a real
one and a fellow wearing a roundel on his shirt asked what I had driven to the
track. "A Triumph." I declared, proudly. To which he replied that I must
like to walk. That kind of misconception really bothers me and I told him so.
(herein lies the reliability part) I told him, and this is still true, that
I had never been stranded by my British cars, any of them. They have always
gotten me where I was going. The few times, and they were indeed few, that
I had a breakdown I was always able to get back underway again in short
order, using only the simplest of hand tools. Try that with your $80,000
BMW.
Of course he told me that I wouldn't need to cary tools if I owned a
BMW. And I have to say that he was right. If (when) the BMW broke down
tools would do you no good on the side of the road. All that's really
required to repair a BMW is an American Express Card, preferably with
a lot of head room. I told him this and his reply was to huff and puff
and turn to someone more "enlightened" to talk with.
I chuckled about this for the rest of the day, but it's really true.
The vast majority of problems I've experienced with Brit cars have
been the result of previous owners or inexperienced mechanics mucking
about where they didn't have any business being. A small fishing tackle
box holds all the tools I've ever needed to keep an lbc going on the road.
You'd need an eighteen wheeler to carry the stuff that BMW would require.
Besides, lbc's are more fun!
Rik Schlierer rgs03@albnydh2.bitnet
|