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(Last updated December 26th 1999)

Here to set the ball rolling is a letter I recieved recently from a couple who I met at
MG 96, held at Duxford, near Cambridge in June.

Kelvin
Just wanted to say hi to you and the family.
Your MGOC page just keeps getting better and better.
I read it every chance I get. I have changed services and was not sure I gave you my new address. dwheil@icx.net

As fall is coming over here, our leaves are changing and this means perfect MG weather.
Our club had our Third Annual British car show in September and as luck would have it we had a day of true British weather. it rained non stop all day. We did however have 45 cars register and still had a great time.
I'll send you a dash plaque for your collection.
Say "hey" to the family

Dennis & Irene Heilmann

The Smoky Mountain British Sports Car Assoc. TN, USA

Hello,
I have a 1977 rubber bumper MG roadster and am looking for a high quality Union Jack and RAC emblem. If you have either high quality stickers or metallic badges which I can obtain, please let me know. I am willing to pay for them if there is a cost.

Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Chandra A. Madramootoo

Kelvin,
Many thanks for your prompt reply. I am in Montreal, Canada. Thanks for putting the ad in the newsletter, as well as your kind offer to check with members in the club, as well as at sales/events. This is very kind of you, and I appreciate your help.

I very much enjoy all the material on the web, and like to browse the different sites. You folks have done a terrific job. I will be in the UK next Sept for a conference, and am already planning to spend an extra week-10 days, so that I can visit the Heritage Trust offices, Abingdon, and possibly your outfit. I will keep in touch with you, in case there is a special event going on during my visit, which I can attend.

Just for your info, I have a beautiful, well kept Flamenco 77 roadster. I am the fourth owner, and it is in excellent condition. Previous owners kept it in top shape. The car was never winter driven, and it has 54,000 miles. There is some small rust in the sills, and lower fenders. I am getting these replaced this winter, and will have the car completely repainted in BRG. It is also due for a new top and carpets. I am getting the body and paint work done by a MG professional outfit here in Montreal.

Hope to get a chance to meet you.
Regards,
Chandra

Kelvin,
In response to your two questions:

I'm originally from Guyana (former British Guiana) in South America. Moved to Canada 23 years ago. As a teen in Guyana, most of my neighbours had MGs, Sprites, Coopers, Austin 1300 GTs etc., and many of them raced these cars very sucessfully in Guyana and Barbados. The MG was my favourite, and I've always wanted one since then.

The main reasons why I am changing to BRG is that my wife and I, while we can live with Flamenco, are not terribly fond of the color. Furthermore, I have always loved BRG, going back nearly 30 years, especially on some of the cars I mentioned above. I guess some may say I'm fulfilling (or reliving) my earlier life!! Once a boy, always a boy!!

Keep in touch, and let me know if you have any luck in finding those two bagdes. My car is in storage for the winter, and also to get the body and paint work done. Will send you a pix when it is done. I'll have it on the road again next May!

Regards,
Chandra

Dear Cambridge MGOC,
My compliments on your web site!
My first MG was a TC and after having a family and a big dog and many other cars I still have a 55 MGZA in running order. That served me for many years though I admit that at -40 starting was a problem.
Forget the starter, 5 drops of anaesthetic either in the manifold and one pull on the crank and we were on our way. Unfortunately the leather seats have not survived and the floor is being replaced. My favorite tip was "If the fuel pump gives up, attach a string to the pump toggle and thread it into the drivers compartment. Frequent pulling on the string will get you home." MG maintenance manual!!!
That has to be the jewel of all time. (I never tried it)

Roland Stoneham
Regina,
Saskatchewan,
Canada.
Email: Roland

Dear Kelvin,
Just a quick note to let you know that we've found the new web page. The photo on the welcome page looks a bit fuzzy from 5,500 miles away, but we did manage to recognise some of our old friends.

We're pleased to see that the club's doing well and still growing - we try to keep up to date through the MGOC magazine, which usually arrives in the first week or so of the month.

Our roadster is still alive and well and living with my cousin in Wales - it's passed the last 2 MOTs with no problem and gets regularly exercised at various Welsh events.

We will be coming back home in mid-February (at least that's the current plan) and look forward to seeing all of you again.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


Regards,
Phil & Nina John
(Los Angeles, California)

Phil and Nina have now returned to the UK and were welcomed back to the Cambridge and District MG Owners Club, on March 3rd 1997.
Welcome Back!

Hi Kelvin
Great pages , I really can't think of anything I'd do to change it.
I come back here all the time to check up on stuff.
Keep it up !
Ian Flanders

Kelvin,
I was stationed in Huntingdon at Alconbury AFB during the years 1971-1975. I was, as I am now, an avid sports motor head..LOL..I remember fond memories of my carousing around Cambridge and in particular, in the Eagle Pub, where several of us would get "lit up" from time to time.
I owned a Morris Marina TC Coupe in those days. It was a fair old banger but had its limitations..when "pushed hard!".
The brakes & suspension were dismal.(what with Morris Minor components fitted to a sports coupe).
I have broused your entire page this last 1 1/2 hours or so. I can say, with certainty, "if I were still living in Ramsey, I would probably be in your club!!!"..You see, I currently own and drive 5 MG-B's..3 roadsters and 2 GT's, one of which has the 3.5 litre V-8 fitted. I can't imagine being without a B. It would be like living in the dark on a sunny day. I enjoyed your page and will return to it regularlly. Thanks for the page.
Say HI to all of your club for me..I would rather be there hoisting a pint of the good myself but....Oh well...say hi to the group..
If any of them would like to e-mail me please let them have my address as follows...H4aardvrk@aol.com
Thanks again for a good effort on the page.
Yours,
Howard Gentry

Hi My name is John Doonan,
I am currently living in Rio, Brasil. Am saving to buy my dream car - an MGA MK II (ivory white). This web site is therefore a great escape for me and woul dlike to become an honorory member if at all possible !! ( Qualifications for membership limited to house ownership in Cambs ) Would this be at all possible ??

By the way, if anyone wants a MGB to restore there is one down here under the shadow of the Statue of Christ. Needs a lot of attention.
If you want to talk MG then email me! jdoonan@iis.com.br

Hi
My name is Glenn and I live in London Ontario Canada, I'm a Class A Mechanic working for a small garage, one of my friends bought a 1974 MGB and brought it to me to safety check.
I have always liked the car it was a pleasure working on it.
Although I don't own one yet there is always tomorrow.
So any way I got on the internet and went looking for MGB pages and came across yours. I enjoyed the pictures and would like only to say Hi and to keep up the good work.

Glenn vcampbell@wwdc.com
PS look forward to the added gallery that you have planned.

Kelvin,
I'm have browsing through your web pages this morning.
I'm sure I'll be a regular visitor !! Very good stuff !!

In my youth, around 1967 - to 1969 as I recall, the local Chrysler dealership - just a few blocks away - started carrying the British Leyland automobiles. They sold there MGs - I remember Midgets, MGBs and MGCs - also Triumph Spitfires, GT6+s, and TR6s. I was then 13 so too young to buy one - but me and my pals would often ride our bikes to the dealership and drool over them. Occasionally we might sit in one, till the salesman would run us off!! It is a fond memory of mine. We all fell in love with those cars - part of the appeal was, I sure, that they were British ( we were - and still are - huge Beatles fans!!). As it turns out, my Dad, upon retiring from the Army, took a job at the local Datsun dealership. The Japanese cars were just getting started in the US market at the time. One summer I worked there and it was then that I became enthralled with the Datsun 2000. Many years later, when I became financially able, I came across one for sale and had to have it. I'm still a fan of the British cars - they are still fairly common to see here. Can you tell me are the roadsters still being manufactured? And is it difficult to find used roadsters there? By the way, I've now visited your web page several times and I'm thoroughly impressed. I didn't realize there was such a car as the MGCGT.
Can a Datsun owner join your club ? ( You will have to get the real thing Mark!! )
I don't own an MG, but my initials are M.G. !!
Bye for now
Mark G.
Mark Goddard mgoddard@netside.com

Hi, I was just browsing and found your site. I very much enjoyed it. I am restoring a 71 midget. I bought it this summer, it looked good however, with further investigation found I have to replace right side sills and floor and left side sills. I have done the left side sills. I have learned a lot!! and the right side should be much better. I also have a 59 Bugeye Sprite in much poorer shape and I am not sure whether I will sell or restore after I finish the midget.
Hopefully i will be enjoying open top motoring next year.
Take care
Rob Leach,
Listowel, Ontario, Canada
leach@huron.net

Having Visited your excellent website I think your members may in interested in our V8 Rover Website, please feel free to add a link if you agree.
We have over 15 years experience of the Rover engine and would be happy to share our advise, knowledge and perhaps help your members to gain the most pleasure from there V8 powered Vehicle.
Kind Regards
Chris Crane
http://www.rpi-engineering.co.uk

Hi Kelvin,
I very much enjoyed your Image Gallery. Thought it was great! I'm currently working on a webpage devoted to what I see as classic cars and have one section devoted to the mighty MG. I wondered if I could use some of the images in your gallery to enhance my page. I would provide a link to your page and would credit all images used to your page. Please let me know A.S.A.P if you prefer that I don't use these images.

Regards,
Jeff Nelson
Australia

Hi Kelvin
I found your site interesting. I am from South Australia and own an original orange MGBGT 1970. This is my second 'B', the first was a 68 red roadster. I was wondering if you could tell me where I may locate (by Email?) a suppler of BMC or Leyland MG "Racing" or "Specal Tuning" stickers or badges in the UK.
Hoping you can help
ASHLEIGH justine@tne.net.au

Dear Cambridge Area MG Owners!
Thanks for the wonderful job you are doing in maintaining this site. I just recently found this site. I own a 1975 MG Midget. However I live in a rural community and most of it is dirt. Unfortunately for me, in the last 3 years it has only been out of the garage two or three times :-(
Thanks
Jerry Martinez jmar1966@rapidnet.com

Hi....
does anybody have any information on a 1932 MG J2.....I have one in a bad state at the moment,and want to start collecting all the information that I can before the restoration begins....any help would be most gratefully recieved,also what engine would it be wise to put in,as this is more or less the only missing part....
Many Thanks
Mark Tarry
Markymark@btinternet.com

Just wanted to let you know that I have spent an enjoyable 1 1/2 hours looking at your site. Today, as you know JULY 4th is a major holiday in the US, but as I've gotten a terrific sinus infection from somewhere, am just surfing and taking pills.

My MGA is a 1957 I bought when I was a graduate student in 1970. It has been sitting in my garage for 11 months due to crud which went from the master cylinder to ALL the lines. The brakes are locked, the clutch took 6 WEEKS to re-engage when I disengaged it to shift (3 miles from home on a 98 degree day, with me in the beach flip-flops, nasty short and T-shirt I had just washed some of my cars in). I crank it every 6 weeks or so and let it run at various rpms for about 30 min, but have not had time to get it right. The fact that a squirrel also chewed off all three wires to the wiper motor makes the job a bit more complicated since I really ought to correct that too, while the master cyl is out. I've got all the kits, just not the time. The car is a Calif. car, bought by Richard Bliel, sold to Marty Clifton whom I bought it from for $175 after he had about 40% of the work done to convert to a race car, when we were both grad students at the University of New Mexico. So it was a "dry"car until I brought it to Georgia in 1973, and its had a garage since.

I haven't really restored it, though it had to be painted and put back to original, but thanks to the fact that Al Unser (yes, the famous racing driver) was closing his wrecking yard to sell the property in 1970, he allowed me to take everything I could fit into the back of a little Datsun pick-up, two trips (!) for $35!!!!! Even then, I new all those mildly damaged XK-140's, big Healeys, crunched E-types, MGBs, and the MANY MGA's with no body damage at all just scrapped because they were worn looking and had blown motors, were being crushed in a criminal act. I wish I had been rich and not a struggling student. At least I was able to restore mine with a perfect original interior it still has, and I have spare small parts, a radiator, 5 heads, (and a spare motor a "lost" when a mechanic moved his shop), beauty rings, etc. still in my shop here, which would be hard to find today.

I also owned a Healey 3000 MK III for several years, I car I said I own one day when a class-mate of mine (Gram Parsons, the late singer) at a boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida, got one for graduation, BRG, in 1965. I was in love instantly, but unfortunately, had to part with it several years ago when I was divorced, and it was the only thing I owned valuable enough to allow me to give my ex-wife an amount equal to her equity in the house, without my having to sell the house. C-est la vie, but I do miss that car as no other I've had.

What a rambling missive - well, what the hell else is there to do sitting at home sick as a dog on a big holiday weekend. Please keep up the site. I enjoyed in immensely.
J. Fred Brown, PhD
Bolingbroke GA
JFBBoling@aol.com

Hi! I was just browsing through some of the MG clubs when I was delighted to come accross your site. My wife and I am from Sydney in Australia but lived in Cambridge from 1987 to 1992. In fact our 9 year old daughter lucy was born at the Rosie. We were in Cambridge last month and have been back several times since moving back to Australia. We still miss it except for all those small shops that were always such a treat being bought out by the large corporates.

We are the proud owners of a 1969 MGB mk11 which has being fully restored. I drive it to work about once a week but the rest of the time we save it for club runs. We arre club members over here and really enjoy the fellowship etc. It never ceases to surprise us that MG people are so friendly wherever we go. Anyway I had better go and tuck the car in for the night. Before we come over next time we will get in contact and see if we can invade one of your meets.

Is there any chance of getting a club car sticker sent. I dont mind paying for it and the postage. We will reciprocate. It would be great to have one from own old home town. Kind regards
Simon Tait
Sydney, Australia
simont2@telstra.easymail.com.au

Hi Cambridge MGOC
I wish I could join you all at the Green Man, but I live in the outskirts of Washington, DC (McLean, VA). But I know the pub well in Shepreth, as I was up at Jesus College, Cambridge doing my Ph.d from 1965 through 1968. My MG affiliation is that I own a BR Green 1979 MGB which I have had lovingly restored. In Virginia, one can get personalized license plates (7 letters maxumum). The one on my MGB reads "CMBRDGE".
Regards,
Bill Onorato
Washington DC, USA
wonorato@worldbank.org

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by Kelvin Fagan mg.maestro@mgcars.org.uk
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