Here's a question -- to what does Triple-M refer? Enlighten us...
on 8/19/02 4:43 PM, Lew Palmer at lpalmer@roundaboutmanor.com wrote:
> 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
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|