Gosling, Richard B wrote:
> Paul said: "...$80k is a lot of money. I don't know. You throw every option
> on the Elise and you still only hit $50k."
>
> You what? In the UK the Elise is significantly more - #24k-#28k rather than
> #16-#20 for the MG TF (depending on engines). The MG is undoubtably a more
> practical car, but you'd still have to have a fairly blind dedication to pay
> more for the MG than the Lotus, IMHO. Then again, I own an MG, but have
> worked for Lotus, so I have a degree of blind dedication to both!
My point exactly.
> Paul also said: "...that might be a good engine swap for a B. Compact and
> tons of power. Orientation change required of course...." That should be
> possible - the K-Series engine is commonly used for Caterham 7 cars (and its
> imitators). Caterham I believe have their own 6-speed gearbox, I'm not sure
> what gearboxes other kit cars use.
With the power coming out of modern I-4s, it's hard to think of engine
swaps from GM, at least for me.
> I had a quick look at that website - I'm amazed how strict the US is about
> imported cars!! In the UK (which I generally believe has a more nannying
> government than the US) the attitude appears to be more along the lines of
> "if you choose to import a car personally (and the same goes for cars from
> very low volume manufacturers, and kit cars) you probably know the risks
> you're taking and so safety requirements are lower". Kit cars and personal
> imports have to go through "Single Vehicle Approval" - which is just a test
> to ensure that the car meets roadworthiness requirements such as having
> appropriate lights etc., and that it appears to be structurally sound (no
> bad thing for some kits constructed by amateurs in their garage!). This
> allows you to bring in pretty much any car from anywhere you want.
The US Government has made it a point over the last 30-40 years to
protect us from ourselves. As a result, I think, a very large contingent
of people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. Law suits
are out of control in this country.
> The irony is that the US has these incredibly strict requirements for
> imported cars, yet many states (I believe?) have little or nothing in the
> way of annual roadworthiness tests, while in the UK we have our fairly
> rigourous annual MOT test.
Yeah, I'm trying to think of the last place that had them. Probably, for
me the last safety inspection was in Kansas in '83 when I bought my
first MGB. Since, then California, Kansas again, New York, Illinois and
Minnesota, have either nothing or only smog tests. It's funny what
people complain about paying for versus something they don't bat an eye
at paying for.
> Richard Gosling
>
>
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--
______ Paul T. Root
/ _ \ 1977 MGB
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