Reply part 2
For the record, I think Miatas are well put together, neatly engineered
cars. I drove one belonging to a customer the first year they came out.
They're pretty, but considering the timeframe they were designed and built,
rather gutless and lacking soul. I've always been offended by the Japanese
inability to design something original. They'd rather confiscate or
appropriate something successful and do what they consider "improvements" on
them. You could touch up the Mona Lisa... but you still aren't the artist,
are you? Obviously there are many influences in the design of the Miata, and
certainly the Lotus Elan is one of them. Ever driven an Elan? If so, you'd
see the Miata as a poor stepchild.
Having said that... is the Bugeye a derivative? Well, Geoff was influenced
by the unibody design of the D Jag. They saw a need for an inexpensive
sports car. Not sure you can say it was designed to look like anything else
though. When I say things like that regarding Geoff, I'm not talking out of
my ass. I knew him. He was a friend. We talked at length about many
subjects. I know Gerry Coker... he penned the body. I knew Roger Menadue...
he built the prototypes and race cars. The fact that Healeys bore the name
of the people that designed them and raced them is one of my greatest
attractions to these cars.
Bottom line is, there are no comparisons between a Sprite and a Miata...to
do so insults the Sprite.
WST
_______________________________________________
Edit your replies
http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
|