I love the story, Healey. It resonates.
Lots of parallels between us, though it was my own choice to play with first British then German cars only because of circumstances of residence and the crowds I happened to fall into at various times. My dad never was a car guy, so pretty much a self-taught disease er skill. What American vehicles I had were perhaps unusual (a '66 289 Bronco and a '78 Scout Traveler) or for practical reasons, like a 1-ton Chev van (what a horrible piece of shit that was) to pull trailers.
Later on, commuting for great distances and needing vehicles that my wife could drive sent me down the American path again; long distance straight-line comfortable transportation is an American thing, and rightly so given the size of the country.
I've never had a horrid British car that fit the sereotype that many who never have played with them seem to like repeating. The 2002 and my Mk1 Golf GTI were both joys as well.
I never fell into Oriental cars for some reason (or bikes, which is another albeit shorter story). Perhaps I resent the death of the Brit roadster at their hand, the perfection at the expense of soul, I don't know. I can't put a finger on it, but every one I've ever driven has left me somehow wanting that something intangible they can never seem to deliver for me. I don't know what it is...
Today most modern cars, regardless of origin, follow suit and admirably suit the majority, but they leave me just as unsatisfied. All the tech and peripheral stuff, and it isn't just the Oriental ones. The Germans like buttons and knobs and switches and all that; two of which are pet peeves. First are the voice activated systems; phones, satnav &c. No makes one yet that works to my voice, unreliable dam things. The other is a "sport" button. Get rid of the dam button and leave out the choice between "sport" and "vague and listless". Who would choose the latter? At least (Mini and BMW, listen up!) have it default on "sport" when you turn the dam car on.
Nope. Modern cars aren't an improvement to me; too much seasoning and not enough meat. There are a couple advantages, better integrity during winter (read that as "rust"), safety, and mechanical longevity (so long as the electronics don't take a shit; the weak point today). Even the modern Mini falls short here, but still better than most. It's as good a "out-of-season" driver as I can find, but still suffers from BMW's version of modern over-complexity. Everyone suffers from that, but the Germans seem to have made it a matter of religion.
Retiring changed everything. So, now I can play with cars that scratch the driver's itch, wield a spanner or two, not worry about having the capability to get home 100 miles in the snow. Nice to be back.
