The. Seater. August, MG Enjoy The Ride! President s Message :

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1 The 2 Seater August, 2008 President s Message : Our deepest sympathy goes out to Rayanne and the family of Frank Matzell, long-time member of the club, who passed away Saturday, June 28th at his home in Chittenango. Contributions in Frank's memory may be made to Hospice of CNY, 990 7th North St, Liverpool, NY, We will all miss him. We have had an action-filled MG month here in Central New York. We started off the month with our annual MG Club Picnic on July 1, at Onondaga Lake Park. Dick Lunney, Editor of Classic MG Magazine, and his lovely wife, were our special guests, and gathered facts about our club and took pictures for a future issue of his magazine. He remarked about what an active, enthusiastic bunch we are. Also, we had the pleasure of presenting a check for $500 to Vera House, our featured charity for Eurocar We have more to come for them just as soon as we close out the books for this year's show. We were blessed with many new members recruited at Eurocar, and signed up some new members as well. Welcome! And last, but not least, I would like to thank my lovely wife, Marty, for organizing this event, thank everyone that brought goodies to the party, and finally, thanks to Howie and Vic for manning the grille. It was a fare fit for a king! Deb and Tom Larkin hosted our trip to MG 2008 at Valley Forge, PA on July We got to see some beautiful cars, have some laughs, get some pool time, and see how good our cars really ran. We took eight MGs down and brought eight home, with no problem. My special thanks to Jim and Sharon DeRusha for bringing my newly-found set of MGB wire wheels back to New York State in their mini-van. Mike Mastracco hosted a gang of MG folks at the Sylvan Beach Cruise Night on Thursday, July 10 th. A good time was had by all. Marty and I made the annual trip to the Old Forge Boat Show Saturday, July 12. Tom and Amy Taylor joined us in Forestport for the voyage with their son, and dogs Jack and Jill. We saw some great wooden boats and visited at Bob and Joan Seager's in Woodgate for some of the best hospitality in the Adirondack Park! Various club members attended the cruises and events leading up to the Syracuse Nationals and braved the heat at the fairgrounds over the weekend, myself included. I didn't think I could ever see too many cars, but I went into sensory overload about 2PM on Saturday. The Eurocar Committee has planned to meet in August to wrap up Eurocar and put it to bed for another year. We are still looking for capable folks to chair the event for next year. Could this be you??? Please check your events calendars for August and September, particularly the Cruise to Bennington, VT on August 7 th, Hemmings Car Show in Saratoga on August 17 th, Watkins Glen September 4-6, and White Lake Lodge September Enjoy the ride, Dave Winne MG Enjoy The Ride!

2 The 2 Seater Published Monthly by: The MG Car Club of Central NY P.O. Box 1666 Cicero, NY Newsletter Editor: Terri LaVergne Advertising rates/info: Contact Dave Winne Club Officers President: Dave Winne V. Pres.: Tom Lynch Secretary: Sue Beck Treasurer: Marty Winne Committee Chairs Activities: Sharon Hartman Regalia: Loie Mechetti Eurocar 2008: Deb Larkin/ Patty Golas Membership: Patty Golas Webmaster: Jimmy Hearne August- Upcoming Events 8/2 - Wine & Cheese Tasting, 7pm Janet & Lynn Moyer s, 428 State Route 48, Phoenix, NY 8/5 - Monthly Meeting at 7:00pm, 6:00pm Dinner, Barbagallo s 8/7-10 Cruise to Bennington, VT, home of Hemming s, Joe Cali... then to Saratoga 8/9-10 Hemming s Show at Saratoga Mike Mastracco 8/15-??? Paul s Great Adventure, (formerly Bob s Great Adventure) Men s summer trip 8/15-17 Deb s Great Adventure, Casual Ladies Summer trip at Larkin s camp on Lake Ontario (will it ever be the same up there?) You are welcome to come up on Thursday and start the fun early just let Deb know 8/17- British Car Day, Kingston, ONT, sponsored by the Boots and Bonnets Club 8/18 Ice Cream Cruise to Gannon s, Velasko Rd. Watch Website for details 8/21 Eurocar Wrap-Up Meeting, Paul & Louie s, 7:00 PM 8/26 - Board Meeting 6:30 pm, Dinner 6:00 pm Lock 24 8/31 - Fillmore Auto Show and Flea Market, Fillmore Glen, Moravia, NY Note: Pub nights and Meet'n'Eat will be suspended for the summer due to all the other activities. Check the club web site for other events and updates cny Disclaimer The Club, its officers, the editors, and the author of any piece disclaim any responsibility for damage, injury, or loss connected with use of any technical information provided in the newsletter. Repairs/maintenance/technical tricks/ procedures described herein should not be attempted without the proper tools and equipment and should never be attempted by anyone not experienced in the techniques involved. 2

