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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - What ever happened?

What ever happened to this forum?

Once upon a time this was a space of activity, long since a sad demise.

All best and good wishes,

I can’t even figure out how to change my email from s defunct address….

Ted
Ted Persons

Sad. Looks like it has been eclipsed by the Autoshrine Forum.
Bolney Coupe

Even The MG Experience numbers are down compared to their heyday.
If you look at the bottom of the "Forums" pages you will see the participants and therefore the number of people currently logged on. It also shows on the page the "Record Number of Users: 252 on January 30, 2014" .That was over eleven years ago now. They never get anywhere near those numbers at any one time now.

I think it's a combination of the aging demographic of people interested in classic MG's (and all the British post-was sports cars) as well the trend to other forms of social media for discussion groups. But mostly the former; there are ever fewer of us. Unfortunately we have simply gotten old.
And our cars get used less often.


T Aczel

1) This forum's software is about 20 years out of date.
2) Social Media sites are easier for many people to use.
3) Other forums have taken a lot of people, partly because of modern features they offer.
4) The age thing.

This forum used to be the only place to go for MGA discussion!
Steve Simmons

OK, I'm an old fogey (80) and right darned proud of it and I find this old technology much easier to use that modern stuff. That's possibly because I've used this for a long time and have never become comfortable with the newer stuff. I'm sure the age thing is a big part of the issue but, interestingly, over the past three years the membership in my local British Car club has grown from about 60 to over 160 so we must be doing something right. We have club drives at least once a week where we tour through mountain roads and eat at local pubs and breweries. We have monthly garage sessions where members bring their car to the club garage and get help from knowledgeable other members. We keep'em running, keep driving'em and have fun with them. We have few if any garage/trailer queens. I miss the many discussions on this forum but I guess that's just the way it is. The only think that is constant is change.

Jud
'53 TD driver
'62 MGA MkII driver
'72 MGB driver

The pics are just recent examples of me leading one of our drives.





J K Chapin

The whole of this BBS seems to have gone very quiet.

The Midget and Sprite general section is the only one that still gets posts virtually every day. The TD-TF seems fairly active, followed by MGA.

I wonder how long it can keep going.

I’m only early sixties, but I’m not inclined to head over to facebook, so I will stick around here for as long as it lasts.
Dave O'Neill 2

I'm still (barely) under 60 and regularly spend time on several social sites. BBS is different in a good way. This is where I come to learn about my car from a community that KNOWS the MGA. Sure, I could go check on Barney's site, or read the shop manual (both of which I do), but those are static sources with one opinion each. This forum gives me a range of opinions based on years of real experience.

I rarely start a project on my car without consulting archived comments on this site.

DJ Zurawski

Eight years ago I ran an unscientific survey regarding the age of MGA owners, and several weeks ago I performed a follow-up survey. The result: we've aged, and younger enthusiasts just have no interest in MGA's. Its generational and demographic issues which are at play; survey results are attached.

Nick Kopernik

The FB forums seem to have taken over a lot of the traffic. The MGA Fan Club is one quite active group.
Steve Gyles

There are many advantages to not being on Facebook, which is why I'm not. Personally, I use this forum as my primary reference for all my questions, but I don't participate much because almost all my doubts have already been answered, and I don't have the expertise to help with new issues. We shouldn't worry about participation; I believe it's a basic, fundamental, and irreplaceable source of information. The technology may be somewhat outdated, but it's easy to consult and participate. Anyone who wants change should think long and hard before making a decision.
Gabriel Martnez

I also find it very sad that this site is not what it was - and I think there is a lot of truth in what everyone has already said.
But also as Gabriel touched on, there is such a wealth of information and opinion in the archives of this forum, and frankly there are seldom any questions that come up that havent been asked before, so maybe folk find their answer without the need to ask?
Graham V

I'm sure there's some truth in everything that's been said. Also, it could be that all the topics have been covered. I'll often find the info I need in the archive without having to ask a new question. So the forum is kind of a victim of its own success.
Pete W

perhaps when we find that pearl in the archive we should reactivate and post our question there for those who have only been on for ten or fewer years. I've had my MGA since 2016 and my TD since 2012 but I still consider myself a newbie.

Jud
J K Chapin

I think that since Barney Gaylord started contributing less to this forum, many MGA owners lost interest. Until I sold my MGA, I checked the new posts almost daily. I always followed the conversations with great love and pleasure and wish all members all the best for the new year.
Wim Betzel

I'm wondering if AI has got anything to do with it? For instance, several weeks ago, I had wiring problems with an electronic rev counter. I asked questions in different group posts, got varying answers, and none successful. When I asked the same question on Google AI, there it was, the perfect solution/answer!
Gary Lock

Did you ask on this forum Gary------------AI as they are calling it isn't the b all and end all, it's just an average of acumulated data that it reads from forums like this very one-
William Revit

I agree with William, although like Gary, I did find the answer to one question on my MGA from Ai.
To enforce what William said, I was helping a recently widowed friend with her late husbands tax return and a rather unusual quetion came up that I couldnt find the answer to on the government sites. Ai gave me an answer that I was suspicious of, and when i asked for its source, it referred me to a forum psting! - it was garbage!
Graham V

AI isn't actually intelligence. It's just a sophisticated search engine (like Google, etc) that is programmed to collate the data and present it as its own. It doesn't know anything, can't think for itself and can't reason. Therefore all it can do is regurgitate what humans already wrote, and we hope it gets the meanings correct.

