At 10:10 AM 8/15/98 EDT, Jethogger@aol.com wrote:
>Hello Barney and Others: I notice that you are quite active on the MG
BB. You where at Chattanooga GT 23. I would like you oppion of the NAMGAR
show at the Choo Choo Hotel in Chattanooga , Tn. From day 1 to our good
byes. You have attended other GTs around the country. This is the first
national show our club hosted. I think the NAMGAR is made up of a good
group of people. We have a yearly show in Oct. 23-25 at the Choo Choo.
Thanks John
You would of course get different opinions from different folks, as they
will have different reasons for attending these things. And of course one
must do what one must to satisfy the crowd, so to speak. As for myself, I
am the typical attendee only in the sense that I am as different as the
next guy.
I personally could do without the car show and all the spit shine and
polish and the judging and awards and such. But as long as I'm there I put
my car on display with the rest because I know there are some people who
want to see it (although it takes some effort to figure why they would).
This time I did something unusual and actually washed the car before the
show. Normally I would consider it deceptive practice to wash it just for
a show, because that's not the way it normally exists, but in this case I
was still trying to get the rubbing compound off from the fresh paint job.
And no, the new paint is not vanity, it's just a preservation technique.
I think the tech sessions are an important part of the GT, as a little
knowledge is generally a good thing. This year Todd Clark had a good
presentation on the different styles of MGA side curtains and their parts
and maintainance problems. This session was particularly well attended,
and in fact I believe the second day drew a larger crowd than the first.
The John Twist rolling tech session is usually a hit, covering the basics
of maintainalce for the less experienced among us. But sometimes I wish
that people would tune up the cars before the event, and then present John
with some more interresting problems, like "Why does this thing keep
popping out of second gear and whining in reverse?".
The vendors can also be an important part of a national get together. This
time I spent a lot of time looking without buying anything, but others did.
It was amazing how fast Scaroboro Faire sold out of those under bonnet
radiator air blocks in the hot weather. And Clarke Spares and Restorations
had a lot of interrresting items on display, especially those items that
are uniquely theirs and not available anywhere else. Other vendors were
offering collectibles and memorabilia, which I am not particularly
interrested in, but I understand that it was selling well, so probably a
good attraction for the masses.
The driving events are always a prime attraction for me, as I deem that the
primary reason for having a sports car, and I think they were a hit (in
spite of the route instruction errors). You didn't have to be a history
buff to enjoy the drive through the civil war battlefield memorial, and the
park was especially pleasant with the large expanses of grass and shade and
not much traffic on the side roads. If you would stop to read all of the
information signs you would be there for a week. The southern breakfast at
the historical mansion was a nice touch, taking advantage of things unique
to the local area. And the run up Signal Mountain was fun, although I
would have prefered to do the route in the opposite direction, going up the
steepest part of the road rather than down. I seem to have a distinct
preference for heavy throttle rather than heavy braking. (}8^)-V---/
But the primary reason I go to these GTs is to see old friends and make a
few new ones. In that respect, the river boat dinner cruise was a real
coup. You put a few hundred MG nuts in a captive environment, give them
nothing to do for a couple of hours but eat, drink and make merry, and you
can't help but have a good time. It didn't hurt that we lost the race to
the tug boat pushing the barges, we weren't in any hurry. And parking
about a hundered MGs on the dock in a space reasonable for more like 50
cars was a nice trick, rather made the place look like a car dealer sales
lot. And of course the parking lot tech sessions back at the hotel are
always a hit with those so inclined. The awards banquet is always a bit
formal for my taste, but I usually manage to find a strange table and make
a few more new friends.
The Choo Choo Holiday Inn is a nice place to visit, but I suppose there
could have been a little more emphasis on all the (stationary) rolling
stock sitting around there. There were a couple of neat eatteries on the
display train, as well as some vanity hotel suits in the Pullman cars, but
I didn't notice the gang taking much advantage of those facilities.
And the cost of the hotel rooms is always one of my pet peeves. It somehow
rubs me the wrong way to have to shell out half the budget for the trip
just for a room that I am seldom it. The Choo Choo wasn't too terribly bad
in that sense, costing about $90 a night with the tax, but all things
collectively add up. When the whole trip ends up costing over $500, I have
a tendency to get a little cost concious. If the cost of lodging was a
little easier on the budget I'd be likely to attend more of these events.
Which brings up the next problem, have you seen the price tag on rooms for
GT24 in Taho? I will likely not be attending that event unless I can find
_several_ people to share the cost of the suite. It would be nice if the
attendees had a little choice in lodging, like maybe a nice hotel with some
rental cabanas on the beach and a campground right up the road. Just a
thought.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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