Sitting behind the wheel of an MG TC, for ten hours, one has the opportunity to contemplate. Contemplate at least, between moments of stark terror, as the car lurches about in a never-ending desire to escape the leash. Why is this taking so long? Only a few hours into a 470 mile drive from Petersburg,…
Some time ago I had a note from our Virginia warehouse. They wanted to put a car in the lunch room, and would this be okay. Having over the years known more than one car enthusiast who kept a car in his living room, I wasn’t immediately opposed. Besides, the cafeteria in the building was…
If drivers match their cars, as owners match their dogs, then a glance at my MG midget clearly suggest that I wish to be an irresponsible teenager. Caring not a whit for safety, I am an immortal, screaming down the road with blaring exhaust, and my hair on fire. Please disregard the overweight, middle-aged man…
In addition to old cars, I collect old cameras. As folks who have visited will tell you, every nook and cranny of my house is stuffed with photographica. The cardinal rule of collecting states that when you run out of room, you buy a bigger house. Not all spouses are aware of this, but trust…
Longtime British car owners have evolved the ability to hear at a very special frequency. The medical name for this ability is long and hard to pronounce, so for the sake of conversation we will simply refer to it as “parts falling off.” The uninitiated might easily think a small stone has been kicked up…
In exchange for loaning a car to a friend, I took advantage of his extensive knowledge of carburetors and fuel injection systems by making him help diagnose the SU on my MG Midget. The Midget, aka the Flaming Cockroach, has been annoying fellow motorists for several years now with its roarty exhaust and plenty of…
I never owned anything other than two-seat convertibles, until I bought a pickup, and that was only to drag or carry broken bits of classic British convertibles. Being young and childless, and only dating carefully chosen women who liked convertibles, there really wasn’t a need for anything more. But then I grew up. For a…
Sir Stanly Hooker, a brilliant engineer at Rolls Royce from WWII through development of the Olympus engines used on the Concorde, wrote an autobiography titled Not Much of an Engineer. He was lying. Stanley Hooker was a brilliant engineer. Well I’m not much of a mechanic, and that’s the truth. As proof of the premise,…
Sitting at a local’s bar, half a block from the main tourist drag in historic Fernandina Beach, Florida, one has the opportunity to reflect. Over the outdoor speakers, B.B. King picks out Lucille as only he can, and above my head a hand written sign warns “Do NOT leave the porch with beers.” Above the…
We all have them, or maybe are them ourselves. Today, being an owner of Little British Cars makes one something of an offbeat, if not downright eccentric individual. And in the event one is labeled eccentric, your best bet is to blame it on others. “You think I’m nutty, I had an uncle who collected…
