OCTOBER 2014
Chair: Barbara Young: 602-218-5460
V-Chair: Ginny Martin: 602-840-3554
Sec: Sue Brand: 623-934-6437
Treas: Ken Shriner: 602-316-8731
B.M.A.L: Rich Carroll: 480-473-0861
Webmaster: Dave Sutherland: 480-895-9101
The Arizona MG 'T' Roadrunner Club, formed
January 30, 1976, is: Dedicated to preserving, using
and enjoying all MG's - and to those who do so.
Membership dues are $25.00 per year (March
through February of the next year) members may
advertise MG related advertisements free of charge.
Commercial business card ads are $5.00 per issue, or
$22.50 for six consecutive issues.
Editor: Ken Martin: 602- 840-3554
Regalia: Mickey Saperstein: 602-277-5888
TSO: Jane Parker: 480-839-2980
AAHC: Ed Battershell: 602-955-0489
The Octagon Wheel is the official
newsletter of The Arizona MG 'T' Roadrunner
Club. Contributions from the members are
encouraged, and every effort will be made to
use appropriate material. The editors reserve
the right to edit for length and suitability.
Opinions expressed are those of the contributor
and do not necessarily reflect the policy or
philosophy of The Arizona MG 'T' Roadrunner
Club.
FROM THE CHAIR'S SEAT
Well autumn is here and I’m
sure most of us are looking forward to some cooler weather so
we can get our cars out of hibernation. I know I am!
We had a fun time at the Rockin’ R Ranch. For
those of you who are disappointed that I didn’t
get up on stage when called, I was afraid they
were going to make me sing. And trust me, you
would have preferred I did exactly what I did;
respectfully decline. I don’t have a musical or
rhythmical bone in my body! Thanks Bucky for
stepping up to twirl the lariats!
If I didn’t get the chance to visit with you before or after the show, I hope we can connect at
the Flamingo Open Oktoberfest at Bunnie and
Clyde’s on October 11th. We missed having it
last year because of our heavy load & time
commitments preparing for GoF West 2013, but
past events have always been great fun. Hmmm,
I wonder who will wear the flamingo hat this
year?
Enjoy the slide down into the 80’s! See you
soon!
Barb
OCTOBER 11
Flamingo Open &
Oktoberfest
NOVEMBER 15 Briskman Garage
Tour
DECEMBER 7
Christmas Party
2
The Octagon Wheel
Saturday September 13th proved to be a most
enjoyable evening for 22 Roadrunners and
Friends! The Rockin’ R Ranch is a great place
for good food, good entertainment, and lots of
hoopin’ an hollerin’! The evening began between
5:30 and 6:00 as we lined up to purchase our dinner/entertainment tickets. The line was a bit slow,
as their credit card machine was not working, so
they were back to the pen and pencil for cards.
No big deal, we visited while we were in line, and
it went quickly! We then had some time to visit
with those of us who attended this event. Dinner
was served chuck wagon style, and our plates
were piled high! There was applesauce, Bar-B-Q
beef, and, or Chicken, a nice baked potato, and
some yummy chuck wagon Beans, a roll, and a
nice piece of cake. We could also go, after dinner, to an ice cream shop at the back of the large
hall and get more dessert in the way of ice cream!
And, then it was time for some most enjoyable entertainment as a group of 5 or 6 musicians entertained us for close to an hour! Among
the musicians were Mr. and Mrs. Robson, owners
of the Rockin’ R Ranch! Their fiddler was a gentleman who has won several fiddling competitions, and he was awesome! The drummer was
great, and the gentleman who played the base fiddle in a method known as “slapping”, and he was
also very talented. A few times they had their
“number 5” in their family, a darling downs syndrome daughter! She signed a song with her
momma, and it was amazing! Sweet, sweet
young lady! The evening ended with a gun fight
out in the courtyard, and it had a most surprising
ending, which I shall not reveal in case YOU may
want to go out there on your own some Saturday
evening! Those in attendance were: Danny and
Barb Young, Ken and Ginny Martin, Ralph and
Christine Cacace, Syd and Judy Saperstein, Mark
and Bonnie Mater, Ken and Sandy Shriner, Rich
and Gail Carroll, our new club members, Keith
Gallagher and Debbie Dyer, Allen Patterson,
Buckey McChesney, his wife, and one other gen-
tleman joined us from the Arizona MG Club. We
are grateful for our Host and Hostess, Art and Lee
Kaplan who came down to the valley from their
new home in Prescott! We sincerely Thank the
Kaplans for setting up this event, and thanks to all
of you who came out and supported their efforts!
If we are fortunate enough to do this event again
in a few years, you really ought to try and attend!
By the way, kudos to Buckey McChesney who
went on stage to represent the MG group and
twirled two lassos along with volunteers from other large groups! Yah! Buckey! Last time we
went there, somehow Sherwood ended up on
stage and I believe he had to “yodel” which may
explain why he and Jane were not with us this
year! Haha!
Ginny
Top: Our destination for the evening.
Above: Roadrunners waiting for the chow bell.
3
The Octagon Wheel
Top Left: Our hosts, Lee & Art Kaplan along with Ken Shriner and Allen Patterson
Top Right, Middle Left & Right: Roadrunners enjoyed dinner and a great show.
Bottom Left & Right: Good entertainment.
AZ MG Club President, Bucky McChesney show off his rope skills.
The Octagon Wheel
4
Classic Carbodies Ltd.: The New Kid on the Block
Growing up in a home full of MGs and having initials that were intentionally derived from an MG PA (Phillip A. Metcalf), I had little
chance of escaping youth without becoming obsessed with these
vintage cars. I currently own a MGB-GT and recently acquired a
MG PA two-seater. In recent years I have become much more involved with these old cars and intend on living a life packed full of them!
While in college I have revisited The Red Car, The Motor Tramp, The Insomnia Crew, and the likes of every
Barre Lyndon and MG history book I’ve gotten my hands on. Something I realized about reading all of these
books while studying Entrepreneurship and Management is that all of the vintage car world is related to the
business world. In a way, art, cultures, economies, politics, manufacturing, wars, technology, competition and
innovation all influence the business world the same way that they influenced the cars that we love. As a result of this revelation I was able to link both my passion of vintage cars and interest in business on a higher
level.
Last Fall I was assigned a semester long project: to create
a full-length business plan and pitch it to a panel. For a
few weeks I stewed about the business plan. The idea hit
me during the Fall AACA event in Hershey, PA where I
observed a manufacturer making new steel bodies for
1930’s American cars. After dissecting many old body
tubs in my dad’s shop (Tom Metcalf, Safety Fast! Restoration) and going through the motions of writing the business plan, I decided that remanufacturing and restoring
body tubs was a feasible business idea.
The idea of reviving the ancient art of coach building is unique
in a crowd of modern tech start-ups usually favored by business
students. However, I went on to win a campus-wide followed by
a statewide business competition, which provided the validation
I needed to finally move forward and chase my love of coach
built cars. I started by seeking woodworkers in our local Amish
community. Eventually I was led to a picnic table maker per suggestion of a shop owner. The picnic table maker then referred me
to a cabinetmaker, who then referred me to another cabinetmaker, who then referred me to his brothers-in-law who were
coachbuilders by trade. After seeing the lavish coaches that these
brothers were constructing it was obvious that we had found our guys. We had a few trial runs and even went as far as constructing an
entire J2 body tub kit in a 3D AutoCAD program on my computer. The 3D AutoCAD files were used to mill the entire J2 body
tub kit with a CNC machine. It was later decided that it made the
most sense to allow our coachbuilders to put their full talents to
work. After many meetings in the woodshop (which is powered
The Octagon Wheel
5
by a single diesel engine) our first prototypes were created.
The structural metal pieces and sub-frames are made
locally, the high-quality hinges are sourced from Europe, and the body tubs are skinned by some amazingly talented metal workers. To this date we have made
body tubs for both J2s and two-seat P-Types. We are
now taking orders from the public for both of these
models and are currently developing TA (late) and TB
body tubs. TC, TD, and TF body tubs will follow and
are expected to be available for order before the end of
the year. Information on pricing, availability, and bespoke work is available upon request.
I look forward to growing in the MG world and making many new friends along the way!
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to talk with us or place an order.
Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ccbodies
Surf our website: www.ccbodies.com
E-mail us directly: [email protected]
Call Phillip Metcalf at: (419)-202-3804
Thanks to Randy Copleman for sending us this information.
I have enjoyed my TD since my 2007 purchase. I live in a retirement community, Green Valley, south of Tucson. I have enjoyed driving the car around town with occasional car shows in GV and Tubec.
Unfortunately age and stiff legs have made getting in and out of the MG difficult for me and thus I must sell
it. The suggested price I was given was $15,000 but since I can no longer drive it I am flexible.
If you could pass this along to anyone who might have an interest I
would appreciate it. This car has two tops.
This is a link for pictures is:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/
eqzqxy8lpa38dfp/oBFL-i7mUW
Steve Boyle
943 W. Placita Quieta
Green Valley, AZ 85622
(520) 342-6468
[email protected]
6
The Octagon Wheel
October
Board Meeting
This months’ Board meeting will be held
Tuesday October 21st at the home of Rich
& Gail Carroll, 11861 E. Sand Hill Rd.,
Scottsdale Starting time is 6:30 p.m. and
all members are welcome to attend.
INTER- CLUB BREAKFAST RUN
This is a great opportunity to get your British car
out for a drive on a Sunday morning once a month,
or to drive “whatever” and enjoy the company of
other folks who enjoy various British car marques.
The breakfast is hosted by the various British car
clubs taking turns to put together about a one hour
drive to end up at an eating establishment for
breakfast and camaraderie.
We always meet at the:
North West Corner of 32nd St and Shea.
We will meet at 7:30 am and leave at 8:00 am
on the tour.
NO DATE AT THIS TIME
This will be the 5th time for this
popular event to be held at the
home of:
Bunnie & Clyde Williams
1400 E. Secretariat
Tempe, AZ 85284
Co-hosted by Mary & Phil Smid
& Danny & Barbara Young
Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 2pm
Please RSVP to Barbara Young by Oct. 8th
602-218-5460
or [email protected]
Our Oktoberfest Flamingo Open will feature brats,
sauerkraut, German potato salad and braised cabbage.
We will need appetizers, salads, side dishes and
desserts. Check with Barb when you RSVP.
We will provide iced tea, soft drinks, lemonade and
water but feel free to bring your favorite beer or wine.
Play croquet starting around 2pm, have dinner around
4 and enjoy the game playoffs after dinner, with special prizes for the winners. There will be special parking in the back of the William’s home, and spectator
choice awards for those of you who drive your MG.
We look forward to seeing you on October 11th!
See attached flyer.
Sie dort sehen!
Hope to see you there!
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
7
The Octagon Wheel
“YEAR OF MANUFACTURE”
PLATE FOR YOUR CAR
You have a 195”x” car; now all you need is a 195”x”
Arizona license plate to complete its restoration and
its persona.
In Arizona the “Year of Manufacture” program allows
the owner to register and display a license plate from
the year the car was manufactured. If you are not sure
what your plate will look like, you can go to azplates.com and see what to look for. The site also explains the old system of Letters to signify the county
of registration.
Locate the plate but don’t buy it until you check with
the state to insure it is eligible to be displayed on your
car. EBay, Craig’s List, Hemming’s and professional
license plate dealers are all great sources of collector
plates. I found both of mine on EBay but it took several years of watching. They are priced according to
condition and collectability. The nice thing about
watching one on EBay is that when one does come up,
you have time during the auction to check to be sure it
will be acceptable before you buy it.
Call the DMV Special Plates Department at 480-7533316. They have proven to be very helpful. Tell them
you have a 19xx license plate and you would like to
see if it can be issued to a 19xx MG (or whatever) sedan. Stress sedan as plates for trucks were different in
the early days. They may ask you to describe it but
once they are satisfied, they can tell you, on the spot,
if it will be eligible for your car.
The last step is to bring it to the DMV to cancel your
current plate and issue a new Registration with the
Year of Manufacture plate. I am told that the commercial “Tags and Title” shops can do the same thing
without the wait but I have not tried them. Do not be
alarmed if the person on the desk has to call the Supervisor over or they have to phone someone for advice. Most of those on the desks are not familiar with
the program. Install the plate and you are “Good to
Go.”
PS. The early plates are larger than current Arizona
plates so your Chrome license plate frame will not fit.
Sherwood Parker
Doug & Carol Pelton 1948 TC
Mary Hart & Zach Zachary 1980
MGB LE
Jan & Carole Rons TA “Encore” Special
Art & Lee Kaplan 1958 MG Magnette ZB
Richard & Susan Ksenich 1952 TD
Phil Smid 1963 Austin Healey Sprite
Larry McCormley 1958 MGA
Ken & Ginny Martin 1967 MGB GT
Sherwood & Jane Parker 1955 Arnolt Coupe
Pete Gannon 1947 TC and 1960 Morgan +4
True story reported by
an English guy who
was stopped and asked
to give a breathalyzer test. The English guy
lives near Le Bugue in
the Dordogne and at the
time he was stopped he
was as pis*ed as a fart… The gendarme signals to him
to wind down the window then asks him if he has been
drinking, and with a slurring speech the English guy
replies; 'Yes, this morning I was at my (hic)..daughter's
wedding, and as I don't like church much I went to the
cafe opposite and had several beers.' 'Then during the
wedding banquet I seem to remember downing three
great bottles of wine; (hic)... a corbieres, a Minervois
and (hic)...a Faugeres.' 'Then to finish off during the celebrations.... and (hic) during the evening ...me and my
mate downed two bottles of Johnny Walker's black label.'
Getting impatient, the gendarme warns him; 'Do you
understand I'm a policeman and have stopped you for an
alcohol test'?
The Englishman with a grin on his face replies; 'Do you
understand that I'm English, like my car, and that my
wife is sitting in the other seat, at the wheel?
Thanks to Mary Hart for the laugh!