MG Sports Cars

Well, my main transportation from 14 to 16 was a 100cc Honda motorcycle. I've owned 8 or nine motorcycles & a number of boring cars, a couple of fun cars ('68 Chevelle SS, '68 Camaro), 5 trucks (including a big block '72 El Camino SS), but the car I got to drive when I turned 16 was my Dad's 1963 MGB:



We both still drive it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2008 10:04AM by MGBV8.

Ask Jim about cutting doughnuts with a Farmall tractor......

Don't try that one at home. HEY, hold my beer and watch THIS s&!^!

Great stuff and a lot of variety in addition to the common LBCs.

Good thing we're not all sitting in a comfortable bar with a beer in hand. Telling the stories would keep us there 'til closing time and not done yet........

Making the list brought up a whole bunch of memories, some good, some not so. And a wonderment about where a lot of the good stuff went and what shoulda been kept.

Dan B Wrote:
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> Ask Jim about cutting doughnuts with a Farmall
> tractor......


A tractor is NOT the right vehicle to cut donuts with. Especially something like a Farmall Cub with a high center of gravity. The older I get the more I realize just how lucky we were that any of us made it to maturity. Now it may surprise you to learn that donuts actually can be cut with such a vehicle, but trying it on blacktop is a very very bad idea, as the tires get far too much traction and the whole thing wants very badly to tip over. That right there is something that could ruin your whole life.

The whole business was Dan's fault anyway. He was the one who discovered that it could even be done. I didn't see it of course but from his description he locked up one brake at full speed while simultaneously turning the wheel hard and the tractor slid around the corners. He thought it might make mowing the yard a little quicker so I decided to give it a try. Then for some reason probably only known to the gods of perdition I decided to try it on the driveway. Very bad mistake. Yep, the tractor came around allright, and at the same time this big ole' tractor wheel headed up for the sky. I don't know what I did. Whatever it was it was purely instinctive but it must have been the right thing since I'm still here now. The tractor straightened out and came back down and I spent a few minutes getting my wits back about me. My brothers got me into more trouble...

But hey wait. I'm starting to notice some sort of a trend here.... Tell 'em about the tractor Jim... Tell 'em about the bat turns.... Tell 'em about driving on the door handles.... Tell 'em about driving off the mountain....

Seems awful similar to old times.... Now did he REALLY lock up the turn brake on that tractor?

Jim

LOL!

Knowing you, I can see all of the above happening, Jim!

Jim, by now you should know that there are too things that cannot be combined, siblings and secrets! Dan will sooner or later pass on hints about all your exploits. And don't try to say it was all your brothers' fault for getting you into such fixes, some of us know that you are entirely cabable of getting yourself in without anyone else's help. LOL

I'm with Edd on the good/bad memories as well as the "wonderment". Also like Edd, I've been around a little while and have had plenty of time to commit some heinous automotive mistakes. Some rides I left out of my first post (I'm not proud of some/most of these). So in the interest of full disclosure: a VW 411 (yes I know, total piece of junk) that I owned for nearly 2 weeks before an electrical fire completely consumed it in my driveway, No tears were shed in its passing. A Lancia Beta coupe - an awesome little car that had the unfortunate habit of spitting out the bottom half of the engine on a semi-regular basis. A '72 VW bus that may be the only vehicle I lost any serious money owning. A '69 Benz 250 sedan (Euro version with 4-speed on the floor) - it wasn't much to look at but was a real goer when you got it in the gas (for the size of the motor). A '69 Datsun (wasn't Nissan yet) pick-up purchased with a blown motor that received a Capri V-6 transplant and would light 'em up in any gear. Sold it to the first guy who offered me a ridiculous sum of money for it. Still didn't make up for the stupidity of the VW bus. Honda 500cc (bored out to near 550) cafe racer (before you bought them like that). Raced one season in TT and sold it before I died on it. 1970 Nova SS. Homely as the day is long but faster than all get out (in a straight line). Renault R-14 that made me wonder who pissed Robert Bosch off and why he thought creating fuel injection would be a good way to get back at people. And my all time favorite - I don't remember of the year of this beast but it was some kind of 2-door early 70s, late 60s Plymouth in the most awful shade of mint green (factory) complete with tail fins and - the reason I bought it in the first place - push button drive. Mercifully, someone rear ended me in the thing, totaling it instantly. I never did get to thank the guy properly for salvaging my self-respect. Okay, confession over. Let's see who else is man enough to own their mistakes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2008 09:59PM by DC Townsend.

BlownMGB-V8 Wrote:
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> ...how lucky we were that any of us
> made it to maturity.

Let's not start making statements that can't be proven now :)

Didn't say it was me did I?

