>Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 16:00:02 +0000
>From: Robert J Donahue/DELCO <RJDONAHU@mail.delcoelect.com>
>Subject: Parking MGBs on Sunny Days
>
>I should be getting my MGB out of the shop soon. I haven't
>much experience with it yet. What I would like to know is
>what other owners do when they park in public places, say
>like a mall, on a day when no rain is expected. I feel a little
>too paranoid to leave the interior exposed to theives and
>vandals. Putting the top up and down all the time is a lot
>of trouble. Is a full length tonneau the way to go? What do
>you guys do?
>
>Bob Donahue, Still Stuck in the '50s
>53 MG-TD, under restoration
>71 MGB, still in the shop
>
I guess it depends somewhat on where you are. I live in Nashville now and I
don't feel particularly threatened by street crime even though I've had more
trouble with it here than when I was living in Manhattan. I work downtown
and generally don't park on the street, but in a parking garage. I leave the
top down and the tonneau off when I park. On a real hot day, if I know I'll
be a while I'll pull the tonneau over just to keep the sun out. The only
trouble I've had has been one asshole who ripped off my right wing mirror
and occasionally the jerk who will leave trash in the seat. Outside of the
mirror I've never had anything stolen, but I never leave anything of value
in it either. Well, I do keep an umbrella in the car just in case. I'd
rather lose an umbrella than a $500 hood. I don't lock the car when the top
is up and generally leave the windows down except in the winter. The trunk
lock on the prim does not work. I guess it's a message that there's nothing
in the car worth stealing. The radio in the maroon and soon to be in the
prim is an old Leyland stamped AM/FM mono and I mount the (good) speakers
where they're not readily seen.
If I remember I did lock the glove box in the maroon. Why I don't know, but
it was probably a nod to Jeanette who locks everything in sight. In the
maroon I kept spare change in the console at all times and in both cars have
left cigarettes stuck behind the E-brake. Never lost a penny or a smoke. But
I don't park on the street if possible and if I need to stash something in
the trunk I put it there before I get into the neighborhood where I'm
parking. Old NY habit.
But I no longer live in NYC and if I did I probably wouldn't own an MG. When
I lived there I drove a beat up looking Oldsmobuickchevy Nova and parked on
the street. It was a car with absolutely no value and after the (broken)
radio got ripped off I never replaced it. Just left the gaping hole in the dash.
Glenn "I KNOW how to piss off my wife" Schnittke
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"If you fake the funk, your nose will grow..." - George Clinton
Glenn Schnittke Recovering Musician
Nashville TN 615-385-2800
glenns@edge.ercnet.com 72147.3635@compuserve.com
'74 MGB - fatally wounded
'69 MGB - prim little touring car
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