Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
Subject: Re: Who gets to buy a sports car?
From: derek@fivegl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 00:48:45 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <1992Jul17.173301.25739@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> jrd@po.CWRU.Edu (John R. Daker) writes:
>
>I am proposing a new law to determine what kind of car a person can
>buy.  For example, it really pisses me off to see some uptight, poser
>in a 1992 Corvette Convertible who pulls away from a red light slower
>than the 1976 rusted out Chevy Malibu and then proceeds to let traffic
>whiz around him and get stuck behind him while he talk on the damned
>cellular phone.
>

>Or the over-makeupped rich-*itch who trundles down to the mall in her
>spanking new and professionally maintained Ferrari 308GTS and waits
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ 
>around to park it in the space closest to the door.

You mean you would buy a car with that many cylinders and that many valves
and all those funny materials and esoteric components and _maintain it 
YOURSELF_  Sheesh...
 
>People shouldn't be able to buy them just because they have the money.

Ah jealousy....

>There should be a purchasing permit.  Yeah, that's it.  To get it, you
>have to show appreciation for the type of car you want.  You have to
>show that you know what to do with it.  That you'll really appreciate
>it.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  

Sounds to me like you are the _last_ person who should be given such a 
permit.  Having a sports car doesn't give you the right to drive recklessly
etc. etc.   The permits for a desirable car should include how many accidents
and speeding tickets you have.  Only people who don't have accidents and 
don't get caught speeding should be allowed to drive sports/classic cars.

What pisses me off is to see a crashed and burned Lotus Esprit or Jaguar 
E-type or some rare classic car - destroyed for ever by some fly-boy
who thought he was gods gift... Like the guy who crashed his brand new
Porsche 959 45 minutes after picking it up from Stuttgart!

No, these cars should be driven by careful considerate drivers who only 
explore limits on open roads with no traffic or ( even better ) on private
roads.  Perhaps the Corvette driver who is conservative in traffic is trying
to preserve his/her cherished car which he/she has saved up for years for. 
They are probably uptight because they don't want the 76 Malibu too close.
Rust is like Aids - it transfers itself to your car if the other car 
penetrates the paint... and once you've got rust it will _never_ go away.

>If you have the characteristics of a Lincoln Town Car driver, then you 
>get a permit to buy one, not a new RX-7.  And, there will be no
>grandfather clause once my law takes effect.  If you're in a 'Vette, and
>it is found that you should be in a Seville, you'll have to GIVE it to
>someone who has the right appreciation levels.  You know, someone that
>gets the cold sweats when a Lotus Esprit sqirts down the street.  Or
>who salivates at the sound of a 427 tri-pak.  Or who longs for the feel
>of 1.1g on the expressway on ramp.

Yes it sounds _very_ much like you are the _last_ person who should get 
such a 'sports car' permit.  A bit like the fact that the last person you 
want as president is someone who _wants_ to be president.
 
>I'm waiting.  There's plenty of the undeserving out there with MY car.
>Just waiting.  How long till my new plan takes effect anyway?

There are _lots_ of small Honda commutacars around out there for you Mr 
Daker. So I'm sure you won't have to wait to long for the car you deserve.

Derek "Wouldn't let you behind the wheel of _my_ car"  Tearne

-- 
Derek Tearne  derek@icl.co.nz or derek@fivegl.co.nz --Fujitsu SDC,Auckland,NZ

My 'self aware' .signature file failed his Turing test.  
It turns out he was just a chess playing midget in a decorative box.
From: ron@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ron Miller)
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 20:20:58 GMT
Subject: Re: Cross country drive help wanted
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA