klein@ucbcad.UUCP (04/05/85)
Only Germans and Italians can make real sports cars. -- -Mike Klein ...!ucbvax!ucbmerlin:klein (UUCP) klein%ucbmerlin@berkeley (ARPA)
hkr4627@acf4.UUCP (Hedley K. J. Rainnie) (04/08/85)
Let's reflect a bit on history and alter that comment to read: Only the English and the Italians can build real sports cars. (Dependability and practicality are the antithesis of the "real" sports car. Speed Racer
bhs@siemens.UUCP (04/08/85)
To Man-of-few-words: Amen. English also build the odd good sports car, but maybe only by accident . B H Schwab Siemens RTL, Princeton, NJ
tron@fluke.UUCP (Peter Barbee) (04/08/85)
> Only Germans and Italians can make real sports cars. > -- And real men don't eat quiche. This could begin an interesting discussion - do the various European countries produce enthusiast's cars which can be typecast by country? What are the typical features? Good and bad, please. Personally I've always liked the English roadsters, I wish they had continued to improve them and keep them current. I liked the feeling of freedom I got from having the top down in this itty-bitty car that was barely big enough to fit around me. I liked the simpleness of the drivetrain components, is there a carburator simpler than an SU?, a clener gearbox design than that on Sprites and Midgets? While not fantastically reliable they were always easy to fix - I guess at that time I didn't mind fixing something before I could drive home from work. Now I drive an Italian car - it is gorgeous, one of the prettiest cars around. I get the feeling that the Alfa engineers don't consider anything that doesn't directly affect performance to be worthy of their time. Maybe I wasn't as critical of cars that I paid one fifth as much for, but I'd like the visors to stay put, the windows to roll up properly, and the seat belts to be easy to buckle-up. Aside from the niggling complaints the car is great - they do care about performance and looks (I realize it is vain to take pride in my fancy ride - I don't care). Aack, back to work Peter Barbee decvax-+-uw-beaver-+ ihnp4--+ allegra-+ ucbvax----lbl-csam-+--fluke!tron sun-+ ssc-vax-+ :
rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher) (04/10/85)
> > Only Germans and Italians can make real sports cars. > > -- > > And real men don't eat quiche. > > > > > This could begin an interesting discussion - do the various European > countries produce enthusiast's cars which can be typecast by country? > What are the typical features? Good and bad, please. I've owned cars from several countries, and I've always ascribed definite personalities to them, that fit my (perhaps stereotypical) view of their country of origin: 1. Triumph TR250 - Nice traditional sports car. I almost went so far as to by a tam o'shanter hat for that English feeling. Mostly reliable, except for some electrical gremlins. (oops, I meant "buy") Understated sportiness, and a lot of fun. 2. Fiat Spider - When it ran it ran great. Had a great flair to it, as well as a lot of idiosyncrasies (Great sounding air horns, window winders that turned the wrong way, door looks that turned opposite to usual.) Almost made me want to take up opera singing. Biggest problem: Blew up the engine (twice!), and it rusted so fast you could hear it dropping off. 100% attention to making it perform (at least for a while), and to style. 0% attention to durability. 3. 1959 Corvette (still have) - Makes me feel like finding an A&W drive in to hang out at. Instant nostalgia (although for me its a little before my time, being born in 1955). Draws a lot of stares; unlike a lot of sports cars, this one seems to appeal at least a little to all sorts of people - muscle-car types, sports car types, old, young. Goes like hell, turns OK, stops OK (at least for 1959 standards). Real durable, as everything is heavy duty. Flashy and fun. 4. Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 3.5 - (Normally wife's car, but also our family car). This car makes me want to blast down the Autobahn at 100+. Typical German solidness, with everything engineered for about double a typical car's life. Being older (1971, with 140k miles; it had to be this old for me to afford it), it's less sterile feeling than more recent German cars, with lots of wood, etc. I know I'm succombing to the environment when I find myself going faster and faster on the Tollway, and humming Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" (did I get that title right? I meant the music that was used in Apocolypse Now.) Especially if its thundering outside. (Thor?) Then I get in my old Buick to drive to work and it's back to hum-drum. Bob Schleicher ihuxk!rs55611 .
broder@magic.ARPA (04/13/85)
In article <929@ihuxk.UUCP> rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher) writes: >> This could begin an interesting discussion - do the various European >> countries produce enthusiast's cars which can be typecast by country? >> What are the typical features? Good and bad, please. > >I've owned cars from several countries, and I've always ascribed >definite personalities to them, that fit my (perhaps stereotypical) >view of their country of origin: > . . . > 4. Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 3.5 - (Normally wife's car, but also our > family car). This car makes me want to blast down the Autobahn at > 100+. Typical German solidness, with everything engineered for > about double a typical car's life. Being older (1971, with 140k > miles; it had to be this old for me to afford it), it's less sterile > feeling than more recent German cars, with lots of wood, etc. I know > I'm succombing to the environment when I find myself going faster and > faster on the Tollway, and humming Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" > (did I get that title right? I meant the music that was used in > Apocolypse Now.) Especially if its thundering outside. (Thor?) For the true Wagnerian feel try a 300SEL 6.3. This is a rather strange contraption, a sort of German executive muscle car. It is the fastest MBZ ever. It has the 6.3l engine from the 600 limo but weights considerably less. Even the sanitized American version has 300 HP SAE, and gets to 60 mph in slightly less than 7 secs. Top speed is 140 mph. The handling, for a car of this weight and size, based on a self-levelling air suspension, is quite amazing (there are no springs). For instance there is no back raising no matter how hard you brake, and almost no leaning in curves. All this is coupled with the wood trim, leather interior, and sedate look. What I like most about the car is that it feels and handles the same whether you go 55 or 105 ... (It is useless to tell this to the highway patrol ...) Mercedes made them from about 69 till 71 and then they decided that they are an overkill. Later they made another one in this vein, the 450 6.9 but it was slower. Of course, all their big cars today are slow, fat, and well above my means. O tempora, o mores. - Andrei