1936 MG SA—Tickford Drophead Coupe at the 2013 European Car Show
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THE MG CLUB OF ST. LOUIS NEWSLETTER www.stlouismgclub.com V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 J ULY 1 , 2 0 1 3 1936 MG SA—Tickford Drophead Coupe at the 2013 European Car Show Inside this issue: The History of British Racing Green 9 June Meeting Minutes 2 Gathering of the Faithful 2013—St. Charles, MO 10 GOF 2013 Registration 11 Chairman’s Message 3 All-British Car Show 13 Classic Car Club of America Car Show 4 European Car Show at Frontenac Plaza 7 MG Club of St. Louis Calendar 14 Tech Tip: Door Panel Moisture Barrier 8 Contacts 15 Tech Tip: Freeze Plug Installation 8 Back Page—Next MG Club of St. Louis Meeting 16 V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 P AGE 2 June Meeting Minutes By Carolyn Westbay The MG Club of St. Louis Old Business – June Meeting Minutes Carl’s Drive in for a British Invasion had about 8-9 cars show up. Good food and good conversation with a nice assort- April 8, 2013 ment of cars. Pioneer Park, Des Peres, MO Regional show – both Robert Rushing and Simon Dix Meeting was called to order by John Mangles, Chairman at took awards at the show for their cars. 6:30pm Bloomington car show – was a good showing and time Members attending (those in bold drove British cars): Carolyn per Lee Fox. Westbay, Robert Roberson, Bob Horzmann, Fred Houser, Jane RUBCO next will be held on June 19th at the Egg & I Bolliger, Fannie Pritchett, Larry Pritchett, Greg Quigley, Kathe near Clarkson and Dexter. Quigley, Robert Rushing, Mike Fishman, Lee Fox, Andy Acker- th man, Sterling Ellis, Mike Titass, Frank Lauryssen, Ranney Beat the Heat rallye will be on July 7 which is a Sun- Dohogne, Steve Taylor, Carolyn Golfin, Richard Griffin, Bob day. Information to follow in e-mail and on the website. Bentzinger, Rich Berger, Walt Murphy, Bob Strathman, John Man- July meeting will be held at the Granite City Brewery. gles, Carol Mangles, Barb Berger, Paul Howard, Chris Kresser, Bruce Hamper, Rich Rhyner, Donna Murphy, Kathy Kresser, Don Drawing had Rich Rhyner, Walt Murphy and Greg Quig- Gaitheman, Simon Dix, Keith Mangles. ly winning. New Members attending – none Meeting was adjourned at 6:34 pm in order to begin the BBQ festivities. Treasurer’s Report – General fund has $4029.25 Meeting was Adjourned at 8:30pm Events fund has $3001.29 GOF entry forms and schedules were handed out by Bob Hor- Respectfully submitted, zmann. This is an event to be held in St. Charles that will cele- brate the T series cars. Carolyn Westbay, Secretary Photos: Andy Ackerman and Bruce Hamper V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 P AGE 3 Chairman’s Message by John Mangles Here it is, June, Summer, HOT, middle of the year and the longest day of the year just past. Can you tell….. the days are getting shorter. Soon it will be fall. I have to say our June meeting was fantastic. Thanks to Rich, the Grillmeister Berger and his crew, Lee Fox, Bob Bentzinger and Walt Murphy for preparing a very nice grilled meal and thank to all that brought a dish to make the meal even better. The meeting itself, I thought, went very well (fast). I was told that I might have set a record for the shortest MG Club meeting ever, right at 3 minutes! Of course I was informed that the food was ready and the members were hungry. I’ve heard that the invasion at the Third Degree Glass Factory was well attended. I must apologize for not attending it. I had made reservations at St. Francis State park for camping before the date was set. I proba- bly should have cancelled my reservation as it rained so hard at the park, we had to evacuate because of possi- ble flooding! Plans are going well for the All British Car Show. We might be trying a new computer program to help with the vote counting. However, head counter Ranney said he’ll be counting the old fashion way just as a back up. Myself, Robert & Vonda Rushing, Simon and Tara Dix and……AND, Bob Bentzinger , in his soon to be completed 1974 MGB Roadster, are making plans, (well mostly Simon & Tara ) for our trip to Corvalis, Oregon for MG2013. We’re planning on doing quite a bit of sightseeing on our way out and heading straight back after the show. That’s going to be one long fast trip. Until next time, Happy Motoring, John V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 P AGE 4 Classic Car club of America car show By Kathy Kresser; Proofread by Anice Etz The classics were out in style on Saturday, May, 