A Mostly British Obsession

Satan’s Own GT

74gt_01

Sometimes, in an effort to do good works, you get bitten. That’s how I ended up with this MGB-GT–not a bad car, but one which can’t carry the baggage we’ve accumulated together.


A friend–a lifelong Anglophile whose British car weakness is even worse than my own–had fallen on hard times, and had no car. A mutual friend and I decided to each pitch in $500 to help him buy a car–he could find it himself. What he found was this GT. It had a blown head gasket and leaking rear brakes, but was astonishingly rust free and otherwise seemed OK. At the time, I made the fatal error of saying “hey, if this doesn’t work out, I’ll buy it from you.”

Ouch. A week later, I get a call saying he just couldn’t deal with it. And so began the long process of my dumping money into the car to get it running and driving. I’m trying to sell it at the moment, but am not having any luck, despite the huge “discount” I’m giving over the raw price of the new pieces in it. But that’s a post for another time.

Ah, the lure of the rust-free British car. That’s the only thing that kept me from selling it for scrap when I bought my friend out of his misfortune, and that’s what has me paying to store it. “What if I ever want a GT? Will I ever see another as solid as this?” Madness lies there, and I finally realized it. Hopefully someone will figure out that $1000 “core charge” for any GT + $3000 in new parts + no rust repair needed = good deal at $2000. I’m not holding my breath.

4 Comments

  1. Allie

    I’m not holding my breath either! Hee hee. I am rather fond of this little car, but only because it has been around so long and does not make squeaking sounds or catch on fire.

  2. Godzilla

    I have always liked these cars.Will probably own one before too long.
    The interior door panels always seem a dreadful problem.

  3. Irshaad

    I have the same colour as this one in a 67, but now that iv seen the Austin Healey3000 MK2,im selling my MG.

  4. david

    Do you still have this mgb-gt??? Thanks for the reply David

© 2024 RUSTY HEAPS

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