Nobody was drunk, but this seems like a good thread on which to relate my
only MG-related accident:
My 63 B doesn't have seatbelts and the top was down, but I emerged
totally unscathed. I drive a Subaru, and if I had been in
that car in similar circumstances, the car would've rolled...
-- Marc
GHN3/8214
In Sept '93, blinded by oncoming high-beams we hit a cow at about 35-40 mph
in our '76 B (my 1st view of the cow was through a shattered windshield).
Took out the hood, LF fender, driver side door, windshield and windshield
frame (top was down at the time). My left hand got caught between the
steering wheel and the cow (!) resulting in one broken metacarpal. My wife
was uninjured, the 17-year-old seatbelts held, post-impact handling was
totally predictable, no structural damage whatsoever (bolt-on repair job!),
and the police at the scene said the MG probably saved our lives (both in
terms of crash durability and handling). BTW, the rubber bumper didn't
move - even though the impact broke the recessed left-front parking/turn
signal light.
My '73 GT has been hit four times since I've owned it (no, I don't think
I'm accident-prone - none of them were my fault) and that's with 13 years
unaccounted for - if that car could talk!!
Nobody relishes these things - but the B can take alot. Several collision
guys have told me nothing else takes a side impact as well either.
Wishing you all an accident-free top-down season.
Allen Bachelder
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