A few photos
tos from our drive and cookout at Lake Fort Smith State Park, October 18, 2014
Perfect fall weather, about 15 cars (mostly British) and 25 folks enjoyed the morning. It was a pleasure meeting new member Jon
Jo Goodwin,
who has a 'new', very nice TR6. Jon
n is sitting next to Bill Watkins, above. We had one car failure (Corvette) - unreliable gas gauge! Thank you
Sue Tennant for making the reservations and cooking. A first
first-class facility and nice roads getting there.
Quiz for the BI-List
Wil
You can't have knee joint replacement these days without going through all the preliminary steps - which is fine with
me. So my Physical Therapist asked me about
out some upcoming college game and correctly judging the
th stupid look on
my face said "Orr don't you follow college football?" So after saying I followed international FF-1
1 and sports car racing,
he had another question, "Why hasn't F-1
1 racing become more popular in this country?" Well, I immediately had
several reasons, but instead just
ust said "Well, it's complicated." Pretty lame, huh? But why would I want to give the real
reasons when he is in the position of causing me a lot of (more) pain?
But to answer his question, we first have to think what do major US sports offer spectators that fills stadiums full of
people in this country?? I can think of four quick answers, and there are more.
1. ________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
__________________
4. ________________________________________________
Instead of waiting, please put your answers on the BI
BI-List, under the Subject line 'Quiz answers' as soon as you read
the newsletter.. Formula 1 and the former American Le Mans Series sports car racing only have a couple of the needed
ingredients. We could get some interesting answers. Give it a shot.
BRITISH
>WELL WORTH READING SOME OF THE TIME<
November, 2014 issue
BRITISH is the official publication of the not-officious
BRITISH IRON TOURING CLUB OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
casually founded in 1981.
Dedicated to the preservation, touring, towing, racing and discussion of British cars and always striving for
conciseness.
November is National "The last month to enjoy a car that was designed to be enjoyable, unless you are
fortunate enough to own a modern, reliable British car, which is not an oxymoron, but just means you
are probably making payments so you can have an enjoyable British car to drive in December as
well." Month
Contact Us
- Find our most excellent site in ‘web-land’ at www.britishironnwa.org
- To contact our President: [email protected]
- To contact the editor: 479-855-1267 or [email protected]
Members staying in touch:
We have our own club email list-server – contact Jim Carney [email protected] to sign up and stay up to date.
Our electronic (not Lucas) newsletter
In addition to member emailing, the complete newsletter may be found on our website.
Monthly Meetings
We meet for grub, grog and gab on the 2nd Thursday of every month except December.
Other meetings
The 4th Friday of every month is Social Night at our clubhouse and garage, the Brit Stop.
Most Saturdays mornings after the Monthly Meeting we gather at the Brit Stop for tech sessions or tinkering.
Scheduled events and club activities are posted on page 3.
Other Brit Stop activities as arranged. See your BI-List emails.
++++
Meeting Night, Oct 9: We were all very pleased to have Dena Dixon and Jim Peckham join us tonight. Dena looked very chipper and we hope
to see her soon walking. The drink service was slow tonight, although the single waitress was trying to keep up. We had a number of guests
with us this evening, but more 'friends of friends' than potential new members. Jim Carney wasn't available for a Treasurer's report. Bill W.
called on the Editor, who replied how well member stories were coming in since he stopped asking for them! Bill introduced Dempsey Brown,
from the Northwest technical Institute in Springdale. He expressed his thanks for our forthcoming student donations, but explained he wanted his
students to work for the awarded money, not just be given it. (We like the way he thinks) A contest of some sort will be arranged. Several club
activities were settled, but will have taken place before this reaches you. See EVENTS on page 3 for November and December events. When
Bill asked who was going to Hallett, only the Editor raised his hand. This prompted a short but passionate address from Yrs. Trly about the
oddity of car club members attending 'sports with balls' activities, but not being interested in sports car races. After this plea, Bill again asked
how many were going and the Editor raised his hand. (Note to self - never run for elective office) The next item was a picnic later in the month
and lots of hands went up!! (Note to self - to boost an agenda, emphasize the eating) Bill announced that the final tally for ALS was just short of
$18,000, after adding in the host hotel room rebates. We again expressed our willingness to continue putting on a car show for 2015. It is a large
factor in uniting the club.
