It is hard for me to understand what has been happening to
"British cars" lately:
Rover revives the MG as the MGB RV8.
BMW takes over Rover - the last really British controlled
major(?) car manufacturer, excepting Rolls-Royce
(Jaguar and Aston Martin are now owned by Ford)
There are rumors of a new, mid-engined, MGD to be shown in this
year's Geneva auto show.
There are articles in Autoweek and Road&Track about possibly
reviving, of all things, the Austin Healey.
On 12/19/94 the Wall Street Journal reported that
"BMW is Expected to Help Vickers PLC Develop
New Rolls-Royce and Bentley Cars" - It seems
future versions will have BMW engines.
Lucas Industries is subjected to a record fine for producing
low quality parts without any quality control that
"caused engine fires and metal shavings in the oil system"
for F/A-18 jet fighters. It seems to have been something
to do with the generators for electrical power.
Just last week I got a 911 owner to admit (reluctantly) that,
in fact, Porsches could (and his did) leak oil
just like the cars I am familiar with.
After 5 years of inactivity and procrastination, last year
I repaired the rust, rebuilt and reinstalled
the engine, replaced the wiring harness, and
made many other minor fixes that I had deferred
for the past 20 years.
My wife not only supported this, she refinished the
dash board. I might actually get my Healey
to start again. I am told that British cars
often start, no matter how bad their condition,
just so that you can become even
more aggravated with them.
Now I hear that the very British James Bond is to drive
a "mystery" BMW in a new movie. Might BMW
be trying to rework it's 1980's yuppiemobile
image by promoting the "British" image
of their recent acquisition?
It seems the British sports car
"heritage" might now be a part of the BMW
heritage that includes starting car manufacture
with the Austin 7 in 1929 and the pre-W.W.II
BMW 328 sports car that seems to have
set a precedent for the post-war British
XK120s and Healeys.
This must all be some sort of hoax or hallucination -
possibly a new restorer's disease?
Maybe we should no longer call these cars "British" or "German"?
Gary Smith
gary1@holly.mt.att.com
64 Austin Healey BJ8 (Phase 1) - Might run again this year
66 Austin Healey BJ8 (Phase 2) - Completely disassembled
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