OK...the verdict is in....and it doesn't look good...

First off, let me say my daughter is a very knowledable car person at 13 years old. On the way home from swimming tonight, we talked about what her car was going to be when she gets her license. I asked and she responded...below are her answers:

How about a Corvette? Corvettes are cool but only if you understand them...your friends don't even understand them...why do you think my friends would?

How about an MGB? Dad...your white car is kinda cool, but MGBs are too slow....

How about a Miata? BORING....one on every street corner driven by middle aged geeks and child molesters....

What then? New Mini Cooper S (hood scoop and center exhaust..can't fool her)....powder blue with white roof. But a close second is a Pontiac Solstice...yellow. I asked about a Saturn Sky....angular and weird like a Darth Vadar car.

There you have it, straight from the mouth of a 13 year old girl. My MGBs will die with me.

Keep "Max", sell the rest.....No way would I let a kid drive her. My 13 year old told me last week that he wanted a convertible BMW when he turns 16. Aleda and I got a chuckle out of that.

Well, my then 16 year old daughter said, when I got my B, "Dad when you die (quickly, she hoped) I want the B".

I don't know if her tastes have changed now she's 19.
Both my now 16 yr old son and 19yr daughter would rather be seen dead than in my Wolseley, they still love the B, though.

Herb

My 15 year old son is crazy about Vettes and Camaros. But he is pretty excited about the "B" that we have started aV6 conversion on. We just have to get finished for senior prom.I told him ok but his fingerprints have to be all over it.

Get her the Cooper. I sense a "British Car" appreciation developing right into proud ownership of least one of your MGs as a keepsake of her dear old dad.
Her answers indicate you've raised one really great girl and that rarest of all American teens, a modern motorhead.

Have you considered introducing her to a real Mini Cooper S? Watch the opening of the new Italian Job and ask her what she thinks of the Cooper S Camron Diaz drives.

Tastes change. Often what you liked as a kid you don't like later. And vice versa. I didn't like MGB's since they seemed so out of date in the Seventies, so I bought a Fiat, then a Renault, then a Triumph. Took years to appreciate the qualities of sturdiness and reliability, etc. At least she doesn't want a cute pink VW bug.

Actually she thinks the coolest car to be seen in is my buddy's '24 Silver Ghost (or his Gullwing...but only if you drive around the neighborhood with the doors open). She's done time in both.

There ya go Lloyd! Thirteen to sweet sixteen gives you three years to put together a really sweet original Cooper S for her (and with her!). She'll also appreciate that the original can actually hold three of her friends more comefortably than the new one. I loved the clown car nature of mine. So did my army buddies.

My 14 year old daughter is in love with a 73 chevy pickup down the block that hasn't moved in several years. "Dad, when your done with the MG, could you fix that up for me?" I wonder if she drove it would she still think it was cool?

She's a teenager, she knows everything, you don't know anything. Wait until she is 30, then you are smart again and MGB's are cool.

Lloyd,

I think that eventually,she'll want a car like her Dad drove.
When I was 15,I wanted my Dad to buy an Audi 100LS,rather than his
'64 Cadillac - how flawed was my thinking back then?

- Doug

It will be interesting to see what trade-offs your daughter might have to make to accomodate other aspects of her life. My son is a classical musician and needs a car where he can store his cello out of sight in the trunk. For him that translates into a Chrysler LHS. If your daughter is musically inclined, tell her to take up the piccolo!

put a supercharger on the B for her.

Give her a choice, MGB "FREE" everything else big $$$. I think the B will win.

Lloyd, your daughter is wise beyond her years...i smell a scholarship down the road.

My 20 yr old step-son would happily claim any of my lbc's as his own.

Lloyd she will surprise you....

my daughter, who is now a senior in high school::o, fell in love with what she likes to call her "Swedish Boyfriend" A 1985 Volvo 740gle. Both of my kids were told if they wanted a car they needed to save there money and buy it. So Michele worked at WaterWorld and saved a about $1500.00. I then had her search Craigslist for a car, BMW 2002, MG, VW Rabbit and bug. What did she fall in love with ,The brick, the car is dark red the headliner was multi colored fabric stapled up covering the silicone closed sunroof. She bought it we drove it home and discovered "Ollie" had cancer. She went to the Upull-it with me helped cut out a drivers floor and was there every step in replacing it.

Great kid

Lloyd, my vote would be one of those big old sqaure Volvos, with two spark plugs pulled off :D Think about though, seriously, I think a kid's first car should be big, safe and slow. My dad gave me a 65 Mustang for my first car with the straight six and thats was still enough for me to get in trouble with. I think the biggest issues with young girls these days is getting them not to text and drive, probably more dangerous than driving fast. I see way too many young girls doing this on the road, I think drunks are safer drivers than texters.

