[NOBBC] Morgan Hill car show

[Martin Sinai Rayman]

Thanks. Most enjoyable,  Marty "53 TD

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 5:38 PM, Don <don at napanet.net> wrote:

> https://picasaweb.google.com/**104973305347633073496/**
>> October162011?authkey=**Gv1sRgCJzp2qnx5IGe9QE<https://picasaweb.google.com/104973305347633073496/October162011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJzp2qnx5IGe9QE>
>>
>> Big car adventure for me on Sunday!  Thanks to email and the MG Experience
>> website, I was able to connect with fellow MG enthusiast Jim Legg of Napa
>> and catch a ride to the Autumn Classic Car Show in his 1970 MGB GT.  We left
>> Napa at 8 a.m., and arrived in Morgan Hill at 10 a.m. for the car show.
>>
>> The weather was ideal without the rain that ruined the show last year,
>> resulting in an exceptional array of British sports cars for the day's
>> event.  I don't think I have ever seen so many high-end restorations of old
>> British sports cars assembled in one place, ever.  But there were many less
>> expensive, driver quality cars there too.  The cars were displayed along
>> Monterey Avenue which had been closed for the event.
>>
>> First thing that caught my attention when we began looking at the many
>> cars assembled in the historic downtown was the red '64 MGB body displayed
>> by Bill Hiland of On the Road Again Classics.  His restoration shop is
>> located in Morgan Hill.  The workmanship on the MGB body appeared impeccable
>> in its new tartan red paint, and being a body sans anything else, it was a
>> stark contrast to all the cars that were complete and running.  I asked Bill
>> what it would cost to get an early MGB done properly, and he said about
>> $35,000.  As expensive as this sounds, I can understand with all the detail
>> and handwork involved.  In fact, that sounds like a bargain!
>>
>> Next car that seemed to stand out from the rest was a white and black 1956
>> Austin Healey 100M.  My comment to Jim was that the letter M on the Healey
>> probably doubles its value.  The car's owner, John Batterton, laughed and
>> stated that was indeed the case.  He said that his car had been battered and
>> been through some strange ownership history before he adopted it, and with
>> painstaking work he had made it into an absolute beauty.  He told us that
>> there are only 200 100Ms left of the 640 that were made.  He estimated that
>> his car was worth $140,000.  I could see no defects in it  John posed next
>> to the car for a photo.
>>
>> The black XK150 S Jaguar was concourse quality, but the owner was nowhere
>> to be seen.  I don't know Jags that well, but I think this is another
>> example of an added letter to the name that doubles the value of the car.
>>
>> I counted five Sunbeam Tigers, and one Alpine.  One of the Tigers, a blue
>> '65, was spectacular, and I made an offer on the spot  . . . to photograph
>> it.  Robert Petrokas, the proud owner, was kind enough to pose next to it
>> for a photo.  I love these cars, and this one was unusually well restored..
>>  He said it has been a concours winner, and it looks it.
>>
>> A car that was ususual for its originality and unashamedly showing its
>> years, was an early MGA.  A 1956 red roadster, it still had its original
>> leather seats.  The tires were Firestone whitewalls that looked like they
>> could have been with the car since 1956.  The owner said that the car had
>> been stored in a garage for many years, and that he had brought it back to
>> life.  This car was really a time capsule and was unusual among the other
>> cars that have had so much restoration work done on them.  His daughter
>> drives the car, and she seemed to love the car.  Rarely do you see this
>> hobby being passed down to a daughter, and not all that often to a son.
>>
>> I counted seven MGTFs.  All of them were immaculate and each car would win
>> an award if I was giving prizes.  I am partial to TFs, as I own one.  So few
>> were made it is hard to believe that so many survive in this region.  Not
>> many MGAs were there, but the number of MGBs was high.  But I spotted only
>> one early MGB, an iris blue roadster.  Survival rate of the Mk 1 MGBs must
>> be low in North America as I see so few at any car shows given that they
>> were once abundant here.
>>
>>
>> A car that I have seen and appreciated at more than one show was the 1975
>> Midget owned by Craig Kuenzinger.  Craig said that it is a 98 point
>> restoration; his assertion was supported by the beauty of his car which
>> looked like it just drove out of a dealer showroom back in 1975.  He
>> explained that he had done a lot of painstaking work to make it this way as
>> there are many parts that are no longer available since these cars don't
>> have the following of many of the other British sports cars.  I jokingly
>> commented that the radio in the Midget was a Sony, and that if I was a
>> judging the car, I would subtract another point for this glaring defect.
>>  Craig explained that a Leyland radio was nearly impossible to find.  Jim
>> Legg came to his rescue and told Craig that he had one of the radios at home
>> in his parts cache.  Craig was elated to find such a part for his car.
>>  Oddly enough, it was in the course of buying a BMC type radio for an early
>> MGB that I met Jim several years ago.
>>
>> I caught a photo of a BRG 1967 Austin Healey 3000 as it was leaving the
>> show.  The couple in the car were both smiling and Roger Hawk said that his
>> wife, Donna, had bought the car new in 1967.
>>
>> At most of the British car shows there are several TR8s and rarely any
>> TR7s.  This time was the opposite, as there was only one TR8, and two TR7s.
>>  The wedge-shaped cars look identical, but the source of power is not the
>> same.  The TR8, sadly, was British Leyland's swan song.  I am partial to
>> these little hot rod V8s, having owned a couple "poor man's Tigers" in my
>> past.
>>
>> I got some photos that were not of cars.  One is of a lady wearing a very
>> unusual outfit leading her little dog who is also in strange attire.  The
>> two security police were kind enough to smile for a photo.  The fellow
>> walking what looked to be a rather exotic bicycle told me that it was a
>> $7,000 bike.  Dave Laughlin and his British car parts business made an
>> interesting photo.  By chance, Jim and I met up with Rick Anderson of Napa
>> who owns a couple of MGs, but was there in a Honda.  He and his friend
>> Mignon joined us for lunch.  The marquee at the theater proclaimed "Support
>> Our Seniors" which I thought was appropriate given the age of most of us at
>> this event.
>>
>> There were a few other cars that I liked, and photographed.  One was the
>> '70 Triumph GT6 of John Leggett, which looked like it was a brand new car.
>>  And the Mini Cooper S of Chris Miller who claimed that its engine was
>> producing 120 horsepower.  Two of the Bugeye Sprites were powered by
>> Japanese DOHC engines; they must be like little rockets given the light
>> weight of a Bugeye.  The red '72 RHD Ginetta was a beauty, and had been
>> updated with a newer Ford OHC engine.  Jim thought the Arnolt MG was the
>> rarest car there.  I thought the two Nash Healeys were the rarest.
>>
>> Later in the day on my way home, I stopped at Peets Coffee in Napa.
>>  Parked in front of the store was a red Aston Martin convertible of the late
>> 1950s that was drop dead gorgeous.  Everyone that walked by that car stopped
>> and admired it.  I was able to catch a photo as it was leaving, and I told
>> the two fellows in the car that there had been a big British car show in
>> Morgan Hill and had they taken the car, it would surely have won a prize.
>>  In the latest copy of Sports Car Market magazine there is a short feature
>> on these cars.  These Aston Martins cost $3,650 new, but their value now is
>> between $275,000 and $450,000 according to the article.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----
>>
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>>
>>
>> -----
>>
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-- 
*Martin Sinai Rayman, D.D.S.
Pediatric Dentistry*
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