OUR CREDO: Varies, but if you don't like it they only have a 30 day shelf life.
Publisher’s Note: 1) Member contributions are always given preference. Send in something and test this statement! Allow for one month lead time. 2) Other
clubs and entities, sufficiently desperate, are welcome to make use of material from BRITISH. Please credit author and source.
1
BEHIND THE WHEEL (From the right hand side)
No one can say that we don’t take the “Touring Club” part of our club name seriously. We had a
lovely drive to Lake Ft. Smith State Park for a cook out. Many thanks to Sue Tennant for organizing this and
especially for doing most of the cooking. Sue is our club “events coordinator” and she does a great job for us.
Tell her “thank you” next time you see her. Also, if you see Ali ask him why his Corvette stopped en route (I
won’t say “broke down”) along the way. Or better yet, ask his wife Melody.
The left over hot dogs and hamburgers from the car show have been a real boon to our club social life.
Thus far we have used them for two cook-outs at the shop during our Social Nights plus the Lake Ft. Smith
gathering. Thanks to Sam’s Club for the donation.
Further on the touring front, Bill Fitzgerald organized a drive into Southern Missouri on Saturday,
November 1st. Lisa and I were otherwise occupied in Little Rock and could not attend but from what I
gathered from the BI-List after the fact it sounds like those who made it had a wonderful time. Thanks to Bill
Fitz for organizing this event.
There is one more tour in the works as I write this as we prepare for the annual drive to Jasper for
lunch at the Ozark Café on the 8th. Again, Sue has set this up with the restaurant. If things go as planned this
trip may be the debut of the newly repaired Jaguar 3.8S. Here’s hoping we all had a trouble free drive and a
beautiful day.
The Storey’s hosted their usual wonderful Halloween party on, well, Halloween. I think this year their
haunted house was bigger than ever. They put an amazing amount of work into this each year. I know at least
one person, who shall remain anonymous but is married to me, who refused to go through the haunted house
this year based on past experience. A strong endorsement for the Storey family’s work! We had a good
turnout for the party with lots of good food and several amusing costumes. You really did miss out if you
didn’t see Friar Wino and his date, Cleopatra.
Doug and I had a lunch meeting last week with the two guys who are our contacts with Castrol, Pete
and Joe, plus Jennifer with the ALS office. The objective of this meeting was to try to leverage (don’t you
love corporate speak??) Joe and Pete’s connections in the automotive supplier industry and Jennifer’s
connections from her Wal-Mart days to expand (a) promotion of our car show, (b) sponsorship from the
supplier community and (c) participation by car owners. This was a great meeting that left me pumped up for
our 2015 car show. It is a bit early for me to start getting excited about next year but that really was the effect
of the meeting. Pete, Joe, and Jennifer had some great ideas and some great contacts that we can use.
Speaking of the 2015 car show, we have selected a date - or, rather, had a date thrust upon us. The
2015 Razorback football schedule is already out - the earliest I can ever remember - and we really have no
choice but to hold the event on the same weekend as we did this year - September 11th and 12th. It was either
that or late October. It is unfortunate that we end up only a week after the KC show but we really cannot
control this.
There will be one change to our usual schedule of activities this month: Our monthly Social Night
will be Friday, November 14th. We will cook burgers again since we still have some. Two reasons for this:
(1) the Castrol guys want to join us at the shop and this date works best for them and (2) having 4th Friday on
the day after Thanksgiving was a bust last year. So, for November we will move it up to the 14th. Also, the U
of A has announced that the LSU game on the 15th won’t kick off until 7:00 p.m. which frees up our morning
for a Tech Session. I know Doug Schrantz and new member John Goodwin are both interested in having their
cars looked at.
