Page 151 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK TWO "BOSTON 1960 TO 1970"

There was only one problem with our car, the differential
gears in the back axle howled. Most likely one of the reasons
the car was cheap. We had to find another axle.
On my travels and talking to folk as one does, it did not take
long to find another complete car in Market Deeping (the same
town where I found the Blue Jaguar four years later) only 10
miles or so south of Bourne.

This time it was only £25 but there was a snag. The car had
no engine or seats. Half the floor was missing and the
hydraulic brakes did not work.
Undeterred, Peter and I set out with our trusty tow rope
and with Peter’s avid concentration, judicious use of the cable
handbrake and a lot of luck, we arrived home with car number
two.
We took the whole thing to pieces and put it in our coal
house, chassis and all. Selling the pieces we were not likely to
need, paid for the original car and we had our “new” axle and
lots of other bits too.
Driving these cars was true driving. The steering was very
positive and the huge steering wheel necessary for control. An
open cockpit and no heating made you appreciate the more
modern “comforts”. A warm blanket was an essential
accessory all year round just to protect from all the draughts
inside.
After we obtained a hood and fitted it to the frame, weather
protection was greatly improved. But there was no protection
at the sides. The old side curtains that popped into the door
tops were long since ended.

NOW CAME THE SECOND
Well bitten by the MG “bug”, I had begun to read a classic
car magazine and it was not long before I found another TA
model MG for sale. This time one that had been fully restored
and it too was not far away at Ketton just outside Stamford.

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