I’m a little bit of a car buff (that may come as a bit of a surprise to those who know about the Shaggin’ Wagon) and I occasionally read up on cars. A lot of auto writers pride themselves on being the first to drive a new car, first to give a full test to a car, first to get a photo of a new car.
On the other hand, the guys on Car Talk like to take the road less traveled. One of them owns a classic sports car, and his brother derides that car (along with his brother) on a regular basis. Now, on their web site, the knuckleheads gave a road test (as full as the car and the brothers could stand) to Tommy’s 1952 MG TD. And it’ BRUTAL.
You didn’t do it justice Jay. That’s the funniest damned car review I have ever read. LMAO.
Hilarious car review, thanks! Posted the link on my favorite car forums.
HAHAHAHA now that was good!
Yeah, but they DO look cool.
Hehe…headroom is infinite due to lack of roof…lol
Oddly enough, this sort of thing recently came up over on comp.lang.forth in a discussion about the security implications of FORTH as a programming language; someone whipped out the Renault 4 as an example of an unsafe design in that, in addition to the spear for a steering column, the shift lever goes horizontally out the front of the passenger compartment. Over at renault4.de, there’s a photo gallery including this one, which gives a good indication of where the shift knob is located and which direction the shaft goes and this one, which also shows the added safety benefits of the seats. From another site comes this one, giving an excellent view of the shift lever going out over the engine to the transmission, mounted in front of the engine.
During the discussion, someone who had been involved in a front-end collision in a Renault 4 pointed out that he had not had difficulty with the shift lever, but his knee did not win its battle with the key sticking out of the ignition switch.
Oh, but that car is GORGEOUS…
well…. it was in 1971, when it was forest green, driven by the hunky Early twins.
(I was in high school, ok?)
In the late 70’s I put together $1500 and bought a 1967 MGB GT. LOVED that car.
I have to agree with everyone else. That is the funniest car review I ever read!
Thanks, Jay. That is pretty funny.
But the author is a bit dishonest when he claims that the MG TD “represents the state-of-the-art in engine design, transmission, and suspension… for 1952”. Not really. They were better than the previous models but still pretty simple and bare-bones. Roadster enthusiasts were a niche market even then. If you want solid 1952 state-of-the-art you’d have to look in Detroit or Germany, I think.
I have owned a TD since 1967.
There’s a few things Tommy hasn’t mentioned, perhaps his TD doesn’t know him as long as mine knows me.
When I want to drive her on a sunny sunday afternoon, I pull off the blankets covering her in my garage. Then, I mustn’t be doubtfull wether she will start or not. Why ? She knows..
When I pull her by hand out of the shed, I can feel wether she’s in for a ride or not.
When I’m too hasty, she will probably not start. The best thing is to pull up her “skirt” covering her inside machine and let the sun shine on her insides for a quarter of an hour.
During a ride she may stop instantly, usually along lonely country roads. (only roads she wants to take..)
In that case I don’t have to do anything, just wait for some 5 minutes and start her up again.
I have a love/hate relation with her. The problem is, when I show the hate-side of the relation, she refuses everything.
She refuses to drive in the rain.
She drinks too much..
She smokes…
(for her age…!)
She was too heavy, and I helped her: did away with the front fenders (now allum. cyclewings) , the bumpers, the screen,the footboards, the side bonnets.
I advise you to try it: she has a much more agressive and faster character..
In other words: The TD is the only car in the world with an almost human personality.
And as with every human: not always reliable and trustworthy…
Rien de Bruin,
Holland