On behalf of the North American Triple-M Register, I'd like to commend
and thank all of those involved in this show for their hard work. We
enjoyed the weekend and all the people that were able to attend.
Hopefully, we brought a bit of knowledge and enjoyment to those who
haven't before seen the pre-war MGs.
Well done, ladies and gentlemen.
Regards,
Lew Palmer
Registrar, North American Triple-M Register
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On
Behalf
> Of Barney Gaylord
> Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 1:28 PM
> To: MonteMorris; MG list
> Subject: Re: Abingdon, IL show
>
> At 10:29 PM 8/18/02 -0500, MonteMorris wrote:
> >.... 15 or so of the oldest models of MG's .... I believe one was a
1931
> >Midget racer that is one of only a few in the states and under 10? in
the
> >world. Was turbocharged and really smoked around the gymkahana route
> >(although Barney beat him by using his experience and driving
skills); it
> >had raced at the LaMans in the past.
>
> Well I did have a few other advantages, like driving a car almost 30
years
> newer with an engine nearly twice the displacement (and ditto for the
tire
> width). Gawd I felt like Superman having the big new car for a
> change. (What a strange feeling for driving an MGA). But it was a
very
> interresting car nonetheless. It actually had a supercharger driven
off
> the front end of the crankshaft, stuck out on the front of the car
like a
> large protruberant battering ram, with a single 2" SU carburetor hung
off
> the side very near the left front tire (and no air cleaner). The
> extensive
> throttle linkage required was interresting to check during tech
> inspection. It did make a lot of really neat race noises (and a
> substantial cloud of smoke), and handily took its class of no less
than
> four MMM (1928-1936) MGs on the short gymkhana circuit (about 40
seconds
> worth for each run peaking at about 40 mph).
>
> One of our local club members, Reinout Vogt, now the newest member of
the
> North Americal MMM Register, came to race (if you can call it that)
with
> his VERY early MG M-Type. This was the only car to turn in a lap time
in
> excess of one minute, when the fastest cars were in the 36 to 40
second
> range. He started out driving this car from Chicago to Abingdon, and
> actually got about half way before having a few difficulties and being
> picked up on an escort trailer. The story about his incidental arrest
and
> temporary incarceration was good for a chuckle, but had nothing to do
with
> the car (aside from being stranded alone momentarily on the side of
the
> road after some hours of driving). The car ran well enough to drive
> freely
> around the Galesburg and Abingdon, Illinois area. As a matter of
> convenience (and time) it was later trailered back to Chicago.
>
> Another of our local members, Scott Fohrman, brought his 1932 MG J2,
also
> entered in the Famous Abingdon Gymkhana. This car was trailered only
as
> far as from the north side of Chicago to the northwest suburbs to
avoid
> the
> most intensive ciy traffic, after which it was driven the remaining
200
> miles to Galesburg and on to Abingdon, another 40 or 50 miles for the
> weekend activities, and the 200 miles back to Chicago. We had a
convoy of
> 10 MGs including the J2 running out from west of Chicago to Galesburg
on
> Friday via some lesser traveled state highways. The J2 ran along
> admirable
> at 50-60 mph on the open road, although it did take a while getting up
to
> speed with only 28 horsepower, and tended to slow a bit on some of the
> larger hills. The trip through the hills and curves of Starved Rock
State
> Park along IL-71 was apparently quite a thrill with limited power and
> cable
> operated mechanical brakes. We had one short delay late in the day to
> attend to a clogged fuel line, but otherwise all was well with the
trip.
>
> Sometime during the weekend the J2's generator ceased output. Being
quite
> a chore to separate the generator from the vertical drive shaft for
the
> overhead camshaft (all comments about the "oil cooled" generator
aside),
> it
> was opted not to attempt to repair it in the car park. But with a
fully
> charged battery the J2 was able to drive the whole way back to Chicago
by
> daylight on Sunday regardless. Scott did appreciate the escort by a
> couple
> of other MGs serving to blaze the trail in unfamiliar territory and
hazing
> traffic near the end of the trip. During a 30 mile shortcut stretch
of
> nothingness on country blacktop roads we had a short detour on some
even
> lesser roads due to road construction, but all in a days outing for a
> stout
> old MG.
>
> Scott had some interresting comments about long distance driving with
the
> J2. The left footrest is on the bellhousing, the right footrest is on
the
> body of the car, the seat is a few inches from the rear axle, and the
> steering wheel tends to follow whatever the front end wants to do on
less
> than smooth roads. Apparently this can start out as a kind of sexual
> encounter but quickly reverts to something more akin to a heavy
workout on
> powered exercise equipment at a sweatbox gym. A short rest stop to
walk
> it
> off is in order every couple of hours or so.
>
> >The other was a 12-12 ? out of Colorado and is one of only 4 in the
> world,
> >3 being in museums.
> >....
>
> I expect to have some nice pictures of the weekend outing posted on
the
> club web site in another day or two (or three), including pictures of
most
> of the MMM cars. Stay tuned, and will let you know.
>
> We also had a very nice Natter 'n' Noggin on both Friday and Saturday
> nights, and banquet Saturday evening. The recently deceased Jerry
Goguen
> was mentioned and honored as the NAMMMR member of the year in spite of
his
> absence. Apparently the award was actually delivered to him a few
months
> earlier so that he could have some enjoyment of it before his
> passing. John Twist kept his presentation fairly brief to allow more
time
> for the special guest speaker.
>
> Peter Thornley spent some time giving us insite into some of the more
> intimate (or intimately personal) aspects of operation of the MG Car
> Company in its early days under management of Cecil Kimber with
Peter's
> father John Thornley serving as design manager, sales manager, and
later
> as
> general manager of the company. Stories were related as well as
possible
> from the eyes of a seven year old in the early years (which holds a
> certain
> humor in itself). Most of the comments were about the years before
1955
> where we previously had the least knowledge of what was going on
there.
> In
> conclusion, Peter Thornley did promise that in the absence of any
> unforseen
> worldly disaster preventing otherwise, he would endeavour to do his
best
> to
> make another appearance at this event again next year. I am already
> making
> plans accordingly.
>
> Hoist another Old Speckled Hen for the lot of us.
>
> Barney Gaylord
> Editor and Webmaster
> Chicagoland MG Club
> http://www.chicagolandmgclub.com
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