On April 11, 2017, just in time for my birthday, we drove over to the west side of Portland to make the purchase of a classic 1980 MGB roadster. Previously I owned a little red 1977 MGB (pictured below) for more than 20 years and sold it when we began our motorhome travels. We were already towing our sailboat behind our motorhome and just couldn't take the MG along as well. But I have always regretted selling it. When we concluded our motorhome travels in the fall of 2016, living again at home in Vancouver, WA, my wife and I decided it was time to find another MGB to fill the empty hole in our garage. My motto: "The one with the most toys wins". At the right is our new toy parked in front of our home. I've also started a large format Photo Gallery of MGB beauty shots.
After owning a variety of motorhomes over the past decade, in 2019 we purchased a new 2019 Keystone Avalanche 382FL. We bought it to occupy a space at the only lakefront RV Park in Eugene, Oregon... Fern Ridge Shores RV Resort. We keep our Catalina 22 sailboat (see photos below) at the marina there, and spend our summers at the lake. In 2020 we upgraded the Avalanche to a magnificent Vanleigh Vilano 375FL (right). Besides the sailing, there are also many great backroads for MG driving in the Eugene area, so we'll be keeping the MG there in the summer to take advantage of the excellent recreational driving opportunities.
At the right is our little MGB roadster just as we found it at the seller's home. His craigslist ad had said 'immaculate' and we were not disappointed. Always garage kept, this stunning low-mileage MGB is a real showstopper with a flawless glacier white paint job, a superb black convertible top, a pristine interior with new leather seats, and under the 'bonnet' an ultra clean engine compartment with full attention to detail. The price was higher than many '75-80 MGBs with rubber bumpers, but still a great value and half the price of earlier models with the chrome steel bumpers favored by collectors. Personally I have always preferred the look of the rubber bumpers... they modernize the appearance, elongate the body lines and are infinitely more practical than the old style.
The MG Car Company has a long and storied history beginning in the early 1920's and continuing to the present day. Company ownership changed numerous times over the years from the original Morris Garage, to British Motor Corp, to British Leyland to Rover. Various models evolved from sedans to roadsters and back again. But the MG Marque has been most closely associated with the open cockpit roadsters, which evolved from early MG T-Series Midgets to the MGA's and MGB's. Thanks in part to the racy advertising campaign, by far the most popular model was the MGB, with more than half a million built from 1963 to 1980, many exported to the U.S. The car's fame as a uniquely British icon persists today. The October 2016 cover of the esteemed Economist Magazine (right) featured a cartoon of UK leaders Boris Johnson and Theresa May riding in an MGB roadster.
The cover shot above was from 2016... it was used as a recognizeable British automobile for British leaders to be riding in. Now today this image at the right was taken from a TV commercial for PBS in June 2023. That is a pre-1975 MGB GT cruising through the Oregon countryside. It is no small accomplishment, that for all the great looking cars on the road, a purely American entity like PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, chose to depict a classic MGB on the open road to convey their feeling of freedom and joy! The legend of the MG, the quintessential British sports car, lives on!
I have loved classic British sports cars as far back as I can remember. My first car was a black 1959 MGA roadster which my dad helped me buy for $700 when I was in college in 1964. I only have one surviving photo of me in that car, but the photo at the right is identical to the model that I had, complete with knockoff wire wheels. MG stands for Morris Garages. The MGA was not the most practical car for a college student, but still a gorgeous ride, and really fun to drive. The old British cars were notorious for mechanical issues, and mine was no exception. I always credited that little car with forcing me to learn basic auto mechanics. "Lucas, the Prince of Darkness."
At the right is my first MGB, a 1977 roadster, photographed high atop a cliff at the Oregon Coast back in 2001. I bought that little gem in 1987 and owned it more than 20 years. While I was still living in Southern California, I had it completely stripped to the bare metal and primered, then painted with a superb red enamel mirror finish. It always drew admiring looks wherever we went. After more than 20 years I reluctantly sold it in 2010 when we began the motorhome travel part of our lives. I've created a special photo gallery with commentary for my beloved, shiny red '77 MGB.
