[NOBBC] British car show in Woodland Calif.

Wed May 23 18:42:36 MDT 2012

Don,
Thanks very much for the nice review and pictures, as we were unable to attend
because we haven't figured out how to be in two places at once! (We were at
MGs by the Bay)
Best regards,
Gary

> Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 17:25:30 -0700
> To: nobbc at autox.team.net
> From: don at napanet.net
> Subject: [NOBBC] British car show in Woodland Calif.
>
> 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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