I was searching for info on something MG-related a while back, and the AI result that automatically displays first was a nearly word for word paragraph that I had written on my own website. It stole my content, which by the way had a copyright notice on it. They don't care because they know you can't afford to sue them.
Steve Simmons

Then there’s AI hallucinations:-

AI hallucination is when an AI generates plausible-sounding but factually incorrect, nonsensical, or fabricated information, often presented confidently as truth, stemming from its pattern-matching nature rather than actual understanding or delusion. These errors, seen in chatbots and image generators, can range from minor inaccuracies to dangerous falsehoods, posing risks in high-stakes areas like medicine, law, and finance, and highlighting the need for human verification and careful prompting.
What it looks like
A chatbot citing non-existent legal cases in a court brief.
An AI image generator creating historically inaccurate images (e.g., varied races for historical figures).
A language model providing incorrect financial figures or biographical details for a well-known entity.
Why it happens
Pattern Recognition: LLMs predict likely word sequences based on vast data, not genuine knowledge, so they can create convincing but false narratives.
Data Issues: Biases, errors, or limitations in the training data can lead to incorrect outputs.
Context Misinterpretation: The AI might misunderstand complex prompts or context, leading it astray.
Risks and implications
Misinformation: Spreading false news or emergency information.
Legal & Financial Harm: Incorrect legal precedents or financial data can have severe consequences.
Safety Hazards: Hallucinations in autonomous systems could lead to accidents.
How to mitigate it
Verification: Always fact-check AI outputs, especially for critical information.
Prompt Engineering: Use clear, specific prompts, ask the AI to explain its steps (chain-of-thought), or provide examples to guide it.
Acknowledge Limitations: Understand that AI generates plausible text, not necessarily truthful text
Dave O'Neill 2

A few comments about AI from another old guy who, like Jud is 80.

Back in 2004 I hacked out a website for our MGA using what was at the time the latest technology. Of course that meant anyone who wanted to look at it on a phone or tablet saw some pretty ugly stuff so I asked my son how to best use AI to update it.

He set me up with a combination of AI tools that resulted in the ability for me to say simple commands, like hey Claude, please scan the existing website and make some suggestions on how to bring it up-to-date

Without me having to write any code, just pointing the AI from Anthropic called Claude it was able to work back-and-forth with me to completely redesign the old website, but still have the same look and feel that I liked.

Here is the new result:

www.mga-mk2.com

I’m still going through and tweaking things here and there, but the beautiful thing is that it is so easy now for me to add new pages so I can begin updating it to capture all the recent trips we’ve taken

Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year - hope to keep seeing you back here on the forum

- Ken
KR Doris

A few comments about AI from another old guy who, like Jud is 80.

Back in 2004 I hacked out a website for our MGA using what was at the time the latest technology. Of course that meant a one who wanted to look at it on a phone or tablet saw some pretty ugly stuff so I asked my son how to best use AI to update it.

He set me up with a combination of AI tools that resulted in the ability for me to say simple commands, like hey Claude, please scan the existing website and make some suggestions on how to bring it up-to-date

Without me having to write any code, just pointing the AI from Anthropic called Claude it was able to work back-and-forth with me to completely redesign the old website, but still have the same look and feel that I liked.

Here is the new result:

www.mga-mk2.com

I’m still going through and tweaking things here and there, but the beautiful thing is that it is so easy now for me to add new pages so I can begin updating it to capture all the recent trips we’ve taken

Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year - hope to keep seeing you back here on the forum

- Ken
KR Doris

Ken, that's the perfect application for "AI" tools. It doesn't know anything except what we've programmed ourselves, but it's a way to easily apply that information without having to hire a human. But here comes the moral dilemma of replacing humans with machines that use what those same humans spent their lives inventing...
Steve Simmons

Steve - that’s an excellent point - lots of humans spent lots of time and trouble to create things that the AI tools are just using for free

As you said they scraped your website and quoted from it without giving you credit !

An interesting sidelight to to my story is that what my son set up was having the AI tool Claude actually call the AI tool Gemini to do the mundane discovery work!

Yes, I’m paying for subscriptions to both, but it was just amusing to see one treating the other like a servant :)

- Ken
KR Doris

In response to Dave O’Neill about the types of mistakes AI can make

Earlier this year I paid for a ChatGPT account just to play with image generation.

I started by asking you to create various scenes with our 1962 MGA Mark II and it generated the first scene with an MGA 1500 I corrected it and the next scenes had a MKI🤦🏻‍♂️

In the dialogue with me, the AI BOT kept saying things like “good catch“ or “you have a good eye”

- Ken
KR Doris

As we all know, this lovely forum is drying up. Do we know if, once all the threads disappear, whether the MGA archives will still be available?
It is still a very valuable resource
Graham V

I do worry about what will happen to the BBS. It obviously costs money to host it. Will advertisers still keep paying if there’s very little activity?
Dave O'Neill 2

Dave
If we keep talking, maybe the site will keep going😊
Graham V

We can but try 🤞🏻
Dave O'Neill 2

Yes, lets try!
Graham V

OK. :)
Steve Simmons

Welcome. Do u think its working or do we need another thread?
Graham V

Just in case I will start a new threat about MGA auctions

- Ken
KR Doris

I used to be a regular on this BBS until 2021. I stopped contributing after I retired and sold my MGA and moved to Thailand where I now live 500m from one of the nicest beaches in Asia.

Corruption and expensive import regulations made it impractical to keep the MGA
Dominic Clancy

Dominic
Life is all about compromise i guess. But you are missed from the community. I do remember you always had very informative contributions. Do you still maintain your website and the updated workshop manual?
Graham V

This thread was discussed between 17/11/2025 and 13/04/2026

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