I owned a 1977 MGB Midget.  Did you ever see me driving it? If you did it would be for just one day. That’s how long I technically owned it.

But back in time before that… let’s go to 1975-76. My parents were living in St. John’s NL and I was single and working and I wanted a car. So I went looking.  I fell in love with the Triumphs! They were small, but sporty and convertibles! This was it.  Now to decide, should it be the TR6, a fabulously looking car. It looked like it had muscles!  Or what about the brand new model of the TR7 – sleek and stylish – it looked fast!

They sold for about $4000 which in those days was quite a bit of money. I made about $90/week.

A shorter version of the story – I didn’t buy it.

So fast forward to 1977 and I’ve got a full-time job with the Ontario government and money is burning a hole in my pocket. I found an MG dealership and on the lot was an MGB Midget with just 4000 miles on it. For about $4000 I could have it – so we took for a test drive and once back on the lot I put down some cash, signed the deal, and went home feeling pretty good! I was going to drive a sports car.

It was a wine colour,  with a pinstripe! I loved the look of it. MG Midgets were small – I could open the trunk from the driver’s seat.

The day after I bought the car, I phoned to get a quote for insurance. Now, what was I thinking? A 20-year-old with a British sports car – that couldn’t be expensive – could it?

For my $4000 car, the insurance was $2000 per year.

I went back to the dealership, begged them to let me out of the deal, which they did, then went and bought a Honda Civic and insured it for $400 per year.

But I have always loved the look and idea of these cars. They were rust buckets with lots of electrical issues. I think I may have dodged a bullet.

Once in a while I see one or see one online and I think — I would love that.

Now listen to Jay Leno express some of my thoughts around this ’66 Sunbeam Tiger.