Guys,
Red Solstices and Aunt Nancy`s fantasies about those sailors aside, at
what point did sports car get confused with those having fixed tops, four
doors, automatic transmissions, power everything, and more technical gadgets
than the Starship Enterprise.
Not to get into costing twice what I paid for my first house.
I must have been nodding off, or on my fourth Dewar`s and soda, or
preoccupied making a living, such as it was, slapping cuffs on all those
murders in Baltimore when that bit slipped past me.
What I mean is, didn`t it all start for us Yanks with the TC and end when
the rubber bumpers and catalytic converters were grafted on the Bs and
Midgets? God rest the TR and big Healey that got out while the getting was
good.
Ok, yeah, you Italians helped, too. Darn hard to keep in tune, though,
those Alfas.
Be honest, has the U.S. ever turned out a true Sports Car? And don`t say
Corvette, which was strictly a wait for the green light, slam the pedal down
and hang for your life street fighter. Cobra or GT 40, either. They don`t
count because they weren`t intended for mortals.
I mean a sports car for the regular guy, something you could drive out
of the showroom straight to the track, then use it to take the family to
church on Sunday. Something you drove by the seat of your pants, minding the
sticky synchronizers, and when it broke, you could fix in your driveway, even
with a few beers under your belt.
Well, perhaps the TC might be stretching that track business some. As I
recall they were a handful. But the cars most of us here have in the garage
could do all that, and most for under $2000 brand new.
American soprts car? I`m likely more patriotic than the next guy, even
as I say sports car and British go arm in arm.
Anyway...
Bert Shirey
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