Terminal Triumphs

I ran this photo some years ago on the SABCC web site showing life (and cars) from a simpler time. 

The photo was shot by a Historic American Buildings Survey photographer documenting the impressive Gulf Mobile and Ohio railroad terminal in downtown Mobile, Alabama. The picture was taken in 1964, almost at the end of the depression-era HABS program's life. As with most cities, the railroad passenger terminal was the center for interstate travelers and the more elaborate the building, the better.

The sharp-eyed amongst you have probably already spotted the pair of Triumphs in the photo - they are parked in front of the building with their noses pointed outward. There is a TR-4 and a Herald side by side - the owners were probably Triumph buddies. You can click on the photo for a larger version.

The terminal building was recently re-purposed into an office complex and city bus line hub, saving the elegant old girl from the wrecking ball (no, that's not a Mardi Gras event).

I for one miss the old Tommie's Terminal Restaurant directly across the street from the GM&O building, almost at the photographer's back.  

Is There Anything New Under the Sun?

MINI Paceman Concept Car - A "Bigger" MINI

Austin 1200 - A "Bigger" Mini

The folks at MINI plan to officially unveil their latest concept - The "Paceman"  - at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Does the world need another MINI variant? Probably not. Are we going to get it anyway? Probably so.

The Dark Side

The club has had official logo merchandise available for purchase for a couple of years now. We've even got a site up for special limited edition SABCC 20th anniversary goods, too. What's been missing from the offering, however, is dark colored goods with the logo. 

Well, we've got it now. If you've held off ordering a white tee shirt for fear that your grease-covered habits will show up on it, fear no more. The club has tees in long and short sleeve for men and women and a nice selection of sweatshirts, too. Check out the site and show your club colors - in color.

This Was on My Christmas List...

... but it wasn't under my tree. Yeah, I'm not surprised, either. This video "pornifies" the awesome Aston Martin V12 Vantage by contrasting it against the LeMans DBR1-2 prototype racer. The soundtrack of both cars makes the hair on my neck stand up. How about you?


The video that I've posted here looks like it was filmed on the Sir Anthony Bamford estate in the UK - the same place where Alain DeCadenet's Victory by Design was shot. If you haven't seen these great videos, I recommend that you get your hands on them soon.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

Please allow me to extend my sincerest wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas and the most prosperous of New Years. Your faithful readership keeps me at my keyboard and I am humbled that so many visitors find these simple scribblings. Thanks.

MINI Countryman is Here

About now,  the new MINI Countryman should be showing up at MINI of Pensacola. I've kept an eye on the development of this model and I thought at first that it was taking the MINI idea a bit far. As I am known to do, I've changed my opinion and I think it's probably a good move for the marque.

The Countryman has four (count 'em four) real doors, can be ordered with a bench back seat (for five up motoring) and is available with all wheel drive. Mini it ain't, but there are several other new cars in the MINI pipeline that are smaller and more sporty. In the meantime, here's a video that MINI produced to introduce the Countryman.   

End of the Line for MG TF

Production of the two seat MG TF is set to end this year after a run (in fits and starts) over 15 years. 

MGF  (MG-Rover press photo)

The mid engine sports car was originally introduced as the MGF in 1995 and brought the MG marque back into the world of lower priced open sports cars after the end of MG RV8 production. While we never had the car here in the US, it was still on the wish list of many American MG enthusiasts. MG-Rover even sent me a packet of MGF literature by request along with a letter stating that, "regretfully the MGF is not currently available in your market."

I had the opportunity to see several MGFs during a European business trip in 2001. I was impressed with its appearance and proportion "in the flesh" so to speak. It would have made a great American market re-entry car for MG. 

Save your pennies, y'all - you'll be able to legally import a 1995 model in 2020.

Farewell, Tom Walkinshaw

Tom Walkinshaw, race driver, team owner and car constructor passed away yesterday after a long fight with cancer. He was 64.

Walkinshaw was well-known among Jaguar enthusiasts as the developer of a number of the marque's most famous competition cars. Among them, the XJ-S as raced in the UK and Australia and the XJR-9s that won LeMans in 1988 and 1990. He was also associated with the Rover marque, running a team of Rover Vitesses in the British Touring Car Championship.

Here is a video of Walkinshaw hustling an XJ-S around the awesome Mount Panorama circuit in Australia:




This is post number 300 on the blog.  

2010 SABCC Christmas Brunch

Noel Eagleson welcomes an SABCC'er

You really don't have to twist an SABBC'ers arm too tightly to get him or her to agree to meet as a group for a meal. The annual Christmas brunch is one of the club's most popular events and this year's edition was no exception with 52 club members and guests present for the 'do'. The club hands out service awards, presents the selected charity with their British Car Festival proceeds donation and serves as the December meeting.

In a break with tradition, the appointed committee recommended to the membership that we find a less expensive venue since the hotels downtown that have hosted the event have gotten quite pricey. Last year's event was over $40.00 per person and with the club paying the half the cost, it hit the treasury pretty hard. Since most of the better hotels downtown are owned by the same entity, competition is not as heated as it once was.

Committee chair Donna Cunningham arranged for the club to have the event at the well-loved Spot of Tea in downtown Mobile. The brunch was in an intimate private area at the back of the restaurant. A special menu was developed for the event with the total cost of the meal for members running only $15.00, again with SABCC covering half of that amount. 

The venue seating was arranged with the help of Ron Wolverton, Becky Kramer and Richard and Donna Cunningham. As the last chair was put in place, the SABCC gang began to arrive. Club VP for Membership, Jack Ross handed out the useful membership list booklet with the most up to date listing of contact information of the South Alabama British Car Club to the arriving crowd.

Enjoying the afternoon

We found our seats and began to enjoy the company of those around us. There's never any shortage of discussion topics and it seems like we always learn something new about the people who share our passion for the British car hobby.

The staff served our beverage selections quickly and took our orders. The menu was heavy with seafood and Hollandaise sauce and the portions served were generous indeed. I chose the Belgian waffle (which came with two eggs and two sausage patties) and was very pleased. Everyone at our table commented on the quality of the food and level of service.

Check presentation to the charity

Club President Noel Eagleson called the business portion of the meeting to order and set to presenting the club's awards for the year. This year, awards were presented to:
 

Most Creative - Don Pritchett

Grillmaster - Gloria Herrington

Colourful Character - Pierre Fontana

Rookie of the Year - John Shaw

Most Suffering Spouse - Elisabeth Ogletree

Most Valuable Player -Yours Truly (!)

Attendance Award - Sandy & Sam Walter

Member of the Year - Michael King

Outgoing club secretary, Sandy Walter was presented a special hand painted platter with the club's logo and personalized for her in commemoration of her 16 years of service.  Thanks, Sandy!

Finally the highlight of the afternoon was the presentation of the check to the club's selected charity, Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy. Sheree Archer, representing Ozanam, spoke to the group about their mission and their needs and invited the membership to visit them and see the work the they do. 

After the obligatory group photo, the members went their separate ways content in the knowledge that another busy year awaits us in 2011.

   

A Tour of British Motor Heritage

There is a Web site for the modified (read "hotted up") British car enthusiast called British V8. The impressive site has tons of data, photos and an active forum for the exchange of ideas and tech tips. I recommend that you spend some time there just to get an appreciation of the extent of the performance car community.

One very good article in their excellent on-line magazine dealt with a visit to the British Motor Heritage factory where body shells and replacement body parts are produced on original factory tooling. The details and photos of the visit are very interesting and informative. I know it makes me wish for pockets deep enough to order new MGB roadster and Mini body shells. 

While I curse my poverty, take a moment to read this excellent account of the factory visit.

The Origin of "Car Porn"?

I'm sure that most auto enthusiasts have heard the term car porn. I've seen it used on a number of Web sites usually in regards to 'artsy' type car photography. The first time I heard the term used, was way back in the age of steam-powered Internet: the email list. 

I hadn't had an email account and Internet access very long when I discovered the world of British car enthusiasts on the Web. One of the first electronic bars I slid into was the venerable team.net. At the time, it was one of the most active mailing lists for British car enthusiasts where one could share stories of woe, seek advice and generally hang out with those similarly afflicted.  

