[CR] The highly subjective nature of excellence in old machinery, part 2

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 19:33:48 -0700
From: <euromeccanicany@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] The highly subjective nature of excellence in old machinery, part 2


Why is a cruddy old English sports car so much fun? Take the MGB. Slow, noisy ("rorty", say the Brits) with so-so brakes and mediocre performance on a skid pad, they are a ball to drive. Quick steering is part of it; so is the lack of a roof (although it was the hardtop MGBGT that inspired English folkie and supernatural guitar player Richard Thompson to write a devotional song of the same name) and a driving position that has your elbows crooked, your legs straight out and your bottom delicately suspended barely 7 inches above the rushing pavement. But the whole is in this case far greater than the sum of its parts. No matter how you slice it, the numbers say, "lousy sports car". No matter how you slice it, you say, "Wheeeeee!"

Michael Shiffer
EuroMeccanica, Inc.
114 Pearl Street
Mount Vernon, NY 10550
(914) 668-1300
euromeccanicany.com