Please excuse the acronym- anyone who
reads the postings of the MG List will know it stands for Little British
Car. And with the British Car Festival approaching, we are reminded of those
who have stopped by the CMGC cars and mentioned the MG they once owned and
all the problems it had. It is too easy, without thinking, to just chuckle
in agreement. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Reinout Vogt
said it well just after completing the MG Grand Tour Mark V Endurance Trial.
In that "high" that comes after driving/co-driving for 20 or more
hours straight, he said, as well as we remember "Isn't it great that
you can take this car, that you maintain by yourself, and go a thousand
miles in one shot year after year! And we're just amateurs- we're not professional
mechanics!" We are among those who rely entirely on our MGBs for transportation
throughout the year, and we and others do not hesitate to use these cars
that were built 28 or more years ago for trips of substantial distances.
When CMGC members discussed next year's NAMGBR convention in Vancouver,
the obstacle to driving was not whether the cars would make it, but whether
members had enough vacation time to be able to drive there. In fact, Marjorie
and Joe Carroll of the Canadian Classic MG Car Club have driven an MG from
Vancouver to every NAMGBR annual convention, most of which have been east
of the Mississippi. In the recent Midwestern Council races at Road America,
an MGC ran very well in the Vintage class, bested by only a 'Vette and a
Porsche. The same weekend one of us had a dream ride- twice around the track
in a beautiful silver XK 140. Think of it: 100 mph through the Kink in a
British car built in 1950! Why then this extreme difference in the perception
of the reliability of British cars?
Last October we purchased a '74 1/2 B GT. Because these are relatively rare,
we stored it over the winter and retrieved it just in time for the trip
to the NAMGBR convention in Hagerstown, MD. The car was in reasonably good
shape, but there were a few problems (starter, overdrive lockout switch)
that we repaired before leaving. We drove hard to Hagerstown and took US
50 through the mountains of West Virginia on our return. On the return trip,
we stopped to make two repairs. Just after leaving Hagerstown we installed
Grose jets, and after traversing the mountains on winding, two-lane US 50,
which hasn't changed noticeably since we last drove it years ago, we had
to stop to change the water pump. So we had taken this car, that we had
hardly driven previously, on a 1500 mile test drive with only these two
easily solved problems. Still, had we little or no experience with MGs,
we might have been quite disappointed with this purchase. And, yes, Bill
Hedrick was literally correct when he reported at the next meeting that
everyone had problems on the return trip. Nevertheless, most of these were
easily solved.
At the convention car show, John Twist presented one of his rolling tech
sessions: a series of cars were brought in for diagnosis and correction
of a variety of problems. He solved every one, including getting a car from
Alaska to fire properly for its drive home.
Time out to replace the water pump...
Were these cars unreliable before he worked
his magic? Were they really different afterwards? It's not magic- just a
matter of education and a willingness to get to know your car. And, because
these cars are all nearly 30 years old or older, parts which wear must either
be replaced or carried as spares. But what other car built in the 60s and
70s is seen as frequently on the road? If these cars were so inherently
unreliable, how is it that nearly half a million of them, counting MGBs
alone, were sold? And how many newer cars of non-British manufacture does
one see stopped on the side of the road?
It's not the reliability of the British cars that is a problem, but the
assumption of many consumers that all they need to do to a car is add gas
and turn the key. So if anyone at the British Car Festival starts complaining
about reliability, we will try very hard to refrain from asking them who
programs their VCR for them.
