Zounds! My second posting in a day after weeks of silence!
Dan Parslow <DJP@ALPHA.SUNQUEST.COM> Wed, 22 Sep 1993 8:51 writes:
> Just got back from my 22-day, 6-city and innumerable-village
> trip to Britain, so it's time to post:
Sounds like you had a great trip, Dan. I was over there in June for
two and a half weeks on a business trip on me own (staying at me parents
though) and back again for two weeks in August with my wife and two kids.
> L752COB is the registration of the 1993 16-valve Escort we
> rented, pardon me, hired, from Hertz. Hey, I got a deal on
> it, alright? British-tuned econoboxes turn in a much better
> performance than their yank equivalents, and this was no
> exception. Sharp-looking with an aero package and two-toned
> silver and dark grey paintwork, and a useful hill-climber
> besides. Put 1800 miles on it in those three weeks, which is
> more than it had on the clock to start with.
Hmmm, this sounds like you got a Ford Escort XR3i or perhaps the RS 2000
or even a RS Cosworth. The latter two have a large rear spoiler though,
so I'm guessing you had an XR3i which has a smaller rear spoiler. The
XR3i gets 130 bhp @ 6250 rpm, by the way. Pretty nifty for a small car.
As most folks who read this list probably already know, British/European
Fords are on the whole better looking and better performing than their
exact American counterpart.
While I was there in August, we hired a Ford Fiesta 5-door from Hertz.
Couldn't afford much else. It was pretty lame as far as performance
goes, getting 50 bhp @ 5200 rpm. I had a tough time getting out of
folks' way on the motorways sometimes.
> - Classic LBC sightings on the road. Regretably few.
In my 4 1/2 weeks total there, I agree with this observation. Unbelievable,
really. I see more in Connecticut than I do back home.
> Lots of Morgan plus Eights, which are a delight to the eye.
On my first trip (which I reported to this list) I made the same observation.
I would have expected to see tonnes more Triumphs and MGs, but Morgan won
the day.
> Some TR7s, and a great many MG BGTs, which were far more common than
> dropheads for some reason. Any number of Minis, at times I would
> hear the music from "The Italian Job" when I saw a cluster of three
> or so... TVRs were not uncommon. I saw NO pre-7 TRs whatsoever,
> which was rather depressing.
I saw lots of TR7s and lots of rubber-bumper MGBs and MGB GTs, but rarely
any older chrome-bumper versions, and again, agreed with Dan, absolutely
no pre-7 TRs at all. Tonnes of Minis of all ages, of course!
I can't help but wonder what has happened to all of Britain's older cars,
not just the classic roadster LBCs.
One old car that I did see a lot of examples of was the "built like a
brick sh*thouse" Morris Minor, which I have always affectionately called
"Moggies" after knowing several owners who called theirs the same, despite
the trend by others to call Morgans by the same loveable name.
It seems like the Morris "Moggy" Minor will keep going forever unlike all
others from the same era, and since!
There are lot of classic car magazines in the newspaper shops though, so
I suspect the older cars are being hoarded somewhere!
Cheers!
Garry Archer Esq. archer@hsi.com
3M Health Information Systems, Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
"An Englishman never enjoys himself, except for a noble purpose." - A.P.Herbert
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