Olin- keep it up! I encourage you to stick with it and keep these beauties on the road.

This is so true. I'm a retired Industrial Arts Teacher (shop class) and when I started 35 years ago we had 5 shop teachers in grades 7-12. The department is now down to 1 and it will all end this year. They have cut all shop classes, everything from home maintenance, small engine repair, machine shop, welding, sheet metal, basic auto repair, woodworking, and mechanical and architectural drawing. The administration feels if students want this they should go to a vocational school. That doesn't work, although some of the old shop classrooms have made real nice computer and study hall classrooms...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 09:46AM by eightyb.

Classic cars are classic cars for a reason. A toyota camry or Miata are never going to be classics,just like a new C63 Mercedes will never be on par with a 1955 300SL Gull wing.
Your 13 year old Nephew may never be thrilled with a 1980 rubber bumpered 65 horsepower former vision of itself MGB,that and your attitude might have some influence.
BTW my Grandfather born in 1883 and died in 1977 did pass down a Model T.
You don't pick a future classic,they are born the day they leave the factory.
Camry? Miata?

I let any young ones that want to sit in my car at show, hoping even one will remember when they get older. Its the only thing I can think of to further the hobby.

If the boy is Texting and not doing what he should be take the dam phone away after all you must have given it to him you can take it away.Then give him some thing to do on the car other then hold the light.I know holding a light is help but its boring.I see so many folks that dont like what there kids are doing or how they dress.well who bought them the ugly cloths in the first place and who let them get bored so there not doing any thing worth while.Find the kids a old fixer upper MG and put them to work on there own car that way they wont hurt your car and most likly will come and say DAd or Gramp can you help me.That would make your day I know it does mine.MY son and Grandson love all 4 of my Mgs Esp. the 53,MG TD mk.2 the grandson asked if it would be passed down in our family I told it would as he already owns the 75 midget at 11 years old.One has to make stuff interesting to the kids in order to sway THEM AWAY FROM TEXTING AND COMPUTER GAMES LIKE X bOX.RIGHT NOW MY GRANDSON IS WEARING A SPL. WATCH THE SCHOOL HAS PUT ON EVERY KID IN HIS GRADE IT RECORDS EVERY movement HE DOES. Its to see just how much the kids are sitting around doing nothing or out doors doing some thing it will record stuff like helping on the cars that both he and his father love to do.I plan on keeping the MG dream alive as long as I can aford to do it.Then ill give the cars to them.
Shirley Sr.

I let the Kids sit in my TD and they love it so dont there folks.I love seeing the smil when there told to sit behind the wheel just dont step on the paint hahahhaha

If I were wrong the OP wouldn't have a reason to "rant" in the first place would he?

I'm 27, and got my first MGB at age 17. My dad is currently 66 and had B's at my age. I learned everything I know from him, fellow British Car Club members, and this site. Sadly I also think the restoration of LBCs is declining rapidly. There are less people driving them out of fear of modern traffic and crash worthiness. Most owners seem to be scared to do more than 50 MPH in their cars. I would jump in my B tomorrow and drive 500 miles, top down, at 70+ mph in a heartbeat.

---

David Kiehna- 27 year old British Car Enthusiast!
'74 MGB - My driver
'74.5 MGB - Dad's driver
'74 Jensen Healey JH5 (32,000 miles)
'65 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8 BRG/Ivory

Not wrong,misguided maybe. We have several hundred members in the MGCCNWC and lately membership has been on the rise and lots of new younger members joining. People used to think Hot Rodding had seen its day and now you have a youth movement building cutting edge old school Fords and Chevys and Rat rods and their are more rods on the road than anytime in the past 30 years. Met a 29 year old driving a 39 Hudson street rod at a local show and shine last week and a couple in their thirties with their new pride and joy early 70's Midget. There is hope. Someone is going to be driving them or at age 61 I am going to be gathering up quite a nice collection to use into my 90's

I am neither wrong nor misguided and I can assure you that you are going to have a cheap supply of MGBs and or MG midgets to drive for the rest of your life. Since I was 16 and bought my first British sports car until I sell this one, my last British sports car, they are fun to drive but not enjoyable to own. Everyone on here knows it's hit or miss on a day to day basis whether your car will run the same way it ran just last night after you shut it off. Some people get on here and brag one day about how fantastic their car is and the next thing you know they have that POS all apart with pictures delving deep into the annals of it's broken engine. They are not something kids today are looking to own.

