Frequent MG Stories

I have recently heard of a travel blog called the Titanic Awards featuring and celebrating the absolute worst of travel experiences. Made me think of the MG stories I tell over and over. They aren't the ones about those great drives through sun-dappled byways. They are the ones about the 'bad' experiences. Which story do you repeat most often, good or bad? Mine was leaving work one rainy afternoon to find the parking lot flooded and my roadster sitting with water up to seat bottom. (It actually started and got me home; of course a lot of stuff had to be replaced later.)

Going out to start the Morgan after a Chicago snowstorm & realizing that it wouldn't start until after I dug the carburators out of the snowdrift? Driving from Chicago back to DC in an SP250 with no top, in the rain? I have no idea what you're talking about

Returning from MG 2002 in Grapevine, TX and loosing my fuel pump on Sunday afternoon in Meridian, MS in 103 degree (F) heat.

Great memories :)

-bcw

http://www.MG2010.com

BAD; Driving home 1:00AM from a New Years Eve party in SF and throwing a rod through the block. Back in the 80's which means I was probably pretty buzzed at the time as well.


GOOD; Driving the Sprite on the CA Melee this year with my 16 yr old daughter. Mattole Rd/Cape Mendocino in the pouring rain and the car leaking EVERYWHERE. We had a BLAST!

GOOD: Laps at Laguna Seca in the BGT.

That would be the, "The Thanksgiving morning drive in my 73GT which resulted in Spinning a rod bearing in the mountains 80 miles from home and
hitchhiking home, being picked up by a stoned hippie who drove like a maniac, borrowing my boss's motorhome and renting a towbar, driving 80 miles to hook up the car, the towbar coming loose and ripping the GT's spoiler off, driving 80 miles back to town to exchange the tow bar for a trailer, driving 80 miles back to the car, loading it up, towing it home, finding the motorhome so gutless it would only make uphill climbs at 20MPH with a line of headlights snaking behind me, and...
finally getting home and having Chinese food at midnight for Thanksgiving dinner with my long suffering buddy Bill!" WHEW!

Thanks for listening! :beer:
Rich
On the road back from Whistler 9:00 AM

RAP, RAP, RAP, RAP...10:00AM

Bill letting his true feelings out around 2:00PM

Almost Home! 9:00PM

Driving fast on the twisty road up KoleKole pass in Hawaii in my 71 Midget. That's the road that runs over a mountain pass between the Navy base (can't remember the name) and Schofiled Barracks on Oahu. It's a very narrow road and I was getting it pretty good. The right side fulcrum pin broke and that wheel popped out almost sideways. The car slid off the right shoulder and stopped just a few feet away froma bout a 40 foot drop off..... I was lucky! Had to call a tow truck, which I couldn't really afford at the time.

.... ohhhhhh, I could write a book.......

I shorted out the alternator cable in my Jensen Interceptor, let ALL the smoke out one morning.
Friday morning.
In rush hour.
On a bridge.


I got a lot of one-finger salutes.

Hmmm. Sprite stories:
Driving from Canada to Southern California without turning the car off because I knew it wouldn't start again if I did.
Getting turned back at the border by the Canadian customs officer because I told him the car wouldn't restart when he asked me to turn it off . . .
Losing one cylinder heading up the hill north from Bonners Ferry. This time they let me across the border. Sadly, they've changed the road now so I can no longer regale passengers with that adventure . . . at the exact spot it happened!
Driving through rush-hour Portland traffic in heavy rain with no rearward visibility and no turn signals (unless behind dash wires were nudged just-so)
Speeding through dozens of deep snowdrifts across the road in the middle of the night in central Washington. Made it to the other side of all of them.
Totalling the car (and almost myself and future wife) when an on-coming pickup turned left in front of us. I'm just thankful we didn't slide all the way under. 4X4's weren't so popular then.

Errr . . . sorry . . . I guess I don't have much of an audience for these stories anymore!

Better yet Paul, make a movie! :beer: