While I do agree that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as one who caries the scars of mechanical meddling over many a year, the quality of the design and materials selected along with the way they are machined and put together to preform the task required of the assemblage has for ME a tad more importance than the beauty of a set of wonderful curves. If Curves happened to be my priority then I suspect my sights might be set on a Ferrari as the panicle of my desire, but that is not the case, though I can fully understand the attraction, had I an excess of wherewithal, and as a confirmed petrol head, I would certainly have one in my garage.
With limited funds available a degree of practicality has to take precedence, and that is where function over form comes to the fore, thus temperamental Italian beauties fall by the wayside when there may be a longer more demanding road to be followed...?
I have owned an old Jag, I remember well working with shims and a micrometer to set up valve clearances on that wonderful 3.8 six cylinder engine, a bit of a fiddle, but exactly the kind of involvement I enjoyed at that time. Inboard discs and handbrake shoes provided other maintenance challenges on occasion, more so with the passage of time. I was fortunate to put £60 worth of petrol through a V12E in the late 70`s it was a special machine indeed, and still is today, but for ME it seems when I add everything up, the practicality of an air cooled Porsche still fits the bill at this moment in time.
I guess there are lots of reasons why people with access to sample all sorts of machinery on a regular basis might choose one or other car for their personal transport when spending their own cash, and their decisions may not be entirely practical, nationalistic traits and other types of bias may take prominence over practicality, and in my case after years of air cooled Porsche ownership, my next fun car of choice was a Morgan... which in engineering terms alone was a step back in time. NOT that I was in any way ignorant of the realities of Morgan ownership prior to spending my hard earned coin, having spent circa five years on the MSCCDG then eMog reading of all of the many foibles that Morganeers experienced over that period of time and while trying to contribute in some way to helping folk resolve them....
As I have typed before my Desire to own a Morgan was based upon a degree of practicality.. (-: I was desirous of a vintage sports car experience with a degree of performance that could keep up with or perhaps better modern traffic, a Vintage Bentley had fired my imagination at the time, and all things considered a Morgan seemed to fit the bill.... which it did and more so than ever expected.
If for whatever reason I may not come to own another Porsche, that will bother me not a jot, for despite my Morgan not fitting the bill as it once did relative to my ageing processes, it has earned it`s place in my garage and still provides memories a plenty and a sense of pleasure every time I visit the garage, and of course a linkage to this fine group of enthusiasts with tales a plenty to tell.. (-:
For sure a 911 would better protect me from the cold and damp, and as such in my part of the world would be a more practical solution, providing more opportunity to get out and about in all weathers...BUT... for now my old Mog is sitting comfortably no more than a few steps away ready and waiting...Just that the weather is grey and wet and cold... and looks to be so for some period of time... Bu@@er..!
