[NOBBC] British car show in Woodland Calif.

[Don]

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