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4 4 A Memory By Richard D. Jeffers I spent many enjoyable hours behind the wheel of my MG TD & B but never had the pleasure of owning an MG A. However, a friend and fraternity brother, John R. Likins, provided compensation for this deficiency. John, affectionately known as Snikil (Likins spelled backwards), was from a well-to-do family in the Boston suburbs and had received a new 1958 MG A, red with wire wheels, as a high school graduation present. I met John in the fall of 1959 as we both were pledging the same fraternity at RPI, in Troy, NY. We did a lot of bench racing that year as freshmen were not allowed to have cars at the tute. After patiently suffering for a year, the next September, I loaded all of my possessions, including a large drafting board, into the passenger seat of my TD and drove to school for my sophomore year. The sight of my MG parked on the street in front of our frat house was more John could stand, and he determined to retrieve his car from its safe garage in Massachusetts. Consequently, on Halloween of 1960, we took a Greyhound bus to Boston and rode the MTA (keeping an eye pealed for Charley ) up to John s home. After dinner with his family, we headed back to Troy in the A. By this time it was dusk and beginning to get cold, it being one of those Halloweens when the kids had to wear a coat over their costumes. John, a true sports car fan, refused to raise the top so we bundled up against the cold with coats, hats and gloves. I always will treasure the memory of that stimulating ride with the cold wind hitting us in the face and the Abarth exhaust blaring into the frosty air. Apparently the cops were busy watching out for the Halloweeners as we made probably the fastest trip in history from Boston to Troy unmolested. The remainder of 1960, we cruised the streets of Troy (especially Russell Sage College) and reveled in fraternity life. Unfortunately, we didn t pay equivalent attention to our studies and weren t invited back for the spring semester. I eventually got my degree from Syracuse University while John completed his education at one of the great universities in the Boston area. In fact, John became so comfortable with academia that he stayed on to run the library at his alma mater. I corresponded with John for many years, mainly about automotive subjects, but lost touch with him at the close of the 1970s. The last I knew, he was embarking on the great adventure of riding a bicycle from Alaska, down the left coast, to the tip of Argentina. As far as I know he is still out there pedaling his legs off. That trip certainly would have been more fun in the A! Walking through the Wires By Rick Kunz Every month our editor and chief is looking for articles for the 2 Seater and finds it very easy to just look just across the office and find someone hang a guilt trip on and guess who she finds. So I was searching for a constant theme for the little walks through my journalistic experience, or in simpler terms, find something to call it. So I looked back to our excursion to Valley Forge and remembered the walk Paul Andrews, noted MG restorer, and I took through the field of cars. Then it came to me, as we walked through the throngs of classic MG s, with the finely tuned and highly polished spokes of there classic sports car wire wheels. It was like walking through a field of dreams and passions as we walked through that field of wire wheels. What a walk we had in the month of June with Euro-Car, and then Valley Forge within a couple of weeks of each other, then the July 1 st Celebration of Canada Day where we incorporated our monthly meeting and annual picnic as we celebrated our friends and neighbors to the north. It was like total emersion in the British Cars of which we are all so fond. And let us not forget about food, our cars run on petrol and lube, but we run on FOOD! We had a nice little get together at Quaker Steak and Lube on rainy Thursday evening, but the only thing that got damp was the parking lot, as our spirits stayed dry with the help of some other sprits. August is the month I get to return to Long Branch Park for my other passion, Vintage Fire Trucks as SPAAMFFA brings their national convention and muster back home to Syracuse NY where it all began. Remember check the web site and the calendar for the time and date of the Bridgeport Fire Department s annual Field Days and Parade of which we are invited to participate in. You know, somehow British Cars and Fire Trucks seems to go together is some strange sort of way. Well as I sit here listing to Warren Zevon s Werewolves of London, and dream about what s to come on our next adventure at Janet and Lynn s Summer Wine and Cheese tasting, and maybe some Beer tasting and some Chile tasting and some Chip munching. So have fun and we will see you all Walking Through the Wires.

