Well said, Paul.
The original, Marina based Marlin with Alfa Romeo livery was high on my list of desired cars thirty-five years ago, even though its underpinnings were from one of Clarkson's worst cars of all time, solely because it looked like a 30's racing car.
They've since taken the car in a different direction, with powerful BMW drive-trains, big alloys with wide rubber and retro/modern styling similar to some of Morgan's modernised designs.
I know that makes them fast and exhilarating and they have a real fan base who love their cars, but they're no longer the class of car - classic replicas - that I find desirable and really feel a
need to build. They also don't stir the emotions as much as something prettier, hence they're competing against second-hand Sevens for sales, which typically attract buyers in the £6-8k bracket.
As for the performance side of things, Paul's right again, my own daily driver, the mighty 2016 Nissan Pulsar 1.2 turbo, has a roof, a windscreen, an efficient heater with aircon, a radio, bluetooth, a professional spray job, is safe, quiet, comfortable, spacious, has cruise control, is very economical, has great brakes, dynamic stability control, and is faster than a mk1 Golf GTI, so it's a 'better' car in almost every respect than anything I'm likely to build, or even an M3 powered Marlin Roadster. So is it a more desirable and valuable car than a Sammio Spyder? No, I keep losing it in car parks, even when it's the only car there.
I think we have a bit of a Brexit style impasse here:
Those of us who 'get' the Sammio thing are like those MP's who are happy with the current deal that's on the table - something that has questionable underpinnings but looks good to those who appreciate it.
Those who'd prefer a Marlin are like the MP's who want a hard Brexit with no compromises - more money left in your pocket in the short-term, performance at any cost and never mind what it ends up looking like.
RochdaleGT is like the DUP - they really don't know what they want but are prepared to shout everyone else down to get it.
Anyway, this debate is likely to be pretty redundant after 29th March next year as instead of enjoying our cars we'll all likely be living rough, wearing loin cloths, wielding stone axes and smearing woad on our faces.
