Wilsons Sandbox

I just received "The Great Getaway Cars - Series Profile Plate No. 1" Miles Reid poster I won (?) on eBay - and on it was a description of a TC I just had to share with the group - it was written by a Joe Giordano who had to have owned a TC at some time to have captured it in words so exquisitely. Although it's longer than a lot of the posts here it's worth reading to the very end - he has captured the very essence of the car I love: ******************************************************************* "You'll never see an old man in a TC. The unwritten law governing roadways from 1945 to 1949 wouldn't permit it. Youth is not an option with the TC. It's a must. The minute you're in it, a kindly breeze erases the creases in your forehead and the hair you haven't seen since your Junior Prom is suddenly fodder for the four winds again. Your muscles may be gone, but you 've been blessed with a new body by Morris of Coventry. A body no one could ever quite appreciate: the TC is a man's car born of an era when men were men who commanded their vehicles. And women were women who thought the TC rather cute, but quite impractical for the kiddies. And impractical they were, uncomfortable too. Two rather slender gentlemen could be accommodated quite nicely. And, though easy on petrol, the TC was not an easy rider. It mirrored every pit in the pavement, every nuance on the road. Rough on the rear? You bet? And yet, one ride down one country lane, rubbed by generations of wheels to sensual smoothness made magic. And men called it TC. In retrospect, the motor car, in general, and the TC in particular were as innocent and as immune to sophistication as the years that spawned them. Born of a War fought on principles, not politics, they were na ve almost to a fault. And America with all its enthusiasm intact was eager to give them a home. And among the welcoming committee were the yankee heroes of World War II. They had seen the MG in action in its native habitat. And were anxious to perform in their postwar TC's for the natives. The MGTC was the first great getaway car to cross the ocean and open up the highways to the classic European invasion. Before the TC rode out of the Morris Garages (long for MG) there were just the Ford and Chevy - domestic in every sense of the word. While the TC was foreign, yet familiar, British by design, American by desire. No other could compare with this welcome intruder. At once, the TC is athletic and courtly, ageless in a time sphere where time doesn't matter at all. If it were just made last year, the TC would obliterate everything made before or after it because it is the definitive sportscar. Linear from any angle there are no curves to detract from the purity of design or the honesty of purpose. The TC is today, yesterday, and tomorrow. All things to all men whatever their age or station. To ride one is to recapture youth on the highways; to own one is to own youth forever." ******************************************************************** I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Gene Gillam Saucier, MS TC 7872 XPAG 8659