Our Hemmings Project Car with a Heart, the 1979 MGB that we restored for the Good News Garage, has found a home. Bob Hamilton, of Yarmouth, Maine, was the winning bidder for the roadster as it crossed the block at the Owls Head Transportation Museum’s 39th Annual New England Auto Auction in August.
Bob bid $13,500 for the MGB, all of which goes to the Good News Garage to support the work they do providing transportation to needy families. Owls Head benefited as well, collecting a 10 percent buyer’s fee of $1,350, which brought the grand total to $14,850, slightly above the museum’s high estimate.
“My wife, Becky, and I both like to drive back roads, and there isn’t anything better to drive a back road in than that car. It’s just a delight,” Bob said. “So that’s what we’re going to do with it, a lot of byway cruising. We love to do it, and this is a perfect car to do it in.”
Bob has long been a member of the museum, located about 90 minutes up the Maine coast from him, and had attended the auction in previous years, but had never bid on a car. “I would sit in the peanut gallery and watch,” he said. “Last year, there were some very nice vehicles that crossed the block. And I looked at my wife and said, ‘I think maybe next year I’m going to register. There might be something there that I’ll be interested in.’”
When he attended the August 20 auction with his son, Ian, he had narrowed his interest to two of the 214 cars on offer: a 2001 BMW Z3, and our red MGB. “For my purposes, they were the best cars there,” he said. He dropped out of the bidding before the hammer fell on the Z3 at $19,500, plus commission. “It was fine with me, because I was more interested in the MG,” he said with a laugh. The Good News Garage had consigned the MGB to be sold without reserve. Bidding started at $5,000, and climbed in $500 increments until Bob’s winning bid.
Driving the car back home the week after the auction, Bob was reminded of the last MGB he’d driven, a 1967 roadster that belonged to a former girlfriend. “I’ve kept the memory of driving that car in my head ever since, which was back in the early ’70s,” he said. “I just like them. I like the style of them. I think they’re one of the prettiest cars – they’re a prettier car than a Triumph, in my opinion, and the Triumph is a nice car. They’re a prettier car than an Alpine, and that’s a nice car. But I really like the MGB.”
Bob complimented the work of all the mechanics, professional and amateur, who volunteered their time and expertise to help us make the MGB the very best that we could for its future owner. “That is one torquey little motor! That’s the thing that amazes me about it – it is absolutely torquey,” he said. “It will take you up a hill just about as nice as anything. This is the way I remember an MG.”
Becky, who’d never sat in an MGB, was impressed, too. “She’s a manual-shift driver. She’s always liked sporting vehicles, and she’s enjoying the MG,” he said. “After we got back from our little ride, she said, ‘You know, this is really great.’ So she’s on board 100 percent.
“I think the car is going to be an enjoyable thing for all of us. It’s just a great machine.”
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