So plan on being at the shop both the evening of the 14th and the morning of the 15th. It is a packed
month and I hope we see you at all of our events.
Bill Watkins
2
YE OLDE STAFF
The Throne…
Bill Watkins
[email protected]
Counselor to the Throne...
Doug Schrantz
The Counting House…
Jim Carney
[email protected]
Web Master…
David Freeman
Events Coordinator…
Sue Tennant
Archivist…
Larry Roe
Contributing Editor...
Charles S. Wells
Scribe; AKA Yrs. Trly, Yr. Ed… Wil Wing
[email protected]
For those of us new to the roads used to navigate down to
the Lake Fort Smith State Park, it doubled the pleasure of the
morning drive. And the facility is quite new with everything in
good condition. Let's do it again next year!
When Ali's 'Vette broke down going to the park (actually
just out of gas) we heard that some members were
standing in the road! Good grief! PLEASE don't do that!
Wanted: more old family photos with cars, such as provided
by Charles Wells on page 4.
MISC
It amazes Yr. Ed. that the stories from members are
flowing in since I've stopped begging at Meeting Nights.
'We' are too grateful to worry about the meaning of this
peculiar circumstance.
Perhaps as a result of frequent all-night drives while in the Air
Force, Yr. Ed. still enjoys setting out in the dark for a distant
location - even though I haven't been able to outrun the dawn
yet. Going to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit to see the last
sports car races of the year was good, but then driving sports
cars quickly, to and from, is half the fun.
Hallett Raceway is an extremely visitor-friendly sports
car track. Entry fee is very modest and you get to mingle
with the race cars and drivers - no paddock passes
required. And the restaurant will keep you from starving.
And from NWA you get two and a half hours in the 70 80 mph range to and from - faster if you dare. Oh, the
TR7 ran very well, thanks for asking, and why not, since
it still had less than 50,000 miles before starting out. We
will wait for Mark Cory's 2014 race report, but his Sprite
ran strongly while I was there and Mark won one race.
Brad Esslinger was on hand helping Mark with the
wrenches.
For those who might be thinking of racing the dawn - if you
left NYC going west an hour before dawn and wanted to
arrive in LA and hour before dawn, it would be necessary to
average about 1,037.00 mph. Your sports car won't do it.
The Cory's grandchildren are beautiful and bright and it
was a pleasure seeing them react to the racing. The
family came out to see 'grand pa' run on Sunday
afternoon.
You won't see the term 'LBC' often from Yrs. Trly, because it
seems patronizing and is often inaccurate. Patronizing
because it is a holdover from the dumb old days when we
thought "bigger is always better". And are Rolls, Daimlers,
big Jaguar saloons, etc. "little"? Besides, all the marques
carry plenty of prestige. And if you mean 'sports cars', why
not just say it? But the term will never be edited out.
Welcome to Jim Peckham's ABC Block as advertisers.
Strangely, Jim doesn't have business cards, so a trial ad
will run in the NOV and DEC issues. Notice to all
potential advertisers: the rate is still one year (12 issues)
of business card ads for only $50.
From this spring's Winter Park British show: seeing even
this modest a car is wonderful when it is authentically
presented as when it left the facto... ah... my gosh,
couldn't he find something more believable to replace
the missing factory air filter (if it had one) than a K&N?
The great unanswered question: Is it faster or slower than a
Spritely?
Someone suggested that the leftover hamburgers and
hot dogs from out 2014 show be buried in a time capsule
and then dug up in 50 years for a cookout at the Brit
Stop. (joke)
Bill Fitzgerald's MO drive on Nov 1 was a great success and
pleasure for 23 of us. Thank you Bill! Nice work! We hope
to have some photos next month.
COMING EVENTS
NOV 8 - Drive and picnic to Jasper, AR. Leave from RT. 265
& Rt. 16E at 10:00 AM. Lunch at the Ozark Cafe.
