Re: Reliable British Cars

[Andreas Meyer <meyer@hpanix.an.hp.com>]

I have had my share of British cars. Three of them to be exact.

1. 1980 TR-7 convertible: Fun, fun, fun car but terrible electrics and
	the engine was very weak. What did I do? I replaced the engine
	with a Buick 3.8 V6 and used a T-5 5 speed tranny. I also 
	installed heavier springs, bigger anti-sway bars, larger wheels 
	and tires.  The car became very reliable, was very fast, but 
	body flex was a problem that I never really overcame. But when 
	the top came down and I planted my foot down I was all smiles.

2. 1980 Rover 3500 SD-1: Another fun car with an all aluminum V8 in it.
	This one also had all kinds of electrical gremlins in it and I
	eventually sold it due to that. Can't say that it was any worse
	than the Audis though and it had fewer electronics so it was
	somewhat easier to troubleshoot.

3. 1986 TVR 280i: This was definitely the most fun car that I have
	ever owned. Got great comments wherever I drove it. People never
	knew what it was. Questions I got were: Is that a Ferrari?
	Is that the newest Lotus? It was fun having people try to figure 
	out what it was. Since TVR only imported about 200 cars a year into
	the US it was a very rare sighting indeed. Again, this car proved 
	very reliable. I never had any problems with it, but then I only 
	drove it about 3000 miles a year and sold it when it had 8000 miles 
	on it. Needed the money to finally settle down (get married) and
	build a house. Never owned any fun car like that since then. :-(
	Now I own a plane instead. Much less risk of getting speeding 
	tickets :-) and I just got one the other day on the Mass Pike in
	western MA for doing 76 in a 65! Talk about a revenue hungry SOB.

Andreas Meyer