On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 Growe58@aol.com wrote:
> My guess is that the List and the Rag are both talking about the
> same thing - a car that is somewhat unforgiving, one that will
> do everything the driver asks, but nothing more, a car that is
> very responsive and rewarding for a moderately skilled driver,
> but for the unsuspecting or unskilled gives a new meaning
> to "Let's take 'er for a spin". The Rag's dictionary calls this nasty
> and scarey, ours calls it superior handling...
Whoa. For a moment there I thought I was on the early 911 owners' list!
:-)
Seriously, that sounds like the same sort of broad brush that Car Craft
used to paint their picture. BTW, I've never been a regular reader of that
magazine, but isn't it a bit like Rod & Custom and all the others that,
over the years, featured anything from a "Highboy Roadster" or "Deuce
Coupe" to a '73 Pinto, all with absurdly large and powerful V-8s? The sort
of car that one steered only to keep in some semblance of a 1320 ft.
straight line in as short a period of time as possible? Not necessarily
what I classify as "good-handling" cars, either. But perhaps I now paint
with that same brush. ;-)
Really, folks, was the Spitfire really any worse than a Spridget, or NSU
Sport Prinz, or Karmann-Ghia, or Crosley Hotshot, or (fill in favorite
sporty car name here)? Or are so many of us simply buying into the lore?
In one last overgeneralization, I'll simply note that I'd rather put a
novice driver into a Spitfire with its supposedly dreaded inherent
tendency to spin, than to let them near any of dozens of cars old (or
new?) with small or medium size/weight and an oversized, overpowered
engine? Can you say MustangCamaroFalconSprintHemi'CudaSSNovaGTOSkylarkGS?
I thought you could.
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace e-mail: amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
* *
* Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet? *
* Man: Well, no ... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er, *
* Triumph Herald engine with wings. *
* -- Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22) *
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