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MG MGA - JUST A THOUGHT
| I wonder how many of you guys allow your wife/partner/girlfriend/lover to drive your MGA? Or if at all! Going to exhibitions and shows I sense that many partners are there out of duty. I mean would you go to something that was perhaps more oriented to the interests of your partner? I do occasionally see partners driving their beloved's car but its not a common phenomena! My wife who used our Y Type to drive to school in the late 1970's sadly lost her licence for medical reasons. However, after 31 years she is now driving. She tried our YT a couple of months ago and was okay and will be keen to drive it during the summer. She has yet to drive the MGA,which she regards as a boy racer (and was none too happy when I sold our well used TA to buy the A)! I think when she does drive it she will be pleased (its got a five speed box, so similar to our modern!). Is it rare for you to allow your partner to drive your A, has she asked to, would you be willing to sit in the passenger seat etc? Or do regard the car as being to valuable? As I said 'just a thought'! All the best Jerry |
| Jerry Birkbeck |
| I let any willing qualified driver behind the wheel, and most are apprehensive before they start, but LOVE the experience when they actually do it. Fear is the biggest factor in people holding back, but once persuaded....no holds barred. My car has been driven by at least two hundred people since I restored it in 1989. A few have bought an MG afterwards as a consequence. |
| dominic clancy |
| "I wonder how many of you guys allow your wife/partner/girlfriend/lover to drive your MGA? Or if at all!" Not a MGA, but our TD is my wife's vehicle of choice for running errands in. She claims that the TD is HER car, even though it was purchased because I wanted it. I have practically had to put a padlock on the garage door to keep her from driving it in the snow (an excellent car for driving in snow) since they have started to add salt to the roads every time it snows. Cheers - Dave |
| D W DuBois |
| My son drove me to the revival festival and back a couple of years ago. As Dominic says he was very nervous to start with but got the hang of it quickly and found going back to his normal car strange with less steering feel. It was lovely being driven by him. He may take it to France later this year with his girlfriend. My biggest concern is if it develops a problem as he is not so familiar with its peculiarities as I am and he is a modern driver in that he takes his car to the garage to get it fixed. He is not very used to getting his hands dirty even though he is a professional engineer with Airbus. |
| John Francis |
| I actually restored my A as a 50th birthday present to my better half. Unfortunately, she has only driven it once in the year and a half since I got it on the road. I now have the engine out to replace the second gear synchro ring so that she can (will) drive it. While we have had a lot of fun with her in the passenger seat, I am hoping that she will drive it a lot once the transmission works properly. Larry |
| Larry Wheeler |
| Hey Guys I am really impressed 200 different drivers Dominic that really is something and well done Larry. I'm sure your wife will really enjoy it. And a TD driver Dave. Wow! Power to her elbow! I will wait until Jo has driven a few more miles in the modern and the YT before I introduce her to the A. Best on a fine summers day! Enjoy your MG's and lets hear your wife/partner/lovers tale. Perhaps on the lines of 'When he first let me drive the MG!' Jerry |
| Jerry Birkbeck |
| Unfortunately, my wife can't reach the pedals. Oh, what a pity! |
| Nigel Munford |
| Same as Nigel. But even if she could I think she would decline. She won't even drive my Merc if I am in the passenger seat as she thinks I would be examining her techniques and critiquing too often - probably correct! Is there an insurance issue here on unnamed drivers? I believe in some countries it's the car that is insured and for any driver, whereas in the UK it's based on the driver and named other drivers in a specific car. If you let someone else drive you may only be covered for 3rd party on their insurance? Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| My mom couldn't reach the pedals, and hated driving the MGA. She had to put pillows between herself and the seat back to be able to work the pedals. She had to take me to the hospital when I was 5 or 6, and mostly what I remember of the episode was her cursing the MG, and my dad for having driven the pickup truck to work. In fact, that's the only time I remember her ever driving it. My wife is only a couple inches taller than Mom was, so I expect she wouldn't enjoy it much more. I'm sure she could if she had to. -Del |
| D Rawlins |
| Interesting comments particularly Steve's. Having spent 31 years being criticised by my wife for going too fast, too close to the edge of the carriageway etc, etc. In some instances her comments are justified but not all the time! I recall her sitting in the back of the YT on the way to an event. The other occupants were surprised at her views! So now she has started driving again I have vowed to be understanding! Which to date I have been. Steve's comments about insurance are extremely valid. I for example have all my daughters and my wife included on my insurance. Any other occasional drivers I have also included. The law may be different in other countries. Lovely day here in Warwickshire as I look outside at a time when I should be in the A! All the best Jerry |
| Jerry Birkbeck |
| My wife was the one who wanted the MGA, and IIRC her name is on the V5. We drove together sharing the driving down to Italy 14 years ago when she was pregnant. She used to drive it daily to work (30 miles round the M25) a few years ago (due to unreliable modern rubbish car) including through the winter. The narrow tyres really helped in the snow! |
| Dan Smithers |
| My wife has driven my TD and she didn't stop smiling for an hour. I might have to get her one. .... |
| MAndrus |
