[net.auto] oldest design sold in the US

dlp@akgua.UUCP (D.L. Philen [Dan]) (12/17/84)

    As for the oldest design car *SOLD* in the U.S., both Porsche
and Studebaker are wrong.  Anyone want to make a guess for
this trivia question?  My answer is the Morgan.  The Morgan
body is basically unchanged from the dseign from the 30's. It
stil has a leather strap across the bonnet.  The engine however
has changed over the years, and the new ones run on propane to meet
emission requirements.  Anyone with a thought of taking on one of
these cars - think again.  They may look old but the modern
ones are HOT.  The design however is right out of the 30's.
Anyone got an older answer.  For enthusiasts, see the Nov or
Dec, (not sure which) Road and Track. They have a feature
article on 75th anniversary of the car.

berry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (12/19/84)

In article <1151@akgua.UUCP> dlp@akgua.UUCP (D.L. Philen [Dan]) writes:
>
>    As for the oldest design car *SOLD* in the U.S., both Porsche
>and Studebaker are wrong.  [...] My answer is the Morgan.

Here we see the classic problem of definition of terms.  What do we mean 
by "sold in the US"?  I would venture to say we are talking about cars
sold AS NEW in the US by the manufacturer or their representative, the
independent dealer.  My understanding of the Morgan situation is that they
are imported into Canada, modified to run on propane and then ferried 
down to the US through Seattle, whereupon they are sold as USED cars, thus
managing to avoid a host of picky NHTSA regulations.

I could be wrong, though.  Morgans are neat cars, no matter how many nits
you pick :-)



-- 
"Take this //JOB and run it!"

Berry Kercheval		Zehntel Inc.	(ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry)
(415)932-6900