I loved your story, thank you for sharing it and hope to hear from you
more often, the list is no fun if you don't put in some advice and/or a
wise @$$ comment now and then Brad
Jim Algar wrote:
> I've been enjoying the list since joining, especially the
> stories of when and under what circumstances cars were
> bought/acquired. Brought up the thought of a thread (this
> could be fun) on the subject of (drum roll, please) "Longest
> continuous ownership of a single Spridget."
>
> To get the ball rolling, I've owned my 1969 Sprite Mk. IV
> for (trumpet fanfare) 30 years. (I'm waiting now to hear
> from all the Bugeye original owners.) Yep, bought it
> brand-new in '69 from University Imports in Riverside,
> California while I was in the Air Force stationed at March
> AFB. I'm a native Californian, so the car has stayed in
> sunny SoCal most of its life. We've been together through
> marriage, divorce, re-marriage, kids, career, up, downs, the
> gas crisis (remember?) - the whole bit.
>
> "Basil" (second wife named him) still carries his original
> color of Pale Primrose (hey, BMC, what a wuss name!) though
> not the original paint. In 1971 or so, I bought a factory
> hardtop from a dealer in San Francisco which has been on
> pretty much full-time since (original soft top is in the
> garage; I use a tonneau on the few occasions when I pull the
> hardtop.) In 1978 or so, I cut a hole in the top for a
> sunroof - all right, you've got thirty second to scream,
> wail, moan and shake your heads.....o.k., time's up. Yeah, I
> know, looking back now I should never have done it, but I
> was young, and stupid, and who knew, anyway? But at the
> time I was managing a Beck-Arnley foreign car parts store -
> show of hands, who remembers Beck-Arnley? - so I got a good
> price on a truly quality sunroof. The installation, while
> not "factory"-looking (yes, right, no such thing - let's not
> go there, please) is clean and works for me.
>
> Until 1984 Basil was my daily drive, so needless to say we
> racked up some impressive mileage (can't tell you how much,
> odometer has been broken for years). Then I pulled him off
> the road for a rebuild of the engine and tranny, and since
> then he's been the "one weekend a month" car. My wife loves
> him, my daughter hates him ("too loud, Daddy") and my
> 11-year-old son is wating patiently for the day when Basil
> becomes "his" car.
>
> I still enjoy driving him. I'm 6'1", and when I was 22 years
> old I could fold myself in and out of him gracefully, like a
> gazelle. Now, 30 years older and a lot of pounds heavier, I
> heave myself in and out more like an arthritic elephant.
> Basil, good friend that he is, never comments.
>
> So that's my story. Aren't Spridgets great?
>
> Jim Algar
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