We had 29 members and 3 visitors in attendance.
Our visitors were Rickie Fields, Bill Gentry, and Fred
Stewart.
This month’s Program was provided by Carl Floyd.
Since there is such an interest in aviation in our club,
Felipe Charon was invited to speak about his
experiences as a Navy fighter pilot. A native of Puerto
Rico, he attended and graduated from the U.S. Naval
Academy. Felipe enthusiastically related his
experiences flying the F/A18C Hornet. A very nimble
fighter/attack jet. He underscored it by showing some
exciting video footage of the Hornet in action. When
deployed, his base of operations was aboard the USS
Independence aircraft carrier which has since been
decommissioned. Felipe, or Flipper (his Navy radio
nickname) has a real passion for flying. To him, F18s
or Cessnas, it’s all fun!
The Board reported that Gerry and Becky Mitchell
have offered to host our May meeting at their carriage
house. More information will be provided prior to the
meeting.
The Kentucky Contingent of the ABCS met up with the
Tri-Cities group (and a Bean Station representative) at
Hardees in Duffield, VA on a bright and sunny, if cold,
March 23rd. After some coffee and juice, and gas fill-
ups (those Jags are thirsty!), we proceeded west on
US 58/421 up Powell Mountain to the scenic overlook
for a minute or two to look out over the valley below.
There were 10 of us, driving 4 MGB’s, a Spitfire, an E-
Type, an XJS, and a Honda. You could make a case
that Hondas are related to LBC’s, what with the close
collaboration between Honda and BL Cars, Rover
Group, BAe, etc. during the ‘80’s. In fact, the last
Triumph-badged car sold in Britain, the Acclaim, was a
Honda Civic with different grille and trim.
Back to the drive, we went on to Pennington Gap, and
took US Alt. 58 northeast to Big Stone Gap, drove
through town, and on to 4-lane U.S. 23 north. The
route of Alt 58 is through a pretty little valley, but with
the road construction under way, all this will change.
There were many vacant houses about to be torn
down in the right-of-way, giving a forlorn look to the
other wise pastoral valley. Twenty-three North is a
twisty up and down busy highway, and soon we were
in the old coal company town of Jenkins, a mile or two
from the VA/KY state line. We spent a half hour or so
in the David Zegeer Coal and Railroad museum, in the
renovated C & O Railway depot, and learned about
the mining town Consolidation Coal built just before
World War I, when the railroad came and the great
reserves of bituminous coal were opened up.
For lunch, we drove on southwest on US 119 to
nearby Whitesburg, the county seat, and ate at the
Pine Mountain Grill, a new restaurant at the junction of
KY Route 15 (leading to Hazard) and US 119 (going
over the mountain to Cumberland and Harlan). I
enjoyed my hillbilly favorite soup beans and
cornbread, with onion and tomato, and remembered
Dad saying how he thought that was all there was to
eat in West Virginia during the Great Depression.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and fellowship.
Ben Bailey and I looked over a map to plan out some
future drives to Breaks Interstate Park and Burke’s
Garden, VA.
After lunch, brother-in-law Larry Elswick and I
departed for Pikeville, and the rest of the group went
back towards Pound, VA over Pine Mountain, past
Bad Branch Falls and Flat Gap, and back to the 4-lane
(dual-carriageway, as the Brits say) US 23. Sam
Chandler told me all made it O.K. to this point, so I
trust they all made it back to Tri-Cities as well.
The next drive is scheduled for Saturday, April 27 to
the Breaks. We will have all the info and meeting
times at our next club meeting. Ben Bailey has
agreed to coordinate the Tri-Cities gathering to come
as a group and meet me in Southwestern VA. We will
let everyone know well ahead of time.
Catesby Woodford of the Sterling British Motoring
Society, a British club located (more or less) in and
around Mt. Sterling, KY invites us to participate in their
club sponsored “Bluegrass Bash” in Lexington, KY
during the first weekend of May.
