Lose The Plastic

Little comment is given to the condition of engine bays these days when there ought to be plenty of it.

Increasingly, car companies are shielding their models' powerplants from the prying eyes and hands of owners, would-be do-it yourselfers, and innocent bystanders by covering the cylinder heads and workings with crap plastic shields.

Irritatingly, this practice has carried over to Jaguar whose former straight six cylinder powerplant - a long, aesthetically beautiful piece of mechanical architecture, has been replaced by a better powerplant - a BMW sourced V8 given to Land Rover - that is masked beneath cubic feet of black plastic.

Audi, Bentley (Why!?), BMW, Mercedes-Benz - they're all guilty of treating their engines to the same disrespectful dressing.

So whose engine bays can the world's automotive enthusiasts turn their longing glances to?



Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati - essentially all the exotic (and mostly Italian), high priced marques of the world still make their engines beautiful to behold.

In a Ferrari, the lovely cylinder heads of a V-8 or V-12 powerplant have to be one of the major selling points. Indeed, mid-engined models such as the current F430 have veritable glass windows for taking in the admirable view.

The respected marques that have taken on this bad practice of plasticizing their cars' engine bays should note the beauty that the exotic competition holds and act on it.

After all, who really desires an engine that is covered by what looks to be the same material that houses some Dell's CPU?