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I just put new gas shocks on Rosebud, plus added
200 pounds of lead shot up front and smaller tires.
I decided to test it on old Hwy 74 up through the
S/CA mountains, a winding twisty road with drop offs
that if you go over the side they???ll probably never find
you. There???s usually a good wind to buffet you, as
you come out of the cutouts in the mountain, the
extra weight and new shocks definitely helped.Descending from about 5000 feet to the bottom, I
had this yellow and black beast of a Dodge Chargertrying to get up my rear. The slightest straight stretch and he
was eating my tail pipes. But in the curves, all his
horsepower just couldn???t help him a bit, and I
gained some ground, separating us. By the time
we reached the bottom, I was still in the lead.
Then we hit the straight away and he roared past
me triumphantly.Maybe our MGTDr???s with their clanging VW engines
and puny tires aren???t adrenaline pumping, smoking
tire, roaring beasts, but we definetly feel connected
to the road, as we push our 50 HP to its limits. So,
my vote is, it???s more fun driving a slow car fast, than
driving a fast car slow. Just bring a change of
underwear with you, when that big Charger Beast
is pushing you till you hit the curves.Lets hear your stories, including Tall Tales and True Lies
that made your lower cheeks pucker up, but you loved it
and lived to tell about it.BillBad Bill
Great story Bill!
Yup. A slow car driven at 9/10ths is much more fun than a fast car driven at 5/10ths!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
I have owned quite a few “”slow” cars, and a couple of fast ones (911S). I couldn’t agree more that slow cars driven to their limit are much more fun than fast ones to the same speed. I have always thought that “too fast” was a better measure than “fast” and that occurs at a much lower (and safer) speed in something like our TDr’s.
It was a dark and stormy night…? Oh wait, that is a different story.
It was a bright and clear Catskill Mountain winter afternoon in 1967. Then I saw it: A gleaming XKE 2+2 sitting on Poop Schwartz’s used car lot. I had known Poop (yep, that was his name) for many years and I was a newly minted Ensign in the US Naval Submarine Force, home on leave. Not many people liked Poop, but we had always gotten along well and he supported my hobby of “testing out” his cars that I thought were of interest. So, Poop gave me the keys and said to take her for a spin. I thought that I would take her back home to Roscoe and (in retrospect), show off to the folks from my hometown, even though it wasn’t my car.
So, I’m cruising along at about 65 in a 55 zone with no cars in sight, on old Rt 17. (What a thrill for a 26 year old.) Then I noticed that an MGB was coming up from the rear and closing on me quite fast. You gotta be kidding, a B?? — I’m in a Jag. (I must admit to never liking MGB’s.) I pushed it to 75. He kept up.
So, I speeded up again. To about 85. What the heck, clear road, no cars. He speeded up and kept with me. After slowing for a turn, ahead was another straight away and I decided to leave him in my “dust”.
But first, I looked in my rear view and…. what the hell is this? Blinking red lights on the MGB??? Turns out that the guy was a NY State Trooper. Asked for my registration, and I had to explain that I didn’t have any since I was testing Poop’s car out. He didn’t buy it. Followed me back to Poop’s place and pulled in right behind me.
Poop thought it was funny, but I was so embarrassed that I never again borrowed a car from Poop.
This ended up being my first ticket. About 2 months later I bought my MGTF-1500.My (almost) first was for going 37 in a 35 zone about 20 minutes after first getting my license. My father, the town cop, and the local judge had set it all up. The whole town had a good laugh about that one and of course, I didn’t really get a ticket. — but for a while, I thought I was going straight to the hoosgow for a couple of years. (they all played it very well – I even had to go to court that afternoon and so about 4 hours after getting my license, I was a convicted criminal.)
So, with a few exceptions, I have always most enjoyed slower cars that I could drive “too fast”, and not get into “too much” trouble.
Royal2015-06-07 20:10:30
Roy,Did you have a change of underwear when you say the flashing red lights on the MG, or did your new Ensign’s dress whites suddenly change to camouflage ?BillBad Bill
Winter in NY. Dress Blues. Which made it even more embarrassing.
I always thought and still think that a cop in a MGB is simply not “fair”.
Royal: I grew up in south central Pa. A local law enforcer had for his chase car a 1957 Chevy convertible. That caused some problems when some were pulled over. It was a 4 speed and fuel injected. The local police would also run on the local drag strip. Never had a problem with the local police . Daughter of one was a classmate of mine.
When I lived in Indianapolis, the State Troopers has a few bright colored Mustang convertibles. One was driven by a blond woman who drove with her trooped hat removed and let her hair blow in the wind and she would catch unsuspecting guy drivers who would speed up to check her out. Neat trick I guess but I always thought that was entrapment.
And I have a ton of friends in law enforcement.Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI was 19 and headed to work early one morning back in the early 70s driving to work in my home built Mini. It, the car, started out as a stock 1071cc Cooper but at that time was running with a 1340cc motor. So no traffic and small English country roads in the west country of Dorset. I was happy, having fun throwing the little thing around when I was aware of some brown and orange monster coming up fast. It looked like a 240Z and he was flying. We must have driven 15 miles with me trying to stay in control as I made the little 12″ wheels work hard as he was drifting the big Z car on the corners trying to get past me. After 15 miles or so the road changed from a small country road to a much wider open one with some long ish straights. We came around the last corner just before the first straight side by side then he floored it. Off it went with a huge roar.. I chased him as best I could but no way could I get very close to him. I did get to read the sign on the back of the car,, SUPER SAMURAI … A brown and orange painted Z. We parted company when he pulled off into a different part of Weymouth and I continued to work, As he turned his arm came out of the side window and he waved,, It was just two cars and two guys having fun. I made enquires about the car and the driver.. It turned out that the driver was Win Percy the national saloon car champion, the car was his track car that he also kept road legal, as he used it in rally events as well. After writing this I looked both Win and Super Samurai up, Both are still around. The car has been restored to the same livery that it wore that early morning. I wonder if he remembers that day too???
You were a worthy rival to this then?
I’ll bet he does remember!As an addendum to the last story, Win also raced a Ex Works rally Mk1 Ford escort. It was parked up behind his filling station when he retired the car. I purchased the car from him as a worn out race car and put it back on the road, It cost me a total of 400 Gbp. about $600. Anyway it was way to rich for my blood to run it. A full works prepared BDA twin cam, running twin 40s just sucks down the gas too! When I was offered my money back to sell it I did so very willingly! This brings me to a point that I have seen Ed mention in the past about old cars, especially old race cars being original. Win rebodied the car three times (complete new bodies each time) I replaced the engine twice. The car was sold a short time ago as an ORIGINAL works rally car with extensive history for $123000 !!!!!! Yeah right all original!!! So our cars are all original too. Big Smile! I took my 400 gpb and went back to minis!
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