Pedigrees or muts?

[Mark Jones <MARK@buchananco.com>]

My digest friend Rich Wagner wrote:

>The only people who know how the ride height
>affects the handling of the car are the guys who designed it.  With nearly
>70 years of experience in designing each of the car's systems, and with
>nearly 70 years of testing to generate the data backing up their design
>parameters, they walked the tightrope that all designers walk, trading off
>performance here for performance there.  In the end, they arrived at what
>they believed to be the best performance BALANCE for the car.  Their
>determination of that balance point came from all of that experience and
>testing.  THIS is what makes an Alfa work, look, feel, sound, and smell
>like an Alfa, and not a Plymouth.

I thought my stock GTV6 rolled around the corners just like a Plymouth!
The roads are very different in Italy, than the US.  The car may have
been optimized for their roads, and we all know the ride height was
changed for US cars to meet minimum required headlight heights from the
road.  No Rich, the designers parameters do not necessarily match our
actual conditions, or individually desired parameters.  (Like no cup
holders).  Many design parameters are defined by economic reasons, like
Ford Taurus steering wheels in new Jaguars.   My lowered, stiffened GTV6
rides and handles much better than stock, especially at the race track,
where the parameters exist that I want the suspension optimized for.

On original or restored pristine cars:
I grew up helping restore several cars, including a beautiful '32
Packard coupe.  I can still appreciate the effort of collectors to
restore and maintain beautiful stock examples their favored marques.
However, I eventually found it numbing and in the end boring.  Taking my
GTV6 to the track and flogging that beautiful, but low value $2000
machine is what I'd prefer to do with my car.  However, I certainly was
drooling over an immaculate stock GTV6 at a recent club event.

My point?  Enjoy your Alfa as you wish, just make sure it's an Alfa you
enjoy!

(The audiophiles on the list would die if they knew I renovated my old
McIntosh MC240 tube amp with new caps and resistors, sounds much better
now)

Mark Jones,
Chevy Chase MD

BTW, I recall you are an avid cyclist.  You didn't customize/bastardize
your bicycle, did you?