Joe: Thanks for your inquiry to the list. It has been a real treat reading
this thread. It has made me laugh and come close to tears. Bottom line? Live
and enjoy. Like all good friends - the car will give you times of warm
happiness and moments of frustrated rage. Sensible is sooooo boring!
Garner, Joseph P. wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I need some sensible (and perhaps sobering) advice.
>
> Here's my problem....
>
> In my search for a used car on a tight budget, I have happened upon a 1974
> spitfire 1500. Every sensible nerve in my body tells me not to be so silly
> and to go and put the money down on that tercel i saw earlier in the week,
> but this is the first car i have seen which I am really excited about.
> Perhaps it is because i am an englishman in california and it is a beautiful
> reminder of home, but at the moment i am sturggling with the urge to
> purchase with my heart and not my head.
>
> I have done as much research as i can (the TVR website was so helpful!), and
> have enlisted the help of a friend of mine who is a better mechanic than i
> am to go and give the car a first look the car over in the flesh. I would
> not buy it if there were any mechanical or body problems of note, and i
> would get a professional mechnic to check it over first. But my main worry
> is that if the car does turn out to be sound, then i have to decide where it
> really is appropriate.... in short, I hardly drive anywhere, living within
> cycling distance of work, my only major trip is a 2 and a half hour drive
> (sacramento to palo alto) that i make there and back maybe twice a month. Am
> I crazy to think of doing this in an (albeit) mechanically sound spitfire?
> Or in other words, am i crazy to consider buying a mechanically sound
> spitfire for the purpose of making that round-trip twice a month? My
> particular concerns are mechanical reliability, and crash-safety (which is
> why i said it was a head-versus-heart tug of war going on here!)
>
> All honest opinions would be very much appreciated!
>
> thank you all for your time
>
> cheers
>
> Joe
> ___________________________
>
> Dr. Joseph Garner
> University of California
> Department of Animal Science
> One Shields Avenue
> Davis
> CA 95616
> USA
>
> Phone: (530) 754 5291
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