SABCC June Meeting- Family Picnic

This year's family picnic will have a new venue due to construction activity at our traditional site, Meaher State Park on the Causeway. We're set for Blakeley State Park, site of the defunct town of Blakeley, Alabama off Alabama highway 225. Saturday, June 14 is the date.
Situated about 5 miles north of Spanish Fort, Blakeley is a gorgeous spot with century-old oak trees, natural springs, walking trails and wildlife everywhere. We'll be in the Pavilion which will provide us with shade and a nice place to chat.
The June meeting is also when we select a charity to support from a portion of our British Car Festival proceeds. Nominate your favorite charity at the meeting!
As beautiful as Blakeley is, you might want to consider whether you want to bring your British pride and joy since the roads are pretty dusty. If you love detailing your car, you will have a good reason to after the picnic.

The Bruce McLaren Trust

A little Web surfing brought me to the Bruce McLaren Trust site. It's an amazing collection of McLaren related facts, photos and stories of this talented driver and car constructor. It's worth a visit online if you won't be finding yourself in New Zealand anytime soon.
There's a fascinating story about the restoration of M8A-2, the car campaigned by Denny Hulme in 1968. This car is owned by the trust and is shown publicly at special events.
The distinctive car color was chosen by Bruce McLaren for visibility when passing backmarkers. The official name of this shade of orange 'papaya'.

50 Years Old and Still Smiling

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the beloved Austin-Healey Sprite. Known in the US as the 'Bugeye', this happy little car brought inexpensive sport cars to the masses.

The Sprite was designed by the renowned Donald Healey who raided the Austin parts cupboard for bits to include in his low-priced sports car. Engine, suspension and various other pieces used on downmarket Austin saloon cars found their way into the Sprite. The original design called for 'popup' headlights, but they turned out to be costly. Hence, the most endearing characteristic of the car was set.

Sprites were built in the MG factory at Abingdon and were so well received that a MarkII version was developed as both an Austin-Healey and an MG Midget.

Happy birthday, little friend!

Jaguar Shows the Way

One the most striking features of any competition car must be the vertical stabilizer on the immortal Jaguar D-Type. Other competitors copied it to a certain degree, but none came close the Jag's look. After watching the Formula 1 race from Spain last weekend, I noticed that the Jaguar stabilizer is back on a couple of the cars.

The Original

Red Bull F1








Renault F1

Originality - Again

Check out the photo of the MGA dashboard with the competition plaques. This old girl earned her keep in her early days. You can't fake originality like this!

The MGB Gets a New Steering Wheel

I went with several members of our club to the 16th annual Brits on the Bay British car show put on by the Panhandle British Car Association . They had an autojumble tent where I scored a really nice steering wheel for the 'B. OK, it's for a '72 model, but it is in good shape and even came with the horn push. My MGB is a bitsa, anyway. The steering wheels are not available new at any price - the horn push is $54.95 from Moss. Fifteen bucks bought whole deal, including the hub.

A Caddy with a Sense of Humor

Melissa and I were out in the classic Mini on a trip to Fairhope to walk on the pier and have a cup of coffee at the Page & Palette bookstore. On the way home, we were passed by a '65 Cadillac Fleetwood sedan on a Sunday drive, too. The driver waved in the friendly manner that car enthusiasts do as he went by. His vanity plate was hilarious!