THE LONG JOURNEY, MGTC TO JAGUAR XK By Kim Rutherford

Transcription

1 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER of the Bluewater British Car Club AUGUST, Watson Street Sarnia, Ontario, Canada N7T 6T9 THE LONG JOURNEY, MGTC TO JAGUAR XK By Kim Rutherford It all had a very simple start, I moved from New Zealand to Australia in My days working as a Jackaroo (trainee farmer) in the Australian Outback had come to an end, after 2 years in the middle of nowhere so to speak. An experience for sure and enjoyed at the time, but the bright lights of Sydney Australia beckoned, and my lifestyle was about to change drastically. The year was While still in the outback I sold my 1957 Holden Ute 6 cylinder, 3 on the tree, no heater and very basic, great for the country life, was not my idea of a fun ride any more. Arriving in Sydney, my accommodation was a boarding house, very convenient for the time. I was lucky enough to meet up and become friends with a guy whose dad owned a company and who offered me a job. Now with money coming in on a regular basis the next thing was to look for transportation. Without a doubt it had to be a sports car. My choice was an MG TC, and there were plenty around as old used cars at the time. Lucky enough to find a red 1947 MGTC in my price range and with what savings I had, bought it. Just changed the registration over to get the licence plates. Insurance was optional, no money for that! Got the car home and parked it. Went out later for an evening drive, no clutch looked underneath and the chain connecting the clutch pedal had broken. Basic technology basic fix, wired it together and off I went. This car I owned for 2 years, never had any trouble with it and it was driven to the max. Was offered a lot more for it than I had paid for it so sold it and bought a 1949 MGTC. After owning it for a while I found out that the chassis was cracked in places so took it out to the car auction and sold it. Had a yearning for a MG TF 1250, and was lucky enough to find a pristine 1954 example, black with a red interior. Some hard driving had caused the TF to become somewhat worn, so sold it and moved on to a 1955 willow green with tan interior TF Could not have been a worse buy ; it was trouble from the word go! Lesson learned, look beyond the shiny exterior and the idea of having a 1500cc engine over a 1250! Enough of sports cars, I moved on to a 55 American Ford V8 Customline, what a change, a year later that one went, and next came a 1956 Ford V8 Customline. That car ended up in the scrap yard after I had an altercation with a city bus and the bus won! Continued on Page 6

