When Top Gear used to have facts in it

THE chap at the bar, despite being someone I'd never met before, turned to me and went all car enthusiast on me.

"Where's your Mini, then?" he asked, deducing that as I was in the pub with mates from the local Mini owners' club, my notoriously fickle example would be outside in the car park, rusting quietly.

"Sold it. I've got an MG now," I responded, expecting that to be that, but a glint in his eyes somehow revealed I wasn't getting off that lightly.

"What sort of MG?" he asked.

"An MGB," I said, smug in the knowledge that the MGB, of course, is a proper MG, crafted centuries ago by stout chaps in the actual Morris Garages factory in the good old days. Not for me some Rover 25 with a Halfords bodykit. Unfortunately, I still wasn't going to be let off that lightly.

"What sort of MGB?"

Now usually I'd panic at this point because - as regular readers - will know, I'm a fully committed car enthusiast but not one who actually knows anything about how cars actually work. This could be a proper grilling from someone who actually knows how carburettors work. This could be embarrassing.

Luckily, the night before, I'd watched an old Public Information Film, which usually cover things like the Highway Code and why not to fish next to electricity pylons, but in this case it was an old Top Gear clip I'd found which might as well have been called Things you should know if you're about to get grilled by an MGB enthusiast. For once, I've actually learned something!

I'd like to lie and show you this clip I found on YouTube for the benefit of everyone who has even a vague interest in old sports cars, but really it's for the benefit of my dad, who despite knowing a trillion times more about cars than I do admits even he's got gaps in his knowledge of Britain's best selling roadster.

What's more, it's from an episode of proper Top Gear from ye olden days, so you get the idyllic image of an enthusiastic bumble through the countryside and some facts.

So there you have it, Mr Man at the Bar; I own a '72 GT in Harvest Gold with the 1.8 litre, BMC B-Series engine, four speed box with the desirable Overdrive option, Webasto sunroof and Rostyle steel wheels.

What's more, it's nearly finished and there's a summer of blasting it down country roads in the sunshine just a few months away. I can't wait.