I didn't drive it, I rode in it at Carslisle a year and a half ago. Per
was driving, I was riding shotgun. It was very early in its completion,
and the suspension wasn't balanced out yet (the article about problems
with spring selection came in part from this event). Lot of plowing
problems, but at least we stayed on course (Tim Suddard didn't, and Greg
Smith was riding with him for that one).
I expected to find myself having wet dreams for weeks after that ride,
but I came away from it more appreciative of my own rat of a Spitfire
instead. The roto-Spit is an expensive, refined, japanese car hybrid.
The quirky british nature, the thing that makes us own and drive
Spitfires, is gone. The roto-Spit has lost its british sports car soul.
Oh it's fast. The roto-Spit goes like stink. It's smooth too. It
should be really smooth now, with the all new custom built rear
suspension it's carrying. And it's refined. The interior is quite
trick, right down to that carbon fiber dash. It's so...japanese.
And that's what puts me off to the roto-Spit. A Spitfire is a cheap
dingaling sports car. Even all hopped up or restored, it's still a
goofy little british sportscar. The sort of machine that makes you want
to affect an accent, smoke a pipe, and wear tweed. The roto-Spit left
me feeling emotionally like I was riding in a Honda. Ok, maybe a Mazda,
since the car is almost pure RX-7. Fun and fast it was; but the british
car was there only in skin. Underneath, the hum was pure oriental
refinement.
J Constantino wrote:
> Nolan:
>
> You drove the Ro-Spit?! Now I'm jealous.
>
> Will you write a Spit List review for us?
>
> Jason C.
> "At least my car is yellow."
>
> Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 21:51:02 -0500
> From: Nolan Penney <npenney@erols.com>
> Subject: Re: Spit Conversions
>
> With more articles to come. The car's a ball to
> autocross in (been
> there,
> done that!)
>
> "Michael D. Nugent, Ph.D." wrote:
>
> > Grass Roots Motorsports (GRM) - used to be Auto-X
> magazine. They
> ran a
> > series of 10-12 articles on that car.
> >
> > Mike
> > Renton, WA
>
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