Well they have been here for a while...

I walked to my neighborhood HEB grocery store this morning and noticed a gathering of older British roadsters commencing at a cafe across the street. It was in full swing when I headed home with my watermelon. Neat old cars. A fellow there told me they have 180 member families in their local MG/Triumph Club.

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I was driving through Sarasota FL one day over ten years ago. Must have been some British car collectors group in town, MGs, Triumphs, and Jags parked all over the downtown area, dozens of them. I stopped and walked around for awhile.

My first car was a 1969 TR6 that I bought when I came home from the Army. I loved and hated that car!

nice looking lot of roadsters......our 1967 bridal party was transported in British cars.... a rolls royce silver cloud and a austin princess

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There's nowt so queer as folk

I once drove a Rolls. It is too long a story to provide the details as to how that happened, but it was a memorable experience.

I had a 1968 TR-250 which was the first of the TR6 cars It was only made in 1968 then the TR6 came out. That little 6 cylinder ran pretty good. That car would scare the bejeebies out of me in the snow. One minute I would be in my lane and the next second I was in the on coming lane. That independent suspension was awesome for handling curves but it sucked in the snow. I sold it and bought a Camaro Z-28 which I seldom if ever drove in the snow because it had no traction in the snow.

I recently thought about buying an old MG Midget to tinker with but decided I didn't need a money pit that I would seldom drive but work on more.

In my mid-20s I wanted a TR6 or a GT6 so bad I could taste it. Trouble was the insurance would have been prohibitive even though I lived in semi-rural England.

Never cared for the MGB series of cars, except maybe the MGC just because it was different. The later Sprites were nice.

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Release the Kraken

Had a new 1967 Sunbeam Alpine and loved it. Had to sell it to buy a family car. Twenty years later I built a kit car Porsche 356 on a VW chassis. Cousin was an instructor at a trade school. He helped with technical stuff that was over my head. Sold it to pacify wife.

I'll take them all, please.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Anyone know what types of cars these are? I thought it might be a kit car with a motorcycle boxer engine. It looks like a "Union Jack" emblem on the side of the green one.

You will want to buy a tow truck or flatbed to go with them.
British cars had a well deserved reputation for unreliability. A very close friend of mine bought a MGB in 1975 when he got out of college and got his first real job. It was a great car... when it actually started and ran. It spent a lot of time at the dealer.

There's a reason that Lucas Electronics is known as the "Prince of Darkness."

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I was going to ask the guy I spoke to if the windshield wipers really do come on when you turn on the radio, but I was just passing through and enjoying the sights.

I can personally attest to the Lucas electrical system's dismal reputation!! My very first car, bought with my own money while still in high school, was an Austin Healy Sprite. (Back in about 1963-64, or so). I loved the car, but the electrical system was terrible. Still, I have fond memories of it.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

When I was young I had 2 MGAs. A 59 roadster and a 57 coupe. I picked up a Austin Healy 3000 cheap. GIS brought them in, traded them and pickup driving farmers here did not want them. I also had a Colt Detive, a Colt SAA and a Colt agent. All under a hundred bucks if that let's you know how long ago that was.

I bought a Triumph spitfire, fixed the hood and sold it.

I probably could not get in one now. I was the 2xl size guy and had to go in head or feet first.

The roadster also had a tonneau cover. I'd drive it with the top down, the tonneau unzipped in the middle with the weak heater on. Got lots of strange looks from hog farmers.

Oh yes, Lucas. That brought back memories. I learned about many parts not common to American cars. Trunnions, dual carbs, etc., etc.
( actually, it's been a while...was that 3 carbs in the TR6?)

Just to show that I'm a slow learner, I went on to own two Triumph motorcycles. Sometimes made me wonder if the fall of the British Empire wasn't connected to their automotive electrical systems!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

After checking, it's coming back now...dual Strohmberg carburetors.

I'd like to have seen that. Way back in the seventies, my dream car was the MGB GT...the hardtop coupe. Never got one.

Lucas - the prince of darkness, as they say in the UK.

