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Anyone use their B as a daily driver?
- Thread starter DavidAGO
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aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
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I drive my Miata every day.
Does that count?
Does that count?
V
vagt6
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Guest
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Daily driver? I'm betting that more than a few of the folks here drove LBCs as "daily drivers" back in the day when these cars were new (and there were dealerships to fix them!).
I bought a nice '70 Triumph GT6 in late 1972 and drove it daily for about three years, including a couple of road trips from VA to Miami and back. Put about 40,000 miles on her and did a fair bit of autocrossing on weekends. Very few problems, and I maintained the car very well. She never left me stranded and I drove her hard, too. I also had a Spitfire, and later, an MG, too. All good cars.
Several friends drove LBCs in those days, mostly Triumphs and MGs. All were pretty reliable cars with the possible exception of a '73 XKE that a buddy purchased brand new. It had problems from the get-go and never seemed to be properly sorted. Otherwise, I don't recall specific examples of anyone having major problems with their LBC. We did a lot of our own wrenching then, and we took good care of our cars.
Of course, the cars (and the drivers!) are antiques now. But a nicely sorted MG or Triumph should have relatively few mechanical hiccups, IF the car is recently restored and carefully maintained.
To me, it wouldn't be a big deal to use my LBC as a daily driver, but I don't. My MG is for sunny days only, she gets pampered and the Ford and HOnda do the hard, daily work. I salute all of you who use their LBC as the daily driver, wish I could do it . . .
Darn tough vehicles, these Brit cars.
I bought a nice '70 Triumph GT6 in late 1972 and drove it daily for about three years, including a couple of road trips from VA to Miami and back. Put about 40,000 miles on her and did a fair bit of autocrossing on weekends. Very few problems, and I maintained the car very well. She never left me stranded and I drove her hard, too. I also had a Spitfire, and later, an MG, too. All good cars.
Several friends drove LBCs in those days, mostly Triumphs and MGs. All were pretty reliable cars with the possible exception of a '73 XKE that a buddy purchased brand new. It had problems from the get-go and never seemed to be properly sorted. Otherwise, I don't recall specific examples of anyone having major problems with their LBC. We did a lot of our own wrenching then, and we took good care of our cars.
Of course, the cars (and the drivers!) are antiques now. But a nicely sorted MG or Triumph should have relatively few mechanical hiccups, IF the car is recently restored and carefully maintained.
To me, it wouldn't be a big deal to use my LBC as a daily driver, but I don't. My MG is for sunny days only, she gets pampered and the Ford and HOnda do the hard, daily work. I salute all of you who use their LBC as the daily driver, wish I could do it . . .
Darn tough vehicles, these Brit cars.
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One other issue about daily driver is not the reliability but the parking. I know a few folk who would drive their cars more but it means leaving them unattended and sadly, they seem to be targets for vandals. Have a friend in the club who drives an old Rolls; he really can't park it out of sight because it gets keyed. Somehow we have come to live in an age where that is acceptable.
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My first car was a Sprite, my second car was a Sprite, my third car was a B GT, my fourth car was a TR4A, those were my drivers through high school, college and my first working years through 1990 when I got first generation RX7.
The british cars were all pretty good daily drivers. The bad things were mostly two things, I live in Nebraska, it gets very cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The biggest problem with winter wasn't the snow or the cold, it was the salt and the rust, although when still in school when I couldn't afford things like new batteries starting on cold morngings was an adventure, and yes a 60s brit convertible is COLD when it gets below about 20 even with the tepid hamspster breath heater going full blast.
But nearly as big an issue as the winter rust was the summer heat. Even with a convertible, a black interior and no AC is HOT. Which I can live with, I actually kind of like the heat, but had to dress up for work, suit and tie and sweat just wasn't working for me. So on the the RX and AC, with the brit cars becoming fair weather transport.
The british cars were all pretty good daily drivers. The bad things were mostly two things, I live in Nebraska, it gets very cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The biggest problem with winter wasn't the snow or the cold, it was the salt and the rust, although when still in school when I couldn't afford things like new batteries starting on cold morngings was an adventure, and yes a 60s brit convertible is COLD when it gets below about 20 even with the tepid hamspster breath heater going full blast.
But nearly as big an issue as the winter rust was the summer heat. Even with a convertible, a black interior and no AC is HOT. Which I can live with, I actually kind of like the heat, but had to dress up for work, suit and tie and sweat just wasn't working for me. So on the the RX and AC, with the brit cars becoming fair weather transport.