Jennifer Orum loves to drive her beautifully restored flame red 1970 MGB sports car.
That’s a bit of an understatement, considering the West Vancouver woman has circled North America several times with her cherished convertible and plans to do it again next year.
A chance meeting in 2001 with another sailing enthusiast in a ferry lineup led Jennifer to become reacquainted with the sporty British roadster that she loved in her youth but could never afford. One day, the woman pulled into her driveway in a 1980 MGB Special Edition with the top down. That did it. The memories came back. Jennifer wanted one.
The now-retired Coordinator of Student Financial Services at the British Columbia Institute of Technology admitted to having a ‘mid-life crisis’ in the ad she posted in Vancouver-area British car repair shops when looking for a suitable MGB.
She was very specific in what she was looking for: ‘Wanted, 1968 to 1974 MGB with overdrive. Red or British Racing Green preferred.’
Jennifer had joined the Canadian Classic MG Club to learn everything she could about these cars. She knew the pre-1968 models did not have transmissions with synchromesh on all four gears and could not be downshifted easily into first.
Mounties provide and honour guard for Jennifer Orums 1970 MGB at an international MG show in Ottawa last July.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
MGBs built from mid-1974 through the 1980 model year are known as ‘rubber bumper Bs’ with black bumpers required to meet US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards. She wanted a classic MGB with delicate chrome bumpers, wire wheels and the overdrive that’s an advantage for long distance cruising.
She thought she had found the right car in Victoria and contacted local MGB expert Mike Owen to look it over.
“This is not the right car for you,” he said at the end of the inspection.
A week later, one of his customers told him it was time to sell the 1970 MGB that Mike had completely restored for him six years before. This was the car for Jennifer.
She took a bus to Victoria with a bank draft for $16,000 and bought the car. It was October 20, 2001 — by wonderful coincidence, this particular MGB’s birthday as it had rolled off the British Leyland Motor Company’s Abingdon assembly line in England on Oct. 20, 1969. The car had been initially shipped to California and then imported into Canada to Victoria by the previous owner.
Since acquiring her cute little sports car, which she calls ‘B52,’ Jennifer has driven it 115,000 kilometres around North America to participate in shows, rallies, slaloms and autocross competitions. The first trip was in 2003 to Mount Hood, Oregon for the North America MGA Register’s Get Together. The only problem with the car was a loose wire that temporarily disabled the ignition.
Jennifer Orum and MG friends In Victoria at the start of the Capital to the Capital Cruise (C2C) to a national show in Ottawa last summer.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
Next came the North American MGB Register’s MG2005 show in Olympia, Wash., followed by MG2007 in Sonoma, California and then directly to a NAMGAR Get Together in Whistler. In 2009, she drove to an MGB event in Breckenridge, Colo.
The next year, Jennifer and her roadster went across the continent to Delevan, Wisconsin for GT-35. She then attended the all-MG gathering in Reno, Nevada in 2011. She was honoured that year to receive the Enthusiast of the Year award from the North American MGB Register. Two years ago, she drove to GT-37 in Dayton, Ohio.
Last year, she and B52 travelled more than 17,000 kilometres, much of it solo. She went first to Ottawa and then on to the North American MGA Register’s GT-38 show in Asheville, N.C.
In 2013, the MG Owners Club of Northern California presented her with their Longest Distance Travelled award. She was also given the Driver of the Year award by the MG Car Club Northwest Centre (Seattle).
This past summer, she travelled 13,000 kilometres around North America. She went first to San Francisco where she joined members of the Sorry Safari Touring Society to head north again to Victoria. There she joined the Cruise to the Capital — a convoy of MG cars — heading to the GT-39 show in Ottawa before driving back to San Francisco where she keeps a small apartment.
Jennifer is a member of seven MG and other British car clubs in both Canada and the U.S. and is very active locally in the Canadian Classic MG Club/ Canadian XK Jaguar Register.
The well-traveled 1970 MGB owned by West Vancouvers Jennifer Orum on display.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
She travels with a full bevy of tools and parts organized in boxes stored in the boot (the British word for trunk). These include a fuel pump, filter and carburetor parts, a full ignition set, hoses, radiator and gas caps, extra brake, turn signal and hazard light switches, all replacement light bulbs, fuses, a water pump and gaskets.
The only real trouble she’s had on her cross-continent journeys was the failure of a new oil pressure hose that had been installed only a month before.
But she had kept the original and roadside repairs west of Indianapolis by a fellow MG driver saw her swiftly back on her way.
Her secret is having a great mechanic. She often calls Mike Owen in Victoria from somewhere on the road. “This is making a noise. What do you think it is and what should I do?” More often than not, the problem is quickly and easily sorted out and she keeps on rolling. “I have learned to remain calm and to not get upset,” she says.
Coming up in 2015 is another long trip east to attend back-to-back shows. The first is in Niagara Falls, Ont., and, one week later, in the Bavarian-style resort community of Frankenmuth, Mich.
“I want to do these things while I can. I may live a little longer if I keep moving,” she says referring to the escalating mortality rate among her large circle of friends.
How long will Jennifer keep driving her treasured MGB?
“I plan to do this well into my 80s,” she says. “After all, people sail into their eighties. Why can’t I drive?”
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com