My long suffering wife and I were out enjoying the a late lunch in Fairhope today when she suggested we stroll through one of the many antique shops in town. Being a good husband (and desperately needing a few more husband points), I agreed.
Part way through the shop I noticed a stack of books and paused to scan the spines. Bingo - a book about Mini on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. Written by the legendary motoring journalist L J K Setright, it was published by Rover Group before their BMW masters flogged the company off to a (mis) management group.
See, it pays to be a good spouse!
I've had an interest in cars almost all my life with the afterburners kicking in during my teen years. Then as now, my interest was in nimble, good handling cars - mostly of British manufacture.
And I know exactly when I became a car guy - my dad took me to see the 1964 Mustang in April of 1964. He cajoled the salesman at the local Ford dealer in St. Charles, Missouri to let us see the car the evening before it was to be officially revealed to the public. We went back to the service department in the old brick building that housed the dealership and there, under a white tarp, sat the coolest silhouette that I had ever seen.
The salesman made a dramatic flourish and whipped the tarp off a white Mustang coupe. I was in awe. I was a car guy. Do you have a similar story? Be sure to share it in the comments section.
Photo via theautochannel.com
The club has recently re-ordered a supply of grill badges - they should be here in time for the January meeting. They will be $20.00 each and they come with some rudimentary fasteners to attach it to your British pride and joy.
The Bentley Continental R is, in my humble opinion, one of the most gorgeous cars ever produced. To my eye, there's not a single bad line.
Bodied by the coachbuilding firm H J Mulliner, the Continental R was designed to be a 'lightweight' Bentley with aluminum body panels, window frames and bumpers. Only 208 of these beauties were built from 1952 to 1955.
Photo via automobile.automotive.com
It seems that way. Of the four M & M events we've had this year, three of them were held under the threat of - or actual - rain.
This month's event was at Serda's on Royal Street in downtown Mobile. The place was really nice with great coffee and baked goodies. The atmosphere was pleasant in the old, re-purposed building. Of course, the company was first class with about a dozen SABCC'ers making it to the coffee house.
The threat of rain (100% chance) kept most of the group in snug modern cars. The handful of classic British motors were parked on Royal Street and drew a steady stream of admirers.
We'll do a few more Mugs & Motors events next year - we might even have some official Mugs & Motors coffee mugs to hand out as event door prizes. Stay tuned!
Photo courtesy of Ron Wolverton
Winter is in the air and the offical grey SABCC polo shirts are feeling a bit thin. Yep, the north wind blows right through the fine pique fabric. Maybe it's time for something more substantial?
Look no further than the SABCC Swag Shop. There you can find sweatshirts, hats, tote bags and other great ways to show your SABCC colo(u)rs. The club has a nice selection of goodies for Christmas giving or for your own purposes.
You like coffee, right? You like British cars, right? You like the folks who drive British cars, right? EXCELLENT! Mugs & Motors is this Saturday, November 21 at 8:00AM. We're meeting at Serda's Coffee Company at 3 South Royal Street in downtown Mobile. Drive your British car and park out front. Street parking is free on Saturdays so save your change for the tip jar at Serda's.
Remember - there's no agenda, no program and no schedule. Just Coffee and Conversation for Motoring Enthusiasts!
I've posted a couple of publicity drawings of two iconic British cars - the Morris Minor and Austin Healey Sprite. As you can see from the images, there's something not quite right about the size of either the cars or the people drawn into the artwork.
The proud gent in the Morris is beaming over his purchase of a new Minor. The family running to greet him seems pretty proud of Pop, too. But look at the bloke behind the wheel. If we use the car for scale, Pop must be about 4' 6" tall and weigh in at about 80 pounds. In fact, the kids in the sketch appear to be about the same size as the old man. I've seen several Minors in the flesh and they aren't nearly as la
rge as the sketch would indicate. Were the postwar British people that small or were liberties taken with the Morris?
It seems to be a recurring theme that artist's renderings were exaggerated to show the car larger than it really was. Clap your eyes on the Austin Healey Sprite and you'll notice that the nattily dressed man with the pipe is a bit on the slight side. In fact he seems to be about 4-1/2 feet tall as well.
Maybe the tagline 'Enlarged to show detail' had not been coined yet.
Images from BMC publicity literature
It's a British thing. We probably wouldn't understand it. More info here.
Image via hapers.org
My long suffering wife and I were out enjoying the a late lunch in Fairhope today when she suggested we stroll through one of the many antique shops in town. Being a good husband (and desperately needing a few more husband points), I agreed.
