The Story of The New Project Car (Queenie)
On Friday, March 31 our son (Joe) called and said he knew someone who had
an MG to give away.............. that is all the info we had. I (Peggy)
called
the guy and said "I'll take it." Still no more information. Then I
sent my husband (Dave) a page that said:
"I just adopted an MG
We need to pick it up
Sat (tomorrow) at 10a.m.
Petaluma - doesn't run."
That got his attention! I called the guy back and found out it was a
Midget... actually I was hoping for an A or a B.....but the price was
right. So far.
Saturday morning we grabbed breakfast on the run and went to see the little
orphan. Seems the guy neglected to tell me it had no right front fender...
and a few other things. :o) I took one look at this pitiful little car
and said to myself (Dave's going to say "no".) He then informed the guy
we couldn't take it home then but would make arrangements to have it towed
on Monday. (So much for my reading his mind.) Actually, he really
likes the wire wheels..... <G> Turns out this car was left in the garage
when these people bought the house last autumn and they moved it out into
the yard at that time. The previous owner signed the registration and
abandoned it.
Sunday we took my car on a nice day trip......this is a car I acquired last
spring for $1. It is the one that was in a farmer's pasture with the
steer, rams, etc. It is now a beautiful and fun car and we will be taking
it to Monterey in May.
Monday morning found me at the tow office -- their truck was to be
available in the afternoon -- so I ran my errands and awaited their call --
finally turned out their flatbed had it's run extended when the people had
their car taken to South SFo instead of San Rafael........ so forget it for
Monday. I told the guy if we went for it on Tuesday it would have to be
morning..... I had a full day planned.
Tuesday morning. Overslept. After my morning caffeine, I got ready and
went out to the tow office to tell them it probably wouldn't work out today
and maybe we could do it Saturday or next Monday. As I walked into the
office the dispatcher was talking to the truck driver and setting up the
tow (he saw me coming and probably figured I was going to get on his case).
He said the driver would be back in to the office in about fifteen
minutes and would head north (about 15 miles) and that they would let me
know when he was on his way. I drove up to wait for him. He showed up
right after I did!!
Now, the house we were to get the car from is on an old narrow street that
is made even harder to access by being two level with a fence down the
middle of most of it. I didn't think the flatbed could get back there, but
the homeowner told me of course it could......... it couldn't.
The driver (Mark) called a local tow company and they sent out a 'regular'
tow truck which barely could maneuver to back into the narrow drive from
the narrow street. The car was across the yard from the driveway. So they
strung the cable across the yard "kitty corner" and got it out of the dirt
and up (a minimum 6 inch dropoff) onto the concrete and over to the truck.
The air held up in the tires til they got it out to the end of the
driveway. (This car has been parked since 1985.) Driver #2 unhooked the
car and then drove his truck up the street to park it. Mark (driver #1)
and Driver #2 (who reminded me of Crash Ramsey) pushed the car down the
street to the flatbed so it could be loaded.
Driver #2 left. Mark put Queen on the flatbed and brought her home.
I paid the tow charges when I got home and asked Mark how I was to pay the
other company since the guy just left.......... he said no charge for that,
they were just helping out!
So then I went in the house and did a bit of work (checked my Email) --
went out to go to the grocery store and found I had left my headlights on
and the battery in the van was dead! Now, I could have driven an LBC, but
since I had to go pick up two teenagers a bit later that wouldn't
work......so back into the house and called AAA.........they sent a tow
truck (from the same company) to get my van started. I did my grocery
shopping; ran up to pick up two teenagers; back home; prepared for a
birthday supper for the 13 year old..................whew! We had a nice
evening of eating and visiting. The dishes are in the dishwasher.
Now the Queen is in the driveway and ready for a lot of work and TLC. The
poor thing has really been abused......I think it is a good thing David
can't get ahold of the previous owner. We did find amongst the pile of
stuff they had packed in the car a brand new top (never been out of the
box, hope it isn't suffering from dry rot or something). We hope it will
fit Kermit (Dave's '78 MG). We will need to take inventory and scope out
just what we have here. Then a trip to the DMV to see what we will see
about registration. Our son will be bringing down the additional barrel of
parts on Saturday. Sound like fun? Maybe we can have a pizza party one
day and those close enough can come over and scope it out.....maybe. Right
now I'm too tired to think about it.
So it begins................
Photos can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/bohlerbunch/Queenie.html
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