Got back last night from the 16th annual Missouri Endurance Rally,
sponsored by the St. Louis MG Club.
I didn't take my Midget this year and, instead, navigated with a friend
in his 1969 Sprite. We were the only Spridget this year and decided to
do the "mini" rally.
The course was 435 miles for us (the winner did it in 413) in 13 hours.
We finished seventh. The full rally was about 700 miles. The mini had
six stops and the full 11. The goal is to reach each of the stops in any
order you want in the fewest miles. Speed is not important, although you
have to complete the mini within 15 hours and the full within 24.
This year the weather was beautiful and summer-like and the course ran
south of St. Louis along both sides of the Mississippi all the way into
Tennessee. The area covered changes each year.
We had the one mechanical mishap of the rally and it was when we tried
to close the heater valve in the Sprite and it began puking coolant
while on the ferry crossing the river! We got about ten miles before the
temp gauge went north and we had to get some water from a farmer and
limp back to the nearest town. We got some gasket material and a bolt at
Autozone and drank a pint of Murphy's stout in the parking lot while I
made a blanking plate with the gasket and plugged the heater hose with
the bolt.
He had replaced the cool little garden faucet with a cable operated
valve for a classic mini and it lasted almost a year. We didn't see a
country of manufacture of that POS, but I'm sure it came from one of
Frank's favorite places. :)
The rally is open to all British cars built before 1982. This year we
had one team in a BGT V8 from Virginia, an MGA from Michigan and a team
from Chicago among the out-of-towners.
Mark your calendars for around this time next year to come run the
rally. You will not be disappointed!
http://stlouismgclub.com/Events.aspx?Date=8cdc46034274000
Lee
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