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RE: Value of CB Midget

To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Value of CB Midget
From: BILL <billh@aaai.com>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 13:02:53 -0700
Reply-to: BILL <billh@aaai.com>
Sender: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
Very true and very well written. Do we have a budding "Peter Egan" on
the list? While I only have one LBC (non-running, natch) at the moment
I'm starting to think about a "running" Spridget or maybe another
Cortina to cure my back road cravings. The F150 just doesn't cut it.

Bill Hunt
64 MKII - Herbytoy
billh@aaai.com


        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Scott Fisher [SMTP:sefisher@cisco.com]
        Sent:   Thursday, May 06, 1999 11:16 AM
        To:     Richard D Arnold
        Cc:     spridgets@autox.team.net; kfisher@living-history.org
        Subject:        Re: Value of CB Midget

        Richard D Arnold wrote:

        > Also, what the heck is it with LBCs that causes one to want to
        > acquire so many?

        Several things have occurred to me throughout my years of LBC
ownership:

        1.  The Car Wardrobe factor.  Depending on how complex one's
life is, it
        may become desirable to have separate cars, each optimized for
different
        activities.  For example, a Spridget is the perfect car for
driving on
        sunny days through winding forest roads, the shadows through the
        sycamore leaves rippling and blending off the graceful curves of
the
        fenders, the mixed exhaust note and gear whine echoing off the
boles of
        ancient redwoods.  Add some rain and cold into the equation, and
an
        MGB-GT might reasonably be considered a better choice.  Add snow
and ice
        and, well, a Jensen FF gives you all wheel drive to keep the
tyres
        planted in unplowed roads.  Then there's the vintage race car,
and while
        many vehicles could satisfy the itch, I'm partial (at least in
my
        imagination) to the Lotus Seven in any of its variants.  And you
have to
        get that to the track (and to the machine shop and to the garage
of your
        friend with the welding equipment and etc. etc.etc.), so you buy
a
        sensible tow car like an XJ-S.  No one of these cars could do
all the
        things that the entire collection could do, and, well, you
*have* to do
        all these things, don't you?

        2.  The I'll-drive-this-while-I-restore-that factor.  We all
know how
        THAT goes... It starts when the throwout bearing fails on your
beloved
        Spridget, and seeing as the entire car must basically be
dismantled to
        get to the bearing, we realize we'll need ANOTHER car to drive
while the
        first one gets taken apart and put back together.  So we go out
and buy
        a slightly ratty chrome-bumper MGB or something (can't be too
nice or we
        won't be motivated to keep working on the Spridget), start
disconnecting
        the flywheel bolts in the Spridget, and then the weather turns
and it
        starts raining and we try to put the top up on the B, only to
find out
        that it's basically more holes than top.  So while the
reasonable thing
        to do would be to go spend $250 on a new Robbins top, we go out
and find
        a GT6 to drive while the weather's bad, figuring we'll do the
B's top
        after we get the Spridget's clutch replaced (because you KNOW
that as
        long as you've got the motor out to do the throwout bearing, you
might
        as well replace the pressure plate and friction disc too, and as
long as
        THAT'S out, you might as well rebuild the slave cylinder, and in
the
        meanwhile the only actual WORK you've performed on the car is to
        disconnect the earth strap on the battery and loosen the starter
        bolts.)  Then spring finally rolls around and it's just too damn
*nice*
        to keep driving the GT6 any more, and you get an email from
somebody on
        the Spridgets list who is selling a clean Mk. III ("needs paint
and
        carpets") for real cheap, and you figure that if you had another
        Spridget to drive in the nice weather, it'd make you hurry up on
the
        clutch rebuild of your *first* Spridget (which already *has*
nice paint
        and carpets), on which you've now done the added bonus work of
pulling
        the wire from the coil to the distributor to make it easier to
pull the
        engine any time now (and you figure you can bring home the
engine hoist
        from the rental agent's in the back of the GT6, after all, when
you get
        a free weekend).  At one point, this line of reasoning led to my
owning
        a '74 Midget, a '67 Morris Mini Traveler, a '67 Lotus Cortina, a
'59
        Bugeye Sprite, the transaxle out of a '69 Austin America, and,
of all
        things, a then-new Ford Mustang SVO -- which was the least
sensible
        American sporty-muscle-oid car that it was then possible to
acquire. 
        Made cool whoop-de-whoop noises when you shifted, though.

        3.  The fact that we're all bloody lunatics.  Ever see
"Braveheart"? 
        You know the scene where Stephen, the Irish mercenary,
introduces
        himself to William Wallace, says "Besides, I'm crazy," and
Wallace,
        Hamish, and his other lieutenants give each other sidelong
glances, and
        then little by little everyone in the circle of men starts
laughing this
        weird laugh of brotherhood?

        Yep, that's us.

        BTW -- today, May 6, 1999, is the day of Scotland's first free
elections
        since the Battle of Stirling, or something.  Alba go bragh!

        --Scott "I draw the line at having haggis for dinner, though"
Fisher
          Sunnyvale, CA

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