Car Thread

[aterry11]

In Nebraska We would put a thrush , glasspack , or a cherry bomb with a turndown on the out and go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES especially at the ubiquitous four way middle of the country stop, Seems they can hear you coming sorta like a steam loco.

[sarge]

Just now back from putting springs in (Healey, if you think it was a PITA on your Sprite, you should have seen this exercise!), tightening the wheel-bearing up and pretty much redoing all the A-arm hardware on the near side, some shockmounts, &c.

The little b@st@rd is getting there; now I can spatter an apple on the apex of a corner in both directions!

It's naptime.

Later, my wife wants a ride in it. She's used to the ways of the MGB, so this might be rather enlightening for her.

[healey36]

Take her on the B-road circuit we did...lot's of cowl-shake and loose gravel there!!! Spare bloomers may be in order...

Healey

[sarge]

Take her on the B-road circuit we did...lot's of cowl-shake and loose gravel there!!! Spare bloomers may be in order...

Healey

That would be a very foolish thing for me to do. Probably how it will turn out, though.

[rogruth]

Sarge,

Have fun while you can.
My wife lost her sense of humor about 10 years ago.
I am NOT kidding.

[healey36]

Sarge - Sometime when you have a minute drive over to the far western end of Arendtsville Road where it hits Rte 30 (if you haven't already). Stop by the old round barn over there, which I think is used for a fruit market this time of year



Slip up to the loft...it's a cathedral up there, just an unbelievable structure.

Healey

[sarge]

I stop there all the time for jams and honey and the like. Every time I'm there, my wife shops the kitsch and I go up top and just let the craftsmanship and the engineering waft over me.

It's a brilliant structure!

[sarge]

Today saw the lads descend on "MG's on the Rocks", a fall finale in eastern Maryland. I met Healey and his lovely daughter, we toured the field and saw these new favourites, although I do include one old friend. So, lets walk about, shall we?

This lovely old 1947 T series survivor:




This Sunbeam Tiger:




Our old friend the faded red Morgan we show every time just because it is an honest car:




A DeLorean




A Mini Moke, where BMC took the Mini undercarriage and put this beach-body to it.




A lovely Lotus Europa:




A Jensen Interceptor




A nice plain-jane Mini, very much like what I had when I lived in Aldershot.




This is just plain nutz, and reminds me of the Days or Youth. The big difference is this being a modern racecar built from a Midget; very different yet very much the same as a couple I remember from the days of Lunacy. This has a Mazda rotary engine and the suspension is lightyears beyond what we ever had. Lovely car and a very nice chap who owned it humouring an old racer. I'd love a couple hours figuring it out, then an hour of mayhem!




Two beautiful Jag XK140's, one a coupe and one a roadster:






The obligatory brace o' E-types; what lovely and voluptuous shapes!




A Triumph Stag




Back to Jaguars for a moment; this is what I'll buy when I finally have to get a oldguymobile. There will be wood and leather and a V12 and no stinking white Lincoln with Florida tags for this kid. It will be an old Jag.




And finally a nice survivor Morris Minor; a "Moggie"




It was kind of interesting in that the show was more a show than a meet, trophies for classes and people seemed to take themselves far too seriously, some downright rude as the worry of competitiveness got the best of them. As I understand it (and Healey can confirm or deny it) the show, like many traditional car shows rather than meets, is suffering a shrinkage in participation, few people younger than Healey or me, and some classes were slim to none in entries. The parts sellers were not as well represented as in past, and the prices for some stuff was just stupid money. Really expensive toff prices for most things (including the food!)

On the other hand the rude and worried were still outshown by good guys to be seen. I mentioned the guy with the rotary-powered Midget, Jack Merryman was there taking a break from the shop, of course Healey and his daughter. There were reasonable prices for some things too; I picked up some garage hangings and trinkets. I think it would be fun for Healey, Tony, and I to show up in our Spridgets, mark all three as "do not judge" and show these poor serious folks what fun can be had by just a little misbehaviour!

Of the shows and meets this year, I'd have to say the one in Healey's hometown back in June was the most enjoyable. Just a group of guys and cars without pressure or pretentiousness.

[rogruth]

Ignoring the effect judging has on the participants, your photos show some beautiful cars.
Thank you.

[sarge]

Thanks Roger:

I somehow missed putting up this lovely Lotus Elise:



That just fondles the eyeballs.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

So piddling it's barely worth anybody's time, but speaking of wonderful toys and legends, there was an urban-legend around NYC, years ago, that Johnny Carson had a De Lorean which he used to tool around the city until one very aggravating day he got trapped inside; the doors would not let him exit the vehicle. True? Anybody know?

[healey36]

I don't know that story Murph, but I do know that Carson was a significant investor in Delorean's Belfast operations, and I also recall reading that he was at the wheel of his personal Delorean in 1982 when he got nailed for drunken driving. Those two things combined probably didn't leave him with warm feelings for the marque, and I can remember Carson on more than one occasion making derogatory comments about it on the Tonight Show.

MGs on the Rocks was great fun, but my time there was abbreviated due to other commitments. The threat of rain seemed to "dampen" the attendance this year...like Sarge I was particularly disappointed in the number of bits-sellers that showed up. Even Triple-C was absent, and they'd been stalwarts for years. The Baltimore MG club seems to attract a considerable number of the wicker-hamper crowd, but there's still more than a few well-worn examples to drool over as well.

FrankenSprite shows up occasionally...Sarge and I spotted him at the Gettysburg drive-in earlier in the summer:



A box-body Spridget with the cowl of a Bugeye/Frogeye grafted on, it found itself relegated to the back-row with the rest of the "correct" Bugeyes.

Here's a snap of murderers row for Midgets:



Especially nice if you're into a pristine engine-bay.

All-in-all a good wrap on the season. The TRAC meet in Westminster was memorable...I mean you can't beat a Scorpion, can ya?

So time to start contemplating buttoning up for winter, but October is always a glorious month for open cars, so we shan't go out with a whimper.

And Sarge, I like the idea of hitting one of these en-masse with you and Tony next year...they'd never recover.

Healey

[healey36]

The new Fiat 124 Spider:

http://wot.motortrend.com/2017_fiat_124_spider_spied_in_the_rough.html

It's getting difficult to keep track of who's what anymore...

Healey

[sarge]

OK, I'm confused too. What is Mazda to Fiat (or by default Chrysler for that matter)?

Or is this Fiat taking a Mazda under license, throwing an Alfa engine in some and a Fiat plant in others and changing the styling a little because they don't want to be seen as copying the Mazda and calling it an old time-honoured name that it doesn't resemble in the slightest oh my my brain hurts...

Still not a very appealing (What ever happened to that epic Italian sense of style?) car and has a, what do they call it, an "info-tainment system"? Hell I don't even know if the radio works in either of my two-seaters, nor do I particularly care, and I most certainly have no interest in answering a mobile phone when I drive a sports car.

Harumph!

Soggy days, but finished making the bits needed to put the rear shock-mounts back to right on the Midget. I put the whole thing back together and went cloud-dodging to test the result. My this car is finally becoming well-sorted and what a hoot! Now we need some crisp sunny fall days because I need more of them to test the car rather than more soggy "spanner-days" at this point.

[robert.]

Did you happen to notice almost all of the cars are behind yellow caution tape? Then you get to the row with the Delorean. It and the 2 cars next to it are behind a white chalky like line