Topic

forrester you are what i consider as a lucky man,,,,,,,you sound like rovers version of the stig

It was a dream job until BMW took over & promptly made most of the drivers redundant
When the new 200/400 came out Rover was employing around 300 agency drivers solely to put 500 miles on the clock of each car made [around the track] Don't ask me why
Must have cost a fortune.
It was Mainly BMW that killed Rover off as they made sure that any car in the range would not be competetive with their own models.

Well am fairly new to MG's not owning one until February 2014 although had Rovers for a couple of years before that. It was the re-build and save thread of a BRG MGF on Org by MGJohn that is too blame ........................................ followed his thread and decided it looked like fun so looked for one. Since then have begun to wonder about my sanity especially after doing a what looked to be a simply door swap .... .

Have met some nice people some not so nice and have an empty bank account what with the fixing and upgrading. Hopefully next year with less to do fixing and upgrading we can actually get out to a few more meetings and events.

Well I know for sure the mg has changed my life..tf off the road yesterday and I had to go ahead with a planned trip to Buxton in one of my other cars...wasn't the same.coming back from buxton I wanted to explore some back roads and even find a hidden pub I'd not been to..but the mazda I was in is big and bulky for these little side roads..much more fun in the narrow and nimble tf..although my mazda is powerful and very comfy..it felt more like a trip to the super market than a day out..hurry up parts shop I want a alternator so I can enjoy my day out...I've withdrawals ..

I bought my first TF as a new car, a Solar red 135, back in 2004 my first ever brand new car bought from a dealer.
It was washed twice a week and cherished, then after a year bad luck started.
First we had an airborne chemical fallout issue at work, where some extract filter on our chrome plating plant failed and the car park was rained on with chromium sulphate droplets. The paintwork was covered with spots that reacted with the paint and the windscreen was also speckled with stains.
The company picked up the tab for repairs and the car basically had a couple of layers of lacquer polished off to tidy up the problem. The glass could not be done.
Then a year later the same thing happened and it had to undergo another deep polishing. Then the headgasket blew spectacularly, leaving me with a £1000 repair bill as it took out the pistons.
A week after I got the car back after the engine repair old some old biddy took my front drivers door off in Tesco car park when she pulled into the bay next to me and did not see my car door open.
My car was repaired by her insurance but it was never the same again, and although it looked good when I signed for it after the repair, the paint started to fail after about 15 months. The repaired door and wing bubbled drastically.
It was about then when I fell out of love with the car, but I still kept it and enjoyed driving it, but just could not be bothered to cherish and clean it anymore, it was too far gone.
Then two years ago I decided that it needed work spending on it for its MOT and it was not worth spending the money on. After looking at other options such as Z4's, Boxters and S2000's, I decided that the TF was still a great car and I just loved the driving position and the simple no fuss layout of the car. So I looked for another one.
I spotted my 160 in Endon services, a MG dealer near to Leek and after checking it out decided to buy it.
My old TF was traded in for £300 and I was allowed to swap any parts over that needed replacing.
My 160 gave me a new lease of life in my motoring and I decided to do anything I can to keep my car in tip top shape and condition.
It has cost me nearly £3000 in upgrades, an accident repair thanks to my missus spinning it into a kerb, and getting the bodywork as perfect as I can.
Now I am a member of the Potteries and South Cheshire MG club and have a few runs with them each year, and also Mrs Sundance and I like to get the roof down and just go for a drive, all day if we fancy it. If its a good run. then we will put up a Out and about on Mr. Bluestreaks excellent thread.
So my new 160 has revived my interest in sports cars and given me some awesome road trips.
It has also with the help of the forum how to's turned me into a half decent mechanic, and all but the most complicated engine procedures or bodywork repairs are undertaken by my own spanners. I have learnt so much about the cars and even managed to fix my ABS when the garage I bought it from could not find the fault (under warranty).
Sundance

Where do I start, MG has not changed my life, it has shaped it. I was born in 1966 in Abingdon on Thames the home of the MG.I lived over the cemetery from the Cemetery Road gate of the MG plant. My dad worked there until it closed. He was one of the last people to close the gates. I watched him every day walk to work from my bedroom window. He was able to bring different MGs home every so often. I can remember siting on the little back seat of a brand new V8 watching the country side go by (at the time it seemed very fast). I can remember as if it was yesterday the day we found out that the factory was closing, a very sad day indeed as MG was a big part of my families lives. Since that day I have promised myself I would own an MG, but until recently I have not be able to afford one, when about a year ago I bought an F and since then every time I drive it I have a smile on my face. My next goal is a vintage one preferably a V8.
So that is what MG has done to me made my pockets alot lighter but brought a smile to my face.

Noz1966 wrote: wrote:

MG has not changed my life, it has shaped it.

I take it, that the shape is somewhat octagonal!

The BAE plant in Nottingham closed in 2001, which left me jobless and at nearly 47 worried about finding another job. With my redundancy money, I paid off my mortgage and went out and bought the silver machine.
It made me smile when I drove it, and it made me smile even more when I drove past the old BAE site.

It has been looked after meticulously, and always garaged, still looks really good. My wife loves it so much, we decided on a Spanish road trip 2 years ago which we are going to almost repricate again shortly. I did find another job, in sales, and was blessed with Audis and BMWs for years until I retired, and sent the company cars back. I decided that I only wanted one car, yes the impractical silver machine, now worth next to nothing. But, you know, it brings a smile to our face every time the garage door opens and out she comes with a gurgle from the exhaust. We walk, catch buses and save the car for roof down trips on good days. One day it will have to go, but whilst I still have a few bob in my pocket and it can be fixed it will be my pride and joy.

Yes very octagonal wouldn't have it any other way:beer:

Couldn't agree more. My daily car is a ZT. It gets me from A to B,that's it. When the TF comes out, even after nearly 6 years, it puts a smile on my face. Like you David it will run until it can't run.

I must be one of the few who got there MG new back in 04 and I of course still have it and I hope it will be with me another 13 yrs [ I'll be 82 then ]

I have been working away from home for a little while, and missed the family of cause... that goes without saying, but tell you what I also missed my little F, my Tf and even my Zr and I never thought I would say that about any car.
Driven all kinds of things over the years, but the Mgf is different, it even smells like a car from the Sixties and its only a 1999.
I also like the fact that I'm surrounded from all sides in my village by BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo etc etc and I never see anyone else tinkering or even cleaning their motors like I do, and its not as if they have any thing else better to do, well maybe they do.
For me personally its all about the MG marque, the Britishness of it all, ( I ignore the facts it was taken over by BMW and the Chinese). Through out its history it has been bollocksed up by different management teams, starved of resources and cobbled together with other car parts, but its still keeping going thanks to everyone within the MG community.