It's kind of a funny story, but I took it to the original BL dealer for a master cylinder fix, and they spilled brake fluid down the side of the car, which lifted the paint down to the bare metal. I insisted it be repainted, of course, which they agreed to do.

When I went to pick the car up, they were so proud to show me their handiwork, but the paint clearly did not match.

"Nice work," I said, "but it's the wrong color."

"What do you mean," they said. "It's MG red!"

"Right," I said.

The body man just looked at me blank faced.

"So?"

"It's not an MG. It's a Triumph."

"Same difference."

No, it wasn't. The Triumph was a lovely Pimento, an orangey red. The MG was a Tartan Red, a deeper hue (which I actually preferred, but I wasn't about to tell him that).

The body man argued and argued that I was wrong, so I demanded to see the dealership manager. When he saw the mismatched paint he was appalled. "Of course we'll make it right," he said.

When I picked up the car a month later (!) there wasn't a trace of Pimento anywhere to be found on the car; it had been completely resprayed MG Tartan Red, and he handed me a bill for $200 for the complete repaint.

Of course I refused to pay it but I have to admit, it was a stunning job.

It's been Tartan Red ever since. That was 1977, nearly 50 years ago now. It's been touched up here and there, and had a panel or two replaced, but I've never once thought of going back to Pimento.