This same concern is expressed in an article by Peter Brock in the March issue of Classic Motorsports magazine.

I inherited a 67' MGBGT, and I have my kids help me when I work on it. They are only 11 and 5, but they love to ride around in it.I will pass it on them someday. We have to try to keep people interested in these pieces of history.

Thanks,
Brian

Wow,What pessimists.Did you buy your first MG yesterday? Or buy a piece of crap and don't know how to work on it? Like I said our club membership is climbing. We are attending a group drive to attend a very enthusiastic Voc tech school that can't wait to see the cars and how they work. I have owned various MG's since the beginning of the 1970's and never experienced any of the angst you mention.So please leave me out of your poor attitude "Everyone on here knows" it's hit or miss on a day to day basis whether your car will run the same way it ran just last night after you shut it off. Neither I nor a lot of MG owners I meet on a weekly basis lack the faith that a properly Maintained and operated MG will run and deliver you to your destination when needed.
I won't presume to lump you in with the group that neither knows how to maintain nor operate an MGB BUT IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK QUACKING ! If you don't like the Marque please stop abusing the poor car and move onto a Mazda.You know one of those classics,or maybe a Camry.Those seem more to your liking and abilities.
Yikes,you must be a real joy to be around on a 250 mile Saturday drive with your local MG club.
Although I seriously doubt you ever drive it that far for fear you put something together improperly again and it might fall off overnight or since the last month you drove the poor thing.
To which I will also bring up an old adage " We always say this about previous owners: If you don’t know what you are doing, please do not work on your own car."

Good day



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 08:23AM by ohlord.

Occassionally you will find a young person who just likes the looks of these cars, and sometimes you'll find a young person who just likes to work on cars. But, if you want to recruit young people, you have to let them drive a solid MGB (or other LBC) in the manner they were built to be driven, on roads that bring out the car's personality.

Introducing them to the "joys" of maintainance and restoration first is bass-ackwards. We all got into owning these cars because they are a blast to drive, not because they are simple to fix.

Now a word about "modern" cars and kids. There is a segment of the public today who are called Tuners. They are driving and 'restofying' small bore vehicles which are absolute beasts. They can text and drive in a drifting competition (which didn't exist when I was young, but boy would I have so been doing that!) at the same time. The workmanship on these cars is exacting and often executed by the owners themselves.
They are just part of the car scene today, which includes rat rods, trucks, restofacations of muscle cars, etc. If the PowerBlock and Speed auto programs are any indication, the car hobby has never been so huge and healthy with plenty of young people entering it every day.

Now I've got a question for all the folks bad mouthing more recent classics: Mazadas, Toyotas, Hondas, Kias, Hyundais, etc.

Each of these companies have put out some fun 'sports cars' in the past which have not really caught the imagination of rebuilders. You won't find them in the pages of Classic Motor Sports (in fact the next issue is supposed to be delving into this issue). The Mitsubushi 3000 GT comes to mind.

I own what I consider to be one of the very best of these future classics. It is 17 years old and gives me a solid kick every time I see it crossing the parking lot and even more pleasure every time I drive it, which is a lot. With 228,000 miles on the odometer and regular maintenance my 1995 Ford Probe GT is a great daily driver that I would not think of trading in for anything new. I'm hoping my MGB GT will provide something approaching the driving pleasure my Probe does so I can put the Probe in for some cosmetics before driving it another 200,000 miles.