The Bash is a Friday (May 3) late afternoon – Sunday
(May 5) midday affair as a rule, held at The Springs
Inn on Harrodsburg Road/North Broadway in
Lexington. Events will include a full-time and well-
stocked hospitality room, dinner, a road trip (not a
timed rally), an auction, a derby party, and plenty of
tire kicking. Depending upon the weather, they
typically have 30+ cars in attendance. It is good to
register if at all possible in order to determine how
much food/beverages to have on hand.
Registration form is available at the following website:
www.sterlingbritishmotoringsociety.org
Newsletter Format
This month, the newsletter is mailed to all members in
order to accommodate the enclosed information and
registration forms on the following events:
The Gathering in Winston-Salem, NC, April 26-28,
2002
Marques at the Mint in Charlotte, NC, May 5, 2002
27th annual Edgar Rohr Memorial Car meet in
Prince William County Fairgrounds, Manassas,
VA, September 21, 2002
All British Motorcar & Motorbike Show, Historic
Carnton Plantation, Franklin, TN, October 11-12,
2002
Footnote: The black and white edition is to save on
the publication costs.
Dr. Gerry and Becky Mitchell cordially invite us to their home for the May 9th club meeting. The meeting will start at 6:30 PM. Gerry encourages everyone to drive their British cars so we can ‘kick tires and tell lies’ before and after our meeting.
Directions: coming from Kingsport, at the 11W and John B. Dennis intersection (East Stone Drive) go East about 3.5 miles. At the General Shale concrete block plant, turn left onto Arcadia. Travel about 1 mile North. Look for 2.5 acre pond with the driveway across the pond. Go up the left hand side of the drive. The address is 298 Arcadia and their phone (just in case) is 288-9862. Just bring yourself and your car.
The Mitchells will provide food
and drinks.
Remember MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, Morgan,
Sunbeam? There were thousands of them scooting
along our streets and highways in the '50s, '60s and
'70s. A whole generation had discovered that we didn't
have to drive dull domestic cars when we could have a
spunky two-seater with the social cachet of an import.
What was it that made sports cars so exciting? Were
they fast? Some were - nobody tried to win a stoplight
grand prix against a Jaguar XK 120. But speed wasn't
it. The MG TC and TD were very popular, but your
everyday '55 Chevy was much faster.
A Sensual Appeal It wasn't the power nor even their
capable handling. Sports cars were sensual. It began
with the looks (it wasn't called "styling" in those days).
Somehow, the combination of small size, swoopy
curves and chrome trim was exactly what we wanted,
now, and no other kind of car could give it to us.
Climbing into a British two-seater was like putting on a
custom-made suit. The seat enclosed you. The wheel
and shifter were close at hand. The instruments were
eager to tell their stories. Even before you started the
engine, you were wrapped in sensation.
Next, vitally important, was smell. Go to a collector car
show today and persuade someone to let you sit in an
MG or Triumph. Close your eyes and breathe in.
Remember? It's that rich scent of oil and polish and
varnish and hot metal, all overlaid with the aroma of
Connolly hide, a satisfying smell unmatched by leather
from any other country. You could sit in that car with
your eyes closed and know that it was made in Britain.
And then, you switched on the key and pushed the
starter button (this was a long time ago) and your
hearing took over. Sometimes hoarse, often mellow,
the exhaust throbbed its music in your ears, an
overture to adventure down the nearest road. Into
gear, clutch engaged, you were off to faraway places
at max revs, even if you were just going around the
block for ice cream.
Opportunities Await You. Remember? No? Well,
maybe you were buried in the books, working overtime
or perhaps born a few years too late. The red MG, the
British Racing Green TR, the brilliant blue Austin-
Healey and that magnificent XK 120 passed you by. If
you missed it when it was happening, is the
opportunity gone or can you still enjoy the thrill of a
British two-seater on a winding country lane?
Absolutely! Not surprisingly, many of those Triumph
and MG and Jaguar sports cars are alive and well all
over North America. Kept shiny and in top mechanical
condition, they aren't everyday cars any more. They sit
patiently garaged until the weekend when they are
brought out with pride for a relaxing drive or to take to
a show. Collector clubs offer advice, magazines list
cars for sale and parts suppliers can still come up with
virtually everything needed to keep these 30- or 50-
year-old cars running at their best.
