Words and picture by Paige.
Hello my name is Paige and my family have been into MGs for all of our lives. My MGB GT 73 is affectionately known as Bessie. We restored the TC together and when I had the opportunity to purchase my own MG from my Dad’s car club back in our home town of Shellharbour I jumped at it.
This particular car I was interested in because it was restored by an owner in my home town over many years and was being unused by the owner because his wife was unable to get in and out of the car, so my lucky day! It has a completely new engine and respray.
Bessie is fitted with two fuel pumps but I have found that they were fighting against each other in the delivery of fuel and the engine has been missing here and there, and would run clean only at speed. Around town it would stop.
I am lucky to have another friends Dad help me find out and rectify the problem as he races MGs and tinkered around until the problem was solved. I have also replaced and reconditioned the brakes. I’ve been a bit sheepish to take in on long runs as on my first few outings I have had to call out the cavalry to for some assistance. So hopefully this year I can get onto driving it a little more and getting more confident that everything will be ok (fingers crossed).
Recently the previous owner of Bessie has passed away and I now feel that it is my responsibility to keep the MG going and, in a state, where it remains drivable and can be used on a more regular basis. The interior is OK but it could use a revamp to that is my next steps in getting the car up to speed.
My car wasn’t expensive and I was lucky that I knew people that were selling one and had connections through my Dad’s car club, but it did come with its issues and I have had to ensure that it is safe to drive and spend money where has been needed, I’m still pretty tentative and have found it difficult to know who to go to help me fix the car or to understand who might have the skills to be able to do it.
Luckily, I now have a mechanic up the road to help me out, I have had a number refuse because it is an older car. Hopefully more driving is in my future, see how Bessie and I go!
