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Re: [Nobbc] British car dealerships in the area

To: North Bay British Car Club <nobbc@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Nobbc] British car dealerships in the area
From: wendell bain <wbain@sonic.net>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:21:53 -0700
Hi Robin,

Morgan fans this May 30, 31 and June 1 is the Wine Country Classic at  
Sears Pt.
In observance of Morgan's 100th Anniversary they are the featured  
marque.
There has been an attempt to get Lou Spencer to attend along with  
some other
notable Morgan drivers from the past. Perhaps Chris Lawrence will  
attend, who
along with Richard Shepherd Barron won their class in 1962 at Le Mans  
driving
a Plus 4 that is probably the most famous Morgan of all and known  
simply by
it's British registration number TOK 258.
Greg Solow will have Baby Doll V there and I think one of the other  
Baby Doll
Cars will attend.
I think Pierre Brun will attend. He was a Morgan racing mechanic for  
quite a few years.
Talk about a stressful job. Racing mechanic. EVERYTHING is a CRISIS!!!

Cheers,

Wendell Bain

On Mar 26, 2009, at 5:52 PM, Robin Jackson wrote:

> The Dealer string seems to have flamed out; was fun while it  
> lasted, but
> there were only that many dealers to talk about.
>
> Just a couple of final comments from me of interest to Morgan folk. I
> mentioned Frank Henry on Telegraph in Berkeley. I bought two 1958  
> Mogs from
> him, the first one I had a terrible wreck with, but survived with  
> cuts and
> bruises. The second he sold me for a very decent price, $2,500 as I
> remember. I raced that one. Frank was a fine gentleman. He always  
> wore a
> three piece tweed suit, gold chain and watch in the vest pocket. He  
> kept his
> cars on an open lot but had a small sales office where he had  
> poetry books
> to read. Where else but Berkel;ey?
>
> Lou Spencer had the Worldwide business on Sepulvada. He was the one  
> to beat
> in his line of "Baby Dolls", that's what he named his cars. He had  
> a French
> mechanic, Claude, who could change out a clutch in a half hour. He  
> had cut
> away the firewall and pulled the tran out through the cabin. Ahh,  
> those were
> the days!
>
> Cheers, Rj
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:21 AM, <craigw@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> Yeah, I played at a jam on Labor day in Larkfield. He was there.
>>  Craig
>>  On Mon 23/03/09  9:09 AM , Bill Crowe haiku99@gmail.com sent:
>>  FWIW David LaFlame (violin payer of IABD) still lives in the area
>> and plays
>>  local clubs, sometimes with Paul Gruen doing Django Reinhart style
>> Gypsy
>>  Jazz, great stuff....
>>  On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 7:55 AM, Paige, Dean  wrote:
>>> I have it on vinyl! Too ,too old.
>>>
>>> Deano
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nobbc-bounces@autox.team.net [nobbc-bounces@autox.team.net
>> [2]
>>> ]wc1632wc
>>> On Behalf Of Steve Plath
>>> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 8:56 PM
>>> To: North Bay British Car Club
>>> Subject: Re: [Nobbc] British car dealerships in the area
>>>
>>> Not to worry.  I have the whole album on my ipod.
>>>
>>> Steve
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "don"
>>> To: "North Bay British Car Club"
>>> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 8:24 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Nobbc] British car dealerships in the area
>>>
>>>
>>>> A bit off the subject, but you can Youtube It's a Beautiful Day
>> and
>>> White
>>>> Bird and listen to their big hit song.  They lived on Mt. St.
>> Helena
>>>> outside of Calistoga back in the early '70s.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> At 04:54 PM 03/21/2009, you wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Back in 1970 I took my 67 MGB GT into BMC Motors in San
>> Francisco.
>>> While
>>>>> waiting I started talking to another "long hair" who was waiting
>> for
>>> his
>>>>> E-Type to be serviced.  I asked him what he did and he said he
>> was a
>>>>> musician.  Turns out he was David Laflamme leader of the 60's
>> acid
>>> rock
>>>>> band "It's a Beautiful Day".  It made my day that's for sure.
>> Back
>>> then
