Trevor, if you're going to talk MGs get your facts straight.
The post-war T-series MGs were living antiques. Talk about living in the
past? The TC was pure '20s, the TD and TF were '30s with '20s styling.
About the most modern thing about them was the rack and pinion steering in
the TD/TF. The MGA was more of the same mechanically in a newer and
attractive body. The MGB had a very nice body which looked quite
fashionable for the late '50s/early '60s when it would have been stylish.
By 1969 it was stodgy and by 1980 it was laughable.
Mechanically no post-war MG ever rose above the kind of chassis/engine
technology which was right at home in a late '30s Chevrolet, with the
exception of the use of rack and pinion and disc brakes. The brakes which
were standard equipment on just about every American car by 1970.
Face it, the car was a fossil - which made it quite endearing to those of
us who are old enough to remember buying them in the showrooms.
When did the MG become a retro badge? When did it not? I won't mention
the various ugly little badge-engineered things sold in Britain during the
'80s. As for living in the past, what the hell do you think this list is
all about? If I wanted technology I'd buy any new cheap sedan. My
contention is that a good car must have exciting styling as well as
microchip management.
I suggest that choosing design elements from the past and combining them
with modern features is exactly what Porsche, Mercedes and BMW have done -
and they're going to make a pile of dough doing it. Check the Japanese
market for the past few years. The hottest items are retro-styled cars and
motorcycles. The egg is boring and lacks opportunity for stylish
innovation. Other than fiddling with headlights, grilles and glass shape,
what styling innovations have the last few years produced in mainstream
motoring?
John McEwen
PS: Showing roots does not mean creating a retro car.
>John McEwen wrote:
>> If we're going to have a new MG let it be something special. Let it show
>> it's roots.
>
> Since when did MG become a retro badge?
>
> Stop living in the past. Every main MG, like the
>T-series cars, the MGA, the MGB, they were all very current
>modern designs when they came out.
>
> The MGF suits that bill as well. Hey, if you want to be
>stuck in the past go ahead, but MG never was before and
>shouldn't be now.
>
>--
>Trevor Boicey
>Ottawa, Canada
>tboicey@brit.ca
>http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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