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6 PHOTOS OF THE MONTH 6

7 MG 2008 Valley Forge, PA 7

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9 Dueling Chefs DAVE PRESENTS DONATION TO VERA HOUSE OUR CLUB MEMBER LISA MARSHALL 9

10 AUTO FINISHERS SUPPLY CO. 637 WEST GENESEE STREET 125 ONEIDA STREET Syracuse, NY & Oneida, NY Dedicated to serving the car enthusiasts as well as the professional body shops with all of your automotive refinishing needs. Specializing in products including: Proud To Be Your Local PPG Distributor Since Vinny Hollopeter P O Box 1875 Cicero, NY (315) WE INSURE CLASSIC BOATS, TOO 10

11 The Crosley What does a radio, a refrigerator, a car and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team have in common? It's Powel Crosley, born in Cincinnati, Ohio in1886. At thirteen, he and his younger brother built an electric go-kart, and at twenty-one, he formed a company to sell an inexpensive 6 cylinder car called the Marathon 6. It failed for lack of money. Crosley worked at a variety of different ventures that offered better success than his car company, but the turning point for Powel s career was when his young son asked for a radio in Appalled by the high prices, Powel Crosley built his son s radio by developing a five-tube receiver. He marketed this invention and sold millions turning Crosley Radio Corporation into one of the worlds largest. distributing them through filling stations and auto repair shops. After WWII, Crosley sold all his other interests, except for the Cincinnati Reds, and focused on making his cars. He turned his economical mini-car into the first postwar sports car. The Crosley Hotshot had its distinctive Cobra single overhead cam, four-cylinder engine and disc brakes, both highly unusual at the time. Its 26.5 horsepower came at more than 5000 rpm, an almost unheard of speed for an American engine, and it would rev beyond 6,000. In 1950, a Crosley s won at Sebring, the Grand de la Suisse in 1951, and placed second in Tokyo Grand Prix. A Crosley almost took a victory in its class at Le Mans in 1951 until its voltage regulator went out late in the race. Racing enthusiasts weren t the only ones that fell in love with the Crosley. As a passenger vehicle, it was a comfortable, light weight, inexpensive, fuel efficient, zippy little car. Over 70,000 Crosley automobiles were built by 1952 when production ended and the company was sold to General Tire Corporation. It been reported by his friends, that once the creative phase of an operation was completed, Crosley would preoccupy himself with other interests. In 1922, Powel Crosley became a disc jockey on his own radio station, and by 1934, it was blasting out 500,000 watts of power. When the radio business started getting old to Crosley, he hooked up with an inventor with an idea for a refrigerator with shelves built into the door. The inventor had been turned down at Frigidaire and Kelvinator, but Crosley liked the idea of a "Crosley Shelvador" and sold four million of them. He also bought the Cincinnati Reds during the thirties which saved the franchised and they named the ball park Crosley Field in his honor. Crosley gave his first love, automobiles, another go in 1939 with Crosley Motors building mini-cars and Submitted by Mike Mastracco The above two Crosley s are actually Central New York cars. I took these pictures at the New York State Fair grounds Cargil building during the Syracuse Nationals, July A 1947 Crosley pick up truck and an 1950 Crosley Hot Shot. Written by Tony & Michele Hamer, visit their website at 11

12 A Note of Thanks.. I want to thank the MGCC board and all the members for their thoughtfulness and contribution to Hospice of CNY on behalf of Frank. Frank enjoyed his membership in the club. Rayanne Matzel 12

13 August Birthdays - 8/3 John F. Klusik Mary O Reilly Suzzie Sanborn Barbara Yorton 8/5 Joanne Schoonmaker 8/9 William Germer Larry Koch 8/12 Toby Shields Bill Pestell 8/14 Leon Buckley 8/15 Ann Skowron 8/16 Robert Bunch Linda Hevner Louis Spina 8/20 Leslie Shipps 8/26 Zorgona Moreau HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL!!!!! 13

14 MGCCCNY P.O. Box 1666 Cicero, NY Eurocar 08 Sponsored by the MG Car Club of CNY