More Images from the Last Days of MG-Rover

MG-TF Bodyshell -Courtesy Clubcela

The former assembly plant of MG-Rover has been mentioned in several posts on this humble blog, but I can't resist adding one more.

The Spanish -language Clubcela website dedicated to urban exploration ran a selection of photos gathered by explorers of the shut down Longbridge plant. A large number of the buildings documented here are now demolished, making way for a redevelopment project. Others are still in use and they are where the UK assembly of the new MG car line will be carried out. 

Check out the photos here.

Mugs & Motors Coffee Mug

Mug & Motors is one of the more popular events on the SABCC activity calendar. We meet early at a local coffee establishment (if they have baked goods it's a plus!) for coffee and conversation for motoring enthusiasts to kick off a day's club activity.

In the last several years we've visited most of the coffee purveyors in Mobile and on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. The sight of classic British cars in the parking lot usually results in a number curious browsers and is always good for the coffee shop's business, too.

You can show your support for Mugs & Motors with the official SABCC Mugs & Motors coffee cup. Check out the entire selection of SABCC items at the SABCC Cafe Press shop. 

Your coffee never tasted so good!

A New Look for the SABCC Website

If you haven't looked in on the South Alabama British Car Club's website lately, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. This afternoon, the newly renovated site went live.

A lot of the content will be familiar but the graphics -as well as a number of features- are brand new. Some of the improvements include:

• An events calendar with all the latest SABCC events noted. There is even a mapping feature that shows the location of the event on Google Maps.
• A photo slide show consisting of photos from the mid 1990s until the present time.
• Easier to use navigation buttons and links to help you find your way around the site.
• More photos from club events.
• An expanded links page.

We owe a debt of gratitude to club president Richard Cunningham for his efforts in mastering some new web site creation software to bring these improvements to fruition. The original SABCC web was launched in the late 1990s on the gone but not forgotten Geocities hosting platform. I worked up a web site mostly as a personal challenge to see if I could do one. As time passed, the club reserved the sabcc.org URL (having just nosed out the South Australian Blind Cricket Club for the address) and then moved to paid hosting servers.

If you would like to see the changes the club web site has undergone over the years, check out these links:

• September, 2002
• September, 2004
• March, 2005
• July, 2007

As you can see the site has undergone many changes - some good and some best forgotten. Bear in mind that the Wayback Machine Internet Archive does not do a perfect job of rendering the old sites, but it's close. Sadly, the Geocities site is long defunct.

We will be making a number of further improvements in the site as time permits.

The "Australian" Stop on the Tour of the Empire

Checking out Menus

The 2012 activity calendar of the South Alabama British Car Club was kicked off last Saturday evening with another stop on the club's Tour of the Empire - the gustatory visit of nations of the former British Empire.

Mobile, Alabama is a middling large city (somewhere in the top 100 in America) so we have a few restaurants representing those former holdings. To date, we've "visited" Hong Kong, India and Jamaica and the members were looking forward to the Australian stop in the form of the Outback Steakhouse. 

Before the hate mail rolls in from the island continent let me let me state clearly that I know that there is a decided lack of true Aussie cuisine available on the Outback Steakhouse menu, but play along with us - we enjoyed a good meal and the fine company of our fellow club members. As soon as a brave soul opens an eatery serving  items like meat pies and sausage rolls, we'll be some of the first in line to try it. For now, this chain restaurant will have to do. 

The gap in the tables was for the fire marshal

The Outback staff was ready for our group of 25 hungry souls and sat us in a long line of tables and benches. With just two servers taking care of our group, the drinks and appetizers were served quickly and mostly error-free. The signature "Bloomin' Onion" was a popular choice, but it is certainly a cardiologist's nightmare. Yeah, our table had one, too.

The SABCC'ers were in deep conversation about everything from current automotive projects and activity ideas to keeping up with family news and welcoming new members. The arrival of the entrees (perfectly timed to hit the tables at almost the same moment) was the only thing that quietened the chatter. 

Oi mate - your Union Jack is upside down!

Choices ranged from beef to seafood and combinations of the two. With just a couple of minor exceptions, the meals were delivered as ordered and everyone enjoyed their respective choices. With portions as large as were served the dessert menu was untouched and we took our leave.

Stepping out of the restaurant into the cool night air we were greeted with the unmistakable aroma of cannabis. Someone was somewhere in the parking lot was working on their own illegal smile.     

So where will the next stop on the tour be? Right now, the list includes Ireland and the good ol' US of A. Stay tuned for details. 

Counterfeit BMIHT Heritage Certificates

Courtesy Classic & Sports Car Magazine

Classic & Sports Car magazine posted an article detailing how false Heritage Certificates have been discovered recently. While a bit of a novelty here in the USA, the certificates are accepted as legitimate documentation of an automobile's build date and, important for taxation purposes, the registration date in the UK. 

A Heritage Certificate will confirm the details of the cars original paint color, options, dispatch date and to which dealer it was shipped to in America. SABCC'er and E-Type restorer Richard Cunningham applied for and received one for his 1964 E-Type coupe. It is an impressive document that will do any owner proud.

See the C&SC article here.

London Reinterprets an Icon

Is it possible to read an article about London without seeing an image of a red double decker bus? No more likely than not seeing Big Ben, a red phone box or a black cab. 


Transport for London (TfL) recently ran a competition to redesign the bus to bring it into the 21st century while maintaining the visual cues that would make it instantly recognizable. The winner of the competition is making a tour of London this month and is pictured here.

From:the TfL web site:

The new bus for London is a bus the Capital can be proud of. Inspired by the old Routemaster, it is modern, fully accessible and uses the latest green technology. 
 

It's the first bus designed specifically for the Capital's streets for more than 50 years. Passengers will be able to hop on and off through three sets of doors. When a conductor is on board, passengers can also use the open rear platform.

It is so iconic that SABCC arranged to have one present at last year's British Car Festival.