One advantage of having adult children is that they have a tad more perspective about old cars & they like MGs a lot. One disadvantage is that they've already staked out which MG they want. A further disadvantage is they think they get a vote on what color "their" car should be painted.

Steve

Every teenage girl should drive an SL Saturn with 200,000 miles.

My 17 year old daughter loves my '64 B. Claims it as her own and drives it constantly. Coolest cat in the High School parking lot. I couldn't be happier about it

When I turned 16, I bought myself, with my dad's help, a 318 BMW with an automatic transmission. Heavy and slow. Worked out great. Drove that car for 3 years, handed it down to my younger brother when he got his learners permit.

Always wanted an M3, but then I remembered how fun dad's V12 E Type was when I was a kid. Saw all sorts of pictures of his MG's and Healeys in college...

Fast forward another 2 years...and then my English car obsession grew.

Now it's just a madness. :)

I tried switching mine off. Started from a slow roll and punched the throttle. Imeadiately blew the back tires loose and started sideways. Think I'll leave it on for the most part.8-)

When my boys turned of driving age, I bought them all surplus US Forest Service Jeep Cherokees. Smartest decision I ever did as it saved my oldest's life. But my answer to your dilemma is, park what ever car you buy in the driveway and she'll like it when it is hers. Otherwise, the bus stop is on the corner! (:P)

Hi Lloyd,

First, I'm kinda surprised we are both around the same age and have kids the same age.

I'm even more surprised that, at opposite ends of the country, they have similar taste in cars:

Scott is 13 and wants a Mini Cooper S. He wanted a Solstice for a long time, it was the first car he "drove" on iracing.com. He likes riding in my MG's, but doesnt really want one, yet. He dreams of Lanmbos.

Kaitlyn is 12, and wants a VW beetle, a Mini convertible or a Fiat 500. First ride in an MG, she says "what does that crank on the door do?" followed by "where's the button to open/close the trunk?"

Ahh youth... why is it wasted on the young?

Cheers,
Mike

Judgements not clouded by too much history, personal or otherwise, just influenced by the world she knows and will come to know.
When I worked with students, their perspective on the world and things we had already put into proper order for ourselves, often came out a very different mix of priorities and insights. LOL May they all get what they want. We did.

Lloyd, Paul, aka Klutz, posted this girl in a Vette over in OT. I'm guessing the TC is engauged. ;)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPiRJjio8OI&feature=player_detailpage

Okay Jim, I watched all of those videos several times just to be sure. The safety precaution of a properly positioned seat belt was not being observed...thank God. I especially liked the one of the girl in the drifting Supra.

My daughter was 14 when I started on the MG project and after it started taking shape she said she wanted it. She is 25 now and still wants it but she wants me to teach her how to drive a stick on it when it's done. She is going to have to learn to drive a stick somewhere else and may change her mind about the car after she actually drives it. Hell, I may have to relearn how to drive a stick when it's done - it's been a long time

Having had two daughters who had me wrapped around their fingers, I do know one thing... you'll get her whatever she wants when the time comes!!! Good luck Lloyd!

and the killer.....While lookng at the MGE...that's a dumb question....why don't these guys read the book?


That is the best one yet Lloyd.....Why don't those guys read the book??..... I have been know to fit in the odd time...LOL

I wanted a '67 Mustang when I was 16. Dad wanted me to get a Karman-Ghia. Ended up with a '79 Volare years later.

Lloyd,

Do you think Randi will stick with her swimming long-term? If so, my bet is that her sports, more than anything else, will determine what kind of car she wants.

When I was in high-school and college, I knew a lot of the swimmers and water polo players, and they all had similar cars…big sleds (with kind of a “granola” element) that could drag them and 5 teammates to an event with all their bags of gear. It was like a mandatory uniform…..chlorine ravaged hair, hooded sweatshirts, tattered jeans, flip flops, and a Volvo station wagon (or VW bus).

That was in the mid-90’s and early 2000’s, so I’m not sure what the 2015 version of those car will be. But, perhaps Randi’s ol’ man could make her the coolest swimmer girl in northern New Mexico by restoring her something like a split window VW bus?

Let's just say that Lloyd's daughter is not as encumbered with "experience" as many of us are. B)-

It is just amazing! My son had his Bar Mitzvah and party this last weekend and he had about 30 kids at the party. Most of these girls (13 year olds) were just as I imagine Randie (intelligent, articulate, somewhat aware of how they look, etc) while almost all of the boys were a bunch of mono syllabic grunters more interested in eating and gaweking at the girls....

Talk about your gap in maturity levels.....

don't bother with a mini cooper s.go straight for a john cooper works edition and get some real performance.start saving now.and dream about dropping that motor into your B. and feel that overboost on the turbo.amazing.

I live in hope. My 21 year old daughter, (who doesn't drive) just got married in the bay area. She and her fiance flew in from Manhattan where she is currently going to school. I offered to rent a car for her fiance to drive, until I found out how much it would cost for a 24 year old driver.

