From: jar@aldermanroad.net
> Interesting comment. Of which BLC concept is the Miata a copy?
LBC?. Several. The general appearance of the original seems to be inspired by
the Lotus Elan (at a larger size!). The design team seemed to have gone to a
lot of trouble to get the exhaust sound like an MGB.
The Miata has its own quirks, but in general, they got the concept of "sports
car" right. The realities of designing for USA laws at a reasonable price made
the weight balloon up to about 2200 pounds even though the working name for the
car was LWS (light weight sports). Mine has more bells and whistles (power
windows and mirrors) than I need or want, but I accepted them to find one with
the TorSen diff. IRS all round (no McPherson struts). Disc brakes all round.
Twin-cam four in front, drive in back. Stiff body/chassis. Adjustable
alignment. An armstrong top that erects quickly and does not leak. Solid,
short-throw shifter run by a stubby little stick. OK, working aircon has been
appreciated by the wife a few times, too. And I got the thing for $3500.
It's not a substitute for the TR4. But then again, a stock TR4 is no
substitute for a Miata with aggressive alignment, big front sway bar and
moderately-sticky tires, either.
> Many of
> the Japanese cars are copies of British cars. If you look at the
> original Datsun 240,Z there were a lot of elements from the Jaguars of
> the tme.
You bet. And the 1600/2000 roadsters looked a bit like the MGB.
--
Phil Ethier West Side Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1962 Triumph TR4 CT2846L, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1993 Suburban,
1994 Miata C package
pethier [at] comcast [dot] net http://forum.mnautox.com/forums/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier
I decry the textmessagization of the American-English language.
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