>>>>> you never knew who you would run into at BMC Motors.
>>>>>
>>>>> And then there's the famous Grace Slick Aston Martin story from
>> the
>>> same
>>>>> BMC Motors.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ah memories.
>>>>>
>>>>> On another note the Daimler is finally finished and maybe I will
>> join
>>> you
>>>>> on a run once the rain stops.  Better yet we should plan a run
>> in
>>> Marin my
>>>>> home territory.
>>>>>
>>>>> Steve Plath
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "don"
>>>>> To: "North Bay British Car Club"
>>>>> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 3:10 PM
>>>>> Subject: [Nobbc] British car dealerships in the area
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Back in the late '50s through early '70s, British car
>> dealerships
>>> could
>>>>>> be found in most US cities of any size, especially in
>> California.
>>> Even
>>>>>> before I got my first British car in 1965, I loved visiting the
>>> showrooms
>>>>>> to admire the MGs, Triumphs and other British cars.  Of course,
>> I
>>> would
>>>>>> always pilfer as many sales brochures as I could hoping to not
>> upset
>>> the
>>>>>> salespeople too much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I remember the BMC/Jaguar  dealer in Napa on Soscol Avenue,
>> which was
>>> to
>>>>>> become Napa Valley Datsun when they dropped the British car
>> line
>>> around
>>>>>> 1967.  There was a BMC dealer that tried again in Napa shortly
>> after
>>> but
>>>>>> didn't last long.  I remember taking my MGA there for repairs
>> in
>>> 1968,
>>>>>> but I don't remember the name of the place.  I do remember that
>> it
>>> was
>>>>>> very expensive to pay someone to repair my car, and after that,
>> did
>>> most
>>>>>> of my repairs myself.  The name of it might have been Washborn
>>> Imports.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In Santa Rosa, there was Ralph Vesper Motors on Santa Rosa
>> Avenue
>>> which
>>>>>> sold Triumphs and British Fords.  I remember that dealership,
>>> because, as
>>>>>> I bought parts for my old Anglia and Zodiac (c. 1966, '67), I
>> was
>>>>>> distracted by the siren's call of the sleek TR4s and Spitfires
>> on
>>> display
>>>>>> in the showroom.  I still have a few pieces of the Triumph
>> literature
>>> I
>>>>>> took on visits to Vesper.  Car dealers usually left their
>>> identification
>>>>>> by irubber stamping their names and addresses onto the front or
>> back
>>> of
>>>>>> the sales literature.  Vesper's name and address sill adorn my
>> old
>>>>>> Triumph brochures.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The most interesting dealership to visit was always British
>> Motors on
>>> Van
>>>>>> Ness Avenue in San Francisco.  They had Jaguar, Rolls Royce and
>> the
>>> whole
>>>>>> BMC line, and the cars they had on display were always of a
>> high
>>> calibre.
>>>>>> This was such a classy place that I always felt underdressed
>> because
>>> I
>>>>>> wasn't wearing a suit and tie.  As an extreme British car nut,
>> I was
>>>>>> thrilled just to purchase parts there. I do have several
>> license
>>> plate
>>>>>> frames from there, which I think are a cool period accessory.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Other dealerships that come to mind are Union Jack (BMC) in
>> Hayward
>>> and
>>>>>> British Motors in San Jose.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone else have any recollections of the British car dealer
>> world in
>>> the
>>>>>> area?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Don Scott
>>>>>> Calistoga
>>>>>> 1962 MGA Mk II
>>>>>> 1991 Miata BRG
>>>>>> 1973 MGB GT
>>>>>> 1962 TR4 (seeking)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
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>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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>> Links:
>> ------
>> [1] mailto:DPaige@srcity.org
>> [2] mailto:nobbc-bounces@autox.team.net
>> [3] mailto:don@napanet.net
>> [4] mailto:nobbc@autox.team.net
>> [5] mailto:don@napanet.net
>> [6] mailto:nobbc@autox.team.net
>> [7] mailto:Nobbc@autox.team.net
>> [8] http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/nobbc
>> [9] mailto:Nobbc@autox.team.net
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