Bill Eastman wrote:
> <big snip of part one> If I was given the torch for the new MG, I would take
> the conservative approach and develop a derivative design. <snip> So, what MG
> is generally regarded as their styling high water mark? That's right, our
> own favorite "Bob Allen certified performance bimbo," the MGA!
How come kit cars don't sell?
The 'A' ain't ever coming back, Bill, so get over it. It is a great car to look
at but its too narrow, has limited legroom, poor egronomics, no weather
protection, a ludicrous trunk (boot), and even the restoration books admit that
it had some very complex stampings that make it a challenge to restore and
impossible to reproduce at a profit. The underpinnings could be upgraded to
give it some perfomance, but by any modern measurement the car is a dinosaur.
Okay, a good looking dinosaur.
So getting back to the kit car, how come they can't sell? There were a lot of
different enterprises that build (brace yourself) 'retro cars' but almost all
of them are flops. Even the cars with sporting pretentsions. The only possible
exception is the Cobra look-alikes.
That ain't to say that it can't be done. You can get yourself a handful of
catalogs and build yourself your very own brand-new '32 Ford hot-rod. The only
way that is a losing proposition for the manufactueres is that there are so
many of them doing it.
So how come they can't do that with Sports Cars?
It wouldn't be much of a stretch to get a Heritage 'B' body shell, install the
RV8 front suspension, hang a good rear-end with some modern composite springs
and control bars out back, install an interior and wiring, and sell it as a
roller. Why wouldn't that work? I figure that would be done for (I dunno) $15
to 20K. Add your favorite $5K driveline and you would have a very nice Sports
Car for under $30K
So how come it ain't happening?
One reason is because all you guys are biggoted assholes.
Sorry. Maybe I can think of some way to gloss that over...
We have way too much snobbery within the Marque.
How much infighting do you see just among Midget, 'A', 'B' and 'T' series
owners? How much enthusiam do the owners actually have in using there cars just
within the same model? These are Sports Cars meant to be driven but there are
an awful lot of trailer queens and retoration dreams that are owned by people
that have no intention of ever doing anything 'sporting' with the car.
An awful lot of newsletters get dropped in mailboxes where the cars only move a
couple of times a year (and less). It is very difficult to find a group within
the same marque that will do things together let alone across manufacturers.
Around here we have an 'A' club and an 'MG' club and we rarely intermingle. We
have a 'Healey' club that does very little that is car related. The Jaguar
people are way different from what car-people are. The 'Triumph' club has a
dozen active members (out of 80) and, in fact, there is some cross-pollination
with the MG club soley due to friends being members in both clubs. Altogether,
there could easily be a 500+ All British car club here in Kansas City but,
incredibly, the members would have little in common.
The thought of a "British Car Club" that would promote all the marquees is
hopeless. I'm active on this list and get the Triumph digest and the difference
in content and attitudes of the two list are stunning. Now what is going to tie
things togther for the betterment of the movemnet? Nothing I can see.
The British Sports Car movement is comatose and the prognosis is not good. The
clubs lack volunterrism, there is way too much infighting, and this seems to be
a free-for-all for "If you're not gonna do it my way I'll just run off in a
snit..."
So, no, the British Car hobby lacks the backbone to ever influence the design
of a new car and I don't see anything changing. The only hope would be bringing
back the peices that are reproduceable today and assembling a car that people
would buy.
Most of the MG owners wouldn't buy it because it ain't their model.
Most of the 'B' folks wouldn't buy it because they are too cheap (well, you can
still buy and awful nice 'B' for half of this 'Heritage Kit' proposal).
And all of the Triumph, Healey, Jag owners would push their nose up in disdain.
I don't see how you're gonna win on this deal.
--
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6, '61Elva(?)
"Outside every thin woman is a fat man trying to get in." -- Katherine
Whitehorn
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