Last week, on Mon 2 Nov, I staggered home from giving the final coat of
paint to our Black 80 MGB LE. On the spur of the moment, Betti Ann (my
wife) and I decided to attend the weekly get together of the British
Automobile Touring Association of Nova Scotia which is held at a local
Arbey's. On arrival, our local Sunbeam guru, Bob Hamilton, asked if we
had seen the message on the lists concerning the sale of an 1962 MGA 1600
MK II. Innocently, we said we had not and Bob said he would forward it to
me. Knowing that Betti Ann cut her teeth on MGAs in the early 60's, club
members gave me the gears about not heading off to Toronto to buy this
car.
As we headed home from Arbey's we talked about this 'MGA' dream of ours,
and said what the hell - it is only money. A quick call to Tom Low in
Toronto, who is now the 'former' owner of the car, and we headed off to TO
on Wed morning with our Line of Credit Cheque Book in hand. Concerned
that someone might get there before us, we had asked Tom to give us first
dibs on its purchase considering we were travelling 1200 miles to see it.
Two hours from Halifax, with only 1080 mile to go, we phoned Tom and
advised him that assuming the car was as he had represented it during our
e-mail and telephone communications, he could consider it sold to us.
Twenty-eight hours later we rolled into Toronto on Thurs afternoon after
having pushed our 8 cyl Grand cherokee to the limit. One look and we were
writing a down payment with agreement to pick it up on Tues morning.
Thinking it would be wise to reserve a UHaul auto transporter as soon as
possible, we rapidly found that there was not one to be found in Ontario
much less Toronto and were advised to phone the central res desk first
thing Fri morning.
Bright and early the next morning we were informed that one had shown up
over night in mid downtown Toronto. We rapidly headed to the specified
location and there was the trailer. We asked that it be reserved for us
for Tues morning and the manager gave it to us immediately, at no cost for
the extra days, so that we would be sure to have it when we wanted it.
We arrived at Tom Low's home on 9 Nov and after 3 hours of loading the car
onto the trailer and spares into the MGA and the Jeep (with tummy's filled
with warm soup courtesy of Denise and Tom Low), we headed east from
Toronto with promises of record winds and rain fall to accompany us.
After 51 hours on the road and 30 hours of driving through rain, sleet,
snow, and almost continuous very high winds we arrived in Halifax safe and
sound.
So if anyone saw a white Grand Cherokee pulling a red MGA on a trailer
heading east between Toronto and Halifax, it was Betti Ann and me.
This morning we unloaded our pride and joy and used the trailer to pick up
the chassis and detached panels of our recently painted 80 MGB LE.
How important was it for us to have this car? It was very important
because tomorrow (14 Nov) is Betti Ann's birthday and i wanted her to have
this car as a gift to replace the 59 MGA she had owned in the 62-63 time
frame.
All and all an interesting week that we will remember for a long time.
Thanks Tom for looking after this classic car so well.
Preston
|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=--
| Now proud owners of a 62 MGA 1600 MK II
| Betti Ann and Preston Smith in the Head of St Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia,
|Canada.
| email: prsmith@navnet.net
|