DEC 6 - Christmas party at the Storey's. 6:30, pot luck
dinner (bring a dish) and 'Dirty Santa' gift exchange $10.00 or less.
JAN 1, 2015 - New Year's day gathering. Location t/b/d
Many activities come up late that cannot be included here. Join
and watch our BI-List email group
MEETING NIGHT
NOV 13: Razorback Pizza, RT. 412, Springdale, just
past Lowe's. Sixish. Business at 7:00.
3
Car Chat
Charles and Wil
Charles and I were emailing and he happened to mention the Riley Kestrel and 'aero' body styles of the mid-'thirties came up. I replied:
"The Riley Kestrels you mentioned are lovely little cars, but I've never seen
one in the flesh and don't even know if any are in the US. But MG had a few
'airline' types and there was at least one very attractive Bentley - and a few
ugly examples, as well. I'm attaching a 1935 Thrupp and Maberly 'Airflow
Saloon' Bentley 3-1/2 liter car that I'd like to find under my Christmas tree.
Big door opening and lots of legroom available."
To which Charles replied:
"What a splendid looking motor the Thrupp & Maberly Bentley is. How
many remember that T&M had earlier provided the body for Sir Henry
Segrave's LSR contender Golden Arrow? Having been acquired by the
Rootes organization in 1925, T&M also did a number of bodies for
Humbers, Hillmans, Talbots and Sunbeam-Talbots, and convertibles
for Minx, Gazelle and Rapier."
Englishman Sir Henry O'Neil de Hane Segrave, born 22 September, 1996 in Baltimore, Maryland. Died 13 June,
1930 (age 33) Windermere, Cumbria, England. The Golden Arrow from a 1929 photo, and now at the National Motor Museum, England. He
died trying to set a new world ultimate water speed record on Lake Windermere. There is now a fine museum of boats there, in the water,
but indoors.
Charles also commented on my teenage impression and wholly fabricated roadtest "Time Capsule 1948" in the October issue of BRITISH:
"The rural idyll of Chipping Norton portrayed in the motoring magazines of the 1940s has long since gone, but I can just about remember
the green grocer, who was forced to close by the advent of a supermarket. No longer able to fit my growing sister and I comfortably into
the back of his BMW 327, my father bought my mother a Ford Prefect, but always insisted upon driving it himself on family outings. As
the attached photo depicts, it was a tremendous hit with Stephanie and me, as we could at last look out as we motored along. The BMW,
with hood erect, was like being in a tunnel. Bought second-hand, the Prefect was not at all bad and I have happy memories of it. However,
its lack of urge made my father change it for a Hillman Minx, which in reality was little quicker."
Charles and Sister Stephanie in the family Ford Prefect, with Mrs. Wells driving.
Circa 1948.
I used the Chipping Norton setting for my story only because I had motorcycled
through that Cotswold town in 1990 and because of the charming English name.
It seemed likely that they had open-air market days once or twice per week in the
'forties and later, since that was common practice in English small towns.
I haven't asked Charles, but he seems to possess the ability of total recall. In any
case, we are grateful for the interesting and educational information he provides.
Thanks, Charles.
Footnote on 'Aero' styling: We now know that low drag is not in the eye of the beholder, unless it is an educated 'eye'. The 'thirties attempts at
streamlining may not have been effective at all - after all, an Austin A40 Farina has less drag than a Jaguar E-type coupe! Nonetheless, I find cars
such as the Bentley above irresistible. Your mileage may vary. Wil
4
Sir Sterling Moss
By Justin Hyde September 17, 2014 4:36 PM Motoramic
(Sent by Charles Williams)
Today marks the 85th birthday of Sir Stirling Moss, the British driver generally considered one of the greatest racers of any era.
