I remember years ago driving along with my soon-to-be-wife in her AH bugeye
sprite, heading up to the Catoctin Mtns of Maryland on one fine summer day. The
oil pressure goes to zero, a clattering commences from underneath and, clutch
in, we coast to a stop on route 15 in Maryland. Out comes the box of wrenches
(yes, even then I wouldn't go anywhere in such a car without a small box of
tools) and about 45 minutes later the oil pan was bolted back onwith about 1/2
its bolts and we trudged to a gas station, bought many CANS of oil and filled
the dam thing back up again, went merrily on our way. Of course she bought the
car at my suggestion, having previously driven her parents Coupes de Ville or
Catalinae, so the baleful stares were there. (And sometimes still are, some 34
years later....)
Since I currently stand amidst you as one of the "be careful, bits WILL fall
off" crowd, having been calumnied by all of the Morgan=Mercedes in the fit and
finish department, may I just note that my view on Morgans is a philosophy, not
necessarily a view on the inherent worthiness (road- or otherwise) of these
cars. I still love 'em and drive 'em, but I know, from many years of experience,
that unless you are monomaniacal in the maintenance department, the odds are
that more bits will fall off your Morgan than off of your family bus, whatever
it happens to be.
By the way, the most dependable car I ever owned was a 1965 Alfa Giulia TI 4
door sedan, that I bought in November 1965, drove for 1 1/2 years, put 65,000
miles on, and basically only had to put one blown head gasket and a broken set
of points (both in the first 6,000 miles) down as parts failures. And when you
listen to what people say about Alfas and Italian cars!!! Replaced it with a BMW
1600/2 Alpina that was a piece of junk. Chip Brown
Vandergraaf, Chuck wrote:
> Gerry & Arlo,
>
> Now that we're well into psychoanalysing cars or owners, I wonder if it is
> also a matter of supply and demand. From what I've seen of the Miata (and
> I've never driven one or ridden in one), the design and construction are
> excellent. If the car has any downside at all, it is "to common." Imagine,
> you can walk (drive) to your nearest Mazda dealer (and in most cases there
> is at least one within 100 miles) and order one or pick one up. Imagine
> that you then notice that "the kid-on-your-block" has one just like it.
> Imagine if the "kid" is of the female kind [this just for you male
> chauvinists ;-)]
>
> Imagine now that instead of a Toyota badge, the car sported a Lotus badge
> and that there were only two Lotus dealers in the US and one in Canada and
> that you had to wait five years just to get one in whatever colour it
> happened to arrive.
>
> Whether the Miata will follow the same path as the Sprite will depend very
> much on what arrives next on the horizon. Why, just the other week, the
> Winnipeg Free Press featured an article on a restored Nash Metropolitan.
>
> Just some thoughts.
>
> Chuck Vandergraaf
> '52 +4
> Pinawa, MB (that's "Manitoba" for those of you who are wondering)
>
>
>
> > ----------
> > From: Gerry Willburn[SMTP:Gerry.Willburn@trw.com]
> > Reply To: Gerry Willburn
> > Sent: February 18, 1999 11:16 AM
> > To: alevisen@gdhscats.org; Morgans@autox.team.net
> > Subject: RE: Responding - again.
> >
> > Arlo,
> >
> > I think the point is NOT whether a well maintained Miata will last until
> > 2028. As you point out ANY well maintained car will last another 30
> > years.
> >
> > I think that the question was rather, will Miata enthusiasm last another
> > 30
> > years, or is it another passing yuppie fad and that the Miata is doomed to
> > the same oblivion as the Sprigets and Spitfires (and there will still be a
> > few of them around in 2028).
> >
> > Gerry
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Arlo J. Levisen [SMTP:alevisen@gdhscats.org]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 1999 10:55 PM
> > > To: Morgan Mailing List
> > > Subject: Responding - again.
> > >
> > > DFL'ers:
> > >
> > >
> > > Secondly, I think it is a bit of a stretch to assume there will be few
> > > Miatas around in the year 2028. My particular car is a 1991 edition
> > > with 65,000 miles on it and I have yet to fix any part of this car.
> > > There are Miatas in the Club that have reached 300,000 miles and are
> > > still running well.
> > >
> > > It is hard for me to be pessimistic about the potential longevity of
> > > well-built, well-cared-for automobiles.
> > >
> > > Later,
> > >
> > > Arlo Levisen
> >
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