Chilling with an MGA
It's a nice feeling when you have some time alone with a classic. Sitting on an empty track with a camera in my hand, this was a great afternoon.
It's a nice feeling when you have some time alone with a classic. Sitting on an empty track with a camera in my hand, this was a great afternoon. The weekend of the "Holetown Festival" in Barbados usually starts with a classic car parade, and after this parade, drivers usually leave the festival for a chance to chill and hangout with other owners.
This MG was gorgeous. I think I am developing a bias for blue cars though but that's beside the point. This MGA started its life off the production line in 1959, sporting a 1.6L single carbureted, single overhead cam engine. It makes about 78hp with a 4 speed transmission.
This MG was special though. It was bought in the US, it was spec'd for the US market, left hand drive, and before it was blue, it was red, the upholstery was a different colour as well.
The owner stumbled on it one afternoon coming out of a mall. He saw a car show happening in the car park next door and decided to take a look at it. Owning this car was a childhood dream of his, he recounted the principal of his elementary school owning one, and before he would leave on afternoons he would give the children a show, a nice rev. This memory drove him to purchase the car.
Restoration is always never an easy job. Like was mentioned before, the car was a different colour and the driver seat was on the opposite side plus the car was in rough condition. After importing the car, much work began, from the ground up, the chassis was sandblasted, primed and rust sealed. Then alterations were made to the dashboard, a new tortoiseshell coloured one was placed and the steering moved over to the right hand side. and the upholstery was changed to tan.
Tan, might sound like a boring colour, but I must say, it really complimented the blue of the car. I bet you didn't notice the missing door handles. This car was fitted with a string on the inside of the door inorder to open the doors and windows were in the trunk, if you wanted to use them.
Sporting the Tortoiseshell Dash
Inside the car, you have your basic needs, a steering wheel, some dials and gauges, and a gearstick and pedals, I mean, what else would you want in a car ? Driving this car, is an experience in itself, not to be filled with distractions.
It wasn't just meant to get from A to B, it was meant for the driver as well as the passenger to be engaged in the journey from A to B.
MG streamlined the body panels of the car, with the sweeping curves and bubble design of the 50's "Hi tech" design, proving to be a nice vintage astectihc as the car aged. Owning an MG for him, is like owning a childhood dream, and few can say the same.
- Alex, until next time, keep motoring.
"Without courage, you will always lose"
In Martinique, my adventures were not yet finished. After speaking for a while that night by the shed with the Fiats , the owner and I made arrangements to meet up again. He said he wanted to show me one more car he thought I might really like.
In Martinique, my adventures were not yet finished. After speaking for a while that night by the shed with the Fiats , the Patrick and I made arrangements to meet up again. He said he wanted to show me one more car he thought I might really like.
He did not disappoint at all.
For starters, I never saw anything like it in my life. But, I knew the stripe - that iconic Renault offset race stripe. I was in the presence of another legend. He smiled and told me that his was Renault Gordini r8, which he had spent the better part of two and half years restoring to factory conditions. It was well worth the effort.
This car is a lot more interesting than it seems. It looks like a regular sedan, but it's basically a road going rally car. The car's engine is located in the back. It is also rear wheel drive but it still has 4 doors. This layout gives great traction during acceleration but to offset this, the car actually had 2 gas tanks - one in the back and a second in the front that was larger. This, along with the weight of the driver keeps the front wheels on the road and give the traction necessary for cornering.
The heart of this machine is a 1.3 liter engine, which makes about 100 hp, and 86 lb-ft of torque. It is mounted longitudinally in the engine bay. I admired the amount of time he spent caring and repairing this car. What really caught my attention were small things like that tiny bulb in the engine bay or the heat wrap on the exhaust manifold. The latter has a dual purpose of keeping the temps down while adding a great aesthetic within the engine bay. All of these makes these classic cars pretty awesome.
The car only weighs 850 kg. Which means it can take off pretty fast despite its small engine. I don't think I can stress enough how much of a difference weight makes in a car.
What makes this car so special though, is it's rally pedigree. It's a car driven not just in rally, but driven by rally drivers on a daily basis. I had the privilege of sitting in the passenger seat for an evening drive. It's so well balanced, we have to think back to the era when things like traction control and auto braking systems didn't exist, when this machine spoke to its driver through the steering wheel. It was a very visceral driving experience.
“Without courage, you will always lose.”
He told me that he's been driving rally for many years and his experience has taught him that, "without courage, you will always lose". No matter how fast your car may be on paper, unless you have the courage to drive it to the limit, you can't win.
I believe that was the idea behind this car.
- Alex, until next time, Happy Motoring.
