[Mgs] searching . . .

Dan DiBiase d_dibiase at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 29 04:21:01 MST 2010


I'm curious as to what she was asking for her 'baby'. Strange that she was so attached to it yet let it decline to the point
where it's now a project....

I agree re: the manual trans thing. Of course, so few cars come with them these days, and now it seems a lot of manufacturers
are going the 'automated manual' route, which most people just leave in automatic mode anyways.... Both of my boys know how
to drive a stick, and the car they share is a stick as well. My daughter will learn when it's her turn. Wanting to drive my 6-speed
Audi versus the family van was a pretty powerful incentive! ;-)

 Dan D
Central NJ USA
'76 MGB Tourer
'65 MGB Tourer (Project)
NAMGBR #5-2328 
http://dans65b.blogspot.com/
http://dans76b.blogspot.com/
http://dansautoblog.blogspot.com/
http://dans-life-blog.blogspot.com/
twitter: dandibiase





________________________________
From: don <don at napanet.net>
To: mgs at autox.team.net
Sent: Mon, March 29, 2010 1:11:15 AM
Subject: [Mgs] searching . . .

Last week I took a trek to look at a '69 B roadster.  I have narrowed my search to a steel-dash car, but this one was intriguiging enough to look at even with the safety dash and other features that I'd rather avoid.  In talking with the owner on the phone, I was told that she had owned the car since the mid-'70s, and it was more than a car; it was her baby.  Now the car lives (sleeps) in the corner of an old industrial building in an old industrial neighborhood.  It sounded like a possible "barn-find," but I knew that the chances of it being that were quite slim.

Just finding the right door to the old warehouse building was an adventure.  Once inside, I found two young men that were working there and they directed me to the owner's office upstairs.  She explained that she could not leave her desk as the business was short-handed, and that she would have the young guys help me.  They were quite cooperative, but neither of them knew how to drive a standard transmission.  One of them asked if it was a German car, but the other fellow knew such cars once existed because he had seen Austin Powers movies.  They removed the canvas tarp on the car, and pushed it out to daylight where I could look at it better.  It was a complete car and I could see no rust on it, but body panels were not aligned well.  The interior was on the shabby side.  The car's condition was such that repairs and some TLC would not quite do the trick; it would require restoration.  It ran, but poorly.  It was a rather sad old car, but probably
 better than many its age.

I decided to keep looking.

What was a shock to me was that the young guys working there not only could not drive a standard transmission, but had no clue as to what MGs were!  When I was their age, I knew what a Hupmobile or an Auburn was.  I knew about Model T Fords.  I think the younger generation are never going to be into British sports cars, especially if they can't even shift gears!

Don Scott
Calistoga, CA

1962 MGA Mk II
1973 MGB GT (selling)
2001 Miata SE BRG
63-67 MGB (searching)
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