After selling our huge 44' Allegro Bus Motorhome in 2016, we owned a smaller Class C Forest River Forester for a few years. We took a number of trips with it, towing the MG behind on a dolly. After that we resumed more extensive RV travels in a new 34' Thor Miramar (right). See our photo gallery of interior and exterior photos. We enjoy taking trips around the Pacific NW and towing the MG - Oregon and Washington offer many options for backroads touring to scenic locations, many within a few hours drive of our home just north of Portland in Vancouver, WA. I'll continue making regular entries in the coming years to a dynamic adventure log with lots of great photos and commentary. We're also planning much longer trips around the western US towing our SUV.
We have joined a local chapter of the MG Club again and are enjoying going on organized rallyes and local backroads tours with other club members. We also purchased a beautiful Interstate Cargo Trailers 20' Pro Series Enclosed Car Hauler. We'll tow this trailer behind our Dodge Durango so we can haul the MG, bikes and other toys on road trips to more remote cruising and touring locations. For shorter hops, we can also use our handy car dolly, specially modified to easily load and unload the MG. Both are a great way to take the MG to car shows. Speaking of car shows, the All British Field Meet is a favorite local summer event held here each Labor Day weekend at Portland International Raceway.
Our first season of travels with our new MG yielded some very interesting road trips, all of which are well documented on our adventure blog page. Using our car hauler trailer, we took our photogenic MG to some very enjoyable locations, with one of the most scenic being our final excursions for the season to Redmond, Oregon. We made two trips within a few weeks including one stay in Sunriver and another at Eagle Crest Resort in the Redmond area. We toured around the region in the MG on twisty country roads taking multiple day trips to Mt Bachelor, Sunriver, Sisters, Tumalo State Park and the Deschutes River. Just NE of Redmond is magnificent Smith Rock State Park (right).
In 2020 we took the MG over to the Oregon Coast, towing it behind our motorhome on a dolly. We cruised some fun back roads as well as the Pacific Coast Highway which afford some marvelous photo opps like the shot at the right. The great thing about living in the Pacific Northwest in the Portland metro area is all the wonderful cruising opportunities that abound within a few hours of home. From the scenic, rocky Oregon and Washington coastlines to the west, to the fabulous Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood to the east, to the marvelous Willamette Valley wine country to the south, and the spectacular snow capped mountains like Mt St Helens to the north. These and other fun trips are documented on our MG Adventure log.
During the spring, summer and early fall near our home here in the Pacific Northwest, top down cruising through the mountains and valleys in an MG roadster is the perfect complement to sailing the mighty Columbia River with our beautiful Catalina 22 MKII sailboat (right) The Anne Marie. My wife and I have kept our sailboat at Steamboat Landing Marina which is located just a few miles from our Vancouver home. The Columbia River in the Portland area with its moderate climate, abundant summer winds and splendid scenery is a popular sailing locale with hundreds and hundreds of sailboats moored at more than half a dozen marinas in this area. We chose to sell our home in Oregon and move up to Vancouver for a variety of reasons, but especially because of the easy access to good sailing.
In 2019, we spent the summer in our gorgeous 41' 5th wheel RV which we began keeping at Fern Ridge Shores RV Park located directly on the shores of beautiful Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene, Oregon. In 2020 we upgraded our 5th wheel to the beautiful new Vanleigh Vilano 5th wheel, top right. Fern Ridge is just 2.5 hours south of our home in Vancouver. Close enough to stop home whenever we feel the need, but remote enough that it offers us a welcome summer escape from the city life. As the world endured the pains of the global COVID pandemic, Fern Ridge Shores has offered us a safe, quiet retreat where we can enjoy our favorite sport. We keep our Catalina 22 there for the summers each year now, taking advantage of the great summer winds on the lake April until October. There are hundreds of great country roads in this part of Oregon as well, offering many fun afternoon MG drives which we'll feature on our MG Adventure Log....
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