>Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 02:18:30 -0500
>To:WINDOWSEET@aol.com
>From:dresden@star.net
>Subject:Re: Miata thread
>
>>Ah, the much maligned MX5! I am amazed at the venom that has been heaped on
>>this car by listers. Years ago I was involved in a video tape project and it
>
>BIG SNIP
>
>>Too busy enjoying my GT6+
>>
>>Greg Wolf
>>1970 GT6+ "Ian"
>>Ann Arbor, Michigan
>>Winnipeg MB Canada
>
>
>Well put, Ian. I didn't know that about the Spitfire connection, although
>the LBC connection is obvious...I've heard about their truckload of
>exhaust parts in attempts to copy the MGB exhaust note, and a nasty rumor
>about tracing the silhouette of a Lotus Elan for the body styling. What I
>dislike about the Mazda effort is that it is so...fabricated. I'm sure
>that the original LBC's were meant to be new and exciting roadsters,
>honoring but not bound by tradition, and not copycat cars.
>
>What I admire about the effort is their refusal to fall into the
>"horsepower is king" trap, and their efforts to keep it simple while still
>meeting all the regulations (at least on the early models). One thing that
>is vaguely offensive is the BRG and beige models; it is the British cars
>and their own character that made that color scheme great; why can't
>Mazda, if the Miata is to be at all its own car, fly their own colors?
>
>But the Miata fills a niche. Until its introduction, there were no new two
>seat roadsters that were affordable and insurable for the average (ok,
>slightly above average) income person. A lot of people aren't very
>mechanically inclined, and I don't want to see them buy a true LBC and
>regret it later; I would rather see them enjoy top down driving without
>worry. As much as I could go on with criticism, I won't. After all, where
>was Austin-Rover during all this? Why were they so far behind the ball if
>there was such a strong market for cars like this? It fell to a Japanese
>company to carry on the tradition, because nobody else would, and I'm sure
>the Miata generated a lot of interest in the real thing that wouldn't have
>existed otherwise.
>
>The 1980's boom years would have been a great time to see an MGD or TR9
>introduced here in the US, but was anybody there? Did anybody care?
>
>Nevin
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