Hey guys, got a feel-good story for ya.
Just drove my '70 roadster on it's longest trip since I have owned it - from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and back again.
OK, it's only 40 miles or so each way, just under an hour usually, I know
some of you commute that far every day, but on the other hand, it's
basically the entire width of this country.
The occasion? Well, I finally got the two things that made the car
unpleasant at highway speeds taken care of - four new shocks from World Wide
(thanks Peter, you're the best) so that the car rides like a sportscar
rather than like a little red wagon.
Once I had shocks, I chose the four most promising of my six wire wheels,
had them trued, sandblasted, painted, tires remounted, and balanced on the
car - I can actually hit 85 mph without feeling like an over-caffinated
epileptic whose fillings are heading for the hills.
The wheels were balanced by a man who is 90 years old if he is a day - he
spun them on the car, put his ear on the fender, hammered a weight, removed
a weight, spun them again, ear on the fender . . . - less than 10 minutes a
wheel and I felt like I had a whole new car.
The Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway is a great driver's road, as long as you
don't get caught in traffic. The first half along the coastal plain from
Tel Aviv is wide, modern, flat and fast. Then, the Jerusalem half climbs
about 2500 feet in about 20 miles, weaving through hills and valleys and
forests the whole time. This part of the road actually follows a path the
Romans carved out of the hills 2000 years ago and hasn't really been moved
since. So, curves that weren't particularly tight for horse-drawn chariots
are great fun in a B.
And it's spring, so every mile with the top down brought wonderful smells -
the almond trees are in bloom, the firs smell of sap, here and there a whiff
of wood smoke or mown grass - truly a feast for the nose.
The B just hummed along the whole way, not a wayward noise the entire time,
much to my relief. It took the steep hills with aplomb, and all I could do
was smile as I swept through turns that others had to brake for.
On the trip back, I picked up an armed and uniformed Israeli Soldier who was
hitchiking back to his base after a weekend at home. Believe it or not,
with everything going on here, hitching is still a very common way for
individual soldiers to travel, and many drivers are more than happy to help
them out. Anyway, this kid sure wasn't expecting a ride in a car like mine
(he didn't even know what an MG was), and I think I supplied him with a
story to tell his buddies for weeks to come.
One or two observations - I make this drive almost weekly (I sing in a
Barbershop Quartet that usually rehearses in Jerusalem), though for the past
several years I have always made it in my wife's Toyota Yaris (like an Echo
in the states, only as a hatchback). In the Yaris, I can make the drive in
my sleep - with forgiving power steering and power brakes, automatic tranny,
climate control, everything you could want in a personel transporter
jellybean, the car does all the work. In the B, I actually have to pay
attention the whole way - if the steering wheel slips a milimeter or so, the
car actually turns! It's almost as though the steering is actually directly
connected to the wheels . . . no, wait, really it is. ;-0 I have to DRIVE
the car - and it's FUN.
Well, I think my B is going to become my main Tel Aviv - Jerusalem car. The
"Italian tune-up" of opening it up for a while is good for the car, the
habit of actually paying attention while driving is good for me, and like I
said, it's FUN.
Next project - dig into that pesky overdrive which hasn't worked since I got
the car . . . that'll make the trip a bit quieter at least.
Safety Fast,
RMartin
70 roadster
Tel Aviv
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