Mid-life crisis?
Since I was a boy I always wanted a "sports car". Before I was old enough to drive I dreamed of owning a "Lotus Super 7" but this wish was never fulfilled. You can't fit a wife and three kids into a two seater.
With the onset of middle age the need for the wind in my hair manifested itself by my buying a series of motorbikes. The first couple were big "tourers" that enabled Diane and me to get out and tour the UK with the wind in our hair. It wasn't long, though, before my "need for speed" resulted in my buying a brand new Honda Fireblade sports/racing bike. People who know me say it was/is my "mid life crisis". A low speed spill on an icy roundabout reminded me of my vulnerability (and lack of skill) and I decided that I was likely to kill myself on this machine. My thoughts began to turn to my boyhood dream.
With the kids "leaving the nest" we didn't need four or five seats anymore so a sports car was now a possibility. I had always driven sports saloons with big engines (V6 Fords mostly) so thinking about which sports car to go for was challenging. I thought about the Lotus Super 7 again. Lotus no longer make this but it is still available in the guise of the "Caterham 7". It is a kit car which needs the running gear and suspension from a Ford Sierra. As I still had an old XR4X4 Sierra this was considered as a "donor" car for a Caterham 7. As I don't have a garage in which to build the Caterham this idea meant my dream of owning a "Super 7" quickly faded.
Which sports car to go for then? I wanted to buy new, and therefore get a long warranty, so cars like the Porsche Boxter were out of my price range. The Mazda MX5 was a bit dull. The Toyota MR2 was seriously considered but it's lack of boot space ruled it out. My choice was therefore the MG TF. I decided that the TF160, being the top of the range, would mean that I wouldn't keep thinking "I wish I had bought the next model up". In October 2002 the deal was done and I took delivery of my new sports car.
It has been everything I hoped it would be. We have toured the West Country, Wales and the Scottish Highlands in it. I also regularly take it on "track days" where it can be given a real "thrashing" in relative safety. As the MG slogan says "Life's too short not to".