ckr wrote:
>
> Friends:
>
> I'll weigh in with my tuppence worth here. Been away for a couple of
> days, but this sure is an interesting thread to come home to! Better
> than cats, aolians, or any of a dozen other topics!
>
> I will say, I've rarely heard an unkind word said about Leno, especially
> from car fiends. He seems a very upstanding fella to me.
>
> Like many of you, I enjoy seeing a nice 100% resto at a show, especially
> if the fella who owns it is the fella who did most of the work, or even
> some of it. I enjoy it even more if it runs well. I saw one at a
> Richmond show once that I would've sworn was a garage queen, but it
> turned out to be a daily driver. My hat was off to the fella and I
> tracked him down just to say so. If nothing else, these examples are
> excellent for us to study to fill in the gaps where the manuals and
> pictures just don't tell us what it's supposed to look like.
>
> On the other hand, I don't really give a tinker's damn whether Rags is a
> 100 pointer or not. She's my car, and not really a restoration. More of
> a one-off rebuild of an old, tired MG, done by O'Shaughnessey Garages
> (talk about unique!). She's also one of those despised
> restorations-in-progress, where I do what I can in one season and fix
> what I have the time and cash for, and drive the car anyway. She'll
> never get a 'frame-off' restoration, not the way a show car will. She
> runs, and runs pretty well now, and she stops (Thanks Be) very well.
> Admittedly, she looks like hell. The paint's tired, the top's still in
> tatters (and now has a fair amount of duct tape and City of
> Fredericksburg plastic bags where her quarter-lights used to be) and the
> brightwork isn't, very. I still take her to shows when I have the time
> and I do whatever rallyes I can fit in, too.
>
> I'm not a particularly rich man, but I enjoy my car and the people I
> meet with her and the driving I can do in her. I enjoy the creation in
> progress. I take great pride in what I fix myself, as I'm sure a lot of
> you do. I get no bigger kick than when I come in from the shop after
> wrestling with some stubborn bit on Rags for hours, and I can tell
> Herself that I've once again conquered the world; her eyes'll light up
> and she'll smile like that 17 year-old kid she still is inside, give me
> a hug, and say 'Let's go for a drive, then!'. I'm the by-God happiest
> man on the planet at that point, and I wouldn't give you a nickel for
> all the 100% resto's in the world.
>
> I think this hobby's got room for me, and for Deutsch, and for the 100%
> resto fellas, and for Barney racin' round in his A, and for lots of
> other people (even aolians); I think it's what you make it, and what it
> is to you. Pride of ownership doesn't always come from a perfect
> example, but it can. It's the love of the marque, and of the cars as
> cars and spirited machines rather than as mere transportation, that sets
> us apart and brings us together. It's a love without strings, and I
> think we should all be happy that each of us is keeping the marque
> alive, and each in our own way, keepin' em on the road.
>
> Merry Christmas, friends, and a joyous season to you all and your
> beautiful cars.
>
> Corey
> 75 MGB 'Rags'
> RD#373750
Corey,
That was actually quite poetic. I am with you. I love my car and get a
good deal of satisfaction on repairing it myself. My TD was
professionally restored but I was the project manager and did much of
the interior work myself.
Steve 52TD
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