My 1977 Red MGB

This is my original red 1977 MGB roadster which I bought back in 1987 while I was still living in Southern California. I did a partial restoration on it including the beautiful red paint job. This photo is from about 1995 taken in front our first home in Mountain Park, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Here's another photo taken in Mt. Park the same day as the one above from a different angle. Showing some of the beautiful rhodies we had on the property. That is my old '75 Dodge Van parked just behind it.

Here's a nice shot from the rear showing the gleaming rear deck with the chrome luggage rack and the convertible boot neatly hiding the folding convertible top.

That gorgeous red paint job didn't come easy. I found a body shop out in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California run by a couple Mexican brothers. They kept the car about a month... removed every bit of chrome and rubber from the body, and stripped the car down to the bare metal, straightened out all the dings and irregularities. Here it is at the shop with the yellow primer coat.

Here's a different angle with the primer coat at the body shop. The windshield is off... the bumpers, door handles, headlamps... everything. This is what it takes to get a really fine paint job... this and a lot of money and patience.

The engine compartment was mostly stock... just cleaned up and fitted with a set of dual SU carburetors to replace the stock Zenith which was an underperforming headache. Earlier MGB's all came standard with the dual SU carburetors and, if you keep them tuned, they perform much better than the stock setup.

Although we lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon as our permanent home from 1992-2013, I spent most of my time in the summer in the Columbia River Gorge at my Rowena windsurfing property located right on the river at Rowena, just east of Hood River. Libby would drive out on weekends in the early days. I had all my toys in the garage in Rowena... my 1992 Ford Explorer, my red MGB, and in the background my custom 1977 Kawasaki 1100.

The property in Rowena was just a spectacular location. This is a shot of MG on the lower road facing out across the river with the spectacular basalt rock cliffs of Washington on the opposite side. Behind the car out on the river moored in the cove was my gorgeous 20' Reinell V-8 power boat which we used for waterskiing, wakeboarding and river cruising when the wind wasn't up.

By the time my son Patrick was 13, I was teaching him to drive the MG on the back roads of Wasco County. This shot is taken on the old highway that winds up to Rowena Plateau, which offers magnificent vistas of the Columbia River Gorge. Pat became an excellent driver and we bought him a silver mustang convertible when he turned 16... stick shift, of course!

Pat came by his driving ability naturally. I bought him a Kett Car pedal gokart when he was still a toddler and could race that thing through an obstacle course like Mario Andretti by the time he was 5.

There are lots of fun day trips out of the Portland area, whether the back country roads, the Columbia River Gorge or out to Oregon Coast. This shot is taken high above the cliffs somewhere along the beautiful Oregon Coast.

Here's another shot at the same spot with me behind the wheel. The Oregon Coast is quite spectacular and offers some very entertaining sports car driving.