Ahh the details of when I bought my spitfire...
Wait a second, I don't own a spitfire and never did; although it definitely is
not ruled out as a future possibility.
But my Midget story is pretty regular, I think. Ever since I was 10 ish or so,
I've wanted to own an MG. Why you ask? Because I thought it would be the
coolest thing to own a car with the same initials as I have. Growing up, I
would always go nuts (still do) when I saw one on the road.
When I finally turned 17 (actually 16.5 I started looking for a car) I briefly
thought about purchasing my first MG. "Not so," my parents said. "Your first
car will be big, as big as we can find." As it turns out, Sherman Tanks are
quite rare these days. So, I went out and bought the biggest and best car I
could. An '84 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham. I could've fit the Midget in that
trunk. But Ohh My that was some car. Memory seats; plush leather; automatic
headlights; CB-Radio as one unit; you name it, the caddy had it.
But a year and no accidents later I sold the Caddy for something smaller (and I
still REALLY miss that car. I shouldn't have sold it.) An MG, please? "No,
still too small and too much work! You need reliability" was the answer. Boy
these parents were getting to me. So I found something smaller and reliable.
THe 300zx. What a great car, by the way. Very few problems, quick and nimble,
and without that "I have no p#n%s" aura of the Mustangs and Camaros. I wasn't
an "Italian Retard Out Cruising" as more than 1 college friend asked me. "Hey
Graz, how's that IROC?" No offence BTW, to Mustang and Camaro owners. That's
just the stereotype given to the local Italian males in my neighborhood. But on
to the MIdget.
Laura, one of my best friends at school, (and someone I reget not going out with
when I had the chance) invited me to her house in Jersey one weekend with a
group of friends (april, senior year). We pull up to the house and what do I
see? A black 74.5 RB MGB GT sitting on the front lawn. I almost cried. "Wow,
I love that car!" "Really," she said. "He's selling it b/c we lost our storage
place." I did cry. Especially since I didn't have the money, or even the
prospect of a job.
By the time I was in a purchasing position, september '97, the car had sat for
quite a while outside, and I was having second thoughts about buying a
non-convertable. THe T-Tops on the Z had been teasing me for years at this
point. But the GT was good enough to give me the bug. So I began a search for
my convertable MG. Midgets and B's were in my range, but my love was (is) the
A's. As it turns out, September's apparently not a good time to find them,
though. After two months, and viewing about 10 disaster areas I gave up (for a
while).
THen one nice balmy day in April, I'm about to make a left turn onto the
highway for my commute, when I spot My Little Money Pit sitting on the corner to
my right. A quick glance back to the left saved me from plowing into another
car (inches, folks, only inches). So I grabbed the # and decided to view the
car after work (I was late already, that's not anything new). After work I
looked over the car. It needs some work, but no rust, straight as an arrow, new
top and paint, and OK interior. I spoke to the owner the next day. He was
selling it b/c his girlfriend was pregnant and it was her daily driver.
Apparently she was now too valuable (with his child) to drive a small car. I
hope the distaste in my words are apparent, BTW. But he wanted 3.5K and I
figured in another $500 in the missing trim pieces and tire rim restoration. No
budging on the price. After some internal heart-brain disputes, the brain
cowered away with a few black and blues. I had My Little Money Pit three days
later.
Michael
'78 BRG RB Midget (My Little Money Pit)
'87 Nissan 300zx (Just the Z...)
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