Introduction
Thank God the fuel pump didn't quit on the first day. Otherwise, we surely would have been the catalyst of a CNN-worthy Interstate 80 pileup just west of the Sierra Nevada mountains' Donner Pass, where--less than 75 miles into our 2300-mile trek from California to Michigan--we found ourselves in the middle of an unseasonable early October blizzard. In the January issue of Automobile Magazine [Collectible Classic], I summarized the weeklong journey home in my newly purchased, California-clean 1967 MGB/GT Special hardtop. Here's the expanded story of how it went down, along with more photos.
I found my San Francisco MG on Craigslist, emailing owner Thom Fox within hours of the ad's posting. A few days later, I'd recruited two friends/Bay Area car journalists, Lyndon Bell of On Wheels Inc. and freelancer Scott Corlett, both of whom supplied me with photos and information that convinced me that this car was worth a formal offer and a personal trip to Frisco (where vintage cars in clean, operable condition are commonplace) to take possession. Fox, a chef who still owns a '67 MGB roadster but replaced the B/GT with a Scion xD, gave me a thorough lowdown on the B/GT Special before we signed the papers, and then he guided me to the Golden Gate Bridge. After a few photos, I familiarized myself with my new MG during a ninety-mile blast to Davis, California, where I parked it beneath a generous college friend's carport. A few hours after parking the car, I was back on a plane to Detroit. In anticipation of the pending cross-country drive, I bought a brand-new Michelin spare tire from The Tire Rack and a box of side-of-the-road spare parts from the Little British Car Co., shipping these items to the car's temporary address. Meanwhile, my dad shipped a CB radio to the car, and my co-driver and I counted down the days to our MG adventure ... ...next page >>