Sunday, October 27, 2019

My 1959 MGA


The date on the back of this photograph is April, 1966. I was just about to graduate from high school and this was my first car.  I paid $600 for this car and sold it later for about as much. It sat in the garage when I went to Davidson and so he could get his garage space back, my father sold it to a former high school acquaintance. It looks far better than it was -- plenty of Bondo and in need of some serious engine work, although the car never failed me while I had it. Sometimes looks are deceiving....
It had a red interior -- in fairly good shape -- and was a repaint.  What problems I had were the result of my attempts to work on it. For example, when I replaced the points, I didn't think I needed all those insulating washers. Well, was I ever wrong!
The top leaked when it rained. I remember one date with Linda Janice in which her arm was soaked as she sat in the passenger seat. That ended that wished-for romance!
To this day I have a fondness for these cars, as impractical as they were. With side curtains instead of rollup windows, they were unlock able. The car would have been great in southern California, but not in upstate New York. But those nights of driving with the top down left me with a craving for convertibles that remains with me.

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