datsun-roadsters
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Rob Beddington's Car/Tinkering

To: "Pam Bauman" <ntrlclr@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Rob Beddington's Car/Tinkering
From: "datsunmike" <datsunmike@nyc.rr.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 16:16:28 -0500
Pam,

I know someone who may trade his wife for a Spitfire GT6. His wife gives him
so much crap about going out with me once every few months for a rally or
car show that he's ready to dump her although he doesn't realize it yet. She
doesn't realize a man needs his toys :)

Men never grow up - just old :)

Mike

BTW, his GT6 is mint.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Pam Bauman" <ntrlclr@earthlink.net>
To: "datsunmike" <datsunmike@nyc.rr.com>
Cc: <RoadsterGB@aol.com>; <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 10:44 AM
Subject: Re: Rob Beddington's Car/Tinkering


> Rob and Mike,
>
> I'm quoting an older British gentlemen I worked with back in the
> mid-70's. I found him working under the bonnet one day at lunch.
> Asking what was broken, he asked did I mind getting my hands dirty.
> I received a lesson in the fine British art of Tinkering.
> James stated that due to the British males love of Tinkering, so much
> tinkering factor was built into each vehicle. That on a weekly basis,
> one would poke their head under the bonnet, and see what would need
> tightening. As to the poor performance, some designers feared too much
> speed and power would cause too many to be injured.
>
> As we finished tinkering, one of our warehousemen came back from lunch.
> VERY loudly came back from lunch with his 57 Chevy. James said he always
> wanted American iron, BUT his wife found it unseemly and inappropriate.
> I think he traded wife for a Corvette.
>
> Pamela Bauman
>
> datsunmike wrote:
>
> > Rob,
> >
> > I have been subscribing to American car magazines since I had a full
head of
> > hair and for the most part they always pan American cars but I still buy
the
> > magazines. I guess the most telling line in the article is the
pentultimate
> > sentence when the author basically admitted that the poor performance
and
> > reliability of British cars caused their demise in the American market,
> > especially after the 240 was released.
> >
> > FWIW, I always liked Brit cars and their look appealed to me - it still
does,
> > but their reliability and driveability leaves something to be desired.
One of
> > my favorite cars in the 60s was the TR4/250 and I recently had an
opportunity
> > to drive one, and it was cumbersome. Their looks belie the way they
handle and
> > accelerate.
> >
> > I looked at the review of the '95 MG RV8 and lo and behold it was an an
exact
> > copy of a 75 MGB with a few changes made. I guess that's the crux of the
> > problem with the British car industry and one of the reasons it failed -
the
> > lack of money and desire to refine and develope new cars.
> >
> > I'm still going to buy a Spit or MGB in the not too distant future but
I'll
> > not rebuild it stock but then again my Roadster's not stock either.
> >
> > Mike
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: RoadsterGB@aol.com
> >   To: datsunmike@nyc.rr.com ; datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> >   Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 5:32 AM
> >   Subject: Re: Rob Beddington's Car
> >
> >
> >   Hi
> >
> >   Thanks Mike - the trouble with these guys is they're very afraid of
> > alienating their readership - I guess they have more subscribers who own
> > Sunbeam Alpines than those with Datsun Roadsters - with that in mind I
thought
> > it was a great article.
> >
> >   Coincidentally I have today received the transparencies from C&SC -
they
> > include some nice angles not shown in the mag. I'll scan them at work
early
> > next week and add them to the site v.soon, along with some nice
transparencies
> > of the same car in a Practical Classics article around 5 years ago.
> >
> >   There's been a little stink caused by one of the datsun Z photos in
the same
> > mag profiling Fourways, the well known Datsun Z/Aston Martin restorers.
> > Apparently, the firm told Mick Walsh, the Editor in Chief of C&SC, that
the Z
> > was a genuine Fairlady Z432-R (the super rare twin cam racing version of
the
> > very rare Z432) and he quoted this in the mag. These are as rare as
rocking
> > horse poo in Japan, let alone anywhere else in the world. I'd previously
heard
> > that Fourways had a twin cam S-20 engine kicking around for some while,
and
> > the donor car, a bog standard Fairlady ZL 2.0, which they've had for
even
> > longer. Replica or fake, it's not quite what it said on the tin and it's
upset
> > the guy who is having it built. He's a great guy who would never dream
of
> > passing it off as the genuine article. Egg on face of probably the best
known
> > Z restorers in the UK.
> >
> >   Rob
> >   The Fairlady Roadster Register
> >
> > ///  datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list
> > ///  Send admin requests to majordomo@autox.team.net  or go to
> > ///  http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
> > ///  Send list postings to datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net

///  datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>