Instead, I dropped off my 218,000 mile daily drive Dodge Neon for them to use.

Hee fiance was over the moon, it turned out his first car was a Neon in high school and he was reminiscing about how much fun it was???????????

Guess us old fogies had better move aside.


Images: Proud Dad moment: Daughter singing opera at an open air concert in San Francisco (2009)

She may not be able to weild a welding torch (yet), but she can wow a concert audience.

Kelvin.

Worlds collide when teen girls know more about cars than boys.....Now is she any good at video games? That's what the boys seem to be into these days.

All of you are scaring me. My soon to be 18 year old daughter has already claimed my street Midget and she's eyeing the racing Spridgets. As soon as I get tires on my street Midget, I'm going to let her drive it to school 1 day and 1 day only. She wants to drive the 240z also but my wife has claims on that one so driving it to school is out. I threatened both my daughters with an ITC race car that's street legal. It has a rollcage and safety harness, doesn't have a radio and has only 1 seat. There's no back seat either. It has race numbers on it so everybody knows who's car it is. unfortunately it never happen. I think my soon to be 18 would love it now.

At church the other day, a 18 year old boy was there talking to her about a wreck he was in. He said it messed the frame up. My daughter said, you can put it between 2 trees with some chains and a come along and probably fix it. He just looked at her like "How do you know that?". cause she helped me on my race car trying to straighten it out.

I'm going to my my brake and clutch pumper when she goes off to college in August.

My 12 yr old daughter and I have similar conversations....my answer to her....a mid 80's, 240 DL Volvo Wagon. 0-60 in 2.3 days and is able to travel safely through a brick wall. I told her should could pick out the color.... White or Beige.....She is not amused.

No way my 15 year old wants an MG. He grew up riding in the MGA and constantly complained about how it was noisy, smelled like exhaust, and didn't have a stereo. What's funny is I showed him a picture of the Dino 246GTS I want, and he loved it. Then I explained how it would be noisy, smell like exhaust, and not have a stereo either...

Our oldest son (7) now knows the difference between what is a Vintage car and a classic car after he called my ’67 VW Beetle a Vintage car one day.
We had to correct him. He knows the MGBs are classics too.
Paul ;-)

Ben....when you have a daughter, you'll understand...she wouldn't be caught dead driving a van or a "bus".....even if it was the only one on the planet. She did spot this old Jeep on Molokai last May and was really curious about it. I told her Peter would charge her $20,000 to fix the rust.....she..."then it would be cool".

Eldest daughter has recently laid claim to the bedouin GT as it's the B she remembers most from her childhood.

Youngest daughter feels the same way about my aqua car. Neither of them is currently able to support or properly care and feed an MGB but both insist that MGBs will be a long term commitment as soon as they are able. Both can handle one just fine and "borrow" one for special occasions. Both can handle routine maintenance and are somewhat attuned to their quirks. Each has quite a few passenger seat miles paying attention and doing the shifting from quite a young age.

Right now each drives a pensioned off luxo barge, 8 and 10 years old respectively. Airbags, ABS and traction control as well as over 2 tons of weight are good things in our icy road climate.

Neither of them really feels as much affinity for the 2 early Bs.

Lloyd
In high school my daughter was the only kid in drivers ed that could drive a stick. For her first car she got a used Acura Integra but it had to be a GSR. She also knows her cars and at 23 has been through a Acura Integra GSR, Nissan Frontier, Chevy Silverado, another Acura Integra GSR, MGC (still have) and is now on a Chevy Tralblazer, she needs the room as she is an athletic trainer going to grad school in Chattanooga.

She only wrecked the first Acura and take good care of her cars. Can change a flat tire in about 5 min. Does her own oil changes.

I am done buying cars. Being an only child she is probably moderatly spoiled but can handle herself well in almost any situation. Handles a 45 quite well too. Does not like girlie guns.

Ron

My 28 year old son could have had a restored B in High School. He was traumatized while learning how to drive a stick in a BGT; he tore a drive line apart in one of my first builds and thought the gates of Hell had opened beneath him.
He did buy the VW bus that he grew up in, then sold it back to me a year later after driving it twice in his yard. He said the amount of time and money the bus needed was beyond him, the bus wouldn't start, and he is just not a car guy. So, I bought it back, pumped the gas pedal four times, and drove it onto the trailer.
Anyone looking for a 68 VW tin top Westfalia?

To my everlasting chagrin, Emily's favorite was to be wheeled up at the front door of Holy Comforter in a ....shall I say it8-)..... DeLoren!

Lucky me, I had only two of them as customers!

