At 05:47 PM 12/1/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Someone said:
>
>If you have to ask this question then you are on the wrong list.
>Safety Fast,
> (proud that the only cars I have for daily use are MGBs)
>
>Such a flippant remarks are usually best left ignored, but the writer decided
>not to read the letter I had written and just give a knee jerk reaction.
>
> After having only an MGB-GT as a daily driver, an MGB for all the days it
>wasn't running, and an MG Magnette for every other moment, I can honestly say
>that driving an MG daily is a foolish thing to do. (Particularly here in not
>so sunny New Hampshire with the god awful winters we have.)
> First of all, you need more than one. Note that my critic said he is proud
>that his only daily driver CARS (plural) are MGBs. Even when maintained to
>the hilt as my cars are, a 25 year old car is inherently less reliable than a
>new one.
> Second, for all people say about blasting through the snow at Monte Carlo,
>the MGB is skiddish and handles like shit in the snow, even with the best
>tires.
> Third, the heater is feeble even with a new core and a new valve.
> Fourth, the seals only block out 90% of the wind. That 10% is what
>freezes your ass off.
> Fifth, MGBs are extremely noisy and the MGB-GTs in particular can cause
>hearing loss. If you don't believe me, ask your doctor is prolonged expose
>to loud noises will cause hearing loss and see what he says.
> I could go on and on, and if asked, I will.
> What the hell, I'm gonna go on without being asked. I got alot more
>critiques about MGs and MGBs in particular. MGBs are damn slow cars. The
>Magnette is even slower. They might have been faster than thier BMC
>brethren, but you are gonna live in the slow lane if you do any highway
>travel in your MG. Not being able to accelerate when needed is not safe.
> MGs are very very small. In accidents, that is not good. The only time
>the MGBs size has been helpful to me was at a gas station once. The gas
>tanker made a very wide turn and the middle of the tanker was over the hood
>(yes, hood, not bonnet. This is America.) of the MGB. The MGB was so low
>that tanker could partially cross over it without touching it. Had I been
>in a larger car, the car would have touched the under side of the tanker,
>suffered severe damage, and possibley have caused the gas tanker to blow up.
> Ofcourse if it were a larger car the driver of the gas tanker might have
>noticed it and the whole incident may never have occurred. So I guess that's
>a wash.
> MGBs uses expensive grade gas, and alot of it considering the
>performance. They pollute excessively. Fully re-built and excellent running
>MGB engines are designed to consume an amount of oil that was normal years
>ago, but would make the average person wince.
> I'll stop going on a get to my point. I own an MGB, and MGB-GT, and a MG
>Magnette. I love them dearly. Having used them as my regular normal car, I
>have found that they can not be used like regular normal cars. I find it to
>be very distasteful, when those who have been brainwashed into thinking an
>MGB can be driven like any other car, insult those who save their MGBs for
>more leisurely driving than going down Rt 101 in New Hampshire in a February
>ice storm.
> Again, I will pose the question I asked in my first letter. Why are MGs
>getting so damn expensive? And if you can't question your own car, and are
>totally blind to other cars, I don't want your answer.
> Not particularly safe, or fast,
> John
>
This is the most depressing fellow I've heard in a long time!! You need to
go out one Sunday afternoon in one of the most beautiful, classic,(little!)
automobiles ever made (look around your garage, I think there's one there!)
and get completly lost. Drive it. Feel it. Listen to it. Stop and tinker
with it. Then find your way home with it. You'll discover WHY the whole
world is willing to pay these prices and eventually MORE for it!
Tom
"growing old is mandatory - growing up is optional"
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