Shortly after arrival at the GoF-West this past October, Morris was surprised at Bro Peter’s acquiring a variety of parts for a ‘T’ series MG. Peter had just completed the restoration of his beautiful OEW ’73 MGB, but he admitted he had recently acquired a 1952 MG-TD as a companion for the ‘B’. Between the flea market, silent auction, and live auction, he had picked up some great ‘treasures’.

Arriving back home we picked a date that was acceptable for the transportation of the TD. It turned out the vehicle was in a storage facility in Turlock, a small Valley town about 75 miles north of Fresno. As word got out about the pick up and transportation, Peter gained two more willing volunteers for the project. Bros. Jay and Dennis (Double D), both MGers, joined us on the morning of Nov. 18. As it turned out, the more hands-on deck, the less chance of hernias.

As we proceeded north on CA-99, Peter filled us in on the details of his acquisition. He related the story that seems to be rather commonplace throughout the U.S: A person, or couple, decides to buy a vehicle for restoration, the process starts, life gets in the way, and before too long; health concerns, finances, or other interests take precedent, and the collector vehicle is a boat anchor. In this case, the vehicle was purchased decades ago when the now elderly couple lived in San Diego. The TD had spent the past 35 years in southern California, not being run. The gentleman was now experiencing early Alzheimer’s dementia and the wife needed to get rid of the vehicle after moving to be closer to her daughter. Hence, Peter’s opportunity.

We arrived at the location where the couple was waiting to greet us. Luckily, the rain forecasted for this morning had occurred 20 miles south as we motored on 99 and had quit shortly before we reached our destination. Armed with come-a-longs, tow straps, and jacks we approached our quarry and then decided to go Neanderthal and pushed the MG onto the trailer. I do recall jobs like this being a whole lot easier 20 years ago.

With the car loaded and strapped down, the rest of the journey was fairly anticlimactic. A quick stop for lunch, the ride back to Peter’s place, and unload with a neighbor’s help and we were all homeward bound.

Of course, now the real fun starts and hopefully not too long before Peter will be using the slogan:

Safety fast!