One post- from January, 1999 - had to do with British car enthusiast magazines wherein a college professor (and TR4 owner) in Oregon was going out to pick up his favorite enthusiast magazines that his wife referred to as his 'car porn'. He was struck with her apt observation and he summed it up with this post: 

I was on my way down to the local bookstore to buy my

copy of Classic & Sports Car, and as I kissed my wife good-bye

before hopping in my TR-4, she said "Have a nice trip to get

your car porn, love."  When I asked her to explain, she pointed

out how I was going to buy a magazine filled with glossy color

photos of good-looking things I couldn't have and could

only fantasize about because they were too expensive. 

Sounded like pornography to her, and when I gave it a moment's

thought, I realized she was right - I was going out to buy car porn.

Once convinced of the basic validity of the metaphor, I started

to think about how one could classify the various

classic car magazines on the market by comparing them to various

pornographic magazines.  It's easier than you might think. 

First off, Classic &  Sports Car and Thoroughbred &

Classic are clearly the Playboy and Penthouse of the classic car

world. They have pictures of all sorts of cars, as long as they are sporty

and fairly expensive.  They also pretty much only have pictures that one

might term "soft core" car porn - the cars have all their paint on, they

look nice and are polished, and you don't see them taken apart or, heaven

forbid, having big rust holes repaired.  They are also the largest

and the most mass market, going for a wide audience, and they have lots of

words in them, not just pictures.

Practical Classics, on the other hand, is clearly the Hustler of the

classic car porn world.  The cars are not as fancy and stylish as in

the previous two magazines, but they are more approachable - it's easier

to imagine you might actually date ..., oh, I mean buy one of them.

Practical Classics is also more hard core - you get to see what is under the hood

while the man with the spanner tightens a few things up - very

intimate. Lot of pictures, not as many words.

For American readers, British Car magazine is an oddity of car

porn - sort of like a combination of Big Hooters with the Journal of

Gynecology. Any kind of picture of a car will do, as long as it’s British, just

like Big Hooters will carry any sort of picture, as long as it involves,

well, big hooters.  But British Car has all that detailed advice stuff as

well, very clinical - I guess they want to appeal to every American no matter how 

weird their tastes in car porn are. 

As for the various single marque magazines, like Jaguar World or The

Triumph Register, they are just like the sort of very specialized

magazines found only behind the counter in plain wrappers, something

like Blonde Teens Who Like Riding Horses In

The Nude Covered With Chocolate

sauce.

For these car porn devotees, only one specific kind of porn will do, only

pictures of one specific kind of car will get them off ..... the

couch to polish something in the garage.

As for club newsletters, well that's just plain dirty, exactly

like the stuff collected by local groups of perverts who pass around the latest

child pornography.  Crudely printed, amateur layout, but for the

faithful the thing they must have so that they and their fellow perv ...

enthusiasts can get together and compare what it is they have in their driveways.

So what sort of car porn consumer am I?  Well, I must confess that

I am an addict - I read all kinds, and I just can't get enough.  Good

thing my wife is so understanding, not to mention my TR-4....

Mark "Is that an alternator in your pocket or are you just happy to

see me?" Clark

Dr. Mark Clark

Oregon Institute of Technology

Dr. Mark, if you're still out there enjoying your TR4 and your 'car porn', 

thank you for sharing this. 

A Mini with an Underbite

Most British car enthusiasts know that the Mini was withdrawn from the US market when it was determined that it could not be built to meet pending crashworthiness regulations in the late 1960s. Having spent some time behind the wheel of a classic Mini, I can attest that it is not a place you want to be if metal is to be bent.

Our cousins to the north in Canada, however got the Mini a lot longer than we did. Canadians appreciate small cars due to the fact that a lot of major Canadian cities are not unlike large European cities in street width and general layout. The Canadian government adopted a number of US regulations as they pertained to crash safety and lighting. While some US standards applied, not all did. Hence, the Canadian spec Mini.

I've posted a photo from a Canadian Mini brochure from the late 1970s. You'll note that the car has side marker lights, head restraints and a couple of gawdawful bumpers hanging off of it. The bumpers give it a, well, bumper car look.

Maybe it was best that we didn't get that one here.

British Exports to the USA

It's been some time since I've posted something from the amazing British Pathe web site. It's a place that will eat up a lot of your time, so let me be your guide.

Today's selection is a series of unused film clips shot in New York City in 1949 showing the folks back home in Jolly Old that the colonies were lapping up British exports. This was good thing since Great Britain was facing a crushing war debt to the US and Canada. "Export or die" was the directive to British manufacturers and the British people would remain under severe rationing of most commodities for many years to come while England worked to earn foreign exchange.

The footage shows several shots of British cars in New York starting with an Austin A40 on Fifth Avenue. You'll see other shots of British exports including shoes, fine china, pipes and Johnnie Walker whisky. My favorite segment is the visit to the legendary Inskip Motor Company. Inskip was an early importer of British automobiles and paved the way for nationwide distribution of the cars we know and love. 

BRITISH EXPORTS TO USA

A Two-Wheeled Piece of MG History

Most MG enthusiasts know of the pre-war MG factory hack nicknamed the "Auld Speckled 'Un" that was used for various runaround duties at the Abingdon works. MG had several vehicles that they used over the years to perform errands and other duties, some famous, others not so much. 

While trolling the Internet, I found a charming story about an ex-MG works motorized bicycle that was bought at auction during the liquidation of the of the historic factory. The bike is a 1953 Raleigh Cyclemaster Roundsman and was powered by a 32cc single cylinder engine. The bike does not have a registration number on it so it was likely not taken off the factory grounds. I love the signwritten plate with the MG and Riley information.

Since most manufactured vehicles were exported after the second world war to earn badly needed foreign exchange, Britain had to turn to smaller two and three wheeled motorized delivery vehicles to keep the economic wheels turning at home. A motorized bicycle was a step up from a push bike (that's a regular bicycle to you, cowboy) and it was very miserly with rationed fuel, to boot. 

This photo was part of a blog entry at the oldbike.eu blog.   

Vintage Plates in Alabama

For years Alabama offered an "Antique Vehicle" license plate for use on cars 25 years old or older. A one-time fee would make your antique car licensed for the rest of its days. The problem was that everyone with an old beater lined up to buy the tags and cut The Man out of his tax. Like politicians are wont to do, this affront to civilization was fixed with a new law.

Now, to qualify for the "Vintage Vehicle" plate the car must be 

(i) a private passenger automobile, truck or truck tractor which weighs not more than 26,000 pounds gross weight, motorcycle, or fire truck, (ii) over 30 years old, (iii) operated as a collector's item, including participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and not used for general transportation purposes, (iv) a vehicle having the original or substantially similar vehicle body, chassis, engine, and transmission as designated for that make, model, year, and age vehicle.


Surprisingly enough, the new "Vintage Vehicle" plate becomes part of the car and is transferred with the car if it is sold or otherwise changes hands. The normal tax-me-every-year plates stay with the owner in the event of vehicle transfer in Alabama. 


Recently, Alabama followed the lead of several other states in allowing the use of age-related plates. For example, if you can scarf up a 1953 Alabama license plate, you can mount it on your 1953 Pissaire Highwayman DeLuxe with a special gold "V" sticker available from your local probate court office. You'll need to show them the age related plate that you intend to use and they will inspect it for condition and begin a search to see if the same plate number has been claimed by another vintage vehicle. In other words, the year of the plate does not matter - if someone else has registered that number as a vintage plate from any year, you can't use it. It may take up to 30 days for them to do this search so don't attach that sticker just yet, pilgrim.

If my experience is any indicator, you'll probably have to educate your local probate office. I've got age related plates on my '76 MGB and '73 Mini. Both times, I had to get a supervisor involved and they had to call higher authorities. Be polite, be firm and print out this copy of the law in case they think you're a nut case.    


They may still think you're a nut case, but at least you've got the law in hand.

And Now, This Word from Our Sponsors

OK, maybe not a sponsor but I wanted to let the three of you who read this humble blog know that there is a very nice Jaguar E-Type bonnet for sale and it happens to belong to Richard Cunningham and me. 

Some of you may recall that Richard and I bought a 1969 coupe a couple of years ago with a plan to break it for spares. In the time that's passed we've shipped parts all over the world, keeping other E-Types on the road and modestly funding our car-related interests. We've got several large pieces left, most notably the body tub and bonnet. The tub has rust in the sills, floor and boot (no surprise there, right?) but is pretty straight everywhere else. The doors are gone, but we have the hatch. If you have a slightly bent SII E-Type, this tub will yield some very nice body panels.

The bonnet is in very nice condition, barring some surface corrosion and a couple of curb dings under the chin. This is an original bonnet that has had a couple of coats of paint in the past. It will need media blasting and fairing of the corrosion areas on the top, but it would be very easy for an accomplished restorer to do. We will sell the bonnet for a fraction of the cost of an inferior reproduction unit.

The photo does not really do the bonnet justice. The last paint was dark maroon and it has faded to flat brown. The coat under the maroon is light grey. Altogether, it looks more scruffy than it really is. The pieces are located in Daphne, Alabama and I would be happy to forward photos on request.


Now, back to our irregularly scheduled programming.
 

Imponderables

 
How did the rivets get into the quarterlight-to-windscreen seal of MGBs?

Can the speedo cable be replaced on a classic Mini without lifting the engine out?

Why did the USA get a "TR250" instead of a "TR5"?

Is it possible to open a beer bottle in the jackhole of a Sprite?

Road Trip Treasure

Ace auto restorer and all-round top bloke Mike Darby recently acquired a couple of project vehicles from a gentleman in eastern Mississippi. One car was fairly complete and the other was in (mostly) large pieces. There were more cars and bits than would fit on his trailer and in his truck so Richard Cunningham offered to tow a trailer as well. Robb Ogletree and I, seeing an opportunity to lend a hand, volunteered to ride shotgun with Richard and Mike.

We arrived at the appointed place in Mississippi and set to work getting the cars and parts loaded. The complete car took a little fettling to get it started but start it did and we got it on the trailer. The other car, a pre-war model, was in bits scattered over the warehouse where it was stored. We loaded boxes and bits into Mike's pickup and the overflow went in Richard's vehicle. The trailer that he was towing carried the chassis, body tub and other large pieces.

A similar top - I didn't bring a camera, either

As we were scanning the shop I noticed a couple of fairly nice works-style MGB hard tops. Since I never carry money of any amount (not by plan - it just sort of works out that way) I didn't bother to ask if they were for sale. Richard, however, did ask and they were - at a very fair price. Fair, but more than the lint I had in my pocket at the time.

A quick pocket check found that a couple of us pooling our resources had enough to buy the top. Money changed hands and we loaded the hardtop on Richard's trailer. And when we decided that it could possibly be damaged by the flexing of the body tub or other pieces rubbing against it, we tried to load it in Richard's GMC Envoy. It wouldn't fit. Mike then insisted that we remove some of the bits from his covered pickup and load it inside safe and snug. Robb and I transferred the offloaded items into Richard's car and we were ready to travel.

The top is in pretty nice shape -it needs a new rear bracket fabricated and the gel coat wants a bit up touchup, too. I am however, as pleased as I can be and I'm looking forward to driving the old girl through the winter months without hiring a team of circus roadies to erect the soft top. 

I need to dig around the sofa cushions for change to repay the loan...

Photo courtesy motorbase.com

A Website for Healey Lovers

I do love a big Healey. The rumbling six cylinder sound of the later cars is certainly music to my ears - almost as captivating as a well tuned Jaguar E-Type.

One that got away from me during my teenage years was a tatty Austin Healey 100-6. The car was listed in the Sunday paper for $650.00 and it was located just off lower Dauphin Island Parkway - my stomping grounds. I drove up in my beater of an Oldsmobile and the the owner just looked out his window. Obviously I was not worth coming out of his house for and he was right. I did look the car over and it reinforced my desire for one. Of course, I didn't have the bucks and likely would not any time soon. Needless to say, I left the same way I arrived. It made me hate my poverty.

We've been lucky to welcome a number of these beautiful cars to our British Car Festivals over the years and I always linger over them during the show.

There's a great Web site dedicated to these most hairy-chested of British sports cars and I'm sure that most Austin-Healey owners know of it. Check out AustinHealey.com and be prepared for a well designed site that will keep your attention.