"I rescued MGJ 8L from a dull existence in Dorset early last year. After taking my cash, the vendor said "Congratulations, you're now on the bottom rung of the classics ladder" What a cheeky bugger!

This Manta, a 1972 flame red (or orange as we know it) 1900 SR Automatic, looked really good to me and induced foolish grins when I first saw it.

Admittedly, I was on a nostalgia trip, having previously owned a lovely silver Manta SR from '75 to '80 (when I was also corrosion free) and a white GTE Coupe in 1989.

MOT time, as usual, came around much too soon but not before I did what seemed like weeks of welding, so as not to appear like too much of a prat to the tester. The car was solid enough after all this attention and passed easily (told you it would be all right!).

I was by this time becoming tired of uninspiring performance and gas-guzzling fuel consumption largely due to the unsporting auto box (only recommended for OAP's or the terminally lazy). Clearly, something had to be done. A chance meeting with the local Cornish Elvis put me on to a sad-looking '86 GTE, the former pride and joy of a sailor boy now left for foreign parts. A hundred pounds was the agreed price ; the deal was done.

The GTE was rotten, the final nail in the coffin being a 12-month stint in the moist Cornish conditions, but an engine with only 5k since a bottom end rebuild seemed just what I was after. And the front brakes - I needed these too, being as they are, a very sensible alternative to the A series originals plus a parachute.

And so it came pass that the conversion was performed in my cold garage during the winter months, with splendid results.

The A now returns an acceptable 29 mpg, accelerates rather nicely, and has a potential max speed in excess of the GTE norm, due to the retention of the A series Auto rear axle with it's slightly weird final drive ratio.

The car is cheap to run, being tax-free and on classic insurance, has lots of character, looks great and is a real pleasure to drive.

This being my third Manta, and my first since 1989, I can't think why I stayed away so long."