~ I've been thinking an MGB would be a good companion for Kermit. On my way
~ out of Hildene, I spotted a friend who has one each 70 and 74 MGB
~ roadsters for sale. He was showing the 74, and I sat in it. I felt a bit
~ confined; it especially seemed that the top was low and the windshield
~ narrow and far away. I don't feel that way in Kermit, and I don't recall
~ my 67 Alpine feeling that way; I worry I would not be happy in the B
~ cockpit. I gather that earlier ones had less padding and were more
~ spartan. Do earlier ones seem roomier than the 74?
You really confused me till I realized that you had the top up. That's
easy to fix -- take the bloody thing off and put it in the corner of the
garage.
The B's cockpit is noticeably roomier than a Sprite's, if only because
the car is larger. As a benchmark, if I shove a Sprite's seat all the
way back, I can convince myself that I fit because Spridgets are so
much fun, and the 90-degree bend in the elbow is very Vintage in feel.
In the B, if I shove the seat all the way back, I can't push the clutch
pedal all the way down, and I can just hook my fingertips over the wheel
with my arms at full extension. The B is only a couple of inches wider
than a Sprite, but if you have long legs, there's no contest.
As for the windscreen, you're right; it is low, and the folding hood
comes down just above your head. I suspect that one's proportions,
even more so than mere height or weight, make a big difference in
finding comfort in a B. I have relatively long legs and a short
waist for my hair-under-six-foot frame, and relatively long arms too
I suppose. This means I'm most comfortable in the B with the seat way
back (about two or three notches from fully extended), as it gives me
room to stretch my arms out like Fangio. In addition, the fact that
more of my height is in my legs means that I may be shorter when
sitting down (or, uh, maybe I just press the seat down more than you
do :-), so the roof doesn't oppress me so much. Mainly it doesn't
oppress me because it's in the garage at home, and my MGB is out here
in the parking lot at work, and that's the best solution. With the
top off (or even merely folded), that faraway windscreen simply adds
to the feeling of openness, of moving through your surroundings
rather than watching them on a monitor.
If you like the idea of a B, but for some misguided, morally depraved
reason you want a roof, may I suggest the MGB-GT? There are many who
find its looks superior to the roadster, and I must stress that we
should forgive them for this transgression -- hate the sin but love
the sinner, as the saying goes. :-) Seriously, the GT is even more a
"real car" in many ways than the Tourer: it's snug, quiet on long
trips, dry on rainy days, and has lots of room for luggage, spares,
and the occasional engine block being hauled to the machine shop. I
suspect that if you folded the passenger's seat forward, you could
get a knock-down engine hoist in a BGT (I've transported one in my
ZX, for example). Oh, and the roof on the GT is several inches
higher than the folding hood on the tourer; the windshield is quite
different, rising some 4" or so more than the screen on the open car.
I know several people who prefer MGB-GTs primarily because of the
extra room it affords over the roadster with the top up.
I've very nearly bought an MGB-GT two or three times. As it turns
out, I've always been shopping for an MGB when I also needed an
open car, but the GT is something you may find a happy medium. It
adds a dimension of comfort, isolation, and relaxed long-leggedness
(particularly with the overdrive gearbox) to the basic MGB.
The right thing to do, though, is to give the top to the poor and
enjoy infinite headroom, in addition to the considerable addition
in legroom that the B's longer chassis offers compared to the
Sprite. The extra wheelbase and weight of the B also make it a
slightly more comfortable long-distance tourer; I've made the
up-and-down-the-coast trip in both a B and a Midget, and at the
end of the trip in the B I was considerably more relaxed (though
some of that was because the alternator didn't go out 26 miles
north of Cambria on the return leg).
One thing you won't have more of in a B, though, is luggage space.
The trunk is very small, at least till you compare it with something
like a Miata. The one saving grace of the B's trunk is that the lid
is fairly high, so if you have soft luggage you can stack it fairly
deep in the center. There's also a usable storage area on the rear
deck (over the batteries), at least if the top is either up or
completely removed; we'll probably end up with at least one bag on
that shelf for our trip next week. But believe it or not, Kermit
can probably swallow more luggage than an MGB tourer.
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