Morgan cars were well represented at the VSCCA races at Poconos Motor
Speedway this past Saturday. (Sunday was rained out...) There were at
least five Morgans there: Bill Ruhl's yellow and green 59 Plus 4, a
blue, very original-appearing 20's trike, two 57 Plus 4s (including
mine) and Carl Shriver's '38 Series I. I never caught up with the
owner of the trike (might be John Jacobson, but can't be sure) or of a
lovely red Series I, or of the other '57 (a nice green car with a
louvered, aluminum panel in the spare tire space)
Spent quite a bit of time talking to Carl Shriver, whose car is
metallic brown (I think) with gold highlights and polished brass trim,
and with Dave Burket, who came with Carl from Shepardstown, W.Va.
(Carl comes from Maryland and hauls his Mog in a freshly scrubbed
livestock trailer. Gives new meaning to the term horsepower!) Dave has
(I think) a Sixties Plus Four. When you spend time with guys like
these two fellows, you really realize that Morgan owners are quite
special.
The racing on Saturday was almost ideal. A lot of wind but sunny and
very cool. Carl and I both ran in the slowest category of cars
(remember there are a variety of Lotii, Bugattis, and Jags as well as
formula cars) and (I think) represented the marque well. I am happy
with my 1'23'13; I am finally learning how to drive that course, at
least to my satisfaction. On Sunday, all the Alfa and Porsche owners
took off, so racing was cancelled. There were several very unusual
cars- a Ford special that ran at Watkins Glen in the early 50's, a
Dellow (?British!) a 50's Saab Sonnet, and a Bugatti (don't know the
type) that I followed briefly around the course, learning about
negative camber and speed.
Dave Burket and others mentioned a race at Summit Point in mid-May, I
think it's called the Jefferson Memorial; I will try to be there! The
next VSCCA match is June 5-6 at Lime Rock, where the Morgan 3/4 club
is also going to gather.
Separately but related: I'm looking for Morgan wheels, (again) and
also for a recommendation from any of you who have used a wheelwright
(for lack of a better term) to refurbish wheels. My 16" steel wheels
are in need of repairs, the spare has a 3" crack in it, and I'm
watching the others very carefully. If I could find some 16" wheels
for earlier cars, that would be best, but am increasingly resigned to
having to buy some 130mm 4 lug 15" wheels from a jobber, then taking
my 16" wheels off the car and shipping them out to be magnafluxed and
repaired. If you have converted your car to wires and you have wheels
and hubs mouldering away in your garage, consider contacting me.
You'll help an original car stay original longer!! Bill Ruhl mentioned
that an owners club in the Philadelphia area (??MOPS??) might have
members with some steel wheels lying around. If anybody reading this
is in this club and can put me in touch with the club secretary, I'd
be very grateful!
Chip Brown
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