Faults:

New engine needed.

New differential needed.

New brakes needed.

Water pump gasket failed.

Rear oil seal failed.

General Comments:

The car has decent engine performance, and pulls well in each gear.

It corners well, with sharp steering responses, but has a rough ride and lots of scuttle shake.

The gearbox is quite hard to use, but has a mechanical feel to it, with a positive shift action.

Mid corner bumps can unsettle the car, making the car to feel very skittish, causing some heart stopping moments!

There is a surprising amount of room for myself, a 6 foot 1 driver, and a passenger of the same height will have plenty of room in the comfortable, yet very hot interior (engine heat comes in creating a sauna like effect!)

Road presence is amusing, as the car is so small, people smile, point and sometimes wave! which adds to the character of the car.

It's a shame the car is so unreliable, as this takes the pleasure away from the experience on the whole.

Faults:

Generally speaking the MG hasn't been all that bad. The usual complaint of the thing instantly corroding at the slightest hint of road salt applies and through some 'creative driving', I managed to bend the king-pins.

The timing has a habit of slipping (can be corrected with electronic ignition, but I rather feel that's cheating) and the gearbox started jumping out of first and then promptly lost all synchromesh (learned how to double de-clutch REALLY quickly on that journey home). That in turn knocked the clutch out (I guess I wasn't that good at it!), but I've heard worse stories.

It can misfire when hot, but that's usually the timing playing silly beggars again and my oil damped carbs take a bit of looking after.

The fact is, usually, the harder you drive it, the more it tries to go wrong, so the more you should fawn over it. My MG gets both hammered and pampered in equal proportions!

General Comments:

This was my first sojourn into the sports car field. Admittedly my old Fiat and the Pug 306 I then bought when winter rolled around would probably hammer it through every test short of 'fitting through small gaps-athon', but that's not the point.

The car taught me mechanical sympathy for engines and a good degree of mechanic skills in general. These are now rather redundant as it bears almost no relation technology wise to new cars, but I intend to carry on with the classic car thing.

The MG taught me skid control, heel and toeing (partly to keep the damn thing from stalling pulling up to the lights in cold weather) and how much better modern tyres are in the wet. I would recommend that everyone should have a play in one at least once, because it makes you realise many things that you'd thought you'd forgotten or simply didn't know. It can teach you seriously technical driving at 1/3 of the speed (and so, I though naively, 1/3 of the danger) of anything else.

Since acquiring the MG I've got into motorsport and will be campaigning (someone else's) Brabham BT 28 (I think) in the not too distant future.