Registry: 1973 MG MGB GT

Back in 2011, I wrote: "Owned for 26 years. Off the road from 1996 until 2005. Daily driver before and since. Driven on several trips between Virginia and Michigan and twice to the west coast. I LOVE this car!

"Note, in the fourth picture, BriGiT is shown with the late John Thornley's famous "MG 1". Standing in the picture is Peter Thornley. I am thrilled to have a picture of my car next to such a famous Teal Blue stable-mate. This picture is from the John Twist University Motors Summer Party Reunion in 2005.

"The summer/fall of 2007, we drove BriGiT 11,351 miles. In July we drove her to California for NAMGBR MG 2007 in Rohnert Park, then up to Whistler British Columbia for NAMGAR GT32. Upon our return home in Michigan, we had logged 7319 miles.

"Later, in October, we took her down to Waynesboro Virginia and one of the most charming, personable, car shows in North America: the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club's Fall Festival. From there, we were up to Massachusetts to visit family, then due west through Ontario, visiting more family, and returning home. I believe we logged 2541 miles on that trip.

"BriGiT did require a fuel pump transplant in the high desert on the line between Utah and Nevada. Outside of that, she was flawless. And her A/C kept our Navigator extremely happy! The pictures show the fuel pump repair and BriGiT happily cruising on Highway 1 in California from Rohnert Park up to Mendecino.

"In 2008, BriGiT was back on the road, although our wallet was still recovering from 2007 so our ventures were more modest. In June we were off to MG 2008 in King of Prussia, PA, and in October, we again made the pilgrimage to Waynesboro Virginia for that favorite car show.

"So here it is, April 2009. BriGiT is already back on the road, now that the salt is gone, doing what she does best: daily transportation when I really have to get there - in time! She went back on the road March 17th and has picked up nearly 500 miles since then. Sitting since October 2008, she required the following to get her going again: pull choke, engage starter for about 5 seconds, put her in reverse and back her out of the garage. I repeat: I LOVE this car!

"Well, it's now March 27th, 2011. ' Can't believe I had it on the road by the 17th just two years ago. We'll be lucky to get it out again before April 1st this year. Lotsa snow, and even today, it kept falling. Last year was an easy year for BriGiT. Just one trip to Massachusetts in August. This year we're driving to Reno, but the vehicle has yet to be selected: either the ZB Magnette or BriGiT.

"Moral: If you have an MGB, DRIVE it!!!!! Every day! If it has problems, fix 'em - correctly! If you don't do it and your mechanic can't do it, find another mechanic. These cars are not rocket science, and once the bugs are worked out, they are as reliable as anything on the road. The trick with those dual SU carbs is to go through the procedure in the Haynes manual and get 'em running pretty good. Then LEAVE THEM ALONE - for at least five years! I repeat, LEAVE THEM ALONE! What makes MGs notoriously unreliable is owners constantly fiddling with them. Cut it out! When the car runs "pretty good" leave it alone. You aren't going to get fantastically improved performance or gas mileage out of this antiquated agricultural engine. Leave it alone and enjoy its rock-solid, although modest, performance and reliability. Yep, the Malibus and the Civics will blow your doors off on the highways, but they'll never make it to 30 years. Your car has already done that, and is ready for the next couple of decades. So who wins?"

So here it is October of 2016. We've now owned BriGiT for just over 30 years, and while she is still seeing a lot of day-to-day service, she needs a bit of attention here and there before another long trip. At 248,000 miles, she needs a new head. I have another head here ready to replace her cracked one. She needs a bit of paint touch-up, and I've arranged for that. And I have some ideas to improve her A/C. Then she'll be ready for her next 248,000 miles.

I neglected to mention that since I wrote in March of 2011, BriGiT drove from here in Michigan on "Rallye to Reno" in the summer of 2011 for her third of the Multi-Register MG events occurring at five-year intervals. BriGiT went from Virginia to St Paul Minnesota for MG 2001; to Gatlinburg TN for MG 2006 and from Michigan to Reno NV for MG 2011.

At my age (76), she may see some of that next 248,000 miles with a new owner. But as long as she continues to get the same attention I've given her since 1986, she'll run a million miles... two million.. or much more. What can possibly happen to her that is not worth repairing?

January 28, 2023: I’m now age 83, and BriGiT has exceeded a quarter of a million miles. We’re both still at it! At the moment she’s hibernating until the snow and salt are gone, but soon she’ll be back on the job - pretty much taking me everywhere I go and getting lots of parking-lot comments. Back during the Pandemic, I kept myself busy converting her to a serpentine belt to better serve my 105-amp alternator and A/C compressor. The picture is not the last iteration - I made another change on the idler next to the alternator pulley, and then installed the radiator before getting a picture. The modification itself works slick as you please, but it’s much easier just to use a much lower drag 60-amp Lucas alternator and stick to the V-belts. This coming August will mark 37 years I’ve had this car - the longest relationship of my life!

December 22, 2024. ‘Just turned 85 almost a month ago. Me and BriGiT are still doing great. Last summer, along with good friends Mark and Judy Jones, we drove BriGiT up to Alden Michigan for the Twin Bay British Car Club’s annual Alden Sports Car Show. BriGiT took it as an opportunity to show me, as painfully as possible, two mistakes I had made in designing her serpentine belt system. First, although she has a six-rib belt, one of the idlers I used was only wide enough for a four-rib belt. All was well for about four years until the outside edge of that narrow idler finally cut the belt in half - lengthwise. She selected the tnorthwest wilds of Michigan's southern peninsula to maximize mayhem. We found a new belt for her in Kalkaska Michigan, whereupon we discovered my second mistake: routing the belt such that the lower radiator hose has to pass through it. Which means when you have to replace it in the middle of nowhere, you have to drain the radiator too, and disconnect the hose. And sometimes when a hose has been on for a long time, it doesn’t want to come off. I rather new it might be a mistake when I put it together, but I didn’t realize what a big deal it could be.

So... back to the drawing board - except I don’t have a drawing board. My ideas go straight from my head to the car. At any rate, I’ve redesigned/ rebuilt the system with the alternator back somewhere near where it left the factory and on a ten-minute test-drive it did well. Then came the snow...