Robert Charles SCEATS's Journal

Back in the mid '60's, a pal of mine had a white TR4 (Reg. 4601WK) and I loved it and that fired my enthusiasm for sports cars, an interest that has burned away continuously since. Me, all I could afford at that time was an 1955 Austin A30 (Reg. UCV224), but boy was it solid. A Hillman Imp once impaled itself on the back. The Imp was a wreck at the front but the Austin didn't even sustain a scratch ! The old Austin would go the length and breadth of the country without a hitch, but on short local trips it regularly went phut !
It wasn't until the mid '70's that I got my hands on a dark blue '66 Triumph Spitfire (Reg. LYL675D). Soft top, hard top, tonneau wide wire wheels shod with low profile Yokohamas and, overdrive. It had the lot. Trouble was, it only lasted 6 months before it blew it's head gasket and that was it. No money for repairs so the car went.
From then on I just dreamed of owning a TR but by the time I had the funds for my "dream", a decent TR6 was well beyond my reach. Mum passed away in January 2014, having made 100 years of age. She well knew of my passion and often said that when she goes, she would make my dream come true . And so, having dispensed with the TR idea, I searched for a decent MGB, but again, a good roadster was too much so it had to be a Midget. I located what on the face of it looked like a pretty good purchase..The car was in Penzance, Cornwall so I flew from Spain and completed the purchase (March 2014). However, having collected it and driven it back to Mum's house in Colchester, a pal's son - nothing short of an engineering wizard - took a look at it and it soon became abundantly clear that I had been extremely fortunate to make the journey without problems. I shan't even begin to list the faults.
So, in July 2014 the car was driven up to my pal's sons house in Suffolk where it currently resides and is now in the final throes of a wholesale total sort out. Graham (the wizard !) is going through the lot from top to bottom. On a visit in Nov. 2014 I had a drive, and wow did it go !!!

That's it for now, more to follow.