Regards

AlanD
Sydney

Ahhh, British sports cars....like beautiful women. Cranky, griping, women with poor health, who can't cook.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Had 67 MGB I liked very much. Now long rusted away.

My first car was a '57 MGA roadster. My stepbrother had a coupe from the same year. My brother had a bug eye Sprite and a series of 850 and 1000cc Minis.

I spent probably too much time playing with different spark plug heat ranges and syncing the carbs, which were SUs with vacuum slides. You had to keep the dampers on the slides topped up with oil if they were to work optimally, but that is another task I overthought.

I drove the MG in winter, which took some dedication due to the anemic heater and plastic side curtains instead of windows.

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Not in jail.

My first buy-on-my-own car was a'73 MGB. Loved it right up till a rod went through the block.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

ya know why brits drink warm beer? lucas made refrigerators,had a 63 triumph spitfire,loved it when it ran,funny story about it,
the fuel pump went bad and i took it out so i could take it to the dealer in town and get a new one,well they wanted more than i could afford for it so i went back home.had it in my hand as i got out of my dads truck and my grand dad saw it and jumped on me for taking the fuel pump off his tractor(an IH B-414,british made) got an idea went to local IH dealer and got fuel pump for 1/3rd dealer price

I laugh when watching British car shows where the hosts complain about Italian electrics.

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NRA Benefactor

My first car was a Triumph TR3. That was a fun car in my youth.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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RudyN
NRA Patron Life Member

A couple of my friends bought a worn out MGA when we were 16.Neither of them had the $100 asking price so they teamed up.After a year of tinkering and a nice rattle can paint job they got it running!
Headed up the on ramp of the local freeway the left rear wheel fell off.
Never saw that car again

My Jag XKE wiring was terrible on rainy days
My Porsche 912 was tough to start in winter
My 67 Vett cost $3000/yr to insure(under 25,single,Bklyn NY)
VW Super Beetle was cheap and fun to drive
My 72 280SL was stolen
73 Chevy,piece of junk
My 74 Benz 240D,diesel was 1/2 price of gas
VW 90 GTI and GLI = great cars

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

The underlying logic behind the advice to buy your wife a British sports car; she'd have to be home before dark.

Don't really miss my '76 Spitfire but it sure was fun. Easiest car I ever worked on... pop the bonnet and sit on the front tire.
Never had the electrical problems that seemed so prevalent.
Blew the head gasket hauling butt around Lake June and lo and behold Lake Placid Auto Parts had a set!
Sold it to a buddy who had just gotten out of the Navy. Just as well because I was getting tired of scraping my knuckles on the road and looking eye level at the hubcaps on Hondas.

I don't. I owned a Fiat in the UK and the darned thing nearly spontaneously combusted due to defective wiring.

I never owned a British car with Lucas electrics, but I had PLENTY of fun with AC Delco electrons on European GM models. Weirdest one was a battery ground cable that was solid enough to take my weight, but didn't pass current when the headlights were switched on.

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Release the Kraken

I always wanted an Austin Healey 3000 or a TR6 but could never fit into either.

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Sure you did

Grounding issues are always a bugger to diagnose. Fixing them isn't too hard once you figure out what it going on, but the figuring out part is hard.

When I hear about horns blowing when the headlights are turned on, my first thought is always that there is an open ground somewhere..

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I had a MGB ...a 72 IIRC....... last year with chrome bumpers ...... as a Sunday driver in about 86-89.......... great fun on Pa.'s back country roads.

On I-81 55mph felt like 100......... always wondered if it would fit under a semi!!!!!!!

Once raced a thunder storm home...... as I calculate it was faster than putting the top up!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy do I miss that little piece of ...................

FWIW the 17 Miata GT looks sweeeeeeeet...................

I never saw this particular movie, but a former co worker of mine did. It was some sort of British spy movie and the boffin was explaining how some bit of technology worked. He told the hero that the gadget was waterproof.

The spy looked at the boffin and said, "Nothing made in England is waterproof."

