MG for sale?

The saga of the little MG that wouldn’t continues.

I have written several times about my little English heart-breaker. (I would link you to some on the old Blog-spot location, but of course it is down today. Has been for 12 hours according to other bloggers. More reasons to move to WordPress. Just Sayin’) It has been an experience owning a car that vomits oil, breaks accelerator cables and blows up on occasion.

But, for all it’s problems and frustrations there have been many times when I was really glad to have it. When it runs at all it is pretty much the most fun you can have with clothes on. Whipping down back roads here in NEPA with the top down, the wind in your hair and the smooth purr of those four cylinders is great. Something about being out on a really hot summer day, moving from brilliance into cool dark shadows all alone on a country road. I guess you have to be there but it’s really fine.

You really feel the road in one of these babies. You are just inches from the tarmac and even at 50 mph you feel like you are going 100 mph. The big fun is cornering, of course. Pretend race car driver. Visions in your head of being behind the wheel of a Formula One, screaming down the streets of Monaco.

But lately the damn thing just will not start. Turns over, will not fire. Multiple tows to Ted, the MG repair man (at $75 a pop) where it starts just fine have led to certain level of frustration. This coupled with the fact the long-suffering wife’s 11 year old Pontiac had gone wheels up (blown head-gasket, cracked block) has led me to think quite seriously about selling the MG.

The long-suffering wife is not a fan of this idea. She is worried that I will regret the loss of my toy.

I am conflicted.

Yesterday went a long way to making up my mind. I had arranged with a shade tree mechanic (only a $25 tow) to get the beast running. My half-assed plan? Put it up on E-bay and place it on a used car lot to see if I could get $5,000 for it.

This is really almost a gift, High retail is $24,000! Average $10,000. Low retail $6,000.

But it needs paint, it’s a twenty-footer at best and the market for British cars is not great when the economy is not in the shitter.

So prior to the last tow I trickle charged the battery for a few days. I sat and cranked that starter for twenty minutes.

Nada.

Just one more try. The thing coughed. Kept at it. Coughed some more. Fired. Stalled. Fired. Ran really rough for ten seconds. Wouldn’t fire again. One. More. Try.

It caught and ran. I drove it ten miles and it started to feel like it used to.

Brought her home. Lavished TLC on her. Top to bottom. Armor-all, tire black and even put the cursed cover over the retracted convertible top – a very hard process.

Of course this is all just getting her ready to drop off at the used car lot after I take some beauty shots of her…notice that the references have gone from monster, to beast to her?

Took her for an hour ride last night. Got a milkshake and spun her by the lake, a ride she likes.

Fell in love again.

I dunno.

Maybe I’ll keep her.