It’s more or less considered “common” to find a graveyard of old American cars rusting away in the United States.It’s not too common, however, to come across a small graveyard of British cars in the US, especially not all the same ones.Well, that is what I stumbled upon in the Central Florida car conglomerate known as The Gabel Collection.Not one, not two, not even three, but four MG Midgets deep in hiding.
I know at first you may think that I am showing you pictures of piles of leaves, but there are four cars under the dead foliage.The Midgets here are mid to late 1960s models, and while I am not entirely sure, I believe they are MkIIs.
This would mean that these cars all came with 1,098cc enginesunder the hood making a “blimey-fast” 59 horsepower.That’s it.That is obviously not much, even for this car which weights only about 1,620 pounds.However, it was enough to make the cars run and drive at one point.That is not the case for them now.
These cars do not run.They have all had the unfortunate title of “parts cars” placed upon them.As far as I can see though, there are not many usable parts left.Most of the panels are rusted straight through, the chrome is corroded, and I doubt many mechanical parts are functioning.
However, the interiors (depending on the car) are in okay shape (compared to the outsides), and are generally intact.A serious collector would have no problem picking off many usable parts off these cars like the glass, interior trim, and other little odds and ends.
These cars have been rotting away in place for about ten years.They are being picked away piece by piece by the owner.As much as I would love to see these cars on the road again, I don’t even think one complete car could be made from all four.I could wrong, and deep inside, I hope that I am.
For now, they will continue to sit until there is nothing left for a person, or Mother Nature to remove from them.Cheers to the British automotive history, and hello decomposition.