Never been stranded once and I've had two B's in 25 yr's, a 75 roadster, since parted out because of a rusted frame and a restored 72 for the past 8 yrs. I think you must have had a lemon or didn't do proper maint. I still have the lump & trans from the 75 as a spare.

I am taking a neighbor's son to a LBC breakfast next Sat, he is 13 and would love to have an MG and would like to take shop class.. I recently taught my 16 year old grandson to drive a standard transmission in my 78 MGB. (and yes the car is still ok). Driver's education is in automatic tranny here in NC . So there is hope for the young ones.

As to the reliability of our old cars, I'm 63 years old, my MG's are 34 and 38. I do not have any other cars. It took a while to get them sorted out but now they are both as reliable as my wife's car, a 2006 toyota. Many people think I'm nuts but I enjoy driving my MGs. I am not worried about being stranded on the side of the road. Has it ever happened, yes but got going again pretty quick since these cars are relatively simple to fix and parts are readily available and cheap.

I have driven each of the MG's on long distance trips many times, Rallye to Reno last summer, NC to MG 2011 in Bellville, Ontario, MG 2008 in Philly. Last weekend I drove the 78 MG 600 miles to visit my sister. I'm driving the 74 to TX in May and the 78 on the 1600 mile NC Border Tour in June to attend MG 2012. Not bragging just trying to make the point that these fun little cars can be daily drivers.

Are they "safe" at 70-80 mph on the Interstate Highways, oh well. . . . I rode motorcycles for decades so my risk tolerance is above average.
Hope all who read this long reply enjoy a drive today.

---

Don't postpone joy

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved MG , but rather to skid in sideways - body and drive train thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!!"

Young people and MG's: I'm 19 and I love my LBC's, but I won't be owning one for a while until I can afford to have 2 or probably 3 cars. I do love them though, in part because I've grown up around them. However, I certainly think that in my area the number of young people getting into the classic British roadsters is dwindling and the local scene doesn't seem too interested in doing anything about it.

Reliability: I've been driving a '77 BGT almost every day for the last 2.5 years. Has it left me on the side of the road? No. Has it broken? Oh, yes. Current list of things to be fixed or replaced: Windscreen wipers (stopped in the middle of pouring rain); heater; front suspension bushes; rear leaf springs; quarter window latch; a bit of rust here and there (despite having all rust cut out a few years ago)... So while it has never left me totally stranded, it still breaks. Quite a lot. Our MGA has not been as expensive, but it's also had much less use and it's also off the road at the moment with gearbox issues.

Miatas (or MX-5's as they are known in my part of the world): I was a little disappointed to see some very disparaging remarks about these fantastic little cars. I am very fond of them and I (like most of the motoring press that I've seen) do consider them to be a modern classic - particularly the first generation. Honestly I struggle to understand why someone with such a keen interest in British roadsters would be so negative about the definitive roadster of the last 25 years. Putting the Miata in the same boat as the Camry is just ridiculous.

I fell in love with MGs ever since I my older cousin bought an Midget. I was 10 yrs-old at the time. I bought my first MGB 25 yrs ago, then another a couple years later. My last one 3 yrs ago.

My son is 17 yrs old, and has not shown any interest in my MGB, though he thinks they are cool. He is my only child and of course everything will go to him one day.

Hopefully he develops sometime later, but it is not promising. I am afraid he will just sell it once I am gone or let it sit and rot

Miata, MGB without a soul. Nice little drivers for a chick car.
The tie in between Miata and camry was brought up as reference to future classics by a disgruntled 1980 MGB LE owner that thinks driving an MGB is fun but owning one is terror.
I chalk that up to the owner and his lack of skills maintaining a car. Most likely any car.

Son and neighbor both several years ago. He now drives and loves the New Bedouin 1971MGB
Wants one or a MG Magnette if I can find a nice builder for him to work on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 10:37AM by ohlord.

Jesus fella's chill out. It's just an F'ing car. Can you marry a car yet in the NW USA? Seems you can marry everything else out there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 10:37AM by 80MGBLE.