Well, there was the "Crack 'em Up Truck", so named because the first time we got it running we nearly died laughing. It was a Flintstones car too, with brakes to match. Lost track of all the details but about a '54-'56 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup with the straight six that we found for Dad so technically it was his truck. He'd driven one for the Mill when he was younger and this one completely destroyed all those dreamy ideas of "best truck ever built". It actually was a pretty good truck but needed a lot of work, starting with the engine, which on an irregular basis would just start popping back through the carb for no apparent reason. Dan fixed the brakes, Dad got a buddy to make up this really nice stainless steel battery box, and I drove it to work until it just died one day. Dan and his buddy Tom brought a chain and towed me home with " Killer" the old green Plymouth (on which the brakes has catastrophically failed yet again with calamity narrowly averted), and going down Ona hill I got "Crack 'em up" to start and proceeded to pass Tom on the left. Of course the chain was still attached so I only managed to get up alongside before both vehicles started handling a little funny, but you sure should have seen the look on Tom's face when "Killer" just suddenly went sideways for no apparent reason! Naturally, Dan was just laughing his ass off over in the passenger seat.

That's about all the rumination I think I can handle right at this moment. A guy came along right after that and offered us twice what we had in it and I sold it. Probably a good thing too, dead from laughing is dead just the same.

Jim

So it goes to show that it doesn't matter as much what you drive, but how you drive it and HOW MUCH FUN can be had!

It is good to have a couple of LBCs now for the fun part.

Well the 63 Ford Galaxie 500 XL convertible (390 w/Hurst 4 sp) I owned was bought for $300.00 (in 1968) and towed 140 miles from Rochester NY to Watertown NY with just a tow strap by the PO and his brother at night. I drove it in Watertown NY for 2 winters (100+ inches of snow per year) without snow tires and only got it stuck in a snow bank once where I needed a farmer with a tractor to pull me out.

The 65 Corvair Monza used more oil then gas.

The Volvo alternator died on the way back from Florida and I unplugged one headlight and would stop about every 200 miles or so at a gas station and get the battery recharged.

I only had the 69 BSA Rocket 3 to get me back and forth to school and rode it all winter long (in NJ), even in the snow one year.

I put the 83 Mercury Zepher on 2 wheels for a couple hundred yards at 65 mph one night after almost missing my turn off and riding partially up a center divider while heading towards the Delaware Memorial Bridge by mistake with a co-worker on board. I didn’t even slow down and wound up back on all 4 wheels with nothing ruined but our underwear and a great story to tell the people we were meeting..

Memories! lol

78 vette
66 healey
79 mgb
64 triumph TR4
70 bmw 2002
73 bmw 2002
73 ford bronco
72 mgb gt
68 pontiac firebird
73 chevy monte carlo
86 audi quattro coupe
70 vw beetle
85 porsche 911 targa
86 porsche 911 coupe
05 jeep wrangler
58 ford pick up with ma bell utility bed (and original ma bell sticker on dash "don't back into trouble")
67 ford pick up
99 dodge durango
07 toyota 4-runner
02 triumph daytona
plus several misc. awful commuter cars (including a ford pinto wagon 4 cyl/auto with wood grain stickers on the sides)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2008 01:50PM by t.lay.

The above lists of cars are impressive. i do not remember most of my "Basic Transportation" autos due to having to commute to school and work about 40-50 miles daily since early 70's. I worked with cars every day and paid little attention, but did own 2-3 early model Ford Broncos and had a 1963 Chev Impala SS HP with 4 sp. I bought the MGB in late1991 and began to re-learn to pay attention to autos again. My list may be incomplete.

63 SS Impala
Ply Duster
Pont Firebird
Ford F-100
Ford Torino w/ Cleveland
Ford LTD
Chev Impala, UGH
Datsun 200SX
Subaru
Subaru
Toy. Cressida
Subaru
Toy. Camry
"
"
"
1978 MGB with 4 cyl.
Toy Corrola
1998 K-1500 Chev Trk.
"Nissan Maxima
Toy. Camry
"
Same 1978 MGB, V8 5.0 Ford EFI
Toy. Camry

Next will probably be a Toy Camry. 4 cyl., they just WORK!
Several "B" parts cars, on "The Back 20"

Tom

What color was your Pinto Wagon mine was yellow with the "delux" wood grain.

I will have to work on my list, way to many to list off of the top of my head.

Joe

MGB SS Wrote:
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> What color was your Pinto Wagon mine was yellow
> with the "delux" wood grain.


I think mine was green (V6, straight drive).

I had to do some thinking to remember all of them, I think this list is pretty complete. My dad was a car dealer, so I got the opportunity to drive a lot of cars from the used car lot along with my normal high school car.

