MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
I just got back Wednesday from spending a week in Victoria, BC, Canada, at my Godson's wedding.
In six days I saw nine MG's - mainly MGB's but a couple MGBGT's (all were CB by the way).
Why is there such a concentration of MG's in this area?
Just wondering?
My guess would be because it's one of the few places in Canada where you can drive one year round. Plus you have lots of retirees out there
Vancouver Island was always a very popular spot for MGs and Triumphs - for all the reasons mentioned. I used to enjoy dropping into the dealers out there - their parts departments always had lots of hard to find stuff.
I was in Vancouver/Victoria in August for a few days, saw 4 B', an MGA, couple of TD's and a TR4. They looked right at home.
The next time any of you are on the island let us MG guys on Vancouver Island know. One of us would be happy to take you on a run on some of our fantastic back roads.
Vancouver Island was always a hotbed of Britishness. More British than Britain as a matter of fact.
Up until a few years ago whenever you went to Victoria you would see no end of Austin Cambridges, Westminsters, English Fords, Hillmans, Wolseleys, Humbers being used as everyday cars, and lots of more exotic stuff as well.
Over the last few years they seem to have been disappearing but I am sure that there are literally hundreds of treasures lurking in Victoria's garages and back yards.
Rich
Hey come out to our little city of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Driving around and going to S&S's this summer have seen 2 midgets and 3 B's also know of 1 truimph GT6, a Spitfire and at least 2 TR6"s and that is just the ones I have actually seen.
Cheers
Paul
Ontario, Canada is a "hot bed" also ... right Ron from Hamilton!
Newmarket area is good too. Lots of 'B's and TR's around. I've seen two Frogeyes recently and there's a big Healey somewhere north of here. There's a 60's Midget for sale at a local auto place down in Aurora, and its been there for months. There was a TR-8 parked not far from our house a few months ago. A few spits have come up for sale. I'm guessing a few of these may have come originally from the BL dealer that was on Eagle Street where the Active Green and Ross is now.
There are two shops that do British cars either in Newmarket or close by. One often has interesting cars outside, including a Jenson Interceptor and, the other day, a Rover 2000.
Newmarket/Aurora/Bradford could easily host its own British car club.
We're pretty into British stuff out here in Vic, it's true! But they're not all chrome bumpers... Ahem... :(
British cars are befitting of a British based country. We did not have a revolution, at least not a violent one.
Back in the 1950's and 60's, we were still strongly tied to England, so it's only natural that you would find a lot of English cars in Canada. Consider the capital of British Columbia is Victoria, after Queen Victoria, and that should tell you something.
a few months ago i posted a thread looking for members in the montreal area. only found one close to montreal.
Which supports Rich's point that a hotbed of Britishness (?) develops a fondness for British cars.
The fact that Canada (as part of the Commonwealth) enjoyed free trade with the UK, for motorcars, made the MG a very cheap and popular purchase. This, along with strong British immigration in the 50's could explain why there were so many purchased in such a small market.
This was the case when I bought my brand new 1964, with W/W and O/D for $2,400. Not sure when this arrangement ended but I suspect it was just before the end of the MG.
If we didn't have so much salt and sand there would be many more still on the road, which could partially explain the abundance in B.C., with their milder climate.
I live in Sidney (near Victoria) and there are two british car repair garages within a quarter mile of each other! It's rare that i take a drive without waving to another MG.
