(Pardon the two day delay in response time)
I think it is very important that I reclarify what I had meant and point out
some issues that everyone mentioned.
First of all to all of you had mentioned working on these cars since your
teens. The 'newest' MGB is now 20 years old, so anyone 25 (I'll give you
five years) or older grew up when these cars are new, saw them on the road
everyday and was influenced by that. You are the folks now buying MGs and
TRs because you didn't have on in HS or whenever, and want to fulfill that
void which existed at one time (or those that had an LBC in HS, and want one
again now).
Then we have the people like James Nazarian, who was a tad upset over my
original post. But James, isn't your father on this list too... also the
owner of some LBCs? Here we see the passion of LBCs being passed down
through family ties. If your father had some LBCs and you were growing up
and he took you along to car shows and you always saw him working on his
LBCs, your tastes would be influenced also.
Growing up around LBCs is completely different than just being introduced to
them at a stoplight or through small talk at a local car show. In the first
case the passion and support to be a 'keeper' of LBCs already exists, in the
latter it is (at the time) just a peak in interest. I'm sure some of the
hot hatch boys may envy (and be interested in) my Triumph, however... if we
were to swap cars for a period of time I would bet that my Triumph would be
busted or wrecked in a matter of months (or maybe weeks).
With everything I've said above I will echo and amend some other comments
that were posted throughout the thread. First of all, yes, I am only 18
years old (and have been a member of this list since 1994). I bought my MGB
in 1995, and I purchased my TR-6 in Dec. of 1998. I was introduced to LBCs
through my family, of which there is an AH3000, MGB, TR-4 and TR-6 amongst
other family members. One of my family's best friends also is the owner of
a few LBCs and numerous Italian exotic (including a very nice Ferrari
250GT). So I have grown up around these cars, my tastes and opinions have
been formed from my experienced in riding in these cars time to time and
from seeing close family members working on these cars.
Gordon Bird had hatched an idea to give all the 'rusted out parts cars' to
the new kids because they would be inexpensive. This is a fine idea if we
want to kill a few of the new kids... because would you want your son or
daughter to get into an accident in an MGB that has rusted out sills?
David Littlefield had commented that my MGB hadn't been worked on much since
I purchased it. This is completely true. A few weeks after I purchased my
MGB, my uncle's TR-6 was just coming out of restoration. A ride in this and
my world changed. The Triumph drew me in. Consequently, I maintain my TR-6
rigorously and enjoy it fully. And in ~10 days my Eaton supercharger
arrives from Magnuson products, and then I'm only waiting on the rest of the
kit from Vintage Induction Systems. I can't wait.
Larry Macy chimed in knowing that I've worked for many years at two
different LBC shops in the summers (when I wasn't in HS or college). Last
summer I rewired a Lotus Elan, and just yesterday I replaced the head on a
TR4A and did a thrust washer replacement on a TR-6. Have done a bit of work
on some E-types as well. My involvement in the past years while working for
British Miles was more on the parts end, dealing with the folks ordering
parts and attempting to reclassify all the Lucas/BMC/BL/Girling/etc part
numbers into one uniform system of numbers as well as doing research for
some of customers with weird cars like TVR 1800S and early Lotus Sevens.
Then Larry countered David's comment with "Yea he'd rather drive his
TR-UGGH" heh, yes I would. The TR-6 I drive and it feels like a second
skin. However, I don't care to much about the heritage of Triumphs whereas
the history and current news about MG interests me a great deal.
In summary, everyone on this list has a vested interest in LBCs (or at least
MGs). The kid in the hot hatch who pulls along side of you at a stop light
and strikes up a conversation is only interested in what he sees as a sporty
old car; he does not care if it is British made, or even about what an MG
is... the specifics don't matter to him. And having gone to school with
kids like this, I can truly say I do not want them to become the future
owners of LBCs. Otherwise we may end up with MG Type-Rs, or at least a 2ft
long vinyl Type-R sticker on the bonnet.
And I, like Bill Spohn, also feel that once I die... I do not care about
what happens to these cars. I drive my TR-6 to it's fullest potential now
(and even more so once that supercharger is on), and although I've snapped
my share of axle bolts (and Thursday I managed to rip out 5 of the studs on
the trailing arm) I will continue to drive my cars this way until the supply
of parts is exhausted.
And as to offer more 'proof' to back my positions on this subject I offer up
to cases. The first of which some of you will know from this list, Ben
Ruset. While I am in NO WAY bashing Ben here, I'm merely pointing out that
he had an interest in MGs from an siting... Rick Brown and David Deutsch
helped him out quite a bit in getting him to car shows and finding him an
MGB. Yet, I think a little over a year of ownership of his 1978 MGB he lost
interest (whether it was due to constant fixing being needed, financial
strain, etc) he sold it. And he even passed on the MG WebRing which he ran
to Chris Nevard. I believe Ben is now driving a late model Ford (a Tempo
perhaps)?
Then we have a bloke I know, Derek Voigt (Derek are you still on the list?).
Derek is a nice kid, had an MGB at one time... cool car he thought, his best
friend also had an MGB GT. Derek ended up selling or crashing the MGB, I
can't recall... but I know his best friend did wreck the GT. Derek had
purchased a Midget over this winter, which he also sold again once Spring
came around. While he likes MGs, he seems to lack what it takes to keep one
on the road. I believe his current daily driver is a Honda Prelude.
I also new a kid in HS who would borrow his father's MGB. It wasn't the
nicest MGB in the world, but he enjoyed it and would go cruising around with
some of our mutual friends as passengers. However Matt ended up purchasing
a 90s Mustang rather than an MGB when he finally bought a car.
So those of you inclined to argue that there must be a massive concerted
effort to draw youngsters from outside into the hobby, go ahead. I have my
reasons as to why I won't do this.
chocks away,
--
Kai M. Radicke -- kmr@pil.net
1966 MGB -- 1974 Triumph TR-6
http://www.pil.net/~felix (pix soon)
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