Of course, when these preserved, restored, coddled
cars come on the market, they bring premium prices.
So, what about the sports car enthusiast on a budget?
First, check your local Want Ad Press or Community
Shopper. You'll be surprised how many MGs,
Triumphs and other premium two-seaters are listed.
Roadside Beauties Also, you can't go wrong just
driving down the road and looking! Running an errand
one day, I passed a house that I had seen hundreds of
times but, this time, the garage door was open. Inside,
peeking out from under a pile of old blankets and
boxes was a Triumph TR3. I have since had a look at
it. It is bodily and mechanically sound and may be for
sale at a reasonable figure. On vacation a couple of
years ago, driving down a back road in Virginia, we
came upon a small auto repair shop with at least 10
TR7 and TR8 convertibles parked out front. None
were licensed, all were clean and looked complete,
and all were available.
My daughter came home from school last week and
said she had passed a house with an old sports car
parked at one side. She said, "It looks like one of
those Jaguar 120s you like." Yes, it had a "For Sale"
sign on it and we're going to drop by and check it out.
Last winter, out on our Christmas tree expedition, we
passed a gas station with a bunch of junk American
cars parked around it. Just visible behind the building
was a grille with a familiar shape. Stopping for a quick
look, we found a Jaguar XK 150 coupe with peeling
paint but a sound body, just waiting for someone to
adopt it. In the same group was a decent, restorable,
MGB roadster.
Figuring Your Investment You are not going to be able
to buy one of these cars or other "finds" for $50 and a
smile. However, they should be considerably less
expensive than the super shiny show cars we
mentioned. Your investment of a few hundred to a
couple of thousand dollars can pay off if you are at all
mechanically handy. These fun cars are often quite
simple to work on. The average backyard mechanic
with decent tools and a service manual can fix almost
anything on the car. Parts prices are usually
reasonable. Some folks think that fixing/restoring is
part of the fun, but even if repairs aren't your hobby,
doing it yourself certainly helps the budget.
A few years ago, a friend saw a Jaguar XK 140 which
had been stashed in a barn for years. Dragged out
into the sunlight it was a sorry-looking machine, but it
was all there and he bought it quite reasonably. Since
bringing it home, he has done everything from welding
in new body metal to rebuilding and tuning the
carburetors. Recently, still needing paint but running
strong, it carried him and his wife to a Jaguar meet
over a thousand miles from home and got them back
again. When completed, the car will be worth much
more than his investment.
The Road To Adventure If the thought of owning a
vintage British two-seater makes your eyes light up,
do some back-road driving and see what you come up
with. You can also try the Internet. The Vintage
Triumph Register, Jaguar Clubs of North America and
the North American Council of MG Registers are all on
the web.
It won't be long before you and your personal two-seater
are headed down that road to adventure. Enjoy!
Michael L. Cook, who retired from Jaguar Cars in
1991, is the editor of Jaguar Journal and Vintage
Triumph as well as the author of several books about
collecting cars. He also writes for British Car
magazine and Special Interest Autos from his home
in New Jersey.
A really “scruffy” looking bum stopped a man on the
street and asked for $2.
“Will you buy booze?” the man asked, to which the
bum replied, “No.”
“Will you gamble it away?” Once again the bum
replied, “No.”
Will you make bets at the golf course?” The bum
replied, “No, I don’t play golf.”
Then the man asks, “Will you come home with me so
my wife can see what happens to a man who doesn’t
drink, gamble, or play golf?”
President: Robert Hall, 423-262-0402.
Vice-President: Gael Bright, 423-239-4247.
Secretary: Clarence (CC) Goodson, 423-928-2023
Treasurer: Al Bradley, 540-628-4763.
Newsletter: Jane Ogle, 423-282-5687.
Driving Events: Randall Thomas, 606-432-5153.
Programs: John Hanlin, 423-239-5603.
Webpage: Herren Floyd, 423-239-5455.