British Sports Cars

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

In my little home town back in the '70s well off folks would buy an import performance sports car and parade it around the town until its first breakdown, somewhere between 20,000 and 30,00 miles. At that point they'd discover there was no dealership in the area and that they'd have to flatbed the truck down to Atlanta for service. They'd usually put it in the garage for a year until the heat was off and then it would discretely show up in the classifieds at cents on the dollar.
Bob

My dad always dreamed of owning a Mercedes, so in 1985, he bought a 1978 Mercedes 240D. I loved this car although the horsepower was laughable, and it was tough to shift. The thing was horrible around town but dominated on the highway. With all of this said, ANY time he needed anything done on it, he would have to take a half day off of work and drive it to the local Mercedes dealer which was an hour away. What a pain, especially considering the man was working two jobs at the time. He kept it about 10 years, and ended up donating it to the local community college diesel program and wrote it off on his taxes. After the CC fixed up its cars, it would auction them off. He told them that if they didn't make their money back in parts, he would gladly buy it back from them. Needless to say he didn't get a call.

If that car is still around somewhere, I'll bet those brakes are STILL squeaking.

[AllThumbsBruce]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

My dad always dreamed of owning a Mercedes, so in 1985, he bought a 1978 Mercedes 240D. I loved this car although the horsepower was laughable, and it was tough to shift. The thing was horrible around town but dominated on the highway. With all of this said, ANY time he needed anything done on it, he would have to take a half day off of work and drive it to the local Mercedes dealer which was an hour away. What a pain, especially considering the man was working two jobs at the time. He kept it about 10 years, and ended up donating it to the local community college diesel program and wrote it off on his taxes. After the CC fixed up its cars, it would auction them off. He told them that if they didn't make their money back in parts, he would gladly buy it back from them. Needless to say he didn't get a call.

If that car is still around somewhere, I'll bet those brakes are STILL squeaking.

A Mercedes 240D is about as far as you can get from a British sports car. I have owned two and have to agree - around town where acceleration mattered it was a laughable proposition. But on the highway they were pretty nice. I owed one in Germany and basically kept it floored any time I was on the Autobahn. Solid car with respectable mileage. Life circles around and now I recently got another Mercedes diesel - a GLK 250. It is amazing - 370 ft lbs of torque and 35 mpg.

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I had a friend who was a classic rich guy in my high school in the '70s. His parents bought him three cars while he was in school. The first was a Porsche 911. One Friday night he got drunk and ran it off-road through a field of stumps, cracking the crankcase and thus destroying the engine and undercart. His parents bought him an XKE Jag 12 cylinder, hoping he would take it as a greater responsibility. He wrapped it around a tree doing 50 over the speed limit on the city's main drag in the middle of a Friday night race.

His parents bought him a VW bug.

Bob

He wrecked an E-Type? They should have made him buy his own bus pass after that.

[HHP]

Some, not content with the British concept of engines, shoehorned big,ole American V-8's into their MGB's.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by HHP

Some, not content with the British concept of engines, shoehorned big,ole American V-8's into their MGB's.

This is absolutely beautiful!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

This is absolutely beautiful!

Yeah, but if you stomp the gas too quickly the car will turn over from the torque.

I joke, but one iteration of Art Arfons' Green Monster dragster employed an Allison V1710 v12 aircraft engine. In trials it literally rolled on its back from torque. They had to add extra, splayed tires to stabilize it.

Bob

[RP]

Yeh, turn around and run the other way. British sports cars were cars for tinkerers. If you really want a sports cars, get a used Miata/MX-5....

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yeah, but if you stomp the gas too quickly the car will turn over from the torque.

I joke, but one iteration of Art Arfons' Green Monster dragster employed an Allison V1710 v12 aircraft engine. In trials it literally rolled on its back from torque. They had to add extra, splayed tires to stabilize it.

Bob

Sunbeam Tigers came from the Roots factory with a V-8 and they didn't flip over.

[Ozzy the dog]

Originally Posted by HHP

Some, not content with the British concept of engines, shoehorned big,ole American V-8's into their MGB's.

At first glance I thought that was just a pic of an MG in its' normal state on the side of the road with the bonnet (hood) up.

But the V8 makes it much more exciting.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by HHP

Sunbeam Tigers came from the Roots factory with a V-8 and they didn't flip over.

My post was an attempt at humor from a long-term British sports car lover.

Bob

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

My post was an attempt at humor from a long-term British sports car lover.

Bob

Nuthin' funny about an MGB with a small block.

[OldGuitarGuy]

If you aren't fed up yet with all the advice, here's my take on buying and MG Midget or any British Leyland product: don't!

As a teen in the 60's, I loved the MGB, Triumphs, Jaguar and the big Healeys. I owned a 1963 Triumph Herald soft top, a forerunner of the Spitfire, which I bought for $175 at age 16 and sold for $175 the following year when I went away to Penn State. It was all I could afford at that time. The Herald was a clunker and no one in their right mind would say Triumph Herald and sports car in the same sentence. But it was all mine, got me where I wanted to go and my high school sweetheart loved it (and me). Through the next three decades, I could never erase my love of the British roadsters from my brain so, in 1999, I bought a restored from-the-ground-up 1975 MGB. I was happy...no, thrilled each and every time I put the top down, turned the key, heard that distinctive growl of the exhaust and toured the two-lane roads of central Pennsylvania with my lovely wife or my lovely English Setter at my side. That was the first summer. Then the troubles started. I won't bore you with the bloody details except to say that I dumped more than $6,000 into that little car over the next eight years. The maintenance was constant.

So where does that leave us?......buy a Miata and enjoy the thrill of a British sports car without the nightmare of owning a British sports car and the costly maintenance that comes with it. You're welcome.