When I was a kid, my Dad had an MG Midget, and I used to beg for rides in it.  We even had matching driving caps.  I grew up loving old cars, reading car magazines, etc. etc.  My dad moved on to more modern sportcars, but I always loved older cars.  Particularly sports cars from the 50′s and 60′s.  In the last few years, as I’ve gotten a little more stable in life, I’ve thought more and more about getting a classic car, and the MGA kept ending up on the short list.  They are still relatively affordable.  There is a large support network of owners.  Parts are reasonably available, etc etc.   I think they are one of the prettiest cars of the era.

All that said, it makes the purchase sound more planned out than it was.   A few weeks ago, I spotted a 1956 MGA 1500 roadster on the website Bringatrailer.com.  It was priced attractively for a solid looking driver.  I was smitten.  I sent the email to my wife.  Now, my wife is very patient with me.  She takes me to car museums for my birthday.  I’ve probably sent her an ebay link or bringatrailer.com link about 2-3 times a month for the past 2 years.  They are normally a met with a “That’s nice” or ” Ooo, cute”.  Not much more than that.

This time, the response was different.  We were on Chat with each other, at work:

me: That MGA tempts me more than just aobut any car I’ve seen in a long time. It’s always been one of my affordable classics dreams cars.
Wife: let’s get it!!
i have no restraint and i don’t care ))
me: Are you kidding? Don’t tempt me.
Wife: no, why the hell not?
let’s just do it.
me: seriously?
Wife: no, the computer is not hijacked.
yes.
merry christmas
me: I’ll email and see if it’s still available. You know it makes NO sense, right?
Wife: yes.
oh, and try to figure out where our savings account is.
me: yeah, I’ll figure that out.
Ok, back to work. Lot’s to catch up on. I’ll let you know if I hear back about the MGA.
=>
Wife: just to bring us back to ground, if we get it, we should try to cut back in other areas where we are willing.
me: yes, of course.
let’s see if I even hear back.
but I’ll be a frugal dude for at least 9 months if we get it.
12 months.
=)

I did hear back, and since the car was only 100 miles away, we drove to see it that night after work.  It was late by the time got there, and spent several hours driving, inspecting, agreeing, and buying the car.  I forgot what time we left, but it was late.  I’d originally thought I’d buy the car, or pay a deposit, and come back later to pick it up, but after driving it a fair bit, I decided I thought I could make it home.

She was described as a driver, and I think that’s fair.  There is some rust in the sills, and some signs of some bubbling in a few spots, but she drives strong, the interior is nice, and she seems mostly pretty solid all around.  There are some dings and dents, and a respray will probably come at some point, but I bought the car to drive and enjoy and learn more about keeping an 54 year old car going.  I’m super happy with the car.

The night I brought her home, as I drove, the headlamps (upgraded to Halogens, no wiring upgrades/changes I can see) were flickering, sometimes off. I had them on, and the blower for the heater. After about 60 miles, the battery was dead. Dead dead. I tried jumping it, but it didn’t work. Towed it to a (luckily) nearby friends house. Spent the night, and in the morning swapped in new battery (12V) and drove it another 40 miles home, in daylight, with no issues. The car drove great, cruising easily at 65 MPH, even up some biggish hills.

The flickering headlamps I chased down to a loose ground wire, I fixed that, but running the headlamps still seems to drain the battery far more quickly that it should.

Since then, she runs strong and drives great, as long as it’s daylight and I don’t use the headlamps.  Headlamps leave it dead quickly, but I think I’m narrowing down on the solution with the great suggestions from the other threads.   Still in love with the car, and excited to learn more and get her set up just right.