Love and devotion

Bob Nason waited eight years to get the car of his dreams and, 19 years later, he’s still smitten with it...

- ANDY STARKEY

It’s time for some honesty now. Who amongst us has ever flicked through the pages of a ‘Mills and Boon’? Are there any secret Barbara Cartland fans present? You know the kind of thing [Ed: Is there something you want to share Andy?]. I mention this because those rather mushy romantic stories seem to have an uncanny resemblance to one man’s love affair with the car of his dreams.

Bob Nason is no stranger to owning an MG. He’s had a few since his youth and he’s the sort of chap who can reel off the registration number of each one in turn. “Ahh yes... ABC 123T, the Inca Yellow MGB Roadster. Yes, that was a cracking little car.” You get the picture? It’s fair to say he’s a fan, and a fan big enough to give up pretty much all of his spare time to be Chairman/Secretary of the Potteries and South Cheshire MG Owners Club where he has been involved for 22 years. His devotion to the club and its members is a thing of legend in those parts but we are here to find out about his other devotion, and that’s for the car you see on these pages.

Bob’s first brief encounter with the vehicular love of his life was in 1992, at the Birmingham Motor Show. There, on the Rover stand, was the brand new, sparkly MG RV8. He was there with a close friend and both were drawn in by the brand new, muscular, yet still distinctly MG, lines. They were both so enamoured with the car’s looks that they hopped over the red ropes separating it from the mere mortal onlookers for a closer look and maybe even a touch. They unfortunately didn’t get very far as the security muscle was quick to respond and escorted them quickly back to the public side of the ropes.