Hey Stu, Hey Gang,
I gotta say that in my experience whether a particular individual or a
particular group act as jerks in any given situation has very little to do
with what they drive... I guess it is a sort of "situational" thing since a
perfectly reasonable, helpful guy in one situation can be a total ass in
another.
Most motoring enthusiasts (as opposed to the guys who just like to own and
show cars), no matter which of the many rooms in the mansion they occupy,
tend to be supportive of other enthusiasts and will offer help when
appropriate, probably because almost all of us have needed and accepted help
at some time or another.
I have long considered the Alfa afficianados to be the most snobbish, most
closed group of enthusiasts, ranking right up there with Bimmerheads and
Benzbutts. Yet last October during the highly illegal and highly
entertaining high-speed Best Roads of Texas Tour the Alfisiti behaved in the
highest tradition of good Samaritaniam...
This tour runs at illegally high speeds across some very pretty and very,
very isolated back roads in Texas' hill country and in the past it was very
open to non-Alfa marques, sadly no longer the case. One of the more than 70
cars that participated last year, tucked in among the Alfas, BMW's,
Ferraris, and so forth was an Austin-Healey 100/6. About 100 miles into the
tour (the day's run was 217 miles) we crested a hill to find the
Austin-Healey at the side of road, dead in the water with a blowout as a
pair of BMW's pulled back on the road.
Being Britcar people at heart, we stopped and found that the Austin-Healey
had a) completely worn out bias ply tires dating from approximately 1967, b)
no jack, c) no tools, and 4) a spare in worse condition than the tires on
the ground.
This on a high speed tour expected to run well over 100 mph for much of the
distance...
We (son-in-law Brian did most of the work) got the tire changed just as the
Alfisti batting clean-up pulled in behind us. With the Alfa clean-up guy set
to follow the Healey the rest of the way, we tried to rejoin the tour which
was now at least 30 miles ahead of us. We later learned that the Healey's
spare tire blew in just a couple of miles at 40 mph.
So the Alfa clean-up guy carried the Healey guy and his date about 90 miles
to the end of the tour which was at a campground dead in the middle of
nowhere. The nearest tire store was at least 60 miles away and, since it was
Sunday, would be closed anyway.
So the Alfa guys scrounged around and found a car with the correct size
(well, close enough) spare whose owner was willing to loan it to a stranger
in trouble. Then the Alfa guys, using just tire irons, screwdrivers, and
brute strength, demounted the new spare, demounted the blown tire, and
remounted the borrowed tire to the Healey wheel. Due to the lack of proper
equipment this process took HOURS.
Then the Alfa clean-up guy loaded the Healey party and new spare back in his
Alfa and drove them all back to the abandoned Healey and helped 'em put the
borrowed spare on... It was easily 9 PM when the project was completed.
I was--and am--impressed.
In contrast, I know of a case a couple of months back when a group of
half-a-dozen Britcar enthusiasts (all known to me to be decent people)
casually left a broke-down fella, a member of their tour and their club, to
fend for himself 30 miles from help without even a cell phone for company...
Go figger.
Cheers!
--Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
'41 Chevrolet Coupe, '65 Sunbeam Tiger, '66 Morgan Plus Four, '89 Alfa Romeo
Spider
----------
>From: "Stuart J. Ross" <stuross@nac.net>
>To: "Lannis" <ottoflick@netzero.net>, <morgans@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Re: Swell-tering event in Texas
>Date: Wed, Jun 7, 2000, 5:48 PM
>
>Here's a story about inconsiderate people NOT offering help. Early in May, I
>was in Chestertown, MD driving my 53 Bentley R-Type when it started to make
>some nasty knocking sounds. I decided to stop and have it flatbeded back to
>NJ. Since it was Sunday, I had to wait over night. So I found a room and
>then took a cab into the historic district. A large group of old Fords came
>through town, mostly Model T's. They stopped for a meal at a dockside
>restaurant. I was going there anyhow, so I stopped at a table full of Ford
>folks and explained to them about the Bentley and wondered if any of them
>were "mechanical" and would like to take a look/listen. I told them that all
>I wanted to know was if they had any idea what was wrong with the car, I
>didn't want to do a roadside repair. They were very "snotty" about it and
>downright unfriendly. One woman in the group said that they didn't want the
>responsibility of dealing with the car. I said all I wanted was someone's
>opinion of what might be wrong, and I certainly wasn't asking anybody to do
>any work on the car for me...just look & listen to the noise to try to
>figure out what was wrong. Well, I know that Morgan people would have said
>something like..."I don't know myself, but try Herb over at the next table.
>He'll be able to look at it, etc" We certainly would have been more friendly
>than these Bozos were to me. Next morning, I had it shipped back to NJ with
>the help of a much more cooperative and friendly group of guys at the local
>AAA auto parts store.
>Still waiting for the mechanic's verdict. but also still pissed off at the
>Ford Club in Maryland! Would Chevy guys have been more friendly?
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lannis" <ottoflick@netzero.net>
>To: <morgans@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 6:11 PM
>Subject: Re: Swell-tering event in Texas
>
>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: David P. Crandall <davidc@netwrk.org>
>>
>>
>> >Hi all - a report from one happy northerner who experienced Texas MogMog
>> >hospitality last weekend.
>> >
>> >The event was the annual Texas All Brits show in Houston. I'd met this
>> >great gal and Morganeer on the internet and we'd arranged a rendezvous
>> >Friday night after I finished a workshop for a bunch of school principals
>> >in McKinney Texas. Now, you know what they say about people you meet on
>> >the internet and the danger of just going somewhere not knowing what
>you're
>> >in for! Of course, how could a fellow Morgan nut not be OK, I figured.
>>
>>
>> David - Glad it worked out and you had a good time!!
>>
>> With you, I think people are way too wimpy and paranoid about actually
>> meeting some of the neat people you get to know on these lists. Sure,
>20/60
>> or 48 Minutes or one of those shows can always come up with a horror
>story,
>> but that's all part of the "perceived threat" problem that makes people,
>for
>> example, cringe in horror at the thought of a nuclear power plant in their
>> state while they blithely whoosh down the road at 75 mph 20 feet behind
>the
>> car in front of them with a cell phone in their ear.
>>
>> I've been helped many times over the years by people who didn't know me
>and
>> were taking a "risk" in doing it; I intend to pass it on as long as I
>live!
>>
>>
>> Lannis "Stop by the House Sometime" Selz
>>
>> _____________________________________________
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>
>
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