Rather than highjack a thread, here ya go MG fans. Check this out!
Sidecar Ron
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/opinion/14fri4.html
Originally written by RonC on 7/14/2006 5:51 AM
Rather than highjack a thread, here ya go MG fans. Check this out!
Sidecar Ron
That's just wrong! A Coupe????? And they have the nerve to call it a TF! Everybody knows all real sports cars are Roadsters. :0)
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the new lines, not because where they are going to be built or who will build them. Same feelings I had about Bloor getting Trimph m/c's back into the fray, sure they were not the Triumphs of days gone by but then again, they cannot be, can they... ? Triumph is doing very well now thanks to the vision of the "New" blood.
MG will survive but suffice it to say the autos they build will have to be stunning to stir the soul the way the MGB & MGB-GT do... I know the other, earlier models are out ther but the B has always done it for me. Besides, you can't have them all.... well...
I think I just like obsture stuff, ride Moto Guzzis, I get allot of "Oh, they still make those..?"
Rob
'73 MGB
'74 BGT
Bunch of Guzzis
Here's the pic of it.
Sure isn't a TC, TD or TF!
Sidecar Ron
I really have to agree about the MGB. I don't care for the GT, but a late B retrofitted with a pair of Healey HS6 carbs was a fun machine. My wife still crabs about me selling hers 25 years ago. I say a late B, because even though I didn't like the rubber bumpers and plastic seats, I do think the raised cars handled better than the earlier models. We also had an MGC with the 2000cc 6 cylinder, but it had torsion bars and rode like a tractor. There's an original 1973 MGB-GT V8 running around Lexington, KY that I always wanted to drive, but never had the chance. Boy this is bringing back memories. Just don't get me started on Series Land Rovers. :0)
I think all you MG guys missed the boat. I had a '59 TR3 that was the next best thing to riding a motorcycle I ever had. Wish I'd kept it! Oh yeah, I remember why I didn't. It was my only transportation at the time and in the winter it was still only slightly better than being on a bike. And I was running back and forth over Snoqualmie Pass very frequently at the time. Sold the TR, bought a '58 Rambler wagon that had real windows that rolled up and a real heater...
We had one of those as well, a 3A. Also a TR250, a Stag, numerous Spitfires, a GT6 and a GT6 with a Spitfire body. Then there was the Singer, 3 Healeys, 2 Morris Minors, a Cooper, a Morgan Plus 4 (My real favorite!) an XK 120 roadster, a 140 Coupe, a 150 coupe, 3 XKE's, a Mark X, 2 Mark II's, a Mark I, an XJ6, a twin turbo XJS, and a Mark IX. The Mark 10 was neat. Four adults could sit comfortably across the front seat. The thing was huge but handled like an E type.
Had a '59 MGA once ..loved it. Horn in middle of dash..pulled wires to open doors etc. Built a roll bar for it so it looked like a small Shelby Cobra. Finally blew the engine running up chimney rock in NC. Found out a Nash Metropolitan block would work in it..go figure.
SU carbs were okay after I got them synced.
Also stuffed a small block chevy into an Austin Healy 1000 once. My apologies to the purists here but things were different in the '60's.
Ahhhhh blown engines - now there's fun! Did it twice on an old Lotus "something or other" in the "60s. Cool car --- but pretty expensive to keep running.
Sidecar Ron
The Metro's were a joint effort between BMC and Nash Rambler. The drivetrain was interchangeable with the 1250cc MGA. The only real difference was the intake and downdraft carb on the Nash. Another fun donor car was the Austin Marina. MGB 1800 engine mated neatly to an automatic trans. I bought out an English Car salvage business in Elsmere, KY and we put together five roadsters using Marina transmissions. We sold all five in one week to five sorority sisters at the University of Kentucky. I actually had the local dealer get upset with me because people would come in wanting a new B with an automatic and he would have to convince them they didn't exist as they insisted thrir friends all had them.
The body hardware, door handles, hinges, tail light housings, etc were mostly interchangeable with TR7's. The only real scrap was the body tin.
Talk about cars I had a 59 Bug eye built to 1490 with a Datson B210 trans that tpoted 120mph also Lotas super 7. now thoes were cars. Still have my Morris 1000, all my English cars were RIGHT HAND drive. That does not include 6 or 7 other Engilish cars and bikes
Ron in Co
Have had my 61 BugEye since 67, put a 144" Ford six in it in 68... Kinda like a hack with 4 wheels. Really nuthin' but a shell with a seat. Looks bone-stock from the outside and makes for loads of fun at stoplights. Can really embarras most anything but sportbikes for the first couple of seconds. Porsche owners get especially tweaked... thought about mounting it to my GL1800 for my sidecar, but now with the 100+ degree heat, think maybe a new Mini-Cooper with a/c would be better... wife could stay cool while we ride.
Originally written by Reardan Tom on 7/14/2006 6:58 PM
I think all you MG guys missed the boat. I had a '59 TR3 that was the next best thing to riding a motorcycle I ever had. Wish I'd kept it! Sold the TR, bought a '58 Rambler wagon that had real windows that rolled up and a real heater...
So let me get this right... you sold the TR-3 for a Rambler (I do like station wagons)and you say "We" missed some boat...???
LOL LOL...
I still have two MGBs and often think how much fun those cars are... ripping down through the backroads, top down, sah-weet exhaust note... oh man, I gotta go for a ride..
Rob
OK, MY ROADSTERS ('72, '74, AND '80) WERE SOME OF THE MOST FUN CARS I'VE OWNED AND MY GT, IN BRITISH RACING GREEN WITH THE HEADLIGHT COVERS, LOOKED LIKE A "POOR MAN'S JAGUAR." MY MG INFATUATION ACTUALLY LED TO A PART TIME BUSINESS I HAD FOR A FEW YEARS REPAIRING BRITISH SPORTS CARS. WISH I STILL HAD ONE. MIGHT JUST NEED TO GET ON EBAY AND LOOK SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE...
HMMM.... SIDECARISTS... BRITISH SPORTS CAR ENTHUSIASTS... INSANITY.... A COMMON THREAD PERHAPS????
I have a Morris Minor 1000 I will sell you, It is Right hand drive
Ron in Co
