First cars - not fair

[80B]

So 80BJr and I both got delivery on cars in the past few weeks.

Mine has something like 105HP and originally came with AM/FM cassette as an option. His has 440HP - and - get this - air conditioning - standard!

After something like 27 years in the garage, and after about 18 months with the restorer, my first car, bought new a few months before they closed the factory back when Jimmy Carter was president and I was skinny. I got it running again with a lot of replaced equipment, from the seats to the brakes, radiator, wheels, transmission, carburetors (dual carbs, like the earlier MGBs vs. the one they used as British Leyland slowly strangled the brand), etc. The original cost in 1980 was $7,770. The restoration cost a lot more than that (no speaker upgrade this year guys!), but boy, it's fun to shift gears again in my baby. The paint job is original although the hood and trunk had been repainted back in the 80s due to dents.

So 80BJr wanted an Audi S5. He bought a new one a couple months ago, then changed his mind and took the Masterlu route, trading it in for a new RS5 after more than making the difference in price and depreciation on some meme stocks in one week. At 24 I was living in a 450s.f. two bedroom apartment in Wanchai Hong Kong trying to keep the mama-sans across the street from bothering me at night when coming home late from work (or, honestly, just as often from Lan Kwai Fong, where there were a few bars).

That's how I got my handle, 80B - 1980 MGB.

Now for the kicker - I still have to teach him how to drive a manual. Paddle shifters are for wussies IMHO. I can't complain too much - as I write this he's taking his mom - Bossgirl the mechanical engineer - to the Shelby American facility in Vegas.

Bart, I've broken my rule again and had a couple glasses of wine before posting - please let me know if I've gone overboard!