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[NOBBC] Fwd: British car show in Woodland Calif.

To: North Bay British Car Club <nobbc@autox.team.net>
Subject: [NOBBC] Fwd: British car show in Woodland Calif.
From: Mark Darley <markdarley@mac.com>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 21:37:53 -0700
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> Don,
> 
> Too many shows last weekend!
> 
> There was also the Sonoma Marin Concourse which I went to. Not too many MGs 
> there in addition to mine (not entered but got whistled at!). 
> 
> I went mostly to see a great selection of vintage British motorbikes as I now 
> have a restored and running, yes running, 1948 Royal Enfield Model G
> 
> Hoping to make it to Infineon on Sunday...
> 
> Mark Darley
> Cell: 415-310-5242
> Office: 415-381-5452
> On location
> 
> On May 23, 2012, at 5:25 PM, Don <don@napanet.net> wrote:
> 
>> This might appear in the Octagon MG Club newsletter.  Haven't heard 
>> back from the editor yet.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Since all my MGs are in various states of (dis)repair, I drove my '01 
>> Miata to the Woodland British Car Show.  The 90 degree ambient 
>> temperatures and the 90 mph speeds on Interstate 80 may have added to 
>> the appeal of driving the Miata.  This is the same Miata that failed 
>> to get me to the big MG show in Reno.  Today it performed flawlessly 
>> as one would expect a newer Japanese car to do.  But the thrill of an 
>> MG it doesn't provide even though it's a modern imitation of a 
>> classic British sports car.
>> 
>> I brought my camera and notepad as usual.  As I arrived at the 
>> fairgrounds, the first British car I saw was an MGTF attempting to 
>> enter the fairgrounds on the wrong entry road.  I later found out why 
>> the driver was a bit confused as to how to get into the display 
>> area.  He had left home for the car show at 4:30 that morning and was 
>> on the road for four hours in that TF.
>> 
>> A beautiful Morgan greeted me when I first walked into the car 
>> display area, and it was the first photo of the day.  I met my friend 
>> Pat, and we toured the swap meet area.  Dave Laughlin was there with 
>> his van of interesting parts for sale and his dog keeping him 
>> company.  Selling parts next to Dave's display was a former 
>> enthusiast who had abandoned the hobby five years ago, and was 
>> liquidating some of his accumulation of parts.  I bought a NOS Lucas 
>> voltage regulator still in the box for $10.  What a score!  He told 
>> me that after 30 years of owning and driving and working on British 
>> sports cars, he had decided to change hobbies.  He said he is a 
>> surfer now and drives to Santa Cruz from Sacramento in his Honda van 
>> to ride the waves.  He said he was glad to have a hobby that didn't 
>> skin his knuckles and expose him to dangerous chemicals.
>> 
>> There were very few T-series MGs at the show, and the one TF that I 
>> saw driving in was the only TF at the show.  But what a TF it was.  I 
>> own a TF myself and can now recognize some of the details which 
>> distinguish an ordinary car from a show winner.  This TF belongs to 
>> Grant Ross of Carson City.  He has not owned it that long and told me 
>> he bought it sight-unseen from its prior owner in 
>> Pennsylvania.  Grant relied on the pedigree of the car as it had won 
>> AACA contests and they have very exacting standards.  He didn't come 
>> right and say it, but I think he paid around $30,000 for this 
>> car.  Seeing its detailing, I would say he did well on this purchase. 
>> When it arrived by truck, he must have been delighted when he first 
>> saw the car.  Being a TF1500, it has a bit more power than the 1250 
>> model, and he told me it has had a modern 5-speed installed for 
>> better highway cruising.  It had a frame-off restoration in 2007. 
>> Even the tires are period correct Dunlop bias ply which he said were 
>> old but never used.  The four-hour drive was from Carson City, 
>> Nevada.  And when I left the show Grant said he was going to drive 
>> home again that afternoon!  He has more courage than I have!
