Comments on: Family Rides: 1970 Austin America http://www.ridelust.com/family-rides-1970-austin-america/ - Motion + Mobility Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:25:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mewan http://www.ridelust.com/family-rides-1970-austin-america/#comment-19942 mewan Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:13:17 +0000 http://www.ridelust.com/?p=37131#comment-19942 i need hydroelastic suspnesions for austin gt 1300 i need hydroelastic suspnesions for austin gt 1300

]]> By: Dustin Driver http://www.ridelust.com/family-rides-1970-austin-america/#comment-14807 Dustin Driver Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:07:03 +0000 http://www.ridelust.com/?p=37131#comment-14807 Beautifully said, Terry. Beautifully said. Beautifully said, Terry. Beautifully said.

]]> By: Terry Parkhurst http://www.ridelust.com/family-rides-1970-austin-america/#comment-14806 Terry Parkhurst Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:46:56 +0000 http://www.ridelust.com/?p=37131#comment-14806 The Austin America proved that a concept is really only as good as its execution. Sir Alec Issigonis, the designer of the America, is best remembered for creating the original Mini, back in 1959. The Mini, like the America, really wasn't as people think. As a former Mini owner once told me, "People who revere the original Mini, never owned one." But in retrospect, old romances are oftentimes fondly remembered, despite their downsides. The same is true of the cars which marked passages in our lives. Call it the triumph of perception over reality. The number of vintage British crocks that live up to their reputations are few. The big Healeys - Austin-Healey 3000s, especially - are in that group. The little bug-eye Austin Sprites are another. If the Mini hadn't morphed into essentially a baby BMW, it might be remembered just as the Austin America is. The Austin America proved that a concept is really only as good as its execution. Sir Alec Issigonis, the designer of the America, is best remembered for creating the original Mini, back in 1959.

The Mini, like the America, really wasn’t as people think. As a former Mini owner once told me, “People who revere the original Mini, never owned one.”

But in retrospect, old romances are oftentimes fondly remembered, despite their downsides. The same is true of the cars which marked passages in our lives. Call it the triumph of perception over reality. The number of vintage British crocks that live up to their reputations are few. The big Healeys – Austin-Healey 3000s, especially – are in that group. The little bug-eye Austin Sprites are another.

If the Mini hadn’t morphed into essentially a baby BMW, it might be remembered just as the Austin America is.

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