Originally Posted by MusbJim - '95 VS SoCal:
Any one here remember the 'chop gun' vs 'hand-laid' flame war?
Yes. Yes I do.
Still, nothing was as vociferous, viscous, or (ultimately) expensive) as the "Type 1 vs Type 4 war" between George Brown on one hand and Jake Raby/ Paul Harford on the other. Challenges by middle aged men to "throw down or shut up", etc. were issued. Much chest thumping occurred, and large sums of money spent in the service of each viewpoint. I think Jake was the only one who made out OK on it; but in the end, it consumed even his relationship with Paul.
It was an awful and awesome display of pride and prejudice.
A lot of water has gone over the dam since then, but some stuff is still just too scarred up to touch. I learned a lot from both holy-wars, so it wasn't a total waste of time (all evidence to the contrary). My big take-away was that these cars can (and should be) sports cars in their own right, and not just oversized plastic toys. Both George and Paul paved the way for real "madness" without guilt. 15 years ago, very, very few people saw things that way. There's a lot of guys who do now.
Me being one of them.