I drove my MGB down from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles between Christmas
and New Years, on US 101. The weather was beautiful, although not
anything like Christmas ought to be. Don't know how fast I was
going, as the speedo needle bounces 4-8 mph, even with a new cable (I
don't know what a bad angle drive feels like, but mine seemed to spin
freely when I took it out--speedo prob?), but I would guess an actual
65-70 mph. I must have been passed by half the homeqward-bound SUVs
and Lexuses in California along the way. I only saw one LBC (maybe
it doesn't qualify as "little"), an Aston Martin DB 4 (5?) drophead
pulling off at a rest stop north of Santa Barbara. I would have
stopped, but he was going in the opposite direction, and it would
have taken a lot of time to make a U-turn.
Despite the good weather, I saw no other LBCs during the week. I
know a lot of people weren't going to work, but it was too bad more
of us weren't out on the road.
I got my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" fix in LA, stopping by The
Chequered Flag in Marina del Rey to see what they had for sale. A
couple of nice Bs, very expensive, though. An unrestored
Morgan--lots of vintage patina, but the doors or body were tweaked,
some restoration work probably required. In the non-LBC catagory,
they had a couple of great pre-war roadsters--a Fiat Balilla Spider
and a BMW 319. The Caterham was tempting, but expensive. PO'd by
some Fox TV/movie guy. My favorite car, though, was the AC Accea
that they have been trying to sell for a year or so. Somewhere
between an MGB-GT and an Aston Martin DB in the scheme of things,
needing some interior work. I know I'll never be able to afford an
AC Ace (to me the most beautiful post-war British roadster), but this
is close. They wouldn't take my MGB in on trade--oh,well...
The most rare or unusual thing I saw was a Facellia (baby Facel Vega)
in a Texaco garage in LA. In the process of restoration, I guess. A
project like that makes the availability of MG parts look
miraculous...
Chris Attias
'64 MGB
'84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6
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