Over to U.S. enthusiasts!

Sir,

In reply to William Mulhall’s letter in your October edition, I would like to point out that enthusiasts do not pay for engine power alone. The attraction of Europe’s potent G.T. machinery lies in the thrill and skill of driving them. And I stress “driving.” Our sports cars have gearboxes designed to be used, and this enhances their performance. I wonder how many American drivers actually use their showy rev.-counters, (“tach.” to you Mr. Mulhall) and employ the heel-and-toe method to feed juice for a quick down-change? It hardly seems necessary, I admit. I have read several articles describing the new Chevrolet Stingray. In its most potent form, one can “pull out all the stops” at 1,000 r.p.m. in top gear and still accelerate smoothly away. With massive gobs of torque wrenching the car along, the intermediate gears are hardly used.

It seems that by “performance” an American understands, the maximum acceleration obtained by the least possible effort from the driver. Sorry for being so stoically British. If an enthusiast cannot afford an E-type, how can he afford one of those American … vehicles?

Brixworth. DAVID R. KIPLING.