My First Car: '62 MGA 1600 MKII, Pam (Miles) Bush, 59, Lutz

'62 MGA 1600 MKII

I drove my first car, a 1962 MGA 1600 MKII, for 30 years. It was my first love, and one of seven car restorations that followed, despite my father's disapproval of his daughter restoring cars in the '70s. It had wooden floorboards and Plexiglas side curtains for windows. Instead of door handles, the doors opened by reaching through the side curtain and pulling a cord inside the door panel. A key turned on the electrical system, but the motor started with a pull switch on the dashboard, or I could crank the engine over from the front of the car. Over many Ohio winters, I drove in the snow with the top down and a tonneau cover zipped halfway, keeping the heat inside. My MGA moved with me to Florida in 1999, but the heat quickly deteriorated the car. I sadly gave it to my brother, Rick Miles, who restored it again in Windermere. When the housing market crashed, at nearly 50 years old, Rick bravely went back to school to get his degree. He sold the car to a collector to pay for tuition. My MGA served our family well.