Just bought a classic!

[Lordbenny]

Always wanted to dip my toes into the world of classic motoring and I’ve finally bitten the bullet!

Coming from a 190bhp 550kg Westfield I wondered if I would miss the speed and even after a day of ownership I can answer that with a definite No! My new (45 year old) car does a 0-60 time of....whenever, compared to 4 seconds in the Westy, it has a top speed of....who cares, and I’m lovin every minute of it. I have owned lots of speedy cars and driven some amazing exotics but this is different gravy! It reminds me of going to school in the 70’s in our neighbours Stag. It’s got a chrome ash tray, a choke, quarter lights, a proper spare wheel I could go on.... it smells amazing and sounds perfect. It cost £70 to insure, no tax and I can drive in the ULEZ zone for free!

The only issue I though I might have is the image, beardy, pipe smoking, tweed wearing middle class 60 somethings....yes, they do own them but I really don’t care, I really think more ‘younger’ drivers should look at classics especially in this age of speed paranoia, I think it’s going to be hard to get nicked in this one whereas in the Westy I was constantly worried about cameras and felt the need to floor it everywhere.

The end of an era? No, I think this is it now, I’m off to grease some nipples!

Edited by Lordbenny on Sunday 26th May 16:19

[Trevor555]

Looks a beaut....

[WJNB]

Looks lovely & shiny. The pseudo Mini-lite wheels suit it & far easier to clean & maintain than wires.
Hope beneath the gloss all is as good.
Worry not about the beardy anorak image it's just a well-worn tedious cliché trotted out by the envious or those with a limited vocabulary.

[Lordbenny]

It was built in 1974, LH drive and shipped to Alabama until 1991 when it was bought back here, given a nut and bolt restoration and switched back to Rh drive. I got a great deal on it there’s no rust and I’ve just finished an 8 hour clean.....not quite finished yet.

Planning to fit an older style chrome grill, chrome over riders, new radiator, half tonneau, classic pressed aluminium number plates, ally rocker cover kit and new seat belts.

I love it!

[bearman68]

Always loved these, but never had enough brave pills to buy one. I think they are probably my idea of the best looking car of all time. (Alfa 156 is nice too), but they are lovely to look at.
Now what's a 'choke' again?

[Lordbenny]

bearman68 said:

Always loved these, but never had enough brave pills to buy one. I think they are probably my idea of the best looking car of all time. (Alfa 156 is nice too), but they are lovely to look at.
Now what's a 'choke' again?

Do it....But not as a daily!

I got an amazing deal on it, there’s loads around but after three weeks of scouring the classifieds and owners club websites I found this one. I live in London/Surrey and prices here are 20% more than the rest of the country for some reason so I travelled to Birmingham to get it, it didn’t flinch on the 2.5 hours journey back home.

I really can’t see the point in super cars now, they’re all so bland anyway. I was waved to and had thumbs up over ten times on my journey home from bikers to kids in car seats.

That’s it, I’m smitten plus I’ve got a car that if I sold it tomorrow I’d make £3k!

[bearman68]

Lordbenny said:

Do it....But not as a daily!

I got an amazing deal on it, there’s loads around but after three weeks of scouring the classifieds and owners club websites I found this one. I live in London/Surrey and prices here are 20% more than the rest of the country for some reason so I travelled to Birmingham to get it, it didn’t flinch on the 2.5 hours journey back home.

I really can’t see the point in super cars now, they’re all so bland anyway. I was waved to and had thumbs up over ten times on my journey home from bikers to kids in car seats.

That’s it, I’m smitten plus I’ve got a car that if I sold it tomorrow I’d make £3k!

Ach dear god, just looked at the prices of these. I guess at least £8k for anything half tidy. There's one on ebay about that, and the seller is talking about leaking gearbox seals, and (bear with me here) Points? Points????? This is exactly why I would need very big brave pills, I just don't thing I could be bothered with them. I don't mind a big day in the workshop every year or so, but after that, I want to be able to jump in it and start it and drive it without thinking about the oily bits. I have an old MR2, so I do get the appeal, but I think the MR ticks more boxes for me, though doesn't look anywhere near as nice.

Anyway OP, I love your car, and I wish you the best with it.

[akirk]

they are very easy to own and drive...
I had a 1969 B roadster 20 years ago as a daily driver for 18 months - superb car, had more issues with it when it was not being used daily once I bought a second car...

[Xcore]

Very nice, iv got a 1965 mk1 that i took off the road last year, unfortunately needs a lot of work but i don’t really want to part with it! You do get some strange looks if your under 40 driving one!

Edited by Xcore on Monday 27th May 06:51

[pilleyc78]

Looks stunning 👌🏻 I love the smell of older cars

[Escort3500]

Works for me. Quintessential Brit sportscar and it looks a good ‘un.

