Right, the middle-aged man thing. I'm going to be 47 in August. I
bought my TR6 2.5 years ago and several people have said since then
"Oh, mid-life crisis, heh?" Well, I don't think so. I've wanted a TR6
(and a Healey 3000 and an MGA 1500 and a Jag XK150 and an ALFA 1600
spider and, oh, the odd 427 Cobra) ever since I was a kid. I just
recently got enough money to support my habit and a place to park it
out of the rain, so that explains the timing.
My wife has noticed the stares from middle-aged guys when we're out
riding and has commented on the fact that it's not just interest or
curiosity - it's naked lust. What is it about these cars? They're not
very fast in stock form, they're cantankerous and often a b**ch to
work on. But they've got Romance; somehow, against all logic, they've
got it and I'll take any doubter on a ride and prove it to them. How
many times have people yelled out at me "Nice car!" or "There goes my
TR6!" or "God, I always wanted one of those!"? I was at a local tire
shop recently. As I pulled out of the parking lot some German guy said
in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, "Beautiful car!" with a look on
his face of pure, joyful randiness, and my car isn't even that great!
It *is* red and maybe that explains some of this but there are lots of
red cars.
LBC's, the little vixens, have some kind of psycho-sexual hold on a
large part of the population, and not just on men. Many of the
comments I've received have been from women. Even teen-aged girls have
asked me about the car; they're too young to have any history with
these cars so it has to be the appeal of the machine itself.
Jim Sudduth
jims@autodesk.com
'74 TR6 CF20076U
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: TR6 Gender...hey...
Author: Jacob ben-David Zimmerman <zimerman@MIT.EDU> at smtpcc
Date: 5/24/96 1:55 PM
My TR is named Amanda; when I first got her I catalogued the following: (dons
Nomex flame-protective jockeys)
-Moody
-Takes all my money
-Teases (fix everything, then the shifter knob falls off)
-Objects, as has been said, to any mention of ownership
-Returns my love and affection when on a two-lane Vermont road in spring and
the sun is out by growling enthusiastically around the curves
...and I wouldn't trade her for the world. Of course, as I tell my friends,
I'm not sure I want to know if I have the car because I'm single, or if I'm
single because I have the car...:-) I have noticed that she mostly attracts
middle-aged men's stares, which also helped in the gender department. :-)
-JB
-'71 TR6 Amanda CC58880L
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