Bill comment was:
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 10:31:22 EST
From: WSpohn4@aol.com
Subject: Re: abingdon pillow
I don't hate the Federalised dash, and I can see why some people would
actually like it.
I guess what puts me off a bit is that it was just the start of BLMC
'cheaping out' on the MGB.
New reg requires crash safety dash? Don't design a new one that incorporates
a glovebox, go the cheap route and just zap a big bolster on the dash.
New reg for bumper height? Don't do a major redesign to incorporate a higher
bumper into the styling, just jack the ride height of the car. What's that
you say? It ruins the ride height of the car? Don't worry, not many people
will notice - the car already lost most of it's sporty character anyway when
we
responded to the Smog regs by putting in a gutted single carb Marina engine
instead of finding a proper solution.
Arghh - the dash isn't all that bad, I suppose (I certainly don't give it a
passing thought when driving the MGC), but thinking about what came later
certainly raises the blood pressure.
Bill
Read an interesting book on the demise of the British Auto industry using the
sports car companies as the model.Interestingly enough, the book was part of a
series of Social Studies published by the University of Illinois. It was
called "The End of the Road: The Rise and Fall of Austin-Healey, MG, and
Triumph Sports Cars", by Whistler. If your local library can get it, be aware
this is an academic exercise, and not a page turner. It still is full of
interesting observations, and incidents.
The book makes an interesting point. As you know, most of the engineers for
these companies, were self taught, as were Morris and Austin who started the
companies named after them. That caused them to hire other self taught
engineers, and avoid the ones with formal engineering training. A college
degree was a handicap to being hired. This led to engineers who could modify
what they had, but not innovate. Thus the situation that Bill so aptly
describes. That and the arrogance of the Austin incident detailed in the book.
At one point in the book an a story about Austin motors was related. When
Austin was told that a car was not ready to be released to the public, he told
them to release it anyway and let the customers find the problems. No wonder
Austin sales dropped precipitously, and British quality dropped to zero.
I read something similar about the US auto industry. The mechanical engineers
were leery of the electrical engineers, so ignition improvements were ignored
until the government began requiring better gas mileage and the mechanical
engineers couldn't do it without opening up to electrical engineers.
Jack
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