CARS FOR SALE

Member - 1978 MGB with Overdrive - Dual HS4. Strong runner. Needs some body work. Call 847-571-4549 or email mghirsch@netzero.net

PARTS AND MISC FOR SALE

Member - Wire Wheels 60 Spokes Painted - (4) in fair condition. $100 for all 4. Contact Rich Lehman, 847-828-3443, richardlehman@comcast.net - Lake Zurich

Member - MGB Parts - Clearing out my storage locker, must dispose of the following: several MGB non OD transmissions, dipstick model; banjo-style axle, ww version; several doors, hoods and trunk lids, and several wire wheels. Also have a 1968 roadster, OD and ww with complete engine that need to go away. Call for details, pricing very flexible. I hate to have to junk these parts or strip the car, but all items will be gone within a few weeks. Jim Evans, 630-858-8192

Member - FOR SALE: One set of once white side curtains for an MGTD. - Poor shape, but frames salvageable. Not sure if they are 3 bow or 2 bow, and not sure if there is a diference! $75 bucks, cash and carry. (Have you priced new frames at Moss??) Questions to Bill Cole at 847-437-2036

PARTS AND MISC WANTED

Non-Member - Wanted - '51 MGTD Exhaust System - Need a complete OEM used, or reproduction exhaust system for my 51’ TD. Must be similar to OEM and not stainless steel as I am looking for a Concours show car for judging. Would consider individual pieces if restorable. Alberto, anaon@bellsouth.net

Additional information available on club website: http://chicagolandmgclub.com/classifieds/index.html

Due to harsh economic conditions in Britain after WWII, many families could not afford a car, and a motorcycle was hardly a practical alternative. Lawrence Bond, an engineer and designer who had worked in the aircraft industry during the war, had the idea that the best attributes of both could be combined into one vehicle. In 1948 he built the first Bond Minicar in a second story loft. It had to be lowered through a hole in the floor to reach the road but this proved quite easy as the entire 3 wheel vehicle weighed only 285 pounds.

Looking at the specifications one might have bet against him. The minicar had no doors, no gas gauge, no reverse, no rear suspension, no windscreen wiper (in England!) and only a 7 cu in, 5 hp engine. Bond, however, knew that his roadmap to success lay in the fact that the car qualified as a motorcycle in the eyes of the law. As such it received a lower rate of purchase tax, lower excise duty and lower insurance costs. It also got 97 mpg and could be driven without an automobile driver’s license. What started as basic two person transport evolved until 18 years later there was a convertible, a hardtop, a van, a tourer, an estate and a 4-seater family saloon (providing the rear passengers had no legs). In 1966 when production ended 24,482 minicars had been built.

Reprinted from the British Boots & Bonnets Chronicle of the British Boots & Bonnets Car Club