82
In 1989 anew jobtook JennietoBillericay, ‘there
Bluebirdmeta whiteMGBGTbelongingto a ladycalled
Jacqui.SheandI becameinstant friendsandalthough
shesoldherMGyearslater,we’restillverygoodfriends
andmeetupregularly.
‘Inover 100 ,000milesofownershipI onlyeverhad
thatoneaccidentthat didany damage,butthere were
a fewbodyworkrepairsforrustovertheyears.’Suchas
inMay 1990 whenJennie’sMGBibleshowsthat a front
wing andboththeheadlampswerereplaced;partswere
£168,thelabour£275.TheMGClubvaluedthecarat
£5500 for insurance purposes.
July of 1990 saw Bluebird fitted with a pairofnew
sills at a cost of £332. A new door skin was bought for
£13.95 and fitted in June 1992, while the followingMay
£286.95 was spent on a new ‘tailgate and badge’.The
MGB received a complete engine stripdown andrebuild
in August of 1992 – the cylinders were re-bored andnew
pistons and bearings fitted, the head was strippedand
decoked, and the valve seats cut and reground.Parts
cost £419.92 while the labour came to £330.
‘By mid-1994 Bluebird was approaching her 100,000-
mile mark so on the given day Noël and I wentoutfor
an evening drive complete with a bottle of Champagne
in anticipation. Just as all the noughts appearedonthe
mileometer there was absolutely nowhere to stopand
park to have a drink – so we came home and satinthe
driveway to celebrate instead.’
Being driven daily meant further rust formed and
there was an offside inner and outer sill replacementin
September 1994, along with a new door skin andrear
quarter. That December the MG received new seatsand
floormats bought from the MG Owner’s Club. February
1995 saw three new wheels fitted, and over thecourse
of the year a new radiator, front springs, clutchand
inertia reel seatbelts were added. In 1998 the MG
underwent an extensive renovation includinghaving
the sills replaced again and a complete respray.
Life continued with Jennie driving Bluebird
everywhere, ‘We took her on many holidays toDevon,
Cornwall and the Lake District. In 2001 I retiredand
Noël and I realised our dream of moving to France.’
Being uncertain how well the now-29-year-old MG
could be maintained by garages in France, alongwith
concerns of driving a right-hand-drive car on the
‘wrong’ side oftheroad,JenniereluctantlyputBluebird
up for sale via acardina newsagent’swindow.
MrTurnerdrivestheMGawayin 2002
‘ItwasasaddaywhenMrTurnerfromIngatestone,
Essex,camealong witha huge wadof£10notesto pay
for Bluebird,’ admits Jennie. ‘He was 65, just retiring,
and yearned for an MG BGT.’ A photo taken by Jennieat
the time shows Mr Turner driving the MGB off intothe
distance and is simply captioned ‘Goodbye Bluebird’.
Says Jennie, ‘I cried copiously when he took Bluebird
away and even drove through Ingatestone a fewtimes
just to see my lovely car sitting on his driveway.’
Alan Gill pays £3650 in 2009 without a viewing
Yet it appeared Mr Turner drove the car very sparingly
because when it appeared on eBay in May 2009,being
sold by a now-defunct car dealership, the mileagehad
barely increased. Alan Gill bought it sight-unseen,
paying £3650 and undertaking a 750-mile roundtrip
fr om Devon with a trailer to collect it. RecallsAlan,
‘There was more rust than I’d expected, and itclearly
needed new sills – which hadn’t been mentionedinthe
description – but otherwise I was very happy. I’d always
wanted one ever since I was in the RAF and all theguys
there had MGBs. I’ve always liked cars with tan interiors
and the exterior paint colour was almost RAF bluetoo.’
Alan read through the MG Bible and decided to
contact the previous owners to let them know thecar
was in safe hands. ‘The phone number I foundinthe
file turned out to now belong to a doctor’s surgery,’
remembers Alan, ‘so instead I wrote letters to thehome
address on file.’ Mr Taylor didn’t reply, but Jenniedid...
‘In December 2002 Noël and I moved to Normandy,’
continues Jennie. ‘In April 2007 Noël died, but I
continued living in France. Then in May 2009 I received
an email from Alison and Andy, who had boughtour
cottage in Essex. They had fallen in love with theplace
and we’d remained good friends after the sale.I read
theiremail,to which they’d attached Alan’s letterand
thephotoofBluebird that he’d sent with it. As soonasI
sawthephoto of my old car I cried my eyes out.
Jennie with her MG in
1973 photographed on the
driveway of her house in Essex
‘It was a sad daywhen
Mr Turner came along
with a wad of £10 notes’
[Life Cycle] MG BGT
Jenniethrows
TNOa 50,000-
milecelebration