Moss not only survived the open-car era of post-World War II that claimed the lives of so many others, he thrived in competition with
other greats like Juan Manuel Fangio. And unlike modern drivers, Moss raced and won in a panoply of cars and series, from sprints
and hill climbs to Formula 1 and Italy's grueling Mille Miglia, a race so dangerous it's no longer run.
Yet one title eluded Moss in his professional career: the overall F1 driver's championship. Moss himself answers to the title of the
greatest driver to never win the championship. Yet on this day, it's worth noting that Moss lost not because he was slow, but
because in one race he chose sportsmanship over competition.
The 1958 F1 season began with Moss as the favorite; after the retirement of Fangio, Moss was the most talented driver in the field,
with a wickedly fast Vanwall car. His chief competition was another Brit, Mike Hawthorn, who wore a bow tie while racing and whose
James Hunt-like playboy lifestyle on Saturdays occasionally interfered with his racing on Sundays.
Entering the Portuguese Grand Prix in August 1958, Moss had won
two of the eight previous races to Hawthorn's one, but Hawthorne
had finished better overall, giving him 30 points to Moss' 24 with
three races to go. Moss won the pole position on the rough Porto
street circuit, and during a race interrupted by rain and slick
conditions, the two battled back and forth for the lead throughout until
Hawthorn ran into mechanical trouble, forcing him to stop his car on
the track and then restart.
By the end, Moss had solidly outpaced Hawthorn's misfiring Ferrari
for the win, scoring 8 championship points to Hawthorn's 7 in second
place. But the race stewards soon received a complaint that
Hawthorn had driven a few yards in the wrong direction downhill
while trying to bump-start his Ferrari — a move that Moss had
shouted as a suggestion when he raced past. Upon hearing of the
protests, Moss went to the stewards and fought on Hawthorn's
behalf, saying he shouldn't be penalized because he wasn't on the official course when he restarted. Ultimately, the stewards
decided Moss was correct and let Hawthorn keep his points.
Over the next two races, Moss won again, but Hawthorn stayed close enough that with a second in the final race, he won the
championship over Moss by one point. Hawthorn immediately retired from F1 racing — the season had claimed the life of four
drivers, including Hawthorn's best friend Peter Collins — but his own celebration was short lived; he died in a road crash just three
months later.
In modern F1 racing, the complicated rules have become yet another weapon teams deploy in their battles, and camaraderie on
track often gives way to vicious, sometimes personal, grudges. It's all but impossible to imagine another racer doing today what
Moss did in 1958, despite that time has made it a singular point of pride for him. "It gives me my exclusivity," Moss told The
Telegraph in 2012, "and makes me different, so it's been a bonus. When I lost it to Mike I did feel bad, because I reckon I was
quicker. By the second year, though, I thought it doesn't really matter, provided I had the respect of other drivers."
5
Todd's Tips - Sandblasting 'on the cheap'
By Todd Maberry
Can you really sandblast at home? Yes of course. Two years ago I first purchased a Harbor Freight 40lb capacity floor blast
cabinet and it works great for just $269. I have sandblasted everything from wire wheels to old rusty cast iron headers not to
mention nuts, bolts, and trim pieces. The area inside the cabinet is about 2 1/2 feet across by a 1 1/2 ft high. I could not be more
pleased with this product. My 60 gal 13.5 (CFM cubic feet per minute) single stage 220v compressor runs most of the time while
I'm blasting, but no matter. Incidentally, Tractor Supply also sells a cabinet similar to the Harbor Freight unit but is a tad more
money at $349; keep in mind it's essentially the same product as far as quality steel gauge and seals. Tractor Supply does have a
higher end model though - a 110 gal media cabinet capacity at $1880.99 for professionals.
The blasting gloves provided by the manufacturer
are inadequate. They wore clean through in a
short period of time. You cannot buy replacement
gloves locally so I did found a suitable pair heavy
duty sandblasting cabinet rubber gloves
from Summit racing on eBay for $30. Well worth
the investment. Quick tip: purchase a box of thin
nitrile gloves to wear inside your heavy duty
blasting gloves, because your hands will sweat. So
buy the throw-always and sweat in them and then
discard. Or else the heavy, expensive gloves will
soon stink from bacteria!
