You can drive my car

We went to the British car show at Shelton Vineyards this past weekend. Packed full of Triumphs, MGs, and quite a few Austin Healeys, it was, as usual, a fun day out for us. The vineyard is a nice setting for a show, and a picnic, and a great spot for my daughter to wander around, as well as get invited to sit in a bunch of old cars. Those things are so tiny, she almost fits now. Give her a phone book and she could drive on of those Triumphs.

On the tractor ride around the farm, one guy, a member of the Triumph club, suggested I get her a pink Triumph. I agreed, as that would be a good way to keep her at home. I don't know if he got it or not. See, Triumphs and other little British cars are notoriously unreliable and... well, there's a lot of baling wire involved.

I must say, I am surprised that I don't see the roads leading up to Shelton littered with little MGs steaming and smoking, dying by the side of the road like a squashed groundhog. When I lived in California, I enjoyed going to the different shows at Monterey Historics Weekend. The place was crawling with Ferraris. Lamborghinis, Bentleys, and more. We would take the day off on Friday to go to the big Concorso Italiano to see all the new and old Italian cars. And that spot, wow, those things would overheat as soon as they stopped. Those high end Ferraris really needed air going into their radiators to keep them from popping. 

Having a sports car, whether it is a classic little machine or a high end supercar, is a challenge and a risk. There's a reason you can find Maseratis that normally coast close to $100K on sale used at around $35,000. The brake job on many of those cars can cost more than an entire car. It may not stop you from wanting one of these, but don't think that a classic can be a good daily driver.

I remember seeing a Jaguar XK120 at a dealership in Monterey once. I was commenting on how nice looking it was, when the salesman pointed out that it had no seatbelt, and the unpadded dash was probably right at the height your chin would be if your head went forward in a crash. 

I'm liking my SUV with a dozen air bags more and more.