I’m pretty mixed on this one. Lord knows I love ‘80 M-Bs, and that those are the last of the ridiculously overbuilt Mercedes. But the dings & mention of rust do give me a bit of a pause, because it takes very little for a minor bit of rust to become a major issue on ‘80s (and older) cars.

Newer, sure. Superior? Nuh-uh. The W123s are getting a substantial cult following because they (and the W124s & W201s) are 1) not overloaded with electronics, and 2) the bastard spawn of the Energizer bunny and a tank.

Eh, it’s both, really. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Hey, it was good enough for Emerson Fittipaldi at Indy in the ‘80s.....

It’s not necessarily *who* the next female up & coming racer is being compared to, but more that she’s not being recognized as her own person with her own unique skills, talents, personality, and so on.

The comments on the ‘echo chamber’ article (about how the FIA is listening to everyone *but* women on the grid girls issue) is particularly priceless, as the great majority of them are from guys saying they don’t get the issue and think there’s nothing wrong with it, because after all, only a very few womrn are…

Also: dear people who need hot women to be interested in a car event:

Dear men at racing events, if you want to ogle women, please stay home and watch the Playboy Channel. Also, quit using the lack of female interest in something as an excuse to be an asshole.

I wish.

The German car makers seem to have a preference for tongue-in-cheek humor.....

Having been raised Germans & German car people, the AMG one had me in stitches the first time I saw it.

Right. So just because there aren’t many of us, that means it’s okay to ignore our concerns.

Your Honor, may I present Exhibit A......

Yes, but it’s an *auto* race. You’re there to ogle cars, not the opposite sex.

Maybe because we’ve always been told, from an early age, “Don’t mess with that; that’s for the boys?”

Yeah, but what about the *other* females at a race? And just because they’re the minority is a shitty reason for allowing what amounts to a borderline hostile environment? If that was a valid argument, we’d still have segregration around.

Thank you. As a longtime female car/racing geek, I’ve never been a fan either. Mind you, I don’t think grid girls are the greatest of sins out there, but it is a dated, sexist concept, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it gone. It does make things uncomfortable for female fans, though, just by setting the atmosphere of the…

That’s great, but since the idea is it makes *women* uncomfortable, you might try asking an actual female her opinion.

The fact that you see nothing wrong with high heels on a race track tells me you don’t quite get it.

WANT.