Lawdevil wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2024 5:26 pm
914Putsch, thank you for your entertaining and erudite greeting. I was blown away by your prose; obviously, you have risen far above the rigors of legal writing required by law school. Not one "heretofore", or latin phrase. You are to be commended. Now, therefor, notwithstanding the foregoing, and in consideration of your superior intellect, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged by the undersigned party of the first part, and in furtherance of the premises set forth herein, the undersigned does hereby commend, applaud, approve and endorse your chracterization of the 914-6 (and the lowly 914, aka VW/Porsche) as a seriously under-appreciated vehicle.
I too had an Orange 1970 914-6, which I was forced to sell during my third year of law school when I realized I could only afford two of: 1.law school tuition, 2. a newly acquired spouse, or 3. the 914-6. I chose to let the car go, which was the right choice, but nevertheless a difficult one. Who knows - perhaps your 914-6 was my long, lost car.
As to the MG-TD, although I loved it, it was in reality a terrible car. Underpowered and miserably cold in winter with gale force wind and rain entering the cabin even with the side curtains installed, and handling which was fun, but in retrospect, probably inferior to 90 % of the American iron on the road then. OTOH, it was beautiful and I really looked good in it.
Is there a car in that picture?
S/ LAWDEVIL
Thank you for the kind words, Mike! Evidence presented, duly noted and entered into the court records, honorable Sir. [The defense rests (and occasionally is actually on the verge of actual narcolepsy during proceedings, be it knownst to the court's medical examiner)!] Your valor in doing the right thing (vis-a-vis the parable of the
'Lady and the Tiger') in letting that beautiful orange 'Six' go to a new home is truly commendable. That is indeed a Hobson's Choice, but with my luck, instead of a tiger crouching behind the door, it would likely have been a
Lorena Babbitt clone lurking in the shadows with a psychopathic glint in her eyes!
Frankly speaking, choosing law school tuition and a loverly (sic) better half is certainly the rational, thoughtful individual's 'correct' course of action in a situation like that, but inside the most rational, steely-eyed, true-blue realist's heart-of-hearts, a 914-6's beguiling screams for clemency can latently still wake you out of a sound sleep at zero-dark-hours in the AM.
I know...been there! 
Back in the past, before I had the good sense to gravitate to Herr Doktor Prof. Porsche's masterful automotive masterpieces, I also had an interest in old British sportscars...probably because there were generally speaking only three major arenas in which post-war sports jobs predominated (Italy, Germany and England). I had two friends who acquired Jaguar XK-120s, both pretty tatty (both the Jags and the buddies) but still all there, and these buddies were, of course, of the Hunter S. Thompson bent. While I was serving in the US Air Farce (sic) at DMAFB in Tucson (mid-60s), one of these two goofballs would wait until the typical Tucson mid-summer thundercloud would suddenly appear out of a hot summer sky and break loose all the rain in hell, and grab me to fly right-seat while he piloted his ambling wreck of a Jag drop-head coupe across the outer reaches of the base at speeds that would terrify Stirling Moss...in the midst of a ferocious downpour,
with the hood down! Picture, if you can, him behind that huge clunky Jag's steering wheel, cackling with glee that would make
Kamala jealous...and me, terrified into complete catatonia, wishing the car had seatbelts! Oh yes, those were fun times!
No argument that the British cars, subject to the Lucas 'Prince of Darkness, were a mechanical handful, even under the best of circumstances. Another friend had a Lotus Elan that he characterised as being a 50/50 proposition...half the time on the road, thrilling him to (near-) death and the other half occupying pride of place as the hanger queen in the local shop! But despite all their quirks, foibles and challenges, there was something ineffably classy about the old TC and TDs! And Morgans? Yessir, you had to be a bit of a masochist to keep a British sportscar on the road, but they still reeked with class and a cachet entirely of their own!
That said, I am definitely an old-school recidivist, even at my...ahem, slightly 'advanced' age! I still relish E.F. Schumacher style simplicity in my cars...wind in the face, no side curtains, a barely adequate hood (leaky) and no cushy, cozy amenities (unless absolutely necessary). Think James Dean in his 550...that kind of spartan ethos. Probably one of the reasons why the simplicity of the 914 is so attractive to me. Unfortunately, those days are now long over and done with and times change!
Still, you obviously paid your sportscar enthusiast dues and good on ya for that, Mike!
- Bruce_Futhey_and_Chris_in_Bruces_1952_Jag_XK-120_1969.jpg (863.64 KiB) Viewed 399 times
I am reminded here, for no obviously apparent reason, that one of my favorite films was/is 'THE PAPER CHASE.' All of the characterisations portrayed in that wonderfully entertaining and thought provoking movie were superb! I've always felt that having a JD is an excellent foundation for going on into some completely unrelated area of work interest, since making it through the rigors of law school is proof-positive of one's street creds in being able to 'press on, regardless.' Whether that's still the case these days, I am uncertain, but it certainly was the case several decades ago.