BTW, if you like older cars and have Velocity Channel, watch "Wheeler Dealers". The first several seasons were excellent. Edd China is a true mechanic who can take just about anything apart, fix it, and then put it back together properly. Sadly, he's parted ways with the show and I expect that whatever they do to replace him will be second rate.

We will have the older episodes to enjoy, though.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Had a '65 MB 230 SL for about 20 years.My father owned it for 25 years before that.Threw lots of money at it (I'm no mechanic) and had lots of fun in the canyons around here :-)

Once a long time ago a fellow named "Jimmy" drove Triumph Spitfires, red in color every one of them (got a new one every two years). Also Jimmy had a motorcycle and a beach front apartment. 'Jimmy" was a very happy single guy. THEN, "Jimmy" took a wife. The wife kept getting pregnant every year starting with identical twin boys. The beach front apartment turned into a large older house in a older neighborhood. The motorcycle went buy buy to pay for dental braces, However "Jimmy" held on to his Spitfire until baby #6 and six kids and mommy couldn't fit in the spitfire, and so the two seat spitfire was replaced by a nine passenger station wagon.

Next time the tale of "Jimmy" firearm collection will be told.

I too bought a 1970 TR6 when I came home from the Army. Handed it down to my daughter this year. She's so excited, and wants to restore it.
I had few problems except for going through brake master cylinders every 20,000 miles. Mine was great in snow, you sat about 2 inches from the rear wheel on that side.
Always loved driving that car!

The TR 250 was the US version of the TR 5. I used to "fox people" by claiming to have driven a TR1. There was such a car (two versions differing in engines) known as the Triumph Roadster (TR) with an Aluminium Body and two essentials for the "young blade about town in the late 1950s". A bench seat with a shift on the column, but on the right hand side. This left the left arm available for use with a suitable member of the opposite sex. In addition, the car had "dickey seats" (rumble seats in the US) in the boot (trunk on the opposite side of the Atlantic) so you could carry "spare passengers!! Ah, those memories!! Dave_n

Here was my venture into the Brit car scene. a 62 Austin Healey

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Paul
Salome, AZ

Ah, memories. I learned to drive on a friend's new '59 TR-3.
He was an only child, not rich. Many tales, mostly funny or happy, from running around in that car; maybe another time.

One of my college roommates had a '68 MGB-GT. What a great car it was. Great times and memories riding in that car.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Had a '65 AH Sprite from 1966 to 1971, was my year round daily driver for at least 3 of those years. I must of had a good one, never had any electrical trouble. Learned how to adjust the carbs myself. Put about 65,000 miles on it. Blew something, don't remember now what it was. Decided it wasn't worth trying to fix.

Fast forward, 3 years ago I got the "itch" for a sports car again, late mid-life crisis I guess. Got a '74 MG Midget. 1st summer drove it a lot, 2nd summer drove it some. This summer It hasn't been out of the garage.
Tried to start it and no go. Do have a mechanic that will come and talk nice to it, I need to call him.

I had a Midget and a Sprite at some point during the sixties and seventies. Later on was living in Boston & my best friend was service manager of the largest body shop in New England...Stadium Auto Body. One night he calls me & says that he has just got back from towing a MGB off of Storrow Dr. The owner had just gotten it out of the shop for the third time in the last month or so, and was so mad that he just signed the title over to my friend saying he never wanted to see it again. My bud knew I liked 'em and said that he could scrap it out for $300 or I could have it for that. Bought it of course. The next morning we had a look at it...quickly diagnosed a bad fuel pump and installed an electric one. Drove that car 9 years with very few issues...Boston to San Francisco twice and all over the SouthEast. Wonderful car, but yeah...Lucas deserves the bad pub.....

If any of y'all are out on the East side of the nation in mid September, this event is an absolute blast.
I attended this when it was in its infancy. My late hubby and I would drive up in
"Rupert", our detuned race Mini. It has grown to be quite the shindig.

British Invasion, British Car Show, New England Classic Car Show, British Autos, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Mini, Morgan, Triumph, MG, Austin Healey

Bumper sticker on a Sprite: The parts falling off this car are of the finest English make.

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and what his trumpet saith