In honor of Dan Hughes Day, I would like to contribute my own story:
Warning! Long....impatient people need not read....
At the time, I was 23 and enjoying my first MGB, a 1975 that was
a great runner but needed some cosmetics to put it mildly, (for the
first 6 months, my top was a blue tarp and my rocker panels were
made out of roofing drip edge). My best friend and I were on a road
trip when we came across a 1969 MGB GT buried in a snowbank next to a
house in Maine. Of course, we had to stop and talk to the owner,
thinking that maybe this was the find of the century. Since the car
was in a snowbank, it was hard to tell what type of condition it was
in..... but it did not matter to me, it was british racing green, had
wire wheels, I was 23 and absolutely in love with MG's and I _had_
to have it.
The owner gratiously accepted payment of $200.00 (what a deal, I am
thinking) and I was off to call AAA to tow my new sweetheart home.
My buddy and I spent a good 2 hours shoveling the car out of the
snowbank. When the towtruck arrived, the driver was quite amused
to hear me say with a smile on my face, "my car won't start". I think
he replied with something like "doesn't look like it has started in
20 years, but hell I'll still tow her...". You just gotta love AAA....
Now comes the Dan Hughes part of my story...the car was parked front
end into the snowbank, so the only way to pull the car out of the rest
of the snowbank was to hook up to the back of it. I asked the towtruck
driver if he thought this was going to work, and he said "hell yes...
done it a million times".
It is now quite dark and snowing by the time the driver gets hooked up
the back of the GT and with a mighty crunch the car slid out of its
winter home. Now the driver just had to make final adjustments to the
hookup, crank up the country music blasting on his radio and we were off.
My buddy and I hop in the B and follow the truck driver. (probably a good
point in my story to remind the reader that the GT had wire wheels and the
car was being towed backwards) About 2 miles down the road, I was shocked
to see the MG shift to its side as one of the wire wheels releases from the
hub and passes me on my left.... hmmm, not a good thing. With sparks flying
from the road and the MG, the driver continues, not knowing what had just
happened.....as we try to speed up to him, flashing our high beams...the
other side of the car shifts down and the second wheel lets go, passing
my buddy on his right.....also not a good thing. We both look at each
other but say nothing. Now the car is throwing up sparks at a spectacular
rate.....The driver continues.
He continues on for a couple of more miles, until I was able to gather up
enough speed in the B to pass him. As we get up next to him we can see that
he is singing to himself in the car and having a good 'ole time listening
to the local country western station.....
After stopping and assessing the situation, he hooks the truck up the
the other end of the car that now was missing both of its wheels. We proceed
and finally make it home an hour later.
The next day, I went back to spot where we lost the wheels and was
able to find 1 wheel near where the incident occurred, and the other
wheel about 2 miles away on someones front lawn...I never did find
the chrome knockoffs.
The car ended up being in need of major restoration, and was eventually
sold to a gentleman from Canada, who came across the border with a trailer
and took her home. He was going to restore the car....so hopefully it
is on the road somewhere in Canada.
The moral of the story is.....never, ever tow a car with wire wheels
backwards......
Happy Dan Hughes Day!
Dan Ness
1965 RHD MGB
1954 Austin Healey
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