MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

Got something to say, but it's not classic related? Here's the place to discuss. Also includes the once ever-so-popular word association thread... (although we've had to start from scratch with it - sorry!)
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GHT
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MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#1 Post by GHT » Thu May 19, 2016 4:52 pm

If you own an MG, if you are a level headed, reasonable sort of person that doesn't eat your young, you might feel aggrieved by my rant, apologies in advance to you, my radar simply didn't pick you up.

Some of you know that I own an MG YB, a 1952 model, what you may not know is that on more than one occasion, having said no to the question: "Are you in the MG club?" the response has been somewhat negative, like: "Why?" Not, "have you ever considered it? You can get some remarkable discounts." Or, "The reduced insurance alone, can more than pay for membership." That sort of positive spin that could win someone over. Instead I felt interrogated. "What kind of nut are you, not wanting to join the best classic car club in the world?" Is the un-said message that the body language is suggesting.

Today put the cap on it. My car gets lots of attention, not because it's an MG, but more probably because it has many features that have long since gone. Running boards, gull wing bonnet, external headlamps, flared wheelarches and trafficators, to name but a few. The owner of a sixties MG Midget ambled across to me at the fuel garage today, he had a big grin on his face and by way of an ice breaker, he asked if I was going to MG Live. "What's MG live?" I thought, my mind racing. I've heard of live bands, tell you the truth, I've never seen a dead band, but MG Live, what could that mean?

Best to come clean. "I've not heard of MG Live," I told him. Oh dear, that had me immediately branded a worse heretic than the religious zealots of the witch hunt era. Looking at my vintage clothing with a disdainful glare, he said: "You lot p*ss me right off, hijacking the classic car scene for your vintage props." Let me tell you, he picked an argument with the wrong person. "And the reason I don't attend MG, or any other classic event, is because I go out of my way to avoid w. anchors, like you."

This guy didn't know if I had just bought the car, or knew anything about the classic car scene, or was interested in it. He didn't get the chance. I got in the car, and left him gaping on the forecourt. My guess is that social media has given so many wannabe politicians a soapbox to stand on, that they now can't tell reality from cyber rant.
When my brother posted his delight at his daughter's graduation at becoming a medical doctor, some tosser that we both knew, couldn't resist a barbed quip at my brother only having one child. "To think the world might have been robbed of another doctor," was her way of disagreeing with having an only child.

What is it with some people? My choice, my life. It affects no one but me. Why would anyone think that they are going to suffer for something I may, or may not, do?

rich.
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#2 Post by rich. » Thu May 19, 2016 7:35 pm

http://images.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=h ... 39&biw=840

i was a member of the mgoc :oops: saved a fortune on the insurance... went to stoneleigh mg show a few times, & 99% of the people i met were fellow car freaks like me but there was always the odd one.. :roll:

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TerryG
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#3 Post by TerryG » Thu May 19, 2016 10:36 pm

How bad is the eyesight of the average MGOC member if they mistook your MR2 for an MGB?
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

rich.
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#4 Post by rich. » Fri May 20, 2016 5:55 am

TerryG wrote:How bad is the eyesight of the average MGOC member if they mistook your MR2 for an MGB?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
i did own more than one mg.... :oops:

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JPB
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#5 Post by JPB » Fri May 20, 2016 9:45 am

@GHT:
Please don't let yourself be wound up by someone who's quite possibly dull of thinking. Maybe he can attend his local NHS minor injuries unit to have the batteries in his thinking aid replaced?
And if that bloke happens to read this then maybe he could sign up and post to tell us why he lost his cool? I can't comment negatively on car clubs in general, but I do take exception to those who have no respect for older folk. That respect is a given in most cultures on our planet and that's where I think the real problem is.
:|
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

GHT
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#6 Post by GHT » Fri May 20, 2016 2:56 pm

JPB wrote: I can't comment negatively on car clubs in general, but I do take exception to those who have no respect for older folk. That respect is a given in most cultures on our planet and that's where I think the real problem is.
Have to say, guilty as charged. Back in Roman times, when I was 19, my friend and I had just successfully chatted up a couple of young ladies in some pub somewhere, now we were all of to a late night gig.
Out on the street, my friend saw a cab with the taxi light shining, meaning it was available. "Taxi!" He yelled. The cab pulled up and as the four of us went to tumble into it, this sweet little old dear got in our way. She was like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights, didn't know which way to go to get out of the way. To my eternal shame, and in a moment of teenage bravado, showing off as only teenagers do, I said: "Doddering old fogey." "You'll be old." She screeched. "Not as old as you," I said, laughing as my mate, the girls and I fell into the taxi. That ladies voice still rings in my head, and as she predicted, I've grown old. but you are never going to be old when you are 19. How I wish I had never said those words to her. The shame of it.

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gazza82
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#7 Post by gazza82 » Fri May 20, 2016 4:58 pm

In some peoples eyes I am old .. I don't think I am .. still go to rock concerts, still have long hair (still have hair!), three grown-up and University educated kids (2:2, 2:1 and 1st ... got better as they got through!) .. I think I'm a cool Dad. I haven't got a bucket-list .. my buckets are for washing cars and DIY .. If I did learning to ride a motorbike is at the top and owning a Harley 2nd (maybe I have a virtual bucket-list).

Total petrol-head too .. and member of the A30/A35 Owners Club where a lot of member are a lot older than me and have a lot more experience ..

A few don't like what some of us do to the cars ... non-standard things .. like Ford Zetec engines, Ford 5-speed or Toyota gearboxes, but at the end of the day they have a wealth of experience even for someone like me who has tinkered with cars for over 40 years ..

I don't think that many baby Austineers are that stuffy as the MG tw@t mentioned above but they have learnt that some people just don't like to be sheep and have accepted it .. however begrudgingly ..
"If you're driving on the edge ... you're leaving too much room!"

Retirement Project: '59 Austin A35 2-door with 1330cc Midget engine and many upgrades
Said goodbye: got '98 Alfa Romeo 156 2.0 TSpark to 210K miles before tin worm struck

rich.
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#8 Post by rich. » Fri May 20, 2016 6:28 pm

what is "MG Live".. is it a frankenstien monster type mgb?? :? :?

GHT
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#9 Post by GHT » Sat May 21, 2016 10:24 am

It always cracks me up when you see a poster outside a pub advertising a "Live Band."

Murray
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Re: MG Types, just don't tar me with that brush.

#10 Post by Murray » Sun May 22, 2016 12:59 pm

The "thing" with clubs is they all seem to enjoy looking at identical cars sitting in fields.
Each to their own, but that is not for me, I have fallen out with clubs over the years for not conforming to how they want it to be.
stay away,pay a little bit more for insurance but above all enjoy "your" car how you want to enjoy it.
Everyone has an opinion, if I was to meet your assailant I would be inclined to wind him up even more.
BTW I own an MG but I'm not a member of the MG owners club.

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