2 2 Bluewater British Car Club Minutes Date: July 11, Number of Members present: Dinner: 10; Meeting: 10 Location: Atrium Restaurant, Port Huron, Michigan, Guests: 2. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Secretary, Sandra Cronk 1. Call to order: President, Allen Bachelder, called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Approval of the Minutes of the June 13, 2018 meeting. A motion to approve the minutes as printed was made by Kim Rutherford and seconded by Florrie Bachelder. It was carried. 3. Treasurer s Report: Treasurer, Roy Overton was absent but sent his report by . Income: $30.19 (ink cartridge refund) Expenses: $ ($ Gift certificate for June's host, Eric Kernohan plus $77.50 for lunch for two guests at the Elmhurst Inn) Balance: $ Questions: none A motion to accept the Treasurer's Report was made by Laura Rutherford, seconded by Chris Gardner and carried. 4. Unfinished Business/Past Events: 1) June 13th Monthly Meeting at Eric Kernohan's cottage in Port Franks. Members send many thanks to Eric again, for hosting our monthly meeting and for preparing such a lovely meal for us. Everything was delicious and the view of the lake was glorious! 2) June 23rd drive to Garnet & Lauren Thistlethwaite's British restoration garage, and lunch at the Elmhurst Inn. Thanks to Garnet for telling us about the many projects he is working on and showing us around his shops. Thank you, also, to Lauren for offering drinks to us. The lunch at the Elmhurst Inn was wonderful and enjoyed by the eight members there. 5. New Business/Upcoming Events: 1) July 28th drive to Bayside Brew Pub organized by Byron and Barb Warwick. We have four (4) cars going so far. 2) August 25th Sarnia Hobbyfest at Germain Park. Note that it is on a Saturday rather than a Sunday. 3) September 12th Monthly Meeting. Kim and Laura Rutherford volunteered to look after the drive and dinner for that meeting. 4) Guests at tonight's meeting: Rock Stevens, owner of the Atrium, told us the stories about his 1958 Jaguar XK150 being stolen from his locked garage and about the Fenian raids against Canada. Rock is a great story teller and both stories were fascinating. Barney and Elliot Gaylord, who have been traveling in their MGA, towing a trailer filled with MGA and MGB parts and tools, visiting clubs and over 800 shops all over North America for the last four years, talked to us about their adventures. You can check them out on their website: mgaguru.com Jim Bradley was introduced by Allen Bachelder, as a potential new member from Port Huron. 6. Announcements: Next monthly meeting August 8th: Drive to Pioneer Restaurant for dinner at 6:00 p.m., dessert and meeting at Allen & Florrie Bachelder's at 7:30 p.m. 7. Adjournment: Alan Cronk moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m. It was seconded by Barbara Warwick and carried. The Bluewater British Car Club promotes interest in acquiring, driving, maintaining, and restoring all makes of British Cars. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in British cars. Meetings are held monthly, every 2 nd Wednesday, at Stokes By The Bay, 6:00 dinner, meeting 7:30 P.M. In addition, monthly club, driving and social events are scheduled throughout the year Club Executive President: Allen Bachelder Vice Pres: Mark Jones Treasurer: Roy Overton, Secretary: Sandra Cronk Events: Byron Warwick Non-Elected Spanner Editor Byron Warwick News Publisher David Kelley is the monthly newsletter of the BBCC. Articles, pictures, ideas, etc. are welcomed and are to be submitted by the 20th of each month for inclusion in the next month s newsletter. Forward items to: Byron Warwick. By at bandb@cogeco.ca Or by post or hand to: 481 Tom St., Corunna ON N0N 1G0 Phone David Kelley Fairlane Ave., Sarnia, ON, N7S 3J9. Phone Contributing writers this month: Kim Rutherford, Allen Bachelder, David Kelley, Sandra Cronk, Byron W. Photo credits: Kim rutherford

3 3 Presidential Prattle By Allen Bachelder July gone already! We had a wonderful meeting at the Atrium in Port Huron, featuring Rock Stevens owner and historian of some repute. Rock vividly entertained us with stories of his mysteriously stolen Jaguar XK150 - even more mysteriously found in California and returned a year later. And his feature story of the evening on the Fenians and their colorful role on the US-Canadian border back in the late 19th century. Our second feature was the guest appearance of well-known MGA Guru Barney Gaylord who visited us on his tour of all British car clubs in North America. Seems that upon retirement, Barney closed up his house and took to the road in his MGA for the duration. It was fun to listen to his stories also. Many thanks to Al Cutcher for organizing the meeting especially since he was unable to attend himself. We missed what promised to be a wonderful trip to the Maritimes with Mark and Judy Jones. In it s place, a million and one mundane but necessary home-owner s tasks cascaded upon us. We did dispense with some, but available energy is never fully up to the challenge. Spent some time in the shop. Making some progress on the MGC. Bought a new set of tyres for it. Pulled the old wheels/tyres off. Tyres will come off this week and wheels will get refinished before new ones go on. In the meantime, the new dash is progressing and the mysteries of the old wiring harness are revealing themselves. Hope to have it on the road by September. See you on the road!

