THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 27, 1994 TAG: 9406270083
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940627 LENGTH: CHANTILLY
Their owners - from as far away as Texas, San Francisco and Vancouver - strolled back and forth for hours Saturday at the third annual North American MG convention, soaking in the sights and teasing one another about spots on the windows and dings in the paint jobs.
{REST} Once intended as a low-cost alternative to Jaguars and other sports cars, the little British automobiles now are the object of desire for owners willing to spend hundreds of hours and $15,000 or more in a quest to make them better than new.
The fact that the cars will never attain perfection - some are plagued by electrical problems that often stop windshield wipers from working when it rains - is part of their appeal.
``It's kind of like a love or obsession,'' said John Tokar, 42, of Monrovia, Md., one of the judges and an unabashed MG fan for some 30 years. ``They always get looks.''
There were 26 different classes of MGs on hand Saturday, from spare 1960s models to early 1980s special editions with pin-striping, black paint and overdrive. MG T-shirts were on sale, and on display were MG newsletters and MG books. MG parts dealers also did brisk business, even though what they sold looked like rusty junk to the uninitiated.
``This is excellent stuff. Look at all the people looking through these boxes,'' said Wayne Norman, a lawyer who owns 13 cars with a friend and spends his spare time finding parts to sell. ``Someone's junk is someone else's treasure. They want their cars to be perfect.''
by CNB