This MG wedding thread has been entertaining. Here's my contribution:
I met my wife while we were both students at the University of Tennessee
at Chattanooga (UTC) back in 1995. I had wanted a British roadster from
the age of five. They were quite common on our area roads then, even
though their respective companies had gone under by that time. I even
had a RB octagon mounted on my Big Wheel, but that's another story...
Anyway, a great many weekends of my final undergraduate year were
mis-spent together searching for increasigly ellusive MGBs in our area
and owners whom I could con into thinking I was serious about buying so
I could take test drives. It wasn't too hard, but those cars were out of
reach for me. My first job out of school didn't help much from a
monetary standpoint.
In the summer of 2000, I moved back into town after quitting an
unsatisfactory job and found local employment that was good enough, but
left me with little cash. We also found a red 1974 MGB not far from home
with an owner who was willing to let it go for $2300. It didn't look too
bad and ran ok. I wracked my brain trying to figure out how to buy it,
but it disappeared.
It re-appeared on our wedding day in May, 2001. My wife, who had a
good-paying job, bought it and concealed it at her sister's house. She
presented it to me on our wedding day as a present. We left the church
in it. Needless to say, it occupies a special place in my heart, and I
hope to never part with it. To this day, friends and family who attended
our wedding ask me if we still have it, and I proudly say yes.
We elected not to use it on our honeymoon as it seemed like a bit much
to drive it from Chattanooga to Sea Island, GA. It had some engine and
suspension issues that I discovered on our return. I left it with my
parents, and they got quite a bit of enjoyment out of it, and Dad later
bought an 86 Corvette to be his own fun car.
The car still has a few issues and probably always will. The
drivetrain's great and the suspension's near top-notch thanks to blood,
sweat, tears, and cash, but the body has more than a little rust. My
debate is whether to attempt a repair or to save and buy a BMH MGB body
shell. No matter what, the car will always be a special sort of work in
progress.
-William Killeffer
1974 MGB
1983 Jaguar XJ6
1993 BMW 325is
2003 Royal Enfield Bullet
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