Hey, you old shit, are you done with all that car crap?

No, not quite yet, but today will be the last one for a while. Why do you ask?

Listen, Ace, I’m bored with it, is why I’m asking. Who gives a shit about your damned cars, you know?

Did it ever, just once, occur to you, Ace, that you are me, and if I’m not bored, you can’t be?  How about that, smart guy? That ever fire off any of those synapses I’ve heard so much about?

Oh.

Right, so now what?

Well, I believe you were about to tell these nice people about when you were a child, and how you fell in love with foreign cars.

Oh, yes, yes I was. That’s right. Thanks. Now, shut the fuck up, how about that, Ace?

Alright.

Actually, I can’t righty remember when I began to like foreign cars, but it was  one whole lot of years ago.  (Excuse me just a moment.  What the fuck kind of sentence was that to write? What the hell is wrong with you?  How about you try that again?)

…ahem…

Actually, the origins of my affection for foreign-made automobiles is lost in the fog of my personal antiquity. Most of you old people know what I’m talking about.  The rest of you should try dragging out 50 – 55 – 60 year old memories, and let’s see how good you are at ‘em.  (I do have one freak friend with a near photographic memory, though, and yes, to answer your unasked question, she IS a pain in the ass.) I can remember, though, talking to my dad about wanting to buy a VW bus “when I grow up” and drive around Europe in it. I must only have been seven or eight. So, it’s been a long time, but you can see my level of interest back then, as evidenced by me even knowing there was such a thing as  a VW bus. VW didn’t start becoming popular here till the mid 50’s (I was seven in ‘55) and there were even fewer buses…transporters…manufactured or shipped back then. 

I began collecting Dinky Toys, and they were predominantly based foreign on prototypes, as well as Lesney and Matchbox toys, likewise foreign.

So I’ve like foreign cars forever, and somewhere along the line I began a life long love affair with MG, more specifically, the 1953 MG TD.  There are reasons I like the ‘53 over the other years, but what the hell difference does that make, and who wants to hear it? For whatever reasons, that is the model year I have craved almost my entire life. 

As odd as it might seem, and it seems very odd to me, it never occurred to me that I would ever own one. I mean, kids don’t have money and as I grew up I was focused on making a living and just having “a car,” and though I always enjoyed seeing one or seeing pictures of TD’s, ownership possibilities never popped into my head.

Then, as if by magic, six or so months ago, the idea of buying one showed up in my head.  I’m not sure how that happened, exactly, but I also don’t care, and what difference does it make? There it was. Hey, Unc, it seemed to say, you know, you could buy one of these. You’re gonna be dead before you know it, so if you’re ever going to own one, now would be the time.  Or it could have been some sort of drug flashback, but, again, so what?

There it was in plain sight for me to consider, and consider it I have.

I’m going to begin looking for just the right one some time this year, is what the consideration brought me to.  I’m no mechanic, and I’m not looking to restore anything, so I’ll be looking for something that is mechanically in great shape, looks great, that I can drive immediately.

Yes, to answer your question, it will be difficult to get into and out of one with my fucked up hip. What’s your point?

I’m getting one this year, yes I am.