I do love the distinctive exhaust note on the B

[Church of Noise]

Looks like a nice one!
They indeed offer a lot of fun at very sensible speeds.
I am biased as I have one of these (two if you count the one that's taken of the road years ago) and a GT V8 version.
A friend has some rather tasty more modern material, and even his 996 GT3 required me to drive at rather more silly speeds to get the same thrills as I get from the MGs at more sedate pace. (fyi, I'm 36 and have been driving these since I was 19 so no beard and pipe yet!)

[Mr Tidy]

Yours looks like a great example OP.

But I never liked them with their archaic OHV engines and rear drum brakes - the Fiat 124 Spyder (albeit LHD only) and Alfa Spyder with their twin-cam engines, 4 wheel discs and 5-speed gearboxes just seemed so much more advanced!

[samj2014]

bearman68 said:

Ach dear god, just looked at the prices of these. I guess at least £8k for anything half tidy. There's one on ebay about that, and the seller is talking about leaking gearbox seals, and (bear with me here) Points? Points????? This is exactly why I would need very big brave pills, I just don't thing I could be bothered with them. I don't mind a big day in the workshop every year or so, but after that, I want to be able to jump in it and start it and drive it without thinking about the oily bits. I have an old MR2, so I do get the appeal, but I think the MR ticks more boxes for me, though doesn't look anywhere near as nice.

Anyway OP, I love your car, and I wish you the best with it.

From what I understand (my dad has owned a couple of these), the mechanicals on these things are super simple, the parts are crazy cheap and still readily available, and they're not particularly unreliable so long as you keep it well maintained - same as any car. They're certainly one of the cheaper and easier to live with classics.

Edited by samj2014 on Tuesday 28th May 05:16

[Escort3500]

Mr Tidy said:

Yours looks like a great example OP.

But I never liked them with their archaic OHV engines and rear drum brakes - the Fiat 124 Spyder (albeit LHD only) and Alfa Spyder with their twin-cam engines, 4 wheel discs and 5-speed gearboxes just seemed so much more advanced!

Surely their “archaic” features are part of the charm? Also, I’d say parts availability and price makes the MGB a more realistic proposition.

[Sticks.]

Escort3500 said:

Mr Tidy said:

Yours looks like a great example OP.

But I never liked them with their archaic OHV engines and rear drum brakes - the Fiat 124 Spyder (albeit LHD only) and Alfa Spyder with their twin-cam engines, 4 wheel discs and 5-speed gearboxes just seemed so much more advanced!

Surely their “archaic” features are part of the charm? Also, I’d say parts availability and price makes the MGB a more realistic proposition.

Yes. MGAs were twin cam iirc, but the idea of the MGB was a sports car accessible to the eveyday driver, and to sell as many as possible, Some had overdrive iirc, so 5 speed in effect, and nothing wrong with rear drums imho.

I gave a lot of consideration to having one in 1990 (despite having had a dog of a Midget) but ended up buying a TVR S2 on the same basis - straightforward unstressed mechanicals, roof off, good noise, useable fun. Kept it for years.

I still like the Bs though, and that looks great OP. Have a great Summer, and post updates.

[Paul S4]

Looks very good.

I owned a 1973 BGT with tinted glass and O/Drive ( which was brilliant for overtaking !) as my only car in the 80's in Newcastle.

Put a stainless steel exhaust with a smaller centre box ( better ground clearance and sounded better !), chrome air filters and an alloy rocker cover.

Only thing was having to park it every night in a busy residential street as the steering was so heavy !!

If I had on now, I guess I would do quite a bit with the engine as it was not very powerful..... but the OP has stated that it was not bought for performance !!



I removed the front over riders to make it look a bit 'cleaner' and had a complete respray ( although it did not really need it !!)

[CAPP0]

Someone I know just paid north of £16k for an early Roadster, which seems an awful lot of money. That was somewhere in Susssex I believe, some sort of specialist outfit?

I had one myself back in the day, old english white, chrome bumper model, FMC 8J, bought from a mate with a dented rear wing. I bolted a plate through the light holes and repeatedly dropped it gently down a hill whilst tethered to a concrete lamp post until it came back into shape! Would have been around 1980.

[Lordbenny]

Had it two weeks now and I’ve bought.....

Chrome over riders front and back
Chrome grill
New tyres
Alloy rocker cover
Half tonneau
Washer bottle
Front discs and lads
Rear shoes
Pressed aluminium number plates (not yet fitted)

Absolutely loving it, I drove over Epsom Downs today DERBY DAY! The looks and comments we got were amazing, don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago!

[Xcore]

CAPP0 said:

Someone I know just paid north of £16k for an early Roadster, which seems an awful lot of money. That was somewhere in Susssex I believe, some sort of specialist outfit?

The price of pull handle mk1s are eye watering!