3413 FOUND - in "drag"

[h-bot]

From: cosworth0078_REMOVE_350439_THIS_@yahoo.com

Mark and I do not always agree on things in Cosworthdom. We have
known each other for over twenty years and are not close friends.
But, I respect him. He makes some good points. I read every one.
He is helpful to Cosworth owners. Heck, he is even helpful to Vega
hotrod owners, too! Mark likes discussion. Some may say he likes to
argue. But I will not get into an argument with him over this issue.
Not even with Britt, whom I do not know. I was only stating my
opinion and I know that I have strong opinions on the Cosworth Vega.
Sorry, I guess, if it offended the Vega crowd. It seems my attempt
at free speech has offended even those who did not have the car for
sale.

Let's quit nit-picking. Me putting quotation marks around the dash
number was in no way meant to be any kind of insult, just a way to
point out the earlier dash number error. Guys, let's take a breath.
You are entitled to whatever you believe makes a Cosworth. That is
your right which I cannot take away. I also have the right to love
true Cosworth Vegas and want only the best from the cars and the
owners. I never wrote anything restrictive of CVOA membership, that
I recall. May God bless you all.
-Clark




one that only admits to membership those with the proper
> "background" and "credentials' and "heritage"!
>
> I rest my case.
>
> Mark




[This is message #9641 by user cosworth0078 on Yahoo! Group Cosworth Vegas: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cosworthvegas ]

[h-bot]

From: markrock_REMOVE_891690_THIS_@yahoo.com

Saying doesn't make it so!

A consensus among some is that it is the cylinder head on the engine
of the Cosworth Vega that is the "heritage" of the car. Some
say that it is the engine itself. As Kevin says, "what makes the
Cosworth truly unique is the engine - it is after all the
car's `soul'." It follows, according to this line of
thinking, that if the cylinder head or engine is removed from the
car, the body it loses its identity as a Cosworth. As Kevin put it,
it might well still be a cosworth, but it is no longer a Cosworth.
Others like Duke aren't so charitable. They say flatly that it
is no longer a Cosworth. Period. Al and Art and Britt disagree.

We can test this heritage/soul theory easily. If an entire Cosworth
Vega engine is swapped into a Fiero, a la Gerald Storvik, together
with all the EFI pieces, then is the Fiero now a Cosworth because its
heritage/soul is now that of a Cosworth, because it has the
"truly" unique attribute of the Cosworth Vega? If an LT5 is
swapped into a Cosworth (just the thought makes me grin, while I
suspect it makes others grimace), is it now a ZR1?

I seriously doubt that anybody would so contend. A Fiero does not
become a Cosworth merely because a Cosworth engine has been swapped
in. Shouldn't the obverse also be true? A Cosworth doesn't
become a non-Cosworth merely because the engine has been swapped out,
or, horrors, a Vega head swapped in.

Let's look at Britt's situation. He has a beautiful Vega GT
that he made into a Cosworth by installing a Cosworth Vega engine.
He is now selling it because, as he explained in a recent Chat, it is
not a "Cosworth" and he is really getting into Cosworths and
he wants a "genuine" article. He wants a vehicle that was
built as a Cosworth, not one later made into a Cosworth. Doesn't
that tell you that the essence or "soul" of the Cosworth is
more than the engine?

To me, Al was the first to put his finger on the pulse of it. The
ZR1 came as a package. The Cosworth also came as a package. I
don't agree with JD that there is significance to the fact that
the car evolved from the engine, and not the EFI or the stripes or
the wheels. The important thing is that it was more than the engine
that comprised the "as built" Cosworth. The Cosworth was the
sum of a long list of unique parts. It was the engine, the wheels,
the stripes, the engine turned dash, the individual serial numbers,
the special suspension, and in 1975, the color of the paint, and a
few other things as well, that together made the car a Cosworth Vega.
The engine was merely a part of this whole. If we take one component
away, say the stripes, is it still a Cosworth Vega? What if we take
two away? Three? Where do you draw the line? Can you draw the
line?

Isn't the only place where you can draw the line at the body with
the VIN? If you take one piece of the car away, no matter how big,
doesn't the rest remain? Is a man not a man whose method of
propulsion have been amputated? Is a Cosworth no longer a Cosworth
because it's engine compartment is empty? Or is it merely a
Cosworth without an engine? If a Cosworth has a V-8 in it, isn't
it just a Cosworth with a V-8? In the end, the car was manufactured
as a Cosworth Vega, and given that badge (the VIN), and it is that
badge, that body, that is the true soul of the car.

If it has that badge, no matter what was done to it, it can always be
restored to its as-built condition. Thus, if #3413 is purchased by a
Member and lovingly and carefully fully restored, nobody can say,
legally or principally, that it is not a Cosworth Vega. Sure, some
might quibble that it is no longer a numbers-matching car, but it
would be a Cosworth Vega nonetheless. It follows that it is too
early to place RIP behind #3413 in the Registry. The car lives, with
a transplanted heart or soul.

For years people have built fake cars when the price of the genuine
articles reached astronomical levels. When it was learned, in each
case, that a "plain Jane" body was used, the value of the car
plummeted, and some folks were even jailed for their actions. Why?
Because it is the body with the VIN, not the engine, nor the wheels,
nor the induction, nor any other component or group of components,
that is truly the soul of the car.

Now, if this analysis is correct, then shouldn't we be more
charitable to our Cosworth brethren, whoever they may be, and however
misguided they may be, especially those with V-8's?
Shouldn't we stop considering them yo-yo's and idiots and
worse? Shouldn't we be more tolerant of diversity, not less?
They too own a "Cosworth" and are just as entitled as we to
be part of the CVOA fraternity. Unless, of course, the fraternity is
a snooty one that only admits to membership those with the proper
"background" and "credentials' and "heritage"!

I rest my case.

Mark





[This is message #9638 by user markrock on Yahoo! Group Cosworth Vegas: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cosworthvegas ]