MG Car Club of South Australia
MGC NEWS
MGC conversations by Richard Mixture, February 2018
MGs – Enjoy ‘em while you can
H
ello, it’s Richard here for the New
Year. Well the pudding has set-
tled, that’s the Christmas pudding and
not the black one. Did you enjoy your’s?
I have always bought my MGs for the
joy of driving them. That joy is certainly
becoming curtailed as speed limits are
reduced and speed cam.., sorry safety
cameras, have been secretly installed
on many roads. Traffic has increased,
even in the Adelaide Hills, and as we all
get older many drivers are agonisingly
slow and have trouble keeping their
rather large SUVs on the left side of the
white line. Of course it’s not only limited
to older drivers ...
Have you driven a modern motor car
recently? I know Arthur has. They
seem quite dead to me. Comfortable?
Yes. Quiet? Yes. Lots of electronic
toys?
Yes. Feedback through the
steering? No. Feedback though the
seat of your pants? No. Fun to drive?
No.
Cars are becoming more and more
automated and driverless car are just
around the corner. I know some people
don’t agree with my thoughts but if not
the next corner it will be the one after
that. Yes I know there are many prob-
lems to be solved but it will happen.
I remember the first boxy Volvo car I
drove in the early ‘80s, a 264. It was a
higher car, oops hire car and it reminded
me of my grandfather’s wing-back chair,
quite soft and you weren’t sure what
was happening under the seat of your
pants. I was always cautioned never to
buy one because if the electronic igni-
tion failed you were stuck and had to
call a tow truck. You couldn’t get the
spare set of points out of the glove box
and chuck them in the dizzy to get you
going. Can you buy a new car these
days without electronic ignition/computer
ignition plus ...? Have I made my point
about driverless cars?
After a glass of that nice Langhorne
Creek sparkling shiraz (or two) my mind
starts pondering the future.
I can imagine that just around the next
couple of corners you can hop into your
mobile phone, if you’ve got one of those
confounded things, tap on an app and a
driverless vehicle will arrive at your front
door within minutes (mind you mobile
phones may well be in the museum by
that time but what will replace them?). It
will also be handleless so as you ap-
proach the vehicle it will recognise you
and a door will open. While on the out-
side you notice it is windowless but as
you step inside you can see outside for
360 degrees. It’s a bit like that Time
And Relative Dimension In Space vehi-
cle that the Doctor runs around in. You
just have to ask this vehicle to take you
to an address and off you go. Will it
have wheels? Probably not, though I’m
sure the early versions will have wheels.
Engine noise? No way, it’s electric. Will
it accept cash? No, but the numbers in
your bank account will be adjusted by
the time the bottom of your pants touch
the seat.
While the world is embracing digital
technology the concept of analogue may
well disappear from the lexicon. Try
keeping a TC between the roadside
verge and the white line as you go off on
a car club run. That experience may
only be available after you put on the
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