Ownership Verified: MX-5? Too mainstream.

KaJuN

Disco Inferno
Joined
Jul 31, 2006
Messages
9,743
Location
Dayton, Ohio
Car(s)
Mini Cooper S, Landy Series III, Vulcan 900 Custom
...or...KaJuN Goes Topless!...or...How Much Open-Top Fun Can You Get for 1000 Pounds?

A new country for me means a new car. Since I'm here for a short time (two years) and have a small window to sell my car when I leave (2-3 weeks) I wanted something cheap. After browsing around a little it looked like I was going to be cruising the mean streets in something like a Vectra or Corsa. Oh dear! But then I stumbled upon this and after driving it I just had to have it!

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It's a 1996 MG F 1.8 VVC with, of course, a proper 5-speed manual. It's only done 96,000 miles too. I didn't really do any research about the car before I bought it (not having easy Internet access at the time was inconvenient to say the least) and it wasn't until just a few days ago that I found out this was the more powerful version of the MGF for the year with about 30 more horsepower than the standard 1.8i car. :cool: It is such a fun car to drive! It hugs the road like it's on rails, has a good surge of power, and the sound it makes...:drool:

Because of it's low price there are naturally some issues with the car. The body is starting to rust in places but since I'm only going to have the car for a few years I can live with that. It could also use an alignment and the handbrake light likes to stay on but that's just an adjustment issue that will be easy to fix once my tools arrive. The top also leaks a little but only in heavy rain and not onto me so I'm fine with that too. The driver's seat is starting to come apart a little too but duct tape was invented for a reason right?

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Mid engined, RWD. Have fun
 
Damn, that's cool. You should go race MWF!
 
I approve of your purchase.
I always considered it to be the British cousin of the MX-5.
 
Since I'm here for a short time (two years)
[...]
So, next year an MG will attend the N?rburgringmeet? :p

Have fun with that british roadster in it's homeland. :)
 
I'd like to drive MGF some day and see how it's like. I'm sure it's pretty damn excellent for such a low price :)
 
Still no LR, but it's pretty sweet. Have fun with it!
 
Still no LR, but it's pretty sweet. Have fun with it!

It shares a few parts that my old Disco had...things like air vents, switches, the remote door unlocker fob thingy, hand brake lever, etc. The instruments are similar too with just colors and markings being different. It also has another problem that I forgot about earlier; the clock sucks. The minute hand moves just fine and the hour hand does move around but in no relation whatsoever to the minute hand. It's just like James May had in one of his cheap car challenge cars..."I know it's a quarter to but I don't know what it's a quarter to to." :may:

Speaking of sharing parts the top is apparently a modified version of the one used on the MX-5.
 
I've always loved this roadster. For me, this one and the MR-2 >>>>>>>> any and all MX-5.
 
Awesome buy, looks clean enough from pics and sounds fun, did you drive cars much when you were in Japan to get used to RHD in UK?
 
Awesome buy, looks clean enough from pics and sounds fun, did you drive cars much when you were in Japan to get used to RHD in UK?

Driving in Japan definitely helped me getting used to driving here since it was the same setup of RHD/left side of the road. While all the other newcomers I came in with were struggling to get it down I was driving around perfectly without even thinking about it. For some reason I just like RHD better and I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's just easier to see out of the car or something. :dunno:
 
we have secret americans from eurrop, now we have a secret britischer :p
 
Yay! Just watch out for the head gasket going. :D

It's a good buy though and like you say there are some bits shared with the Disco, mainly the central locking system.
 
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