Jack

I only had a son, and as stated elsewhere, he did not follow me in my auto interests. Doesn't mean he wasn't interested, just different. For him, it was a BMW 318i that he first loved, and then, a 1969 Cadillac Coupe De'ville. He drove, I did the work. Both were interesting, both very different. Today, a few cars later, he is very much the family guy, Saturn coupe and some Dodge thing, both too non-descript for me to remember their details, and neither one more than people movers. But he still speaks fondly of that 318i as tho it were the only car that ever sang a siren song to him. I am thinking, at least it was a Bimmer. LOL

I am looking forward (should I live so long) to my grandsons - all 3 of which are avid fans of the Cars movies and just about anything with 4 wheels and a promise of mobile craziness. They already - at 7, 4, and 2 love grandpa's old MG as tho it were one of the Cast from Cars, but maybe only because it seems to be more their size and makes the right noises? Who knows. If they all or any one of them has any inclination towards cars or airplanes then their ol' gramps will enjoy watching where they choose to go with those. I've already got one grand daughter who wants to be an artic explorer and the other will probably sit behind the wheel of something like a Ferrari someday - it is just her style. ;) They may surprise me with something else altogether......

My step daughter (12, actress, youngest of the 11 kids, in seventh grade and captain of the Junior High Cheer team, also in her second year of Varsity High School Cheer) Loves the Buick LeSabre... "It saved your life that night..."

Is quite happy when I pull up in the MG "If you pick me up in the MG make sure you change the top the (girls, guys, team, whatever) saw it with the Black top last."

Enjoys the Metro "Why is this thing so much fun to ride in? I mean it is just the lamest thing to look at."

Appreciated the Reatta " Are you sure this has less power than the LeSabre?"

Told me yesterday she wants the 2012 Camaro "Red with black trim. It looks enough like the old ones but has something else going for it. I think I would look good stepping out of THAT."

At least it isn't a Mustang. Lickily she still smiles at Frog eye sprites and wants to "at least try driving one before I decide on the Camaro"


Edited because I forgot to post her photo.

Lloyd
Keep her away from boys like I was! My first car was a 1962 Chevy Bel-Air 9 passenger station wagon with blankets and pillows in the back affectionately known as the 'Chevy Hilton'. I was playing drums in a rock band and needed the car to haul equipment. The blankets and pillows of course were used to 'cushion' the amps etc. But of course the car was well used on breaks. B)-

Bob.

You dog, you.

My folks wondered why I wanted to take the family '65 Ford Country Sedan station wagon to college, rather than the cooler '65 Ford Galaxie 500.

I needed it to move my keyboards and PA, those needed sleeping bags and pillows to pad too. :devil:

K.

Wait until you get to the grandson stage....

My granddaughter asked her grandmother (my wife) if when Paw-Paw (me), dies, if she then gets to sit in the front seat. I wasn't present when she asked that. I told her that when she starts college (10 years from now,) that she would then get my 79B whether I was still kicking, drooling oatmeal down my chin in some nursing home, or gone to that MGB heaven in the sky. Of course, I put stipulations on the promise, like good grades and such. That shouldn't be a problem since she is a straight A student and already reading at a 9th grade level in the 3rd grade, and has read 78 books this year alone. (not to brag about her or anything)

Lloyd,

buy her a Mercedes SLK 200 (R170) without compressor. They are very cheap by now and great fun.
My daughter (37) loves it, when my wife lends it to her and my son loves it to have it for Saturdays or Sundays.

Although I don't know why a B is so slow... with the Stage 6 roadster, I can spin circles around the SLK, Mazda's, BMW Z3, Porsche 924 and some others.

May be a B with the right engine and suspension will do itB)-

Ralph

Ralph....over here the early ones all had the Kompressor until the V6. We thought about those, but they give the wrong impression for a young girl. Even though they are really cheap, people think..."Mercedes"...little rich girl.

Lloyd,

you know how it works:D

Ralph

Lloyd, due to the exotic nature of the cars you've had recommend, from antiques like our Bs to a late model (new century) Solstice, 'little rich girl' kind of comes with the cars.

Amen Hap!!!

A word of warning, teenage drivers crash cars! I never believed this until it happened to both my daughters. My older one crashed three times in the first two years. The car was in the body shop more than on the road the first six months. This was after good driver training and much personal coaching. All of their accidents were a direct cause of beginner’s inability to properly handle a car in new situations. If you want to keep her safe and alive until she really learns to drive find something with a 5 star crash rating. Something a couple of years old and not to large or expensive would be highly recommended. It is too easy to die driving a classic car with our crazy modern traffic. Do you feel safe driving your classics in traffic? Getting on the busy freeway around here in my MGB raises my awareness tenfold!
Remember daughters can't be replaced.

Im Impressed with these kids you talk about, I have to hear my grandkids refer to my 71 B as a "Stewart Little" car, and my daughter has finally (after seeing unfavorable facial expressions) stopped calling my car a clown car.