Iain Turner shares his experiences of running MGs and their Rover stablemates as a new and a young driver

You mention in your editorial in the January issue that you are looking for teenage MG drivers to feature. I’m not quite teenage (24) but having been an MG Rover enthusiast and owner for a number of years, my long suffering other half reckoned I fit the bill of who you are looking for!

I currently have two MGs, a ZS180 (bought when I turned 21) and an MGF Trophy. The ZS is concours/Pride of Ownership standard and has won a few awards, while the MGF is a clean, low mileage example that I use as a fun car for trackdays and my daily drive.

Ian Conway leaves his MGB at home and heads to Belgium with a camera instead

In the world of historic motor racing, one of the must-do events for both spectators and drivers is the Spa Six Hours meeting. This takes place over a long weekend each September and features races for cars ranging from vintage Brooklands Bentleys and Bugattis to classic F1 cars like the JPS-Lotus and Saudia-Williams. The highlight of the meeting, though, is the Six Hours itself, which brings together GT and Touring cars of the type that raced at Le Mans, the Nurburgring and Spa in the early 1960s for an evocative endurance race running late into the night.

When Don Arnott bought his BGT, it looked great but ran like a dog. Putting it back to standard spec was the answer

This MGB GT used to belong to my son, Steven. Around six years ago, he realised that he had too many classic cars and it was the MG that was, as it were, parked closest to the garage door. I had never owned a classic car at that point, having run company cars for the previous 20 years or so. But retirement was looming, I fancied a hobby car and since I had always liked the look of the BGT, I told Steven to hold off the sale until I had had a chance to give his car a test drive.

In the January 2011 issue of MGE, Jim Jupp introduced the ‘bargain bucket’ MGF that he’d acquired for £100. Now, ten months later, it is back on the road again, not without some blood and sweat, but thankfully without any tears.

Words and photos: Jim Jupp

Well, it’s been quite a few months since I wrote about my ‘bargain’ MGF, named Jeff (yes, we name all our cars) and I’m pleased to report that he’s now on the road and in regular use. For those that may not remember my last update, I’d purchased the MGF from a guy who was about to take it to a scrapyard that had offered him £100, so that’s the price we agreed on. It’s only true failing was emissions, and the ridiculous quote he’d been given to fix it.