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I attended a car show here on Long Island, NY yesterday where MG
was the featured Marque. The setting for the show was a former
Vanderbilt estate set high on a hill overlooking the Long Island
sound. There were quite a few interesting cars there. We
followed a 427 Cobra up the twisting roads to the museum that
turned out to be a replica. Also arriving just ahead of us were
a Triumph Stag and a (not quite sure if this is right) TVR 280i.
The first cluster of cars on the lawn were all Triumphs. Mostly
TR6s and their immediate predecessors (I don't know much about TR
lineage). On the way to the MG cluster, I passed a Mercedes Benz
300 SL Roadster (57, I think). I was intrigued with the MB
because I've read that these old 300 SLs are quite valuable.
There were probably about 10 Bs, 3 Ts, one Midget, and 4 MGAs.
Many of the Bs were nice looking cars hiding horrible rust
repairs. On first scan, they looked pretty good. Upon closer
examination, I could see things like no seam between the rocker
panel and front fender and no seam between the rocker and rear
fender. Just one long wavy rocker panel. Some of the
modifications were a little suspect as well. There was one early
B that had these ugly little flares on the rear fenders. I
suspect the owner did this to hide/repair some rust. I don't
know, maybe I'm too critical, but it's always disconcerting for
me to see Bs with a nice paint job over top some bad cosmetic
rust repairs. I wonder how the people judging the cars react
when they see stuff like this. Well, to be fair, at least the
cars are being driven and enjoyed. That's most important.
The most bizarre MG there, by far, was an MGA that someone had
completely and utterly hot rodded. I didn't talk to the owner (a
younger guy with many tattoos and that hot rodder kind of aura)
but the car appeared to have started life as a coupe. From the
firewall forward, there was nothing but a large V8 with "Cobra"
written all over it. From the firewall back were the remains of
the MGA body, in a sort of metallic maroon color. The interior
didn't even resemble that of an MG. It was completely
customized. One of the chassis rails up front carried the MGA id
plate. I should have checked the registration on the windshield
to see if it was registered as an MGA. It probably was.
On the way out, we passed another 427 Cobra, this time the real
thing. Ironically, a couple of the nicest cars were out in the
parking lot. On the way back to my car, I passed yet another 427
(real) Cobra and a gorgeous 67 MGB. Maybe one day soon I'll be
driving my fully "restored" 67 BGT to one of these events. I'll
probably be one of the people who parks out in the parking lot,
though.
Kendall
kendallr@chey.com
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