1973 MGB: one owner since new!

An email arrived from Ralph Poupard: “Hi Bill. I have enjoyed reading your Old Car Detective column every week for years in the Essex Free Press.

“I am the owner of a 1973 MGB Roadster that I purchased new in June of 1973 from Downtown Motors on Wyandotte Street in Windsor, Ontario. I always loved British sports cars and as I went through the lot with the salesman, I saw a Damask red (maroon) MGB parked next to the fence. I was hooked and ended up buying that car.

“When my wife and I got married in June of 1974, we took the MGB on our honeymoon to Muskoka, Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal, and back home to Windsor.

“For the first six years, I drove it daily from our home in Essex to Windsor, installing a fibreglass top on it for the winters. I didn’t know much about auto mechanics but I took a course at Essex High School and have performed all the maintenance on it after the one-year warranty was up.

Ralph Poupard’s 1973 MGB bought new 48 years ago.

“When our eldest daughter got married, I drove her to the ceremony in the MGB.

“We have taken it on many road trips. On one trip to Reno, Nevada, in 2011, a large pickup truck backed into the front of our MGB while waiting in line at US Customs. The hood (bonnet in Britain) and grille were bent, but since the hood would still open and close properly, we continued on and finished the trip, getting it repaired when we got home.

“In 2019, I decided to restore it by replacing the complete unibody structure and new floors, etc. since the originals were getting very rusty. With many new body parts, new paint and interior, it feels like a new car again.

“It has the original 1798 cc 4-cylinder engine with 189,000 miles on it. It has been extremely reliable over the years and it has never let me down. It is a mechanical part of our family.

“I wonder how many other people have owned a car this long.” I’m always looking for stories. Email billtsherk@sympatico.ca.