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whole lotta beamin goin on

To: tiger list <tigers@Autox.Team.Net>
Subject: whole lotta beamin goin on
From: Paul Harlacher <pharlacher@igi.net>
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 23:21:16 -0400
Greetings All:

I was suprised that I didn't hear very much about the Oct. 8-12 TE/AE
United XX at Solomon, Maryland on this list...there were a couple of
reminders to "get those registration forms in early" (I didn't) there
were also mentions in the long awaited Rootes Review newsletter to do
the same (I didn't) there was even a direct mailing of application,
event schedule and hotel brochure with a reminder to register early (I
didn't).

I didn't, I didn't, I didn't!...But at the last possible momemt I
decided it was just too close not to go (180 miles), so I DID! I called
the hotel Friday morning, they had a room! I threw some clothes in a
bag, went out to the garage, opened the door, moved three bicycles out
from behind the car, rolled the lawn mower out, so I could open the car
door (it's a really small garage), took the cover off, put the key in
and started it up. It hadn't been out of the garage in about a month. I
wasn't crazy about taking the Tiger out of the garage in the rainy
weather (with no promise of clearing) but it was perfect weather for
keeping a Tiger cool!

Off to Maryland we roared!...took longer than expected though, hit some
terrible bumper-to-bumper traffic (Tiger stayed cool anyway). About
thirty miles from the hotel passed three Tigers parked in the lot of the
local Jehova's Witness Kingdom Hall. I drove past thinking it was nice
they'd found religion...but then made a u-turn and went back to see if
they needed help. They hadn't stopped to pray, only to fix a broken carb
linkage, and hadn't come up with the right solution in the absence of
the proper part. The three Tigers, 2 red, 1 green, all nice, had come
all the way from Florida along with their owners Steve, Mike and Joe. I
offered Mike a coat hanger I'd thrown into my tool box at the last
minute and after a few minutes he was back on the road again. We all
checked in shortly after.

By this time, any thoughts of getting to the Concours, which was not
held at the hotel, was futile. Almost as soon as we checked in, the
Alpines and Tigers started rolling back from the show into the hotel's
roped off "Sunbeams Only" section...more Sunbeams than I had ever seen
at any show...WOW what a sight! I didn't count them, but I'm guessing
there were at least 50 and there were even a few that weren't Carnival
Red! At this point I knew it was worth the trip.

The hotel had a designated "Sunbeam Washing Station" so a few of us
hosed any evidence of the sloppy weather from the public surfaces of our
cars and then proceded to the "Parts Room". The room was a little too
small for the number of people attending and the amount of stock
provided by the different vendors. Everything you could possibly want
for your car, (except those little black knobs I need for the ends of my
heater/defroster controls). I managed to fill up a shopping bag with
other items I'd been looking for.

Then it was off to Happy Hour with my bag of parts and two new Sunbeam
friends, one from Alabama and one from Canada to exchange stories. One
thing I found out is this...this "Sunbeam Thing" may be an addiction! It
seems to me that many of the owners I spoke with had more than one, some
had many more than one.

Dinner at the hotel was wonderful, more great people, more talk about
the cars...the hospitality suite later in the evening was a good time
too...even more great people and more talk about the cars...not just
Sunbeams either, it seems people who take the time to know Sunbeams also
know alot about some of the "Lesser" marques too. Breakfast in the
morning: same thing!

After breakfast we went out to the parking lot to find even more
Sunbeams than there had been the night before. (It had rained though so
the previous evenings car wash had been a waste of time.) The parking
lot was full of people...people working on their cars...people looking
for the right car to buy...people looking for cars for other people to
buy...people looking for "authentic tigers" (TAC people)...people
looking to join TE/AE...and people just looking at cars...car people.

After spending about four hours in the hotel parking lot on Saturday
morning it was time for me to head home to Pennsylvania. That's right, I
only spent 24 hours at the United.  But, it was the best! The only thing
that topped my short time at the event was the 8 hours spent in my Tiger
getting to and from it!

Regards,
        Paul Harlacher
        B382001278
        www.igi.net/~pharlacher

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