Last night I was in this off-street car park in central London to collect my
car when I saw a rare sight, a Maclaren SLR. I was admiring it and the
Aston-Martin next to it (nice car park...) and I got into conversation with
a chap paying for his parking at a nearby ticket machine.

He was quite derogatory about the SLR, calling its appearance, particularly
the nose, "cheap-looking", and declaring the Aston to be his preference. It
turned out he had no real idea of how expensive the SLR was. Anyway, he
also slagged off Merc drivers ("unimaginative") (I had not revealed that my
own car was a Merc) and so I was beginning to wonder what his car was. Was
it the BMW 5 at the back towards which he was heading?

No, it turned out to be a Porsche 911... Now what does that say about 911
drivers...

Happy New Year, One and All

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Dori A Schmetterling" <ng (AT) nospam (DOT) co.uk> haute in die Tasten:

Actually I do not own a Porsche, but from the looks I'd also prefer
the Aston Martin. To me a McLaren SLR is less desireable than, let's
say an Mercedes SL 65 AMG, which costs half the price.

Nevertheless: Best wishes for the new Year!

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

Well, if it were my own money I would not buy an SLR, but a top-of-the-line
S Class with all mod cons (modern conveniences) and still have LOTS of money
left over.

It was not so much the Porsche driver's preference of the Aston, just his
comments (and prejudice) about Merc...

In othefr words a perfect contributor to a Newsgroup. We should invite him
in...

Re spelling, thanks for (indirect) correction. I was thinking of the baby
buggy name...

Gutes Neues Jahr...
DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Frank Kemper" <spam-muelleimer (AT) gmx (DOT) de> wrote

....my money... But then I am thinking with a mindset of someone who does
not have the funds to even consider an SLR. Now if I were the Sultan of
Brunei I would probably buy both, and the Aston-Martin and the 911 (and I
bet he has done that!)

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Dori A Schmetterling" <ng (AT) nospam (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Happy New Year Everybody.

and if I were that wealthy I too would just get one of each
because choosing would be too much bother......

The real test would be which one you chose to drive more than a few
times...

..

No, it turned out to be a Porsche 911... Now what does that say about
911 drivers...

In general, nothing. Specifically:
That he has better taste than you? That his aesthetic judgement is not
swayed by price?
The SLR looks like a four-eyed, chrome-plated proboscis monkey:

http://images.google.ca/images?svnum...&btnG= Search

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

An interesting exchange re: the SLR

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-99332.html

John M.
'94 E320 It's def, it's da bomb. It's whack!!!!

"Dori A Schmetterling"

Says nothing at all about 911 drivers. May indicate something of the taste
of this particular individual - that's all.

I drive both an MB and a 911. The MB, a newer C320 sport is for all year.
My 911, an older cabriolet is pretty much a summer only car. Weather
permitting, there's usually no question as to which will leave the garage.

I can think of at least a dozen cars I'd have in the garage before an SLR.
Not necessarily because of the specs, but because I don't care for the
styling any more than your car park acquaintance - And that has nothing to
do with being a Porsche driver. On specs alone, I'd love to have a Carrera
GT, but the styling (and of course the price) are a little too far "out
there" for my taste as well.

Sure is easy and fun to critique that which we will never be able to
afford - isn't it?

)

ds

Of course an individual's comments are only an individual's comments....I
guess it is hard to convey a tongue in cheek.

It was only because the man slagged off all Merc drivers that I asked my
oh-so-serious question, "...what does that say about 911
drivers..."


There was also a little old (40 years) Porsche cabriolet in great condition.
Looked nice. Like I said, nice car park.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"DFS" <ok (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote

[...]

I've debated posting this heresy, but I actually got under the hood of
a McClaren SLR at a car show and poked around in the interior . . . I'd
rather have a Corvette Z06. I know how that sounds, but the SLR is no
F1, and I don't think that it does what it pretends to do, and a
Corvette has a better weight to power ratio. There I've said it; it's
off my chest, and now I will go check MYSELF into the mental ward and
throw away the key. <clomp, clomp, clomp, SLAM, click . . .
clinkety-clink.>