[No Triumph content]
Brian Smith wrote:
> ...a person could buy a new E-Type for just a
> little more than a loaded Chevy caprice however the jag require more
> maintainance and at a higher price so most fell into disrepair
This is the major reason why Pantera's earned themselves a bad
reputation in the early 1970s. Panteras were marketed by Ford
and sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers. Joe Average would
walk into a showroom looking for a Lincoln and would see this
snazzy sportscar, buy it, and then treated it like every Lincoln
he'd ever owned....badly. Taking the car back to the Lincoln-Mercury
dealer for repairs, the mechanics had never seen 4-wheel disk brakes,
fully independant suspension, German transaxles, Italian metal,
or, Heaven forbif, Lucas electrics, so they tried to fix the car
like they would a Lincoln....badly. That 'Murican cars from that era
and earlier survive today is testament to their robustness.
Once Panteras started changing hands from the traditional Lincoln buyer
to the greasy-fingernail crowd, they became a very robust, reliable
and fun cars. This is also true of many old cars.
Consumers and shop-mechanics are no better "educated" or their expectations
of cars any different to what they were 30 or 40 years ago. What has
changed is the car itself.....
Shane Ingate in San Diego
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