MG

[hard top]

Standing out side my mates emporium yesterday afternoon (a very busy day due to the Dutch match at the world cup) and considering if I should buy any of his over priced offerings, (hope you read this you robbing barstuaward) an orange MG parked up making a fantastic sound as it did so.
It had three windscreen wipers, so I knew it was a USA import but it had chrome bumpers. I walked over and bent down to peer inside, as you do, and had a great chat with the owner. He had imported the car in the early 1980's when it was in a very bad state and returned it to 'Concours d'Elegance' condition, not a mark on it. This guy then asked if I would like to sit in the drivers seat and got out of the car. He was built like a brick s*** house and 6ft plus, no way he would fit in a Z3.
I climbed in and could not depress the clutch, it felt like being in a Tardis !!!
He had owned an Etype but found it to cramped to drive comfortably.
The great sound, I found out, after he opened the bonnet (hood, for you Yanks) was from a 1600cc lump with double Webbers.....
He then explained the chrome bumpers. There is a company in Germany that has the patent to reproduce the parts and he paid Euro 800 for front and back plus bonnet grill...cheap as chips.....
He was not happy with a slight blemish in one of the windows in the soft top, it has three, and said he was going to buy a new top from the same German company for Euro 300 fitted.
I enjoyed that chat.

 

[t-tony]

What model was it Mike? If it was a "B" they sounded best with the Rover (Buick) V8 under the hood.

 

[hard top]

I think that you are talking about an MGB GT Tony, this was not one.

 

[t-tony]

Yes I was Mike, what was it then please? I'm curious.

 

[hard top]

Just an MG like this one.

 

[hard top]

He had a set of wire wheels (not on the car) that he said were a pain in the backside to keep having to re-tension and re-balance.

 

[t-tony]

Yeah a B roadster. I had a Spitfire on "spokes" years ago and they didn't stand up well to much hard use. BTW what's that contraption on the trunk?

 

[hard top]

Yeah a B roadster. I had a Spitfire on "spokes" years ago and they didn't stand up well to much hard use. BTW what's that contraption on the trunk?

FFS Tony, its called a boot.

 

[t-tony]

Sorry mate been listening to an American this evening. Ha Ha.

We had a customer at work who had a B roadster and he really loved the pile of C..P. It was awful in my opinion but each to their own I guess.

 

[Rev]

My first restoration was an E registered MGB. Took me a year when I was 18 years old. Loved doing it, learned a lot, and then sold it two weeks after completion. It was a complete bag of nails! Hated it with a vengeance. Draughty, whollowy and without any finesse at all. Just did not do it for me whatsoever.

Look nice though.

 

[t-tony]

Having said that, when that type of car was first produced they weren't that bad but like the motor cycle makers they just didn't change with the times.
They all got left well behind and it's taken many years to catch up which is sad because many of the recent great cars have been designed by British designers.

 

[Rev]

But such a dull car. No power and handles like a car twenty years older. At the time there were lotus sevens and E type jags and they flogged that thing for the next umpeenth years. Whatever were they thinking?

You can feed a donkey on chaff for only so long!

 

[hard top]

But I still like them......

 

[Rev]

No accounting for taste!

I liked them as well, but the reality isn't what the dream is.

I have to say you would never swop your Z for an MGB having driven one. What you get with a Z is reliable and a driving pleasure that is really first rate. You don't get that positive feel from a "B". You'd be disappointed.

There is the "Old Schoo;" appeal though I'd grant you, but you have to like that 4" lag of pointing the steering wheel and getting a response.

I own a really old 1948 race car and thats got the same handling abilities. A tussle even on the straight. Constantly pointing and correcting. Acceptable in the 50's but not in later cars.

 

[hard top]

I hate modern cars and I have had a few, Mercs mostly.
There is no feeling of being 'one with the machine'
How I miss my old 1966 SWB Land Rover, a right pain in the butt, get out, open the bonnet with the spare wheel on it (T-Tony would call it a hood) bash the starter motor with a hammer and then go on your merry way.

Err, you mentioned a racing car.....photos and write up please......

 

[Rev]

I had a 1959 Series 2A Landy and loved it... to an extent. But I hated long journeys in in. Sold is and bought a 2001 version. A much more pleasant experience. Chalk and cheese.

Old cars have soul and I know what you mean, but more modern cars have a handling ability that just cannot be replocated by older machines. To feel real "G" force around a corner in a modern car is exhilarating, but will never happen with an older one. You battle and struggle and fight and curse with older motors, but with a modern car you can corner and handle at incredible speeds. There is no comparison. Both have beauty and style, but so far apart and different as to appeal to two different sectors of the market. saint Tropez vs Eastbourne. Both seaside Towns in there own rivieras.

They are both "Roller Coasters" but for different reasons.

But The MGB is just dull! Dire.

About as much fun as a filling at the dentist!

Light touch paper and retire!

 

[hard top]

Damit, its way beyond bed time....
But if the masses, as they do, want to drive modern tin cans, its up to them. Give me a 'bad to handle' piece of kit any time. The Z is as modern as I would like to go.......

 

[oldcarman]

HT, I had the same only a 71. Loved it, only got rid of when the first kid was on his way and the prego wife had to drive about 100 mi a day round trip on bumpy hiways. No top end but pulled lots of other 4 wheel drives out of trouble. Didn't start in cold weather either without ether.

 

[hard top]

Jim, mine had a fantastic heater in it but we don't get winters like you do. It also had seats from a truck which made it a lot more comfortable to drive. Along with the hammer, I always had engine oil with me, as it used to use more of that than petrol. I could not lock the rear door and people tried to steal it a few times but I don't think they understood the starter button, you could start it with a bent nail. I also had another jeep at the same time and that had huge sand tires on it which meant, on road, three hands on the steering wheel. I took a friend of mine to the airport in it once, and he cried all the way there.
I understand what Rev is talking about, as driving these things on a modern highway is no fun but driving on a modern highway is no fun in any car. My last Merc had so many 'bells & whistles' on it, I could not be bothered to work out what most of them were for and it did not have a dip stick (apart from me) and I hate it when that happens.

 

[Monty]

Perhaps if things had been different the Z3 might have been rebadged in England as an MG, instead MG bought out the MGF? Always thought that was a bad move. Not that the MGF is such a bad car, but it is let down by the engine. I loved my MGBGT, Sandy and I have many happy memories of our time with the MG car club. My engine had a high lift cam in it, wouldn't idle, but pulled like a train. The brakes weren't really up to the power of the engine, which made life interesting from time to time. Like all English cars of the period they were easy to personalise. So every one was an individual. The BMW Z3 is a better engineered car, in my mind they are both as fun to drive but for different reasons.

Mike