| Jerry Here is my wife driving our 1960 1600 in Italy in 2012. We share the driving 50-50, and took the MGA to Sardinia in 2013. Last year, 2014, no long trips because of work commitments, but we'll again be sharing the MGA driving this coming June to do the Route des Grandes Alpes, down and back, with another MGA. Cheers Mike  |
| M D Card |
| Ginny will drive my MGA alone and with friends but is unwilling to drive the TF or the B GT! |
| David Werblow |
| And my wife driving our supercharged TC, again in Italy. Mike Card  |
| M D Card |
| I let a friend drive my car for a spell, and not five minutes after I took back over, the differential web broke loose. The next year I let his son drive it, and the next morning the batteries were dead. So as far as that family goes, no, never again. :-) |
| David Breneman |
| My partner Yani is a fast driver but she is not at all tall; she has not yet tried the MGA as the car is still with Bob West. Sadly she cannot reach the pedals in the TD even with the seat jammed forward, but enjoyed posing... Doug  |
| DRP Wallace |
| Same story in the PB... Doug  |
| DRP Wallace |
| Jeez John,I know things are grim down in the South but driving someone to a "revival festival" and ,presumably,bringing you back alive takes some believing,even amongst us heathen Northern Druids. About which( or maybe it would be connected) I wouldn't be seen dead letting my missus drive our F. |
| M Blencowe |
| Doug, have a word with Peter Green, his cream cracker is set up for a child/youngster to drive, he showed me how easy it was to revert to standard in a minute or so. |
| mog |
| Hi mog, thanks for this suggestion, sounds a fascinating idea, I am intrigued to find out how this works for the shorter drivers. Would you perchance have a contact for Peter Green please, can send to me at douglas@rad.net.id Mike Card, I have just spent hours studying your TC website, superb photos, wonderful TCs! Jerry, your thread generated huge interest, from my perspective I have to admit that I seem to be more enthusiastic for Yani to have a chance to drive the MGs than she does herself! Regards, Doug  |
| DRP Wallace |
| Personaly I don't have a problem with the lady in the classic My wife used our S4 Elan as a daily driver for years and was very competitive in club racing in it as well and regularly shares driving duties when we're off out and about She had a go in my/sorry our old midget racer in a motorkhana once and opened the eyes of quite a few of the established male competitors--who later had the cheek to say she couldn't claim a place cause she entered wrongly and should have been in the Ladies only class Well, did she see red-yes and rightly so Unfortunately that was that and hasn't run in a m/khana since willy  |
| William Revit |
| Great to hear that your wives/partners/lovers are or have used your A's and more exotic machinery. Last weekend was the MGCC Y Register Spring Weekend in Stone, Staffordshire with a dinner and then a run to Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire on the Sunday. I drove from home to Rugeley which was 40 miles and then Jo drove to the hotel, a further 15 miles. She took the keys and I was the navigator, a very unusual role for me as during our years with MG's post 1995 I have always had to drive. Now she has her licence back she is very keen to take every opportunity to drive, which is quite understandable. Anyhow she then drove along the route to LMH and after the event back home. A journey of around 140 miles. She loved it despite a strong cross wind. After a further 300 miles in the modern this week she is getting the miles under her belt. What is interesting is her dealing with her spatial awareness of a modern car. All curves and no immediate appreciation of where the bonnet finishes unlike the YT and the MGA! So the next challenge is for her to drive the A. I explained that the steering and front suspension is the same as the YT but that the A has front discs. Hopefully that will occur in the next few weeks. A point that I made to her once she started driving again was that I would make no comment at all unless asked! Reminding her that I just would not stoop to being the terrible backseat driver that she is! Whilst I have kept to my side of the deal she has occasionally resorted to making comments but is getting better! All told a wonderfully liberating experience for her and a very different perspective for me. Though I have yet to travel in the back seat! Thanks for all your comments which are an enjoyable read. Have fun Jerry |
| Jerry Birkbeck |
| When our second son came along my wife had to sell her AH sprite. She bought a scimitar GTC (2.8 litre V6 soft top) as she could get both child seats in the back. She often got comments from male drivers about her driving " her husband's car" which she swiftly rebuffed. In actual fact she rarely let me drive it. |
| DM Gibson |
| One of our daughters decided autotesting and scatter rallying would be fun. Here she is on the start line somewhere in Surrey.  |
| Nick and Cherry Scoop |
. . . . . . . . . . . and on the way to a rally.
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| Nick and Cherry Scoop |
| Last one. One's wife on the start line. Aren't I a show-off?  |
| Nick and Cherry Scoop |
| My wife and I drove to a car show last weekend. I drove my '34 Hot Rod, she drove the TD. It was the first time she had driven a show car to a show! I might have to get her her own (look at the smile)... maybe an MGA this time 'round. She'll think the A is for her. HA! ......  |
| MAndrus |
My wife loves her MGA. Sometimes she even lets me drive it.
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| Steve Simmons |
My wife drives the MGB or eType. I drive the MGA or MGTD. It's pretty comical when she is following me and I'm in the TD and she's in the eType- I'm always waving for her to slow down out of fear that she will rear-end me.
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| Ira Spector |
This thread was discussed between 19/04/2015 and 09/06/2015
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