Hi Bill,
I live in NH (and yes there are MGs here); as far as winter goes, the short
answer is that you simply don't drive the MG in New England during the winter.
Two main reasons:
1) Salt on the roads (to melt the ice) will devastate an MG in short
time. If you want a rust-free car, you leave it inside at least until some
rain has washed away any existing salt.
2) Rear-wheel drive is not conducive to successful driving in snow. It can
be done, but it's not anywhere near as safe as front-wheel drive, or all-wheel.
And a third minor reason:
Cold. A hardtop and a lot of work on your heater may improve things, but
in 20-below-zero weather, the MG is not the first car you think about
taking out of the garage.
Not to mention that it's a real b*tch to jump-start in a snowstorm, since
the battery's in the passenger compartment, meaning you have to expose your
passenger to a snowstorm while you're jumping the battery.
So, summertime is when the MGs come out! It's even more special because
it's only a six months out of the year (April/May to about October), maybe
even less if you're far enough up toward Canada & Nova Scotia.
As far as 100 inches of snow on the road, that sounds like the right amount
of the season (maybe a little low, but this wasn't a very snowy winter this
year), not so sure that he meant it was all there all at once.
Occasionally you'll get some unusual day in January or February where the
weather spikes up to 70+ degrees, and then all the convertibles come out of
the woodwork for a day, but by the next week you can be sure the temps will
be back down below freezing and all the cars go back inside, biding their
time until spring.
Happy motoring!
- Tab
At 09:33 AM 8/3/03, Bill Saidel wrote:
>Just a quick note: trip from New Jersey to mid-Maine last week in my SO's
>vehicle...with an eye out for LBC cars on the road. I saw none in NJ, NY,
>Conn, MA and
>NH, but in Maine, I saw 5. Of those 5, 3 were pristine...spectacularly
>lovely, 2 B's and a Triumph. The other 2 were more interesting..one a RBB
>and the other, CBB. Both were showing their age with a few rust spots, a
>need for repainting and dings but more importantly, both
>were driven by women (by my estimation) >55 years of age.
> Only guessing :-?. but I'd bet, since no male in either car, they
>were knew what was important in life.
>
>Please ... no flames. It was nice to see them and their vehicles.
>The roads up there must be tough in the winter...gas station attendant
>told us last winter they had 100 inches of snow on the roads. Every hear
>of an MG plow???
>
> Bill
>'76B, BCCSNJ
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