Sunday, September 14, 2014

Little British Cars

And some Large British cars as well. Conclave, which this time of year around here means a celebration of all things automotively British kicks off with a gimmick rally which this year I had a volunteer to navigate and help spot the gimmicks.

Question on the rally sheet: Where does Clark Kent get his underwear?
Answer, as you drive by it: Super Tees.

We got most of the questions. At the finish there was a sheet of tie-breaker questions which get pretty obscure. What does the AC in AC Bristol stand for?
Answer: Same as the AC in AC Cobra: Auto Carriers.

We did dismally on that due to my partner's reluctance to use her Pixie Phone to divine some of the answers. Everyone knows what a Nave Plate is anyway, right?

Since I had entered the rally, I was also automatically entered in the show the next day. Oh crap! Now I need to wash the cat and vacuum the debris from the floor. Fortunately it's not a big deal concours but I needed to do that anyway.

The show is fun although attendance is off from previous years. You get the one off
Everyone will immediately recognize this MGA-TC which was specially prepared by the factory for Le Mans, then never raced.  The description says it was saved from scrapping by being "spirited" off to the U.S.

Lots of conversions like these two MG's

The red one sports a V6 Camaro engine while the white on has a Ford Tauras V6.

I may also have a chance to work with a museum to help restore this old girl to running order:
A '38 Morgan 3-wheeler with Matchless engine. Previous owner raced it and there are some modifications showing. The available budget for this is $0.00 so ingenuity will be at a premium.
Note the semi-exposed rockers with grease fittings of a type I've never seen. I do recognize the Amal Concentric carb though. Could be fun.

Motorcycles too. Here's on you don't see often:
An Ariel Square four. These things were very torquey and were considered an old man's bike, suitable for dragging a sidecar around rather than blasting through the corners. For corners, you'd want one of these:
The mighty Norton 850 commando.

All in all a nice show.






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