New Member from the Inland Northwest

Hi all,

Excited to find this forum. Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten serious about research and looking around for a fun project car or a car that would be more of a weekend driver than a show car. The Idaho British Car Club had a meet last year in my hometown, so I was able to see many different makes and models in person for the first time. I’ve poked around on Craigslist and BAT and other places looking at prices and values, just seeing what pops up. Right now there’s a 1962 TR4, an 1959 MGA, and a 1960 Austin Healey BT7 out there, and a smattering of later Midgets and MGB’s and so forth. I trend towards the late 50s to early 60s for looks, although that also can mean sometimes it’ll be high prices. I'm pretty much in at $25k or less for this little adventure, so that rules out the fancy Jags and so forth.

Also as an inspiration, in his younger days, my dad used to race a white MGA Twin-Cam. I’d welcome any advice on a nice ‘beginner’ car of the era, a fair price, and any other helpful tips along the way. I’ll be sure to browse, since I’m sure that this has been asked a lot as well. Looking forward to learning from you all.

Clayton

Clayton, welcome to BCF. I'm a fan of the late '50s, early '60s myself.

You already have a connection with the MGA. What about that MGA you saw advertised? If you have a link to the car, and post here, or in the MG forum, you'll get some good feed back on pro's and con's.

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/forumdisplay.php?17-MG

Tom M.

Tom,

Thanks for the reply. I'll post up the links to the three that I've seen.

TR4- https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/d/coeur-alene-1962-triumph-tr4/7183466135.html
TR4 driving- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_ERzyCBpMU&feature=youtu.be

Austin Healey- https://lewiston.craigslist.org/cto/d/elk-city-1960-austin-healey-bt7-mk1/7177295937.html

MGA- https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/d/liberty-lake-1959-mga/7184029300.html

The MGA is a handsome car, there's no question. In terms of sheer attraction, that catches my eye more than the other two. I know that the BT7 might be more rare than the MGA, but I'm not entirely sold on the lines of the Big Healeys. I'm not sure why, exactly. I much prefer the MK1 Sprite. The TR4 is less attractive to me as a model than the TR3, but that price is significantly cheaper than the MGA. What can I say, I love curves over straight(er) lines I'd love to get into an XK120 or XK140, but I'm afraid eBay searches have shown big bucks involved. Here in my area the pickings are a lot more slim than they'd be in a bigger city. I've never tried to buy a car sight unseen, or ship one for that matter, so it's what's up for sale in a reasonable driving distance unless I'd be able to really get a good handle on the car and see how shipping and all that works. I'm in no particular hurry, but I do want to do a little more driving and less browsing someday soon!

Welcome to our humble forum, Clayton! By the way, my wife is from Jerome.

Thanks! I was hoping to find an Idaho connection here...small world and all!

Hi Clayton I was at that meet in Moscow ID ( green TR 6 1973 from NV ) and great people. As a long time LBC owner and British car club member I have seen an driven an worked on most all the cars you are looking at. If you ask the owners of each of the cars they will most likely say theirs are the one to get. As a TR guy I understand looks are every thing to any person. I built my car as a road car that is why driving to ID from Reno no problem Power is one thing ride on day trips another. The MG A does have great lines The AH can be tight to get in and out if you are 6 foot or more. Next mouth the Labor day show was cancelled at PIR but a one day event on Sunday is still on. If you can go to Portland it would be worth your time. Spokane. Bend, Portland, and Seattle have many cars and clubs. Time is your friend and most LBC owners will take you for a ride and even let you drive some. The best thing about LBC's is you can get most any part and with advice from this Blog finding a car on the West coast to drive over sight unseen is a plus. Madflyer

I probably saw your car there then! That's fun, and shows how it's a small world. I did a look over on every car there... a couple of times. Once by the Best Western, and then again when you were parked downtown I need to see if I can make it over, thanks for the heads up. I need to link up with the folks at IBCC and make some connections there too.

Hello Clayton

Welcome to the forum.

All the cars you mentioned are great but you can see from my signature I am into the TR3s. The LBC are all a very personal choice in my opinion. I was looking for an XK120 a long time ago (1968) and was priced out of that market so I ended up with a TR2 and have loved them ever since. My TR3 was a basket case when I got it but with several years of part time work and some cash it is a great driver now.

David

A TR2 is a beautiful car, and of course so is the TR3. I've never seen a TR2 in person, and I'm going to guess they're expensive when you do find them

In what years did your dad race the MG Twin Cam? I had a white one in 1959. Never raced it but ran autocross.

The best that I could narrow it down when asking him was sometime between 1960-1965ish. He also raced Formula Vee in that timeframe too. Thanks for sharing those photos, those are great!

Did he buy it new or used? My Twin Cam is now in Australia! If he bought it used, I wonder if it was mine? I traded it for a new 1959 VW Beetle at Bob Grossman's agency in Nyack, NY. I was starting law school that Fall.

He got it used, but he bought it from a guy in a private sale in Cheyenne, Wyoming, interestingly enough. He saw it first when the former owner was racing at CDR. He bought it for around $1000, and it was the only race car specifically set up for that for sale around in his area that he found. "Not sure where I got $1000 in those days, but..."

The TR2 and TR3 are almost identical with incremental changes. The 2 and some early 3s had a smaller grill area the later 3s had the wide mouth grill. Outside door handles were added along with separate rear indicator lights.

David

The seats were also improved.

I love my TR2 seats. I’ve never had less seat fatigue after two full days driving, but seats might be like shoes. It fit me perfect. I’m 6’ 2” with long legs and can’t fully depress the clutch pedal with the seat all the way back.

Leg room had me looking for aTR2 or 3. More than the TR4 from my experience.

More leg room in the TR2/3 vs. the TR4?