From: yogi@coombs.anu.edu.au (Michael Hanslip)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Fast Japanese Sports Cars
Date: 23 Nov 92 06:53:41 GMT
Organization: Australian National University
NNTP-Posting-Host: 150.203.76.2

sam@john-bigboote.ics.uci.edu (Sam Horrocks) writes:

>In <74435@apple.apple.COM> chmilar@Apple.COM (Michael Chmilar) writes:

>>3000 VR-4:  Ugly, ugly, and ugly.  Did I forget to mention:  it is U-G-L-Y?
>>            It gets my vote for grossest car of the '90's.  Whoever did the
>>            styling on this thing should be killed.

>You obviously have bad taste.  The 300GT brings an exotic style to an
>affordable car.  Do you think the Viper or Countach are ugly just
>because they have unusual "styling"?  I think Mitsubishi should be
>given lots of credit for making an interesting car instead of something
>like the (ho-hum) 300ZX.

While beauty is supposed to be in the "eye of the beholder" I think this is 
a car that is styled far enough to produce a love it/hate it kind of reaction.
I like the general looks but dislike the plastic bubbles on the hood-silly idea
Mitsubishi. Not a car I've had a lot of feelings about one way or the other.

>>RX-7:       Brutal.  Some of the light weight is acheived by flimsy
>>            construction.  Check out:  Entire interior, door latches, inside
>>            of the wheel wells.  This is a $34,000 car?  If you drive on
>>            rough roads, make sure your health insurance covers rehabilitating
>>            bruised kidneys.  Looks nice and aggressive, but the R1 has
>>            that cheesy, ugly spoiler.  With the combo of stiff suspension
>>            and flimsy construction, it may well shake itself to pieces in
>>            a few years.  These cars are not selling well, so you can
>>            probably name your price for one.

>The RX-7 makes an attempt at something interesting, but ends up looking
>more like a Miata than anything else.  Also, it's way too small.

I am curious how you suggest that lightweight be achieved if not by light
construction? This is a lotus sort of thing to do don't you think? I approve of
it, but this is not going to be a car for everyone and I think Mazda realizes
this. The suspension feels pretty soft compared to my "street prepared" 
Auto-X Mustang! And I thought that was OK, as long as you didn't leave your 
tougue hanging out as over bumps you'd bite it off =-(. As for the styling, 
I think it looks a lot better than the last one. It is not really a rip-
off of anything else and from 1000m away you can still identify this. What 
is the car too small for? I thought it was about right on first exposure and the
car has grown on me with subsequent months.

>>300ZX:      Refined.  Elegant.  Best styling job that Japanese designers
>>            have ever done.  Also, goes like stink, and handles well.  Best
>>            interior too.  Control placement is nearly perfect, and quality
>>            is high.

>This has to be the dullest looking sports car of the 90's.  Nissan
>didn't have to spend much time thinking about the styling for this one --
>there's nothing interesting in it.  The looks of this car are nothing
>new, nothing exotic, just the Same Old Thing.  I guess that makes some
>people happy, but I'd rather have car makers come up with more
>interesting designs rather than try to keep from offending people with
>pedestrian tastes.

I think that if you remember back to when the car first came out, you will 
realize what a sensation it was. For me the car has stood the test of time 
well. I LOVE the decreasing radius curve defined by the slope over the side
windows. I really like the headlights and the smiling demon look they impart.
I found the car fun to drive and the interior is good - Nissans of late have
all been good cars, but then so have Mazdas. Actually I would be hard pressed
to point to a Japanese car of the past 24 months I didn't like. The 300 fits
into a sort of classic sports car dimension, but with some interesting touches.
The result is not instantly identifiable, but certainly not the Same Old Thing.

In the end, I don't see that arguing over looks will get anyone anywhere. I 
know what I like, and why, but it doesn't seem to work for anyone I know, they
all like different things and for different reasons.


Michael.

>--
>Sam Horrocks
>ICS Department, UC Irvine
>Email: sam@ics.uci.edu
--
Michael Hanslip
yogi@coombs.anu.edu.au  -  mdh410@csc.anu.edu.au