British Invasion

[the Ferret]

Today my brother and I got together for a ride and decided to head to Ripley Ohio with a stop at one of our favorite lunch places Rockin' Robins. A 50's and 60's themed restaurant with a bunch of Elvis, Fat's Domino, Little Richard, Marilyn Monroe, Beatles décor and a half of a 57 Chevy Juke Box. My brother was on his British Triumph twin and me on the newer Japanese inline 4. Could have been 1969.

When we arrived in town and pulled around the corner we were met with some more of Britain's iconic roadsters. Not the original Triumph Bonnevilles, but rather the iconic British 2 seater sports cars that the world has never been able to copy. MGB's and MGB-GT's. Perfect lines, spoked wheels, gorgeous interiors, wood steering wheels. Just beautiful.

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The black one had a Dragon sticker on the back, the hardtop a GT.

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I loved this British racing green and tan B with the wicker touring basket. Gorgeous

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My brother has a Miata convertible with a power hard top he loves but admitted these were the real deal ..the originals.

Our bikes fit in perfectly even though they were a half century newer. Like I said, could have been 1969.

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and my Elvis Presley double decker and crinkle cut fries were great too!




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[noroomtomove]

I guess it must have been an MG club run, here in Victoria it is possible to get a bike or car that is over 25 years old on what is calle historical registration. You are limited to 45 days use a year at a low cost of about $70. Near where i live in Maffra there is a car museum and many historical car/bike clubs from Melbourne use it as a lunch stop when on a run. When I get around to uploading some photos you'll get a squiz of what I'm on about. Your bike does look like its in a time / location warp.

Regards

[JustPassinThru_imp]

A shame how the British motorcar industry slid down...not unlike our own, twenty years later.

Did you know...the first postwar Nissan/Datsun car was powered by an engine licensed from an Austin design? That's right...the Japanese auto industry was so primitive and decimated they couldn't afford to engineer an engine that would meet Nissan's automotive needs. Even then the Japanese were dreaming of export markets; but that was many years off.

That humble beginning, the Austin engine made under license, was the seed for all manner of basic four-cylinder Nissan engines right up until the 1970s.

Meantime...I was a young guy with a fresh driver's license as MG was doing its disappearing act. The MGB was gone by this time but the Midget still hanged around until 1979. By then only traditionalists and romantics would even consider one.

It wasn't long after, with MG gone and British Leyland, the parent company, in dire straits...that the first Miata came out, IIRC.

[the Ferret]

Honda actually made an MG/Triumph beater in 1964 or 65 if memory serves me. called an S600 or something. I'd look it up but my reference books are packed away while we are having interior painting done. It had the looks, ran better, stopped better, faster, less expensive than the Triumphs and MGs it was mimicking. Strangely it had chain final drive. Testers were amazed what a fine roadster it was.

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Honda actually made an MG/Triumph beater in 1964 or 65 if memory serves me. called an S600 or something. I'd look it up but my reference books are packed away while we are having interior painting done. It had the looks, ran better, stopped better, faster, less expensive than the Triumphs and MGs it was mimicking. Strangely it had chain final drive. Testers were amazed what a fine roadster it was.

Yeah, I remember reading about that...but that seemed to be getting too deep in the weeds.

Unfortunately, the British roadsters - which were great cars for their times - didn't keep up WITH the times. They were as reliable, or nearly as reliable, as any other car of the late 1940s - we tend to forget the needs of cars in those days, or their shorter lives - but technology passed them by, while in their case quality of assembly took a dive.

I have no idea what the quality of the first Honda cars were...probably not that great; there's always a learning curve. Datsun and Toyota had real problems, too, in those years - Toyotas were so bad they retreated from the US for five years in the early 1960s.

But by the 1980s, time of the Miata...Mazda was always a niche manufacturer. Someone must have said, it's a shame someone can't make a traditional British-style roadster with Japanese quality...and sha-ZAMM! Mazda had the Next Big Thing, since their rotary-engine business was cratering.

[Rocky_imp]

Cool pictures
Vintage British sports cars and motorcycles are popular around here too.

[redbirds_imp]

I love those old MG's, warts and all. They weren't very fast but so much fun to drive. The best modern open sports car I can recall is the Honda S2000, a high revving roadster with incredible handling.

[emptysea]

I spent a lot of time in my teens tooling around with my friend in his AH Sprite. I've looked at some MGs, both Bs and Midgets, but I couldn't pull the trigger. Probably a good thing, though.

Thanks for the pictures..proving that some British cars can actually escape their garages.

[Henrik_imp]

As far as best modern small open sports cars go, I would have to rate another English one up there. The Lotus Elise is close to perfection, especially with the rock solid Toyota engine in the back.

But, the "car" that is really tempting me these days is the Morgan 3 Wheeler. Doesn't get more British than that (except for that the current version is actually based around one built in the US that Morgan found so good they bought them out, made some improvements and re-launched the car).

[Capo]

I love the MgB-GT, almost perfect lines. My uncle and older brother all had LBC's (little British cars) while I was growing up, and I owned a Miata for 17 years before moving on to a Lotus Elise, a modern LBC (with the benefits of Toyota reliability). I'm a member of a local Brit- car club, The Positive Earth Drivers Club, and we hold a few annual shows, attracting many MGs Triumphs, etc. I've got a Jones for one of these, Morgan Three- Wheeler. A new take on a vintage Brit bike/ car hybrid classic: