Hmmm. Well, I didn't hear back from anyone on this list, and I didn't see
any SOL logos out there, so I guess we were woefully underrepresented in
Illinois this afternoon. However, many civilians were in attendance, as
were a hundred or more LBC's of practically every marque, plus several
absolute rarities that I'm not sure I'd ever heard of (e.g. Mini-Cooper,
certainly, but Austin-Cooper???). Weather was absolutely gorgeous, as
was the scenery at Oakton Community College, in the far northwest suburbs
of Chicago, set in rolling countryside (as rolling as it gets around here,
anyway, even if some of the hills look manmade). The show was held in a
large, newly-paved lot, with marques neatly sorted into separate aisles
and almost all very well represented. One good little idea involved the
$2.00 "suggested contribution" (to charity) for spectator parking: they
let you drive in and park, then catch you on foot as you head from the
lot to the show to collect the fee. This avoids a backup of cars waiting
to get in past the attendant.
Highlights of the show? I'm hard-pressed to say, but I can list some of
the surprises I saw:
- More TR8s in one place than I've ever seen before, and almost all in
at least No. 2 condition.
- A stunning red '37 (?) Alvis drophead, with perhaps a little too much
chrome under the bonnet, but otherwise a well-deserved crowd-pleaser.
- An immaculate freshly-restored '79 B, surrounded by several anniversary
models. (I noticed that for some reason, black-painted B's didn't have
very much of a shine to the paint. One or two drab ones would be average,
but after I surveyed half a dozen like that, I started to wonder...)
- Precisely ONE rather forlorn and lonely little aqua '68 Austin America
automatic sitting by itself. People were photographing it out of sympathy.
- A rough Morris Minor drophead on a trailer, asking price $1500.
- An abundance of vanity plates ranging from the extremely clever to the
downright awful. (Plus an immaculate Rolls with British plates: BUY ME)
- A stretch MGB convertible limousine. Urp. Four doors fitted, with two
or three feet of sheet metal separating front from back. O.K. workmanship,
though layered with cheesy carpeting inside and a loosely-installed dash.
Good time had by all. We joined a parade of departing LBCs on our way out,
feeling a little conspicuous in our Detroit iron, but at least I went to
the car wash this morning! Can't wait for next year when we stand half a
chance of bringing an LBC of our own...
Andrew C. Green
Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com
441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!acg
Chicago, IL 60610 FAX: (312) 266-4473
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