Randall Bott's MG Midget Page
I'm Randall Bott and a funny thing happened to me when I was a mere child of 15.  I was walking home from school when a neighbor girl gave me a ride home in her little MG Midget.  I got into the car and fell in love.  I had been in my dad's Chevy station wagon and my grandfather's Buick, but never in a car like that.  I was in heaven, cruising down the road in a sporty convertible with an older woman.  I knew that life couldn't get any better.  Someday I had to have a car like that.

Fast forward six years and I'm 21. I found a used Midget and picked it up.  Here is a picture of it. The car was everything I expected and it drove like it had been built for me.  I drove it for less than a year when I decided to enter a large chess tournament down in Columbus.  A friend of mine ( a USCF master rated player) went with me and while driving through downtown Columbus we drove into an intersection and were broad sided by a car.  The impact took off the front of the Midget and miraculously we weren't hurt; And this was before airbags!  Seems that someone had stolen the stop sign.  The car was totaled and we took the bus home. I knew I had to have another MG.

A couple of years later I was 23 years old and I bought a brand new 1979 MG Midget.  What a car!  I was young, slim, and the car fit me like a glove.  I drove the car for a few years and had a few electrical problems.  I ran out of cash and put the car in my garage for a couple years and then sold it to my cousin, Ray Burgett.  He drove it for a year and then put it in his garage where it sat for over 15 years!!!  A couple of months ago I spoke to him and mentioned the car.  He said that he still had it and if I wanted it I could have it for free!!  My mind raced and I decided to get the car into my pole barn and restore it back to the way it was when I got it. Looking back I can't understand why I bought the car in brown.  I'm a delivery driver for United Parcel Service and drive a brown truck every day!  Here is a picture of the car when it was new, here is another one.  The guy sitting on the car is my brother Tim.  Sorry for the pictures being in black and white.  I'll try to find some pictures in color.

When I got the car home from my cousin I realized a serious problem.  When I bought the car I weighed around 175 lbs.  I now weigh around 250!!!  I got into the car and couldn't believe how small it was.  I asked my cousin if he had left it out in the rain and if it had shrunk?  When I got out I needed help and clearly understood that while I'm restoring it I'm going to have to go on a serious diet!

As I work on the car I'll put in some pictures and share all of the problems I encounter.  If you have any tips on midget repair or diet advice drop me some e-mail.
 

Randall S. Bott
 

PS.  I have a genealogy page called The Burgett Family in America, check it out.