For years I have wanted a sports car to play with. So against all advice
and judgment, I purchased a 1975 MGB Roadster to fix up. The body had no
rust, the engine looked good, but has not been started in awhile. The car
has been a one owner and garaged since 1980. It seemed like the car for me.
It actually has fewer miles by half than all of my other vehicles. It needs
some cosmetic work, but I can handle that.
Therefore, on June 9, 2001, I borrowed a car-hauling trailer from a friend
to pick up the car. The trailer didn't have lights, so I wanted to be sure
to get home before dark. I was also worried about getting a ticket and of
course nervous because I had never hauled a car before. We got to the car's
location and loaded it up for the ride home. The young man from whom the
car was purchased drove while his dad and I pushed. Once on the trailer, I
asked him if he had set the brake. He said it was OK, he put the car in
gear. I have to admit, everything went well. We saw a couple police on the
way home, but fortunately they were busy with other criminals.
After arriving at the house, I backed the trailer into the "other" driveway
where the unattached garage is located. The truck was at the bottom of the
drive, so I asked my wife to move it so we could put the MG there. I had
the GMC Jimmy pulling the trailer on the grass near the top of the driveway
with the trailer cocked so the ramps headed down the driveway. We were
positioned about halfway up the driveway. I purposely had it going down
hill since only Janet was there to push the car off the trailer. I thought
this would make it easier for her. We untied the tie-down straps and I got
into the car.
I leaned out the window and asked her to give it a gentle push. She was
heading for the trailer when I slipped it out of gear. It started to roll,
so I pushed on the brake. There were no brakes (I now realized my question
to the young man had been avoided). As I was picking up speed going
backwards, I thought oh God; I hope the ramps are positioned properly. They
were. What a sigh of relief when I was safely on the driveway, but the car
was still moving backward at an uncomfortable rate of speed.
As I passed the unattached garage on my left and the end of the house on my
right, I decided it was time to take control. My plan was to turn the car
onto the lawn so it would slow down. It was then I realized I had not put
the key in the ignition in order to unlock the steering mechanism. At this
point, I was basically just along for the ride. Unknown to me, hitting the
ramps was not the biggest problem I was going to face this evening as I was
still traveling backwards across the lawn. I was now three quarters of the
way through the yard headed for my wife's flower garden. I kept thinking,
this thing will surely stop.
Three high school boys were fishing along the shore of our pond. Upon
hearing the commotion, they turned to see what was happening. They assumed
I was bringing the neat little sports car down for them to check out.
I passed the through the flower garden without slowing, saluted the
fishermen on the shore and calmly backed my 13 foot long car approximately
18 feet into the pond. The young men, former students of Janet's were
saying, "Mrs. Alford, your flowers". Meanwhile, I was sitting in my car
with water up to my butt. I could see I would get no sympathy, so I opened
the door and stepped daintily into three feet of water and muck.
June 11, 2001, my wife has finally quit laughing.
June 12 to November 1, 2001 worked on car.
November 2, 2001, I took the car out for an hour drive through the country.
It was great. I ran like a top.
Jim
1975 MGB
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