"Michael D. Porter" wrote:
> In part, that was what attracted many of us to
> the cars in the first place--how they looked. Then, there was no
> mistaking a Spitfire for a Spridget, although their proportions are
> similar (now, I'm not talking about the high school, drive-in
> frequenting kid of today, who says, "nice MG" <smile>). The cars were
> distinctive enough not to be mistaken for something else, which is a
> common occurrence today.
This statement disproves itself.
For the vast majority of people out there, a Triumph is
just another old car. Worth a smile, but they can't remember
the brand, or they remember it's British and guess "MG". It
happens all the time. "Nice car, what is it?".
It's not just a Triumph phenomena, it's everywhere. Half
of the people who start up a conversation with me when
I am in my XKE don't know what it is, although they like it.
I'm guessing by the tone of your email that you aren't
a big fan of modern cars, and that's cool. Even though my
daily driver (Toyota Celica) gets all kinds of attention
from the younger crowd where I go, it's just a daily
driver to me.
However, regardless of what we think, you'd have to live in
a cave to not notice the hordes of modern car afficianados
out there hopping up their Civics, Celicas, Neons, and
so on.
You can *BET* they can tell each other's cars apart from
thirty miles on a foggy day.
Frankly, a Civic looks no more like a Neon than an
MG looks like a TR. I mean seriously, most cars for
that whole decade have the same headlights, the taillights,
sidelights, door handles, and so on are often used on
a dozen cars by different manufacturers.
It's all in what you pay attention to, which itself
is based on what interests you. Perhaps YOU can't tell
them apart, but that's mostly because you don't
really care. There are those out there that can tell
you what year your Honda was made and what factory made
it just from the light placement.
We'll still see those Civics on the road in a few decades,
because they are now what Triumphs were then, a fun but
affordable car that had a decent mix of performance and
style with a hefty dose of value.
The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
"The bake sale to raise money for the car wash has been cancelled." -
Skinner
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