On July 1, 1990, a British Car Field Day was held on the grounds of
Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI. Ann and I had hoped to be able to
drive up from Rockford in the TR-8, but since the body shop wasn't
cooperating, we took her T-Bird instead.
Almost all of the British marques were represented. Among those
present were: MG (A, B, TD, TF, Magnette, Midget), Triumph (2, 3, 4, 6,
7, 8, Stag, Spitfire, Bond Equipe), Jaguar (E-Type, XJ-6 and 12, XJ-S),
Austin (Mini, Minor), Sunbeam (Alpine, Tiger), Austin-Healey (3000,
Sprite), Morgan, Allard, Land-Rover, and Rolls-Royce. Parked on the
street outside the lot were a few others whose owners must have been
proud of them until they saw the rest of the cars in attendance. A very
notable example was a red Spitfire 1500 with a horrendous whale tail
spoiler that got quite a few laughs. Also, there was a brand new red
Miata whose owner may have been told "Sorry, you'll have to park
outside."
I tend to agree with Jim TenCate's observation that the owners of
the newer cars (TR-7s and 8s) didn't seem to be as concerned with the
appearance of their cars as were the owners of the older models. This
may be because the newer cars haven't required major body work yet--does
anyone else have any thoughts? There were some spectacular TR-3s,
TR-6s, MGAs, Tigers, E-Types, and A-H 3000s. There was only one car up
for sale--for a mere $29,000 you could become the proud owner of a gold
1967 Austin-Healey "Golden Anniversary" 3000. I don't think that there
were any offers because we saw an ad for the same car the next week in
the Rockford Register-Star during the Austin-Healey club's Conclave '90
in Rockford.
The hood on one of the Tigers was modified to add three air intakes.
There was a "normal" raised hood scoop in the center, as well as two
NACA ducts toward the rear corners of the hood. The strange part about
the NACA ducts was that the wide part was toward the front of the car,
with the narrow part pointing toward the rear. I have never seen a NACA
duct installed this way--usually the narrow part is toward the front.
Side View Windscreen --> /
/
Front of car _________________________ ____/
Top of hood ^ |________________/
<---- opening^ NACA duct^
_______
F | `-.
r Top View | `-.__
o | `:
n Obviously not to scale-- | :
t not enough resolution | _,--/
with ASCII characters | _,-
|______,-
Would this be the correct way to install a NACA duct? Maybe there are
other things to consider, like the high pressure zone at the base of the
windscreen at speed... Anyone have any ideas?
All in all, it was an enjoyable day. Lots of neat cars and even
more friendly people. We even got to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile
on the way up to Milwaukee. Too bad the camera was in the trunk...
Tim Buja Cherry Valley, IL
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