Re: carpool lanes

[Simon Favre <simon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Sigh. Here we go again. The Alfa GTV was always INTENDED to be a 2+2. If
you read the owners' manual on the early ones, that's what it says. The
thing about the FIA homologation rules is that there have to be certain
interior dimensions for a car to qualify as a sedan for racing purposes.
Basically, the FIA has a "yardstick" for everything. If you have an
upholstered rear seat, and the right yardstick fits between the seat and
the headliner, your car is a sedan and gets to race against sedans. The
US Gummit, in its *infinite* wisdom forced Alfa to market the 2000 GTV 
as a 2-seater, most likely because it failed some safety spec for sedans.
This was discussed recently on the Digest. I thought the consensus was
that it was either the bumpers or the brakes that weren't strong enough
for a car with 4 people in it, so Alfa had to call it a 2-seater with a
very nice "luggage shelf".  (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)  My money's on 
inadequate bumpers.

Bottom line, I believe the relayed quote from the CHiP officer, "If a car
has any kind of seat whatsoever, behind the driver's seat it cannot be 
classed as a two seater." I would NOT try to fight this one in court. The
real goal of carpool lanes is to move more people in fewer cars. If that's
the goal, then discriminating against 2-seaters and 2+2s with impractical
rear seats will always stand up in court. There are more important things
to fight in court, IMO.

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