4 MONTHLY MEETING Calendar Of Upcoming Events Wednesday August 8, 2018 CALENDAR of EVENTS 2017 August September XX? October TBA 4 Drive & Monthly meeting at Pioneer Restaurant, Port Huron, and Florrie s for dessert. Dinner at 6:00pm, meeting at 7:30pm. Bothwell and Wambo Car shows Driving Event, to Bayfield, Mark and Judy Jones Hobbyfest, Sarnia, Germain Park Saturday, Byron. Enbridge Car Show Drive & Monthly meeting at TBA Dinner at 6:00pm, meeting at 7:30pm. BAHC Car Show, Rutherford Close Bronte British Car Show Driving event, TBA Equinox tour to the Stahl s Museum with BAHC and others. Monthly meeting at Stokes Bay Dinner at 6:00pm, meeting at 7:30pm. Fall Colour Drive November Pioneer Restaurant 5600 Lapeer Ave, Kimball MI Meet at 6:00 PM for dinner Drive back to the Bachelder s for the meeting and coffee & desserts. Allen & Florrie at 3330 Deerwood Drive North Street Michigan. Allen if going bachldrs@comcast.net HOBBYFEST 2018 SATURDAY AUGUST 25, 2018 Germain Park, 900 Germain St., Sarnia ON, N7S 1L8 The entrance is South of London Rd, on East St Join us with our friends from the BAHC, and show your favourite British car. Set up after 9:00 AM and show from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM Let s have a good turnout. Map will be ed when we receive it.

5 5 Surprise Visit Two days before our last monthly meeting I received a phone call. The caller said he was then in Stayner Ontario. I reported that I had been to Stayner several times and that there was a great Old Cars and Airplanes event there every year, and that we drive an MG TF, (our 66,000 miles does not compare). He said his name and wanted to confirm if and where our meeting was taking place. (If not at Stokes Bay). I got his name, Barney Gaylord and that he had a website where I could fill in what he was about. I said he would be welcome at our meeting, and learned that he was accompanied by his son, Elliott. They are driving a 1961 MGA and pulling a trailer. I directed him to The Atrium Café, not realizing that there was a massive Boat Week, parade down the main street, and it ended at the street corner for the Atrium. His website is mgaguru.com and it is updated every day mostly at a McDonald s, or in Canada, at a Tim Horton s as they have free WiFi, and they can record their adventures. MGAguru.com is now a member of British Motor Trade Association, March 2017 This web site is owned and edited by Barney Gaylord ( formerly Naperville, Illinois - now World At Large ) Barney and Elliott are in their fourth year of travelling all over North America. Many of the destinations are determined by his correspondents who are requesting help for their MGA car. Some other British cars are helped along the way. They have travelled over 400,000 miles. I think some 150,000 miles this year, and he is hoping to make it to Newfoundland before winter hits, and will cover another 40,000 miles, Barney s MGA is called before the snow flies. One of his objectives is to visit every British car repair or res THE ATTITUDE toration business in Canada and the USA. So far they have stopped at 605 shops. They have worked on 475 cars this year. He carries about 600 pounds of tools and spare parts, and is quite willing to share them. Of course he is compensated, and rewarded. Their new friends will often offer a place to clean up and stay the night(s), while he is doing the repairs. One non-british car that he helped to get back on the road was 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, one of the multiple production cars of the early 20th Century. He/they see no programmed end of the journey. Of course he finishes the winter season in places such as Florida or Texas, where he says people get theirs cars OUT of storage and drive them. Curious critter! For sure there must be at least two more cylinders hiding in there somewhere. And maybe another wheel? Is it fast? Sure. How fast does it go? About 70 mph, and on two wheels around the corners. Now that's attitude! This web site was started, and this picture posted in late 1997, when this car was 64 years old. Thanks to Barney for his part of the entertainment last month. Cheers, Byron W.

6 THE LONG JOURNEY, 6 Continued from Page 1 What next? I saw an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald for a 1960 Ford Zodiac, 6 cylinder automatic. Went to see it, and it was a great car. Bronze over cream with of course whitewall tires! Beautiful condition and bought it. Mom came to visit in Sydney and posed beside this Ute, After having the Zodiac for a couple of years, I sold the car to my mechanic, it was still in great condition and then I moved to Canada. Of course now in Canada in 1967 my choice was a series of muscle cars, Ford Torino GT, and Mustang Convertible. MARK JONES By