Journal: David Abbott's Journal

"I will never buy another MG", at least that's what I told myself 27 years ago, right after I blew the engine on my first MGB while driving to work one morning.
She was a 1965 "B" roadster. I used to pass her on my way to work and back. She was sitting all alone in an empty field on the side of La Tuna cyn road. She was powder blue, had Fred Flintstone floorboards, her wiring harness was burnt from front to back, she had an aluminum "C" hood (bonnet)at the time, I didn't know there was a difference. And, she had been sitting in that field for years.
One day while driving by, I decided to pull over and check her out. As soon as I walked up her owner showed up from out of nowhere and $300.00 later I was towing her home on a tow rope (it was still legal then)behind my old '72 El Camino.
I had experience refurbishing VW bugs and knew electrical, but this car was foreign to me. There wasn't any internet, so I had no support or anyone local who knew squat about MG's. I was winging it. That first day I got her home, I got her started, at which time she squirted dirty oil all over my garage from her dry rotted oil hose. First things first, I designed and installed a new Bosch relay controlled wiring harness. The harness worked beautifully from day one so I never had to experience the "Prince of darkness". Installed new tires, oil lines, battery and tune up & cleaned her up in general. It took me two weeks to get her to the point that I could drive her to the muffler shop to get her exhaust leak fixed (which cost me $15.00). And, I got a ticket for no registration the first time I drove her as well.
The car was beat and rusty and underpowered (I was used to American V8's or built VW bugs) and she got to hot, but she looked cool and she had a great exhaust note. I drove her rain or shine for about 6 months before I blew her up on the freeway while racing to work late. I parked her at a Girlfriends house by work, pulled her engine and delivered it to the re builders.... That's where it gets fuzzy, because I cant really remember what happened that stopped the progress, but I seem to recall the landlord of my girls place where the MG was parked pushed her into the street then called the city who came and took her body. I blocked it from memory all these years because I was real pissed about it. Anyway, I promised myself right then "no more MG's"...And I kept that promise for 26 years.

Skip ahead 25 years.

One day a actor buddy of mine, out of the blue, asked me if I worked on MG's. "Who do you know that's got an MG?" I asked with a little laugh as I thought to myself "like, oh sure, with your schedule you could handle an MG"...He said, I do, it's been broken since I bought it, it needs a clutch. Well, sure I said, tow her down. He never did, but about a year later he came over and said "I'm moving this week and I need to get my MG out of my parking lot, I don't want to sell her but I'm afraid I'm going to have to, you wouldn't want to buy it would you? Hell no! I told him. Their a pain in the ass. He said, "Look, I'll let it go for $100.00 but it has to be moved today". A cartoon cash sign lit above my head with a "ding"...A hundred bucks you say? Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go take a look at it.
We drove over to a security parking lot right across the street from MacArthur park, which was named after Gen. Doug MacArthur after WW2 and is now home to an Army of Transients and Crack heads. When they drained the man made two foot deep lake there a couple of years ago for cleaning, they found two bodies and just under 40 guns. Not exactly the place one takes the Family to picnic.
The MG was sitting in the middle of the lot all sun baked and sad looking. She was blue and filthy with wire wheels. Oh, it's a GT I said . Yeah, you wouldn't want a Roadster living Downtown, you'd get your top cut up. We popped the hood, Ye Gods man! It's a rats nest in there! Yeah, he said, they really like it in there for some reason. Damn, this car needs a lot of work. No, my buddy told me, just a clutch....Brian, I told him, It's an MG..trust me, it needs more then a clutch.
Regardless, As I opened the door and sat behind that big 14" wheel and smelled that MG smell a euphoric wave of nostalgia swept over me. I pulled out a hundred dollar bill, my cell phone and my AAA card.