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Back to this month's car of the month
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Car Of The Month :
October 2013
'Shades of Yellow' by Yella Fella
The MGR bug bit me in 2006 when I bought an MGF as a second car. I then fancied a ZT as a family car and bought a 52 plate MKI ZT V6 in Trophy Blue which I loved to bits
but my wife disliked due to it visiting the fuel pump way too often. We sold it after 18 months or so and bought a diesel Peugeot 407 SW with 100K on the clock.
Oh dear, this was a mistake because it was never out of the garage for repairs so I quickly made my mind up, it had to go.
So I began trawling the ‘net and a yellow ZT 1.8 Turbo was spotted on Gumtree. The better fuel economy would please my wife the financial adviser and as an added bonus
the car was only 20 minutes away. The seller had been trying to sell it for four months before resorting to “swap or what have you”.
I thought there must be something wrong with the car for it to be unsold for so long but I soon found out why.
The owner told me he had turned several buyers away because he just didn’t like them! He was super strict and the ZT was clearly his baby and he wasn’t going to sell it to just anyone.
He had told one potential buyer to get off his property and never return because he had suggested the ZT had been re-sprayed.
So, like many before me, I was duly vetted but deemed a suitable buyer for his baby. I think the clinching statement was that I was a member of the 75 and ZT Owners Club.
So the ZT became mine with the condition that I take it to events and send him pictures. We agreed to swap my diesel Peugeot 407 SW for his ZT and £200 his way. Yella Fella became mine.
As soon as I drove him home I knew I had a good car.
During my ownership, my claim to fame is introducing the Seat Leon front splitter to the 75 and ZT world which has now become a regular sight on lots of ZT’s and some 75’s.
Since then the dark side grasped my imagination and wallet and I moved onto the following:
• V8 bumper and MG7 grill transforming the front end.
• MKI Yellow and Blue Matrix seats.
• All blue LED dash and other switches.
• Radioguy Double Din unit with blue illumination.
• MGR side skirts.
At this point I stopped modifying because the car now appears as good as I think it can and still retains the factory look.
Being a dull yellow colour, the car doesn’t get noticed much, aye right! It constantly receives looks and comments from passers’ by.
It makes a good show car because it stands out from the other MG-Rover colours, however, due to a certain gentleman from the Scottish region,
namely Tim Burgess, who has owned some really beautiful 75’s Yella Fella always comes in second place, I tend now not to attend shows if I know Tim is.
Yella Fella is currently at 47,500 miles and without a doubt, he is a keeper. I’d be a fool to let him go.
Any replacement would seem dull in comparison and I still send pictures to the previous owner of the car at shows and meets.
Article written by member Yella Fella
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