47 Packard Clipper (my first car)
56 Ford, 2dr ht (main high school car)
56 Ford PU (small window)
59 Ford panel van
59 Ford station wagon
60 T bird
54 Caddy
59 Studebaker Lark
Cars I bought after high school.
60 Bugeye (chevy V8)
59 Corvair
60 Corvair (shortened 4 dr to 2 dr, dune buggy)
65 Corvair
69 Camaro
69 AMX
69 Opel wagon
63 Chevy Impala (2dr ht)
30 Model A coupe (street rod, small block chevy)
69 Corvette coupe
69 Firebird Convertable
67 Camaro
67 Ford pickup
38 Ford coupe (chevy engine)
75 Chevy Monza (V8 4 speed)
82 Subaru Brat
30 American Austin Coupe (street rod, hemi)
87 Fiero GT
90 S-15 Jimmy
73 Midget
89 Ford van
95 Pontiac Bonneville
76 GMC pickup
03 Subaru Baja "Screaming Yellow Zonker"

Current project 59 MGA six.

Ok, let me at it. Let's see

'55 GMC truck
'64 GTO
'65 El Camino
'65 Ford Falcon
'67 El Camino
'67 Lemans
'69 Chevelle
'70, I think Volkswagon Beatle, man it's been a while
'71 MGB GT
Ford Maverick, can't even remember what year that was
'74 MG Midget
'75 Ford Granada
'76 MGB
'77 MGB
'78 MG Midget
Dodge Charger, later year car, gas guzzler
'80 MGB
Jeep CJ5
Jeep CJ7 Renegade
'95 Ford F150 truck. My current parts hauler, tow truck, well you know
Ford Cortina
Opel Cadet
Kawasaki KZ 600
Honda VF1000F
'89 Harley Davidson Softail


I still have the '78 Midget,
'76, '77, '80 MGBs
'71 MGB GT
'95 Ford F150

I fell in love with MGs in 1981. I took a '77 MGB over to England with me
in 1982, I was in the Air Force at the time. Lived there from 1982-1990
My wife and I both loved England, we didn't want to come back. Beautiful
country, charming people, great roads for sport driving, so so weather,
high taxes.

My brother and I are currently putting V-8s in the '71 GT and the '77 MGB.
The Midget is getting a non standard conversion. All three cars are in
different stages of build at the moment. The '76 and '80 MGBs are in line,
we just haven't decided what we want in them yet. We live in Jacksonville,
Florida and have tons of spare parts we're never ever going to use. If we can
help anyone with something to get your car on the road, please contact me.

Fly low, safely!

The List (what I can Remember):

71 Ply 4 Door (first car)
70 Formula Firebird Ram Air
74 Cuda
70 Chevelle SS
71 Chevelle
67 Buick skylark?
71 Firebird
79 Trans Am
86 Z28
75 Monte Carlo
78 Monte Carlo
86? Toyota Celica Gt
85 C-4 Corvette
71 MGB
79 Olds Toronado
80 Olds Toronado Diesel
85? Merc Capri
76? Ford Pinto Wagon 4cyl 4sp Yellow with Wood Grain
71 Chevy Blazer 4wd
78 S-10 Blazer 4wd
81 S-15 Jimmy 4wd
85 T-Bird Turbo

I am not going to list all of the boring commuter cars, Family cars that my wife drives including Mini-Vans:(
Also the half dozen 2wd Pickup trucks or the no less than 15 4wd pickups some Gas some Diesel and some with snow plows.

My present Vehicle is a 03 Dodge 4 door truck with the 5.7 Hemmi 4wd

Joe

Ok let me at it:

Let's see, life as a driver started in a......hmmm

Ford Falcon
'65 Mustang
Ford Maverick
Ford Granada
Dodge Charger

Then life started anew, I bought my first MG in 1981, a '77 MGB
Moved to England with MGB in tow, then we have lets see

Jaguar XJ6
'74 MG Midget
Ford Cortina
Opel Kadet
Kawasaki KZ400
Honda VF1000F
'89 Harley Davidson Softail
Jeep Renegade
Ford Escort

Let's see, it's now 1991 and we're moving back to the states
with the Harley and the Ford Escort. Then comes a hmmm, oh yeah

'69 Chevelle
'65 El Camino
'67 El Camino
'55 GMC truck
Jeep CJ5
'75 Mustang II which later became a mini stock race car
'74 260Z

Then we get back on track, so to speak, and we get a

'71 MGB GT
'74 MG Midget
'76 MGB
'77 MGB
'80 MGB

Through in a '95 F150 to move toys and parts around with and
wa la. Still have all the last six vehicles listed. All the MGBs are
under different stages of modification.... uhh that would be V-8
mods of course, except for the Midget, which did have an Olds
V-8 make a momentary stop in the engine bay but thought better
of it. Always plenty going on in the garage. Wife calls the GT the other
woman, since I spend most of my spare time on it right now. My
brother and I have tons of Mg spare parts. We live in Jacksonville,
Fla. More than happy to help someone out with parts needs if
you're willing to pay shipping to your area.

Ahhh, the memories!

Tracy