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Visited a Bugeye

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John Moore

John Moore

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Today I drove my B to visit my buddy Bill who owns a 1960 BE. He bought it in 1966, drove it then and recently restored it two years ago. He's in the process of restoring a '67 B and we met via one of the MG forums. He came over the day I got my BE and helped me drag it home. Thanks Bill! He let me take it for a spin. WOW! It made my B feel like a big car! LOL! The drum brakes definitely took sometime to get used to. He has a 1275 in his but it's mated to the original smooth case transmission.

WOW! That was fun! I'm still smiling!

But Bill keeps giving me a hard time, wanting to know why I would want to restore a car more primitive than my B. For me that's the point!
 

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Primative ...maybe...smiles per mile..none IMHO better....
 
leecreek said:
Primative ...maybe...smiles per mile..none IMHO better....
Click to expand...

Yes! It was a blast to drive! Made me really want to get started on mine. On the way to his house, I had fun chasing him through the twisty roads in my B. His car really felt like it had a ton of torque, very similar to my B.
 
Ya get them right, kinda like driving on rails......
 
John

Wahooa!!!

I know they feel like almost half the size of a B.

Primitive is fine as long as you have fun. Did you get to feel the 1/4's in the rear going around turns. It is a bit wierd at first, but becomes a love of the car.

Great news, glad you got to have a spin, it is a nice day here and looks like you had one up there as we'll

Pat
 
GB1 said:
I know they feel like almost half the size of a B.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it felt funny being that close to the windshield! LOL! Primitive was his word, I would probably say simpler. Which to me is very cool. The rear axle did feel different. Overall the suspension on the BE I drove today was softer than my B, but I used all upgraded stuff on my car. I would probably want to do the same on my BE. I definitely like the feeling of driving on rails and really enjoying a good corner.

Bill told me he wanted to trade! I said, no thanks I already have a bugeye!

But yeah! That was VERY fun!
 
I wouldn't say primitive. I'd say minimalistic. All that you need and nothing more. It doesn't apologize for being a little roadster.
 
None finer than a BE that I know of before or since.
 
My Elan is crushed... emotionally, I mean. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif
 
As it should be Doc. LOL
 
Therein lies my true love for the BE...The KISS principle!!
(Keep It Simple, Stupid!!) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
Not only that but it works every time all the time. They are almost stupid proof.
 
Simplicity is something that all makers have gotten away from. It was one of Henry Fords principles and they need to get back to that. All the cars in Britain were much simpler and more efficient for many years after ours got loaded down with junk over here. It was refreshing to go over there and raise a hood and not see a bunch of vacuum hoses all over the place. Most cars had only two vacuum hoses, one to the distributor, and one to the brake booster.
 
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