By Beth Judd
May 24, 2018

My life in classics by George Coward

Naturally, the team here at Moss Europe is largely made up of petrol-heads, and so when we asked staff if they would be willing to share their history and experiences with classic cars in our blog, we were not disappointed.

This week we hear from George Coward, a Sales Coordinator at our Bristol branch, who has been collecting classics with his family since he was a child, he talks us through his life in classics and his future plans for his collection.

Credit: Image source - George Coward 2018

My name is George and I have a serious addiction to owning classic cars. I thought working at Moss Europe for the last six years would help me to manage my addiction but sadly it has just made it much, much worse!

The Backstory
My addiction started back when I was a small child. Growing up with my car crazy parents, who had driven MGs and Sprites since the late 70s, they filled our driveway with a variety of classic cars, all at different states of disarray and repair. One of my earliest memories is sitting in the back of our old family car which happened to be an MGB GT. Another is travelling cross legged on a cushion in the back of a round wheel arch Midget with the hood down. The driveway was a playground as far as I was concerned and scarcely a Saturday would pass without a trip to Moss Bristol. From the noise and the excitement of it all I was hooked and a few years later I would take a summer job helping in the warehouse whilst at university and then later join the sales team full time.

Present day
Fast forward to the present day and not too much has changed. The current household fleet includes a daily driven MGB GT, many other MGB’s, Midgets, Sprites, Mini, TR7, VW camper van and more spares that would shame most working garages! It's fair to say that classic cars consume most of my spare time (aside from the odd trip out for a beer or curry or to Bristol to see a band).

My daily drive is a 74 BGT which lives outside and gets driven in all weathers. It’s a great hoot to drive and like most of the project cars at home, has been in the family a long time. Thanks to a Pertronix 'leccy ignition', overhauled cooling system and the addition of a heated front screen the GT generally takes daily commuting in its stride and only occasionally demands any major tinkering of a weekend to keep on the road. Not to say daily use of a 40 plus year old motor isn't without it's challenges but that's all part of the fun and I thought it’d be great to show you all the parts I've fitted which have really helped improve the enjoyment of the car but also made it possible to do so on a daily basis.

Credit: Image source - George Coward 2018 George appears to be somewhat indecisive when it comes to wheels, a familiar affliction for most petrolheads.

The projects
I'm constantly working towards the ‘next on the list' and this month the garage time has been taken up with that most exciting pastime.... cleaning and tidying. This is in readiness for a much overdue restoration of my father’s 1960 Frogeye. The Frogeye has been in the family since 1979 and has in fact had two stalled restoration attempts. The later of the two is evidenced by some clearly enthusiastic but badly executed welding repairs by my younger self. This time we're determined to see it through however and with 2018 marking the 60th birthday of Austin's affordable sports car we've got to get cracking!

The first mission is to un earth the Frogeye from its current resting place and get it in to the main workshop for inspection. Last year we bought a rotisserie and are champing at the bit to get a car on there. I hate welding under cars and expect this is going to help a great deal as we replace the floors. Before we get on to that though there has to be a reshuffle of ‘projects’ as the Frogeyes path to the garage is blocked by Midgets and MGBs and some are more willing to move than others.

Credit: Image source - George Coward 2018

Back to the daily
In the mean-time whilst adjusting the tappets on the MGB GT I discovered the exhaust manifold had finally succumbed to the battering of a thousand speed bumps and had fractured. I dare say a complete system is on the cards, so stay tuned for more on this. In the meantime I have been using our TR7 convertible to get to work.

It's fair to say that our 1980 example is quite rough around the edges but despite snow, sleet and rain it worked remarkably well and safely got me in and out of Bristol through some pretty horrible conditions.

What a Triumph!
We’ll bring you updates from George as he makes progress on his projects and the daily.

Credit: Image source - George Coward 2018

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