>> 
>> Bruce Blair must be the ultimate Morris Minor enthusiast.  He also 
>> drove down from Carson City.  With help from his family, he was 
>> displaying three Morris Minors and a Minor Junior pedal car.  Bruce, 
>> wearing a factory-authorized BMC white shop coat, appears in the 
>> photograph beside his Minor 1,000,000.  These little lavender Minor 
>> saloons were the special commemorative cars that marked the milestone 
>> 1,000,000 of Morris Minor production.  BMC made a total of 350 of 
>> these unusual coloured cars, and Bruce's car is one of only 21 that 
>> were exported to North America.  Bruce told me that his Morris 
>> collection consists of 12 1000s, 1 1000000, 1 MM (the split-window 
>> model), two Minor trailers, and two pedal cars.   I told Bruce that I 
>> gave up on Minors after I nearly died in one.  I once was very 
>> enthusiastic about Minors myself, and had just purchased a '67 Minor 
>> sedan that had been sitting for some time in western Marin 
>> County.  With a new battery and a bit of work, I had it running and 
>> thought I could drive it home.  As I was going down a very steep, 
>> winding, and long hill that descends into the Napa Valley, the brakes 
>> failed, the transmission failed, and the emergency brake cables 
>> broke.  I was able to drive it into the hillsides on curves to scrub 
>> off speed.  Closest I have come to dying as I am sure I was going 
>> about 60 mph by the time I reached the last curve at the bottom of 
>> the hill.  But those cars do handle well and I survived without 
>> killing myself.  However, I did sell that car and my other Minors and 
>> have not considered buying a Minor again.
>> 
>> I saw few Mk 1 MGBs at the show, but Brandon Augustine's Mk 1 was a 
>> standout among all the MGBs.  Brandon told me that he has owned his 
>> red B roadster since 1986, and that he and his dad restored it over a 
>> five year period ending in 2005.  This red '67 roadster was very 
>> pretty with silver wire wheels and detailed engine 
>> compartment.  Brandon told me that the car was sold originally in 
>> Walnut Creek, but was stored in a container from 1972 to 1986 prior 
>> to his purchasing it.  I commented that there were few enthusiasts 
>> his age involved with this hobby, and he said that none of his 
>> friends had old British cars.  Brandon, who is 41, lives in Napa, and 
>> I had seen the car parked in St. Helena where he works but I didn't 
>> know its owner until now.
>> 
>> The '51 Allard of David Rossiter's was a standout at the show.  Red 
>> and outrageous, sporting a Cadillac 331 OHV V8, an Allard like this 
>> must have really been the ultimate blend of hot rod and sports car in 
>> its day.  David said that an original Allard only weighed 2,300 
>> pounds, and had a top speed of about 140 mph.  His car was purchased 
>> from a museum collection.  I liked it a lot.
>> 
>> Having owned four MGB GTs, I was captivated by Carl Biagi's '72 B 
>> GT.  It was located in the Winner's Circle as it won Best of Class 
>> last year.  Carl told me he had purchased his GT in 1974, and had 
>> used it originally as a daily driver.  The restoration was lengthy; 
>> taking the better part of a decade, it was at a paint shop for seven 
>> years.  Being a mechanic, Carl did all the other work himself.  This 
>> car was outstanding.  I have seen few B GTs that were this well 
>> detailed.  He even retained all the smog equipment, so that it looks 
>> like a car in an MG showroom in 1972.  About the only modification to 
>> the car I could see was wheels that were period alloys.  But on the 
>> wheels were correct 20-year old Michelin XZX tires.  We shared MGB GT 
>> stories, as I had just sold my '73 which I had owned for 25 years.
>> 
>> Unfortunately, an MG show took place on the same Sunday in Danville, 
>> and this did have an effect on the numbers of MGs at this 
>> show.  There were only four MGAs here.  The last photo I took as I 
>> left the show was an MGA Twin Cam coupe which must be one of the 
>> rarest of MGAs.  According to the book Original MGA, only 323 MGAs of 
>> this configuration were manufactured.
>> 
>> Out in the parking lot was another red Mk 1 MGB roadster that should 
>> have been displayed inside and I snapped a photo of it.  Parked in 
>> what little shade there was my Miata  and next to it was a fibreglas 
>> Austin Healey replica that was also leaving.  I asked the Healey 
>> replica owner why he didn't display his car, and he said he didn't even ask.
>> 
>> Last photo is of a 1950 Ford convertible barn find that I checked out 
>> on the way home in the foothills of Napa.  This car needs a lot of love.
>> 
>> https://picasaweb.google.com/104973305347633073496/Woodland2012  
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