Tom Darcy bought his Damask Red 1975 MGB roadster brand new in May 1975.
"It had 10 miles when it showed up in the lot," he said, adding he didn't think he would still own the car 41 years later. "I didn't plan on this," he said. "I bought the car because I was a young kid and ran it as a daily driver for two years."
Actually, at 27 he was more a young man than a kid. But two years later he decided to put it away during the winter after doing a 360-degree skid on the Massachusetts Turnpike. "I decided I needed something for the winter and bought a pickup," he said. He subsequently kept the MGB garaged during the winter months.
Darcy, 67, and a retired Cranston firefighter, said he and his wife, Linda, only use the car in the summer, driving it 800 to 1,000 miles — he sets the trip odometer every spring. They always drive with the top down. "It's like being in a cocoon with the top up," he said. "It's not what it's meant to be."
Meanwhile, Linda is as keen on the car as he is. "Oh, gosh, yes, I love it," she said. "Sitting back in the car, it's glorious."
With 141,000 miles on the clock, the car is in great shape, thanks partly to being garaged every winter and partly due to a restoration Darcy had done from August 2003 to July 2004.