> It sounds like you are like me; I'm ready for a
> relatively stark and
> inexpensive sporty rear wheel drive car in the MG
> tradition.
Yes, you're right. I definitely am. But then again,
I can never predict the market. For years I saw all
these cars like the Nissan 300ZX and Toyota Supra
getting heavier and porkier and more luxurious and
more expensive. I thought to myself: "What is Nissan
thinking? Why not keep the car - as Porsche has sort
of done with the 911 - as the spirtual successor to
the original? Why doesn't someone build a light,
fast, lower-frills sportscar anymore? If someone did,
people would do NUTS for it!"
And then Mazda built the RX7 Twin Turbo. Arguably the
most potent no-frills sportscar in recent memory (and
for anyone who has never driven one, an absolute
scalpel in the twisties - high on my list of "cars I'd
like to be driving on a winding mountain road if I was
being chased by SMERSH assasins").
Of course, no one bought it. Worse, the automotive
press - the SAME press who bitched about the 300ZX
getting heavier and porkier - categorically vilified
the RX7 because of it's cheap, lightweight interior
materials and lack of luxury amenities.
I just don't get it.
A good friend of mine once said: "I have lost faith in
politics. No one I would ever want to be president
would EVER run, and if they did, the American people
wouldn't elect them." Up until very recently, I felt
the same way about cars, namely: "No automaker will
ever build the kind of car I want to buy, and if they
did, it apparently wouldn't sell."
But now I'm rethinking that stance, because cars like
the Honda S2000 and Subaru WRX and Mitsu EVO and Dodge
SRT-4 and Ford SVT Focus (actually maybe the SVT Focus
most of all) are starting to feel like they're getting
warmer. If MG is going to sell cars here, they have
to make sure they tap into their spiritual roots, as
Bently has really made an effort to do with their new
coupe. Not by making small, light convertibles (those
were the old days; young professionals just don't want
them anymore; only us nostalgic old idiots like them).
But rather by building the kinds of affordable cars
that younger professionals will find enormously
rewarding to drive. The kind of cars that make people
feel like they are buying into a lifestyle that they
aspire to. At this point in the automotive landscape,
I think that would require small, quick, sporting
sedans and hot hatchbacks, not Miata-like roadsters.
As for the lack of a dealer network, that's a bitch of
an obstacle to overcome. I thought they were still
owned by BMW, so my guess was that a Mini-like
arrangement could be forged. But if it's
independantly owned now, by a company without
enormously deep pockets, then that's a seriously tough
road to hoe.
It's a shame. I miss seeing the octagon on the roads.
I never see MGs anymore, and increasingly, when I
drive my B around, people ask me what it is! They
have no idea! My insurance agent (a nice kid of about
27 or so) asked my what kind of cars I wanted to
insure. When I got around to the MG he asked me:
"Your what?! MG? Hmmm... that's not in my
computer... Is it a motorcycle or something?"
=====
Paul Misencik
1971 MGB Vintage Race Project
Huntersville, NC USA
www.sopwithracing.com
Learn the truth at www.misleader.org
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