Here is another thing to address in reference to the
cheap floor cabinets, which have a poor 10"
fluorescent light system inside the cabinet. What I
have done is to take an inexpensive clamp light
(Lowes) with aluminum shade turned upside
down flat on the cabinet viewing glass which
provides now adequate lighting. A word to the
wise - do not use a regular light bulb it becomes too hot and will crack/warp the window. To solve that problem I purchased one of
those energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. They put out much less heat then regular bulbs and it can lie close to the glass without
damage. If you're like me and had to change out your damaged or pitted cloudy glass, just go to a neighborhood lumberyard and
they can custom cut for you both custom window glass and Plexiglas for around $15.
The cabinet is built so you can attach your wet/dry vacuum hose to the inlet on the side of the cabinet. It works great clearing the
air so you can work but boy does it go in the vacuum! You just have to be very religious cleaning up after yourself after every use.
One would think that reusing your medium would lose its cutting power after a while, but on the contrary it actually gets better to a
certain point. With the grains getting smaller they expel through the hose more consistently without clogging as much, not to
mention providing a smoother surface.
In the event your cabinet blasting gun clogs up, here is a trick to get it unclogged quickly. All you have to do is hold your hand
flat over the nozzle tightly squeezed the trigger which allows it to burp. What I mean by that is air will rise up to the sand surface
coming from the end of the siphon hose that is stuck deep into sand. It is my experience you can go through about 3 or 4 cycles of
sand of sand before having to replace with new media. You know when you're media is spent (too fine) when you can't see a damn
thing while you're running it.
If you prefer to spend big bucks and sand blast for a living, one would need no less than a 20CFM 2-stage compressor. As you
know it's not the air tank capacity necessarily - what you're looking for is the air your compressor makes constantly in one
minute. You can blast with as little as a 5CFM if you're not in a hurry. Your nozzle exit diameter has to be changed out in order to
compliment what is being produced by your compressor. You can purchase a pack of different size nozzles at Tractor Supply or
Harbor Freight.
6
Kansas City All British 2014
By Bill Watkins
Lisa and I took our traditional Labor Day weekend pilgrimage to Kansas City for the annual Kansas City All
British show. This is also our annual opportunity to go hear some live jazz at The Phoenix which is a jazz bar in an
ancient building in downtown KC.
We drove up in the Jensen which ran like a charm - except when passing fuel stations. After checking into the
host hotel we called Brad Esslinger, whom we knew to be in the area gathering even more TR3 parts, and arranged to
meet him at The Phoenix for their early show which starts at 4:30. As always, the music was great, the beer was quite
cold - and varied - and the food excellent.
Each year the car show organizers arrange for a Friday night display of participants’ cars around the central
square of the Zona Rosa Mall. We stopped by there after dinner but there was no place to park the Jensen so we called
it a night.
The KC show used to be in a field next to a hotel at the KC airport. At its peak it was a 2-day affair with
Saturday devoted mostly to the swap meet. Now it is a one-day event in a parking garage at the Zona Rosa Mall. If
you compare it to its own past it is a shadow of its former self. If you just look at it as another car show it is actually
not bad. The parking garage gets you out of the weather - whatever it may be - and the mall provides lots of options
for lunch or for bored spouses. The show was bigger this year than in the last few years which bodes well for its
future.
Probably every time I have attended since 1997 I have seen at least one car I have never seen before. This year
was no exception except that the oddball example this year was a 1960 MG Magnette sedan as opposed to the usual
exotica. I forgot my camera so used Brad’s cell phone for photography so forgive the poor quality photos (assuming
the editor even deems them worthy of use).
