Me and My LBC

by David Snider

’74 Midget

In the mid- to late 80’s a young University of Connecticut student lost faith in his car’s ability to transport him from Durham, North Carolina, back up to the campus in Connecticut. His father, a Duke University professor, had helped him with his car for several years, but both had lost faith in its abilities and future worth, so a 1974 white MG Midget found its way into the newspaper classified ads, asking $900, accepting offers. How it came to be owned, loved, and enjoyed for many years is the subject of this story.

I’ve been playing with little British cars for 30 years now. My first one was a 1971 “B” with A/C during high school and college, beginning at age 16. It was blue with Rostyle wheels (pictures attached). Between me and the car, we both kept the local mechanics and tire stores in good company. Annually a clutch, set of tires, bushings (semi-annually), transmission synchro’s and other items were replaced, and I would only later in life learn that LBC’s were not to be driven like a Camaro, 280-Z or V-8 Mustang, and that 4-wheel drifts were rationally to be saved for the race track, not the streets. I didn’t invent these oddities – I learned them from my other high school buddies who were, like me, school bus drivers by day, nut-case racers by night. There were no wise sage owners telling us that ‘burning rubber’ wasn’t the best idea for these works of art, especially in gears 1, 2 AND 3! There were all the high school buddies who drove them (LBC’s), and we all KNEW we had racing machines, and were out to prove it. “Fat Daddy Kravitz” had nothing on us. We could dump clutches and fry the Michelins, and we did – often! Later I would learn that I had owned an exceptionally torquey ‘B’ and would wish it back into my life some day. Later in life I would learn that a new clutch per year was NOT normal or responsible, nor was a set of tires per year, nor was dropping the top in snowy weather.

The local tire stores seemed to genuinely appreciate my business, and got to know me on a first-name basis.

Both then and now, I’d learned to love the whole British car thing, their looks, their sound, their handling, road-holding, their ‘feel.’ And, not unlike a disease that is incurable, the sense of ‘must-have’ was to never leave me. Though today I wouldn’t think of ‘red-lining’ them, burning rubber, or consistently testing their abilities at wits’ end, I still get a thrill out of looking at them, thinking of them, and especially driving them, even during Winter. Today, the LBC glove box contains gloves that come in handy when driving with the top-down on the Blue Ridge Parkway in cool weather. This habit (gloves being available) came via requests from visitor friends and co-pilots, who weren’t used to the cool mountain air, mornings or evenings, when the top or rear window was open.

In my teen years (the 70’s), I had loved the feel of the car (’71 B) side-winding around each curve, drifting all 4 wheels, the feel of the top-down air and scenery, even in the wintry snowy weather. I did find that many a friend would only ride with me once, for fear that the second ride would surely end in peril. There were some wonderfully curvy roads all around my high school, RJ Reynolds High in Winston-Salem, and we all made the very best of them daily, even in the rain. How else could you know your car’s abilities and limits if you didn’t test them daily with your friends? Ever wonder why the drinking age laws came into existence with such severity? My generation created clear and compelling evidence that such laws were needed. The main reason I went to high school keg parties was to see the British convertibles parked outside, and I would spend most of the party time gawking at the cars outside instead of socializing inside (a vice that I still carry with me to this day, as some of you know).

Somehow though, in the midst of college, the B got traded for a ’68 Mustang (with wire wheels and 6 cylinder engine – an LBC wanna-be). The Mustang had a larger trunk, more utility, the sports car feel, and I left the marque. After a friend and I rebuilt the MGB’s 4 cylinder engine, I sold my ’71 B about 1982 to an enlisted Army serviceman who bought her with his re-enlistment bonus, and I missed her ever since.

Looking back from today, I can’t explain why British roadsters are still my favorite cars. I’ve been through the German phase, driving the 5-series BMW, the Porsche Carerra, and Mercedes performance machines. I’ve been through the Volvo years, relishing the Turbo thrust and performance, and have yet to try the Ferrari’s, though it’s crossed my mind. I no longer drive LBC’s on long trips, but still at times wish I could. I had driven the ‘B’ to the beach, getting sun-burned on the way, and knew no boundaries. As a boy, a dream was to drive one across the country.

As a young adult in Raleigh, NC, I had a neighbor with a French blue ’75 TR6. When it came up for sale, I wanted it, to re-join the LBC brigade and enjoy the British experience again. I saved up enough money to re-join the LBC pack, but was too late – he’d just sold it to someone else. So when my girlfriend (now of 20+ years) and I ran into the white Midget some months later, a reminiscent heart would fall in love again with its second LBC. We thought that, if we were to have a ‘toy,’ we’d have the most affordable runt of the litter (the Midget was often advertised as the most affordably-priced true sports cars). I liked the look of the Midget, and wanted to try it out for a while (is 20+ years a LITTLE while?). We acquired the little car for about $700.00 and began enjoying British motoring again. Today, both Stephanie and the car are long-term standards.

Steph still recalls, and wanted me to include, that it felt like “sitting on the ground,” as it rode so low. I remember that it felt like entering and exiting out of a manhole on the street – it took some getting used to. She also recalls that, before the seats and seat-springs were refurbished, with her lesser torso, that she could barely see over the dash and bonnet to see the road. Part of the Midget’s journey would be refurbishing/replacing the interior. It still does sit rather low, and hugs the road well around curves and corners.

The past 20 years have had their share of variety, but the Midget has been there through it all. It has been licensed in NC, New Mexico, and South Carolina, seeing the high desert beauty of New Mexico as well as the island charm of Hilton Head Island, in addition to the Triad, Triangle, and now western NC. “Rolling restoration” might aptly describe its last 20 years. It was first taken apart and repainted by a Raleigh firm (the best I could find anywhere) that repainted it Olde English White (a surprise not to my liking or taste at the time). Its engine was first rebuilt by a Midget racing mechanic in Raleigh (Carl Cason, now with Sports and Compacts), who gave it better pistons and a better cam. Its original transmission was noisy, and, one by one, its gears would fail. I learned there was a reason it had four forward gears and one reverse gear. It doesn’t drive well with only fourth gear and reverse! Somewhere in the 90’s it received the transmission conversion surgery to the Datsun 210 5-speed box (same exact gear pattern as original, with the 5th gear stealthily available but not trumpeted or announced in any way still to this day). Its second engine rebuild would occur in Albuquerque. Its second repaint and floor replacement surgery would occur in Savannah (GA) when leaving its island life behind. Its third engine re-build would come from the late Jim Renegar in Winston-Salem, who also replaced its springs, gas tank, many other items including a new head before lung cancer would take him away from his many dear fans and customers. Jim Renegar had worked on my original LBC in the 70’s. He died in 2004, and that year it moved with me to the Asheville area.

Stephanie wanted me to include the story of how it was almost stolen one night, early in its life. We were going out to eat with some friends next door, and I’d started the Midget, to warm it up before the drive to the restaurant. I’d left it outside with the emergency brake on. When I came out of our friends’ townhouse, it was gone, and I anxiously exclaimed that it had been stolen and we needed to call the police. Once we calmed down and looked around, it had merely taken a drive by itself down the hill behind our friends’ townhouse and crossed the rocky creek bed below, lights still on, engine still running, no body damage! I was able to get in the car, put it in reverse, and drive it back up the hill to the parking lot, all without steering. The steering rack had been sacrificed to its abrupt ending at the bottom of the hill. This was shortly after I’d gotten the car, and before its first episode of body-work and brake rehabilitations.

Stephanie asked me if there were any trips we’d made in the car. It has made very few trips on the highway, mostly between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, while we lived in New Mexico, or between North Winston-Salem to High Point, only changing one county during the trip. While in New Mexico, one night it began to smoke violently in the interior, forcing me to exit Tramway Boulevard and have it towed to the British Car Doctor downtown to receive a new wiring harness. That said, it has been fairly reliable. We used to see it as our ‘romantic car’ that we’d climb in to escape the stresses of life. It has always been a ‘fun-car’ that both WE have enjoyed, as well as our son, little David. It has mostly been used as a commuter vehicle and short jaunt runabout.

Over the years, the Midget has tried a variety of suspension improvements, including tube-shock conversions, which were short-lived. I can affirm to anyone who wants to try it that tube-shocks make it a great racer with great handling, but it comes at your back’s expense. Steve Juvenal gave it new life in 2005 by tuning its suspension and beefing up its anti-sway equipment, making it mountain-ready, improving its handling significantly, without sacrificing ride quality. Steve also installed a zip-out rear window convertible top, adding comfort and natural A/C. Steve could offer more history and details, but its most recent project was a new grille, engine-well freshening and brake replacements. Its most recent body restoration finished in December 2007, after a year of careful rust prevention and care. It will be a joy to have in the AITM show for ’08, and I am hoping it will have some company in the Midget section.

There are many great things about the Midget. It handles extremely well on curvy roads, gets great gas mileage, and can drive as fast as I care to go. It’s a snug and fun machine for two, with the top up or down. It still reminds me of youthful days, and has been great therapy at times, over the past 20 years. When I needed to de-stress and re-enter the past high school days of nostalgia, the Midget has provided the reminiscence therapy to remind me that FUN is a good thing. When a guest driver takes it out for a spin, they always say it is the best handling and performing Midget they ever drove, and many have admitted that they didn’t know a Midget had such performance. I still like and prefer the round rear wheel arches to the alternatives (’72 – ’74 had the rear round arches). I still prefer the chrome bumper models (last year was ’74), and still prefer the ‘Sabrina’ bumpers, as I learned during high school that other cars would nudge into mine, and without the bigger bumper guards, parking lot dings meant body-shop wing repairs.

As a high school boy, I remember loading groceries in an elderly lady’s white Midget with tan interior in the 70’s while working at Food Fair. She told me she loved the utility and the gas mileage, and I was surprised at how many bags of groceries it could hold, if packed well, with the seats slightly forward. I have emerged from Lowes or Home Depot with a pile of items that most thought would need a large truck to haul. With the help of some bungies, tie-downs, and top-down, the Midget has transported goods on its luggage rack and interior that made it look like the ant carrying a flashlight. If you’re trying to park, the Midget takes up the least space of any car I’ve seen. You can park it anywhere, and it still beckons a driver to come and have some fun. If you take the spare out and mount it to the luggage rack, you’ve got a very useable trunk that can pleasantly surprise you.

My seven-year-old son has never known life without the Midget, and he loved to play in the car when he was 3 and 4 (pictures attached). He also loved to write on the bonnet and show Daddy his art work (yes the bonnet has been repainted). The Midget owns its own factory-correct hardtop, which was acquired and restored while living in Winston-Salem during its ’01-’04 tenure. Today, when it sits among its siblings, it reminds the others that it was my ‘first love’ out of the current fleet. It is often the vehicle of choice for an errand, since few people ever ask me about its mileage. It is a humble-man’s little sports car, that will likely never earn the driver a ‘snob’ award. That’s not saying the driver is as humble as he needs to be, it’s just never gotten the “Wow, how can you afford one of THOSE” accolades. I was born in ’61. Dollar in, dollar out; fun in, fun out, it has taught me over the last two decades that Austin/MG had a good idea when they launched the early 60’s sports car that would make British roadster motoring affordable to anyone, and would one day become one of the rarest still on the road. The Midget reminds me that love is for the very young, and it still offers love and youth to the driver.