In reply to ddavidv:
I agree almost entirely with everything you've written in your latest post, oh, except about the (sp) on "pole," I think that was below the belt. To return the favor, what exactly is a "...high quality number of articles?" Hmmm. Perhaps when you thought the people from the "Vermont publication" were ignoring your "proof-read and corrections," they were actually just correcting your grammar.
Now to the points you made. What is this curious dichotomy you've set up between a few good articles and many bad ones? You're having a strange little argument with yourself, because no one that I've read is arguing for the other side. No one as far as I can tell is saying "I want more bad articles, rather than a few good ones." The argument is about what portion of the CM and GRM's admittedly excellent coverage should be devoted to Fiats, and whether the amount of Fiat coverage that they have provided in the past is sufficient. I, along with some others, think that it is not. Rather than choosing to stay and have an argument you know you cannot win, you keep rushing off on odd tangents about whether or not CM is better than Hemmings. I think that's a silly discussion, but more importantly still, it's not the one that anyone here was having.
As I said at the beginning, I agree with almost everything you said in your last post, but the problem is that you don't always seem to. In the post before your last, you said: "Considering the sub-par way most publications/writers have treated Fiats in the past, I'm happy with what CM has done thus far." In response, I then point out that the automotive press has been very generous toward Fiat and you say in your next post: "However, the collectible press (Sports Car Market, anyone?) and the general public did not have a positive perception of the products." HUH?!? Since when are "Sports Car Market..." and "the general public..." equal to "most publications/writers?" I still can't figure out what point you were trying to make. For someone as concerned as you seem to be with accuracy and precision in writing, it seems odd to me that you would be so loose and casual with your arguments.
You do make a very important point when you say that the level of interest in the Fiat brand and the size of its owner-enthusiast group falls "somewhere in the middle" between a Hillman and an MG. Though you have not said as much in any of your posts I suspect that you would now probably acknowledge that, historically, the amount of Fiat coverage at GRM and CM has not been representative of the size of the Fiat audience. If you want to, we can put together a spread sheet showing the number of articles at CM sorted by make and then cross referenced against the number of registered vehicles in the US, but I think you're going to end up feeling like you brought a knife to a gunfight. I strongly suspect that since you have not tried to argue that particular issue any further, I must have proven my point. To highlight that one discrepancy, to underline it, and to leave it indelibly etched in certain editorial minds is the goal of my posts, and also, I suspect, of the others who have commented in support of a Fiat project.
Next, as a fellow who has owned 23 Fiats in the past and presently owns a Mini and no Fiats, are you actually seriously going to argue that the majority of people who presently own Fiats would not like to see more Fiat coverage in CM and GRM? If we went to Xweb, FLU, or mirafiori and asked: "There has not been a Fiat project in either CM or GRM in the last eight years. Would you like to see one?" Is it truly your expectation that they would answer: "No"? If that is how you feel, I have to say that we disagree.
For years now, infinitely gentler and less visible means of encouragement have been tried in order to increase Fiat coverage by GRM and CM. A lack of response to those earlier attempts is tied to the very beginning of this string, a string that, in a real sense, can be traced back to a time before this forum was ever created.
In life, when something you're trying to accomplish doesn't happen, you can give up and walk away, figuring it’s either impossible or not worth the effort. You can just keep doing the same thing and hope for a different result (which, by the way, is a common definition of madness) or you can redouble your efforts. The militancy "in pursuit of coverage" that you speak of is simply a dogged refusal to accept defeat, to accept as a given the longstanding fact that our favorite marque will always be hard to find in our favorite family of automotive magazines.
While militant behavior certainly has its costs, in this battle no lives were lost. If Fiat enthusiasts are looked at as a little strange, intense, or difficult by their typical Triumph and MG counterparts, I think many of us would pay that price in order to see more Fiat coverage in CM and GRM; heck, it's probably even true! As you have pointed out, living for all those years with the Fiat jokes may have made us just a little more intense in our defense against perceived slights, and more energetic in pursuit of appropriate recognition for our marque.
I am now officially calling for a cease fire. Our point has been thoroughly made. I sincerely and genuinely apologize if my argumentation has seemed extreme, or if my prosecution of the point has been too zealous. If, in the end, we wind up seeing Fiat a little more often in the pages of CM and GRM, many of us, the slightly edgy, odd, or even irascible Fiat folk will take the deal and go away happy. That's the goal anyway, and whether it actually happens, only time will tell. -Doug
I managed to fold myself into a Europa once... It literally took 2 other guys pulling on me to extricate me.
That said, go easy on Doug, guys. Ya gotta admit, he certainly has shaken things up around here and prompted more folks to participate in the forums.
Cheers, Scott
And you're right about the ride/sill height being the majority of my problem. I've had hip/knee/ankle issues forever due to a childhood illness. Even getting out of my wife's Accord sedan feels like doing deep knee bends.
That's why my D/D is a fullsize Ford Bronco.