The Jensen was in a large “catch all” class but was honored with first place. We were parked next to the
motorcycles with a fully restored Triumph (I forget which model) right next to us. This bike had been restored at
considerable expense with all NOS parts, no reproductions. After the event the owner was cursing and angry because
he got third place in the popular choice vote. I am so glad we don’t foster that sort of attitude at our show.
7
Join British Iron
British Iron Touring Club Membership
Annual Dues are $30.00
Name: _______________________
Partner: _____________________
Address:
Telephone: Home: __________________
Work: __________________
e-mail address (needed) __________________
British cars owned: _____________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Mail to: Jim Carney, 11565 Oak Hills Dr.
Bentonville, AR
72712
Support our advertisers!
A few of our friends from the picnic and cookout
on Saturday, 18th of October. Their patience and
good manners were suitably rewarded with
nibbles from club members.
Wonderful dogs.
8
AUTO- BI0GRAPHY
Tory Skopecek
This is in response to our beloved editor’s request of sometime back. It involves vehicles I have owned, shared ownership,
or non-financial partner in.
*So, first ever driven, age 7, 1923 Ford Model TT 1-1/2 ton dump truck, fully loaded, up a one lane dirt road.
Thankfully in compound low, a fast trot.
*Second, age 11, would be a 1930 Model A Coupe, bored out, Olds pistons, frequently driven throughout the fine
peaceful city of Berkeley, California.
*That was traded for a 1930 Model A roadster pickup with a 32 grill, 49 Merc flathead, Edmunds heads, Stromberg 97s,
La Salle gearbox, Dodge truck differential and about an inch or so of concrete in the bed. Ran pretty strong.
*That was traded for a 1935 Dodge 4 door. I should state that in those days a Model A cost about $15-25. All that
was between age 12 – 14.
*Age 15 I got a 1909 Brush, one cylinder roadster. Drove it everywhere including around Lake Tahoe, up and over to
Reno and back over Mt Rose to Tahoe on Bill Harrah’s tour, twice.
*Shortly after the Brush came the 1909 Hupmobile followed by the 1909 Buick White Streak. All were lost to flames in
my parent's home, along with 1,700 other houses in the Bay Area Hills fire of 1991.
*Next in 1958 was the very long-term 1951 MG-TD, presently with Doug Schrantz.
*That was followed by a 1958 Jaguar MK VIII, similar to Doug’s. It had been my father’s car but he bought a
1963 E-Type off BMC’s showroom floor. I did drive the E quite a bit as my father was often gone on business
for extended periods. Meanwhile my mother, in a bit of a mood over the E-type, went out and purchased a 63
Chrysler station wagon, which appears later.
*Meantime, being married at this point I got her (spouse) a 1957(?) Ford wagon. It was on its last legs and expired.
*Enter the 63 Chrysler with some 180K miles, now known as the blue goose.
*That was followed by trading in the MKVIII for a VW bug per spouse’s instructions (not Jan). Followed by many
tearful episodes of learning how to drive a stick shift.
*Next a 67 Mustang for spouse, traded for a 71 Ford wagon. Various company cars later in L.A.
*New start; 1977 Datsun pickup. In 1979, a 1969 VW van with 3500 miles on it.
1982, 1950 MG-Y Type, full restoration done. TD apart and being restored also. The blue goose returns from
storage, later dies at 225K via new ethanol/gas.
*Traded VW in 88 for a Plymouth Voyager new. A first.
*1986, a 1929 Model A pickup (telephone booth).
*1995, a 3.4 Jag Saloon I helped restore (as we were also doing the Y-type) arrived via Jan as a gift upon the front
lawn. Too long a story to tell on all that.
*1995, traded Model A for antique stationary engine. Leased a Chevy Malibu in Chicago, Voyager dies and is
given to KUAF.
*Malibu is turned in for a new 2003 Chevy pickup. That brings us up to date, but is not the end.
'09 Buick and '09 Hupmobile.
MG 'Y' saloons with redwoods at grandmother's home.
Ed: Apologies to Tory for clumsy layout. I couldn't get his article to 'format' into Word margins.