Bud,
I just received my copy of the Driver today and immediately read the "offending"
article.
Actually, from your description and having some knowledge of Ian's lack of
political
correctness, I expected something much worse. He's cutting down the people who
do
not drive their cars, that only go in for the picnic thing and worry only about
how
their car looks, not how it runs and drives. If you drive yours as I also drive
mine
he's not talking about us. The MGB world has similar people who trailer their
car
around to shows just to gather up the trophies. Those of us who understand that
the
real pleasure to be had from an MG is to drive it know that those people just
aren't
having as much fun as the rest of us.
As for the bastardization of the car, even that isn't as bad as it could be.
I'm not
sure why someone thought it needed a Ford rear end when a standard B one should
work
okay, but the rest of the mechanical "improvements" don't sound too bad. At
least MG
components were used. The MGB front suspension is very similar to the TD but
would
gain the addition of disc brakes and a sway bar. My own TD has an MGA rear axle
which gives me a 4.3 vs 5.125 ratio and also wire wheels. I also used the MGA
front
hubs and brakes(1500-not disc) and this summer I got tired of wallowing around
curves and added an MGB sway bar and plan to go to an uprated B sway bar to
make an
even bigger difference in body roll. Not only do these changes make the car more
drivable on today's highways, they also make it safer. Most anyone would agree
that
TDs could use some more power, better brakes, and a fifth gear or higher rear
end to
make them more of a pleasure to drive.
His TD sounds like an interesting and fun car, but it probably won't win at
many car
shows, concours or popular vote, though I doubt that he cares. Most likely Ian
could
also care less about going British with a picnic basket since he is British
along
with the current chairman of NAMGBR. Most likely they think the picnic basket
set is
somewhat silly.
Charlie Baldwin
TD14552
'60 MGA
'66 MGB
Bud Krueger wrote:
> Received my November/December copy of NAMGBR's MG Driver today. It really
>irks
> me that the editors would allow such TD-bashing as Ian Pender's article 'The
> Full Monty'. Granted, I'm not happy to hear about another TD that's been
> bastardized, but that's not the point. A lot of us TD-owners work on and drive
> our cars because we enjoy the real MG spirit that one finds in MG's without
> windup windows, etc. Those owners who enjoy 'going British' with their picnic
> baskets seem to identify with something from the other side of the pond. I
>think
> that they are a small minority compared with those of us who see our TD's as
> cars to be driven.
>
> If Pender's article represents the NAMGBR's editorial attitude then I
> certainly know to save another $25 next year.
>
> Bud Krueger
> 52TD (being driven)
> 77MGB (being worked on)
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