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!
Back in 2002, I got a few laps in an Elisse at Oulton Park and I remain
totally impressed with the car and its handling.
> 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.
>
> 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 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.
I can confirm this; we have no safety check, no emissions check at all
in Oklahoma. We did for a few years, but we dropped it. In my opinion,
the import regulations are not about safety or pollution here in Darkest
'Merka; it's about getting the sheep ready to be controlled, used to
having to ask permission for damned near everything.
-Rock http://www.rocky-frisco.com
--
Rocky Frisco's LIBERTY website: http://www.liberty-in-our-time.com/
The World's Best Daily News Service: http://www.rationalreview.com/
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