18, at the Kemp Auto Museum. This was a smaller show, allowing one to really enjoy each car for its magnificence. I wondered what defined a classic. The Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) provided this information regarding approved classics on their website: “The CCCA defines a Classic as a ‘fine’ or ‘distinctive’ automobile. American or for- eign built, produced between 1925 and 1948. Generally, a Classic was high-priced when new and was built in limited quantities. Other factors, including engine dis- placement, custom coachwork and luxury accessories, such as power brakes, pow- er clutch, and ‘one-shot’ or automatic lubrication systems, help determine whether a car is considered to be a classic.” Gracing the show field were Rolls-Royces including one with a vinyl-wrapped body, Packards, Bentleys, Lincolns, Cadillacs, Jaguars and others. This field included some show-stopping hood ornaments such as the Arrow, Jaguar, Flying Lady, Deer, Greyhound and so forth. I love these ornamental features from days gone by. V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 P AGE 5 Classic Car club of America car show Con t’ I talked with Richard and Anice Etz at the show. Richard loved the show and shared these com- ments: “The Classic Car Club of America held its regional car show at the Kemp Auto Mu- seum on May 18, 2013. Members of this club have cars that are termed “Grand Classics,” drawn from a specific list of particularly excellent cars produced from 1925 to 1948. For example, the only qualified Triumphs would be Glorias and Dolo- mites from the 1930s. This may have been the greatest show I’ve ever attended, with 40 cars that looked like they might appear at Pebble Beach or Meadow- brook. One of the entrants told me that the Sunday show would be the same only with more cars, but it wasn’t. There were only a few carryovers. Apparently he didn’t realize that the Kemp Concours Show was a totally different registration process. All of the cars deserve special mention, but I always remember certain cars. Some cars were familiar. The 1928 Cunningham dual cowl phaeton was the star of this year’s Easter Show, in my opinion. The owner told of helping Jay Leno source parts for the Cunningham in the Leno garage. The green LaSalle phaeton that we passed last year on Highway 40 was there again. It was great to see that car traveling at highway speed! There was also a familiar Pierce Arrow dual cowl phaeton, owned by a local fellow who has several Pierce models. Two Cords were there, the first modern front wheel drive American cars. These were built by Auburn /Duesenberg and were noted for advanced styling. The L-29 was a low slung coupe that was only the second I’d ever seen. The 1936 was the famous “coffin-nose” designed by Gor- don Buehrig. It was powered by a supercharged V8. Anice was fascinated by a cream- colored Jaguar that had belonged to the ‘queen mum’. It was rumored to have been given to Winston Churchill when his garage burned. I showed Anice the fake grille on the Franklin, which was added as a styling feature to later mod- els. Being air cooled, earlier Franklins had no radiator and thus, no grille. As the cars were judged, we heard them start and run. A sleek V12 Lincoln coupe required lots of choke and belched black smoke on start up! The fantastic list goes on: 1947 Lincoln Continental, 1933 Packard coupe/roadster, 30s Jaguar drop head coupe. V OLUME 2 6 , I SSUE 7 P AGE 6 Classic Car club of America car show Con t’ Some cars were apparently unrestored: a Rolls Royce sedan had a ripped headliner and dead paint; period costumed owners presented a tatty 20s Rolls limo. Others were restored to apparent perfection: The 1948 Chrysler Town and Country that we saw on the Healey Club field trip last summer at Mann’s Restoration was there. Mann’s had just finished it. We saw the power top retract, as it arrived. The most stunning car was a 20s Rolls Royce road- ster. The fenders were pol- ished aluminum and the body was a torpedo or boat tail ap- parently covered in leath- er. The owner just bought the car from a specialist in Eng- land. He received it only a cou- ple of weeks ago and had changed the color to maroon and stripped and polished the fenders. The body was re- covered from green vinyl to maroon vinyl. Turns out it was a low mileage car whose me- chanicals had never been re- built. It has overdrive, so it is able to achieve 70 mph on the highway. As it turns out, it was a rare short wheelbase hearse that was re-bodied at some time in the past.