If I may quote from Jeremy Clarkson in today's Sunday Times.
"I am consumed by an overwhelming need to drive about in a sports car. But there's a problem with that. You can't actually buy such a thing these days.
The Mazda MX5 comes close, but over the years it has swollen and been given a bigger engine and a retractable metal roof, so that while it's delightful, it's a bit too fast, and a bit too sensible, and a bit too grippy in corners.
The Caterham Seven isn't bad either, but these days it's aimed at the adenoidal track day enthusiast rather than the chap who simply wants to slither about Oxfordshire in the sunshine. And it's extremely ugly.
The new Jaguar F type is not ugly, but it's too expensive and too powerful. Which brings me on to the BMW Z4, a machine that is neither of those things. But it is too smooth and too polished. It is lovely behold and lovely to own, but it is not a sports car.
An Alfa Romeo spider. That was a sports car, so was a Fiat 124 Spider, and the MG. The Triumph TR6 was a sports car too, as was the Sunbeam Alpine. These cars were built for fun. Ha-ha, ha-ha. You could keep them by the racehorse the Aga Khan bought you for Xmas. Even by the standards of the day they were not especially fast, but they were pretty and they all came with simple canvas roofs. They were like tenting, but without dysentery. And I miss them all.
I miss the days when handling mattered and grip didn't. Today cars are designed to go round corners as quickly as possible . Which means you can't indulge in a four wheel drift, at 20mph. And they have to be safe, which means they have to be heavy. And the one thing which a sports car cannot be is heavy.
Sports cars are for long, warm summer afternoons. And on a long, warm summer afternoon, you want a light salad, not a dirty great meat pie."
Mmm. Indeed. Now I know that the Clarkson is officially a Morgan hater, but can any of you think of a model which ticks all of the boxes he claims are the definition of "a sports car" ?
I most certainly can. And I most vigorously challenge his assertion that such a thing no longer exists.....
Last edited by pandy; 28/07/13 10:00 PM. Reason: typo
