WHEN I WAS NINETEEN years old, I saw an Austin-Healey Sprite for sale at £500 and wanted it so badly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have £500 to my name, and even if I could have scraped the purchase price together, I would never have been able to afford the insurance.

I suspect that the situation is even worse for youngsters today because, although cars have become cheaper to buy in real terms, ambulance-chasing lawyers and fraudulent claimants have conspired with increasing vehicle complexity to send insurance premiums through the roof. It is easy for us more, er, mature drivers paying under £100 for a year’s comprehensive insurance on our classic MG to forget that a young driver may well be paying £3000 for the same privilege.

It is undeniably true that new and young drivers are more likely to have an accident than experienced drivers – and I can well remember making major judgement errors behind the wheel myself and only getting away with it through a hefty slice of luck – so this isn’t going to turn into a dig at the insurance companies. Rather, my train of thought was inspired by a reader who asked us about featuring more young drivers in the magazine – the cars they drive and the problems they face.

It may well be that the pool of teenage drivers is smaller for MGs that it is for other marques, simply because no MG has been made for decades without a decent slice of sporting intent built into the design and that always makes insurers jittery. But enthusiasts are generally willing to sacrifice a lot for their passion and there must be plenty of young owners who are willing to hang the expense and spend every spare penny they have on their MGs. So how about it – are you still in your teens and driving an MG? If so, please do get in touch as we’d love to tell your story.

Simon Goldsworthy
Editor

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