Bastardization

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

In v7, #583, Todd Mathews wrote (among other things):

"Have you ever seen a twin cam MGA advertised with a
"late model MGB engine" installed? It breaks a guys
heart."

Yeah, there will always be crass jerks who insist on
actually using their cars instead of worshipping them.
The MG twin cam is a very good case in point: a heavy
and overcomplicated head was fitted to the BMC "B"
block as a marketing ploy, resulting in rather less of
an increase in power than was achieved later by more
normal strategies in the 1600 Mk. II version. The
fitting of later pushrod engines to these cars was
started by the factory (in the Deluxe model, which used
the Mk. II engine in the upgraded Twin Cam chassis),
and has a long and honorable history in English club
racing.

Look: a car is, after all, only a car. Historical
significance is something to consider where it's
applicable - I wouldn't drop a Verde V6 in a Freccia
d'Oro! - but we're talking about mass-produced cars
here, not handcrafted masterpieces. When we're down to
the last few hundred Spiders in the world, some sort of
conservation effort might be in order, but as of right
now they're considerably more common around here than
Giulia TIs are, and did we hear gasps of shock and/or
horror when someone was advertising the Giulia that had
been cut down into a pickup truck?

Will Owen
Nashville, TN


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