Tom,
> In a post last week, someone had mentioned that GT's were not all that
well
> respected in California. Why is that? I can think of nothing nicer than
> driving through Napa Valley in a B GT doing a winery tour.
Nomex on. ;) I used to live in NorCal (Alamo, hr outside of SF) so I feel
free to comment. <G> It gets over 100F there in summer, frequently! Same as
here in Australia. Driving a BGT with virtually zero ventilation (even with
ALL windows open, still feels like zero) is not a fun thing to be doing.
It's simply steaming in there. I know a lot of listers come up with
solutions to the problems, like special reflective padding under the
carpets, sunroofs etc, but to be frank, a stock BGT is HOT. It's all lovely
and nice in Winter, and I can drive mine, hmm, 8 months of the year here and
be happy about it, but now, in Summer, it's just not on, not without A/C.
Leave the car outside in the sun a few hours, all that black vinyl.
Ooooooouch on the butt! <G> If like me, you wear a suit to work, it's almost
impossible to use on a daily basis. I used to turn up to work with my shirt
stuck to my back! Not a good look. <G> BTW, the BGT never once overheated
and coped just fine.
Thats why, IMHO, one reason GT's are undervalued in CA. The two other
reasons IMHO are "why drive a Coupe when the weather is so nice you can
drive a Convert.", and the ole "MG's aren't convertibles" or "Why didn't you
get a Convert. MG??" line you get from joe public... I'd also expect the
same would apply down south in AZ,TX etc, anywhere the weather is warm. This
definitely applies to Australia, I advertised mine for almost two years once
a month with only about 5 people even coming to see the car! Thats part of
the reason why I've decided to race mine, it's so solid, not a spot of rust
(better not be for the $1000.00s I spent on it!) but I want to get as much
fun as I can out of the car, and it's wasted sitting there half the year. I
want to use it!! :)
I just bought a CGT, so you can see, despite the heat, I love the GT to
bits. It's such an elegant car. I think the solution to the problem is for
me to move to the UK ;) as oviously I am not born to cope with high temps.
<G> But seriously. ;) Actually my solution is to fit A/C to the CGT,
something I will definitely do.
Cheers,
Neil
Sydney, Australia
BGT/CGT
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