Page 58 - Jan2023
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Above: This is Abigail, the author's CraigsList purchase and the start of a motoring adventure.
The ad called the car an ?older restoration,? noting engine sounded like a sewing machine. The car
that the owner needed to move it along to fund was indeed an excellent example, having
other projects. The following weekend, I visited the received a frame-off restoration about eight
owner at his small farm near North Carolina?s coast years prior. The TD appeared to have been
and was smitten by the TD?s tomboy charm. It was reassembled in the aisle of the Moss Motors
essentially an upright piano on skinny tires. warehouse? every rubber part was new, along
with all the gaskets and trim. The metal bits had
just enough patina to make the car look real to
me.
In whole, it looked about like a 40,000-mile TD
from, say, 1958. Not showroom-new, but not
tattered, either? just the way I like my cars.
The owner let the TD idle in the summer sun, no
concern for overheating. I was impressed.
Watching an English car idle for 30 minutes in
95-degree weather is like seeing a 90-year-old
man do 100 push ups.
We struck a deal.
I made plans to return the next weekend with
We rolled the MG out into the sunshine. The owner either a trailer or a tow truck.
started it with a simple pull of the starter knob. The
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