Re:SPICA..more stuff

[richard bies <bies@domain.elided>]

The question the gentleman asked was <why> the bum rap.

Plenty of posts indicating that working perfectly, it works very well --
that can't be it.

In its time and place; the circumstances and history of its market, the
SPICA system was a lightning-rod.  We were accustomed to European versions
working better.  Detroit products were known to be having a hard time.  If
SPICA was the greatest idea since sliced bread, then why only the US?
(Other details were known to provide better performance to European cars.)

Alfa was seen as the "free spirit" -- uncompromised dedication to
performance (so OK, they actually were quite compromised -- but the
context was Detroit iron which wouldn't stop or turn.)  Here the last one
was selling-out to the tree-huggers (or whatever) -- betrayal.

Could the pitch have been handled better?  Probably.  "Look, guys, you
elected them -- we didn't -- try it, and you'll find we preserved the
peformance while slipping through the rules.  We can't tell you much about
it, as your government wants us to prevent your being able to tune it?"
You know, it <could> be argued that this system was the first to preserve
performance while meeting the regs.

But it was behind the eight-ball.  It didn't take much consideration to
see a hefty piece of change was due to that system (double-digit inflation
had not yet hit).  Then it turned-out that there were no parts -- whatever
little occult knowledge of the workings was limited to the high-priced
dealers -- if they could actually fix this one -- and Alfa was not telling
anything.  Bad news.  Then the TA's start failing, exposing the Achillie's
heel -- there <is> a high-priced part -- but the way to go is forget it,
and regain <some> control through the Sure Start.

Maintainable, infinitely tunable Weber, where are you?  SPICA couldn't
win, probably even if promoted optimally, whatever that may have been.

"Global Warming"?  No, not yet the label for the agenda -- the coming ice
- -age more the climatic cause celebre'.  Another instance in which, though
the basis keeps changing, the perscription remains the same.  The "Global
Warming" basis invented later -- but the agenda/perscription remains as it
was at that time.  The labels are interchangable -- as validity is 
irrelevant to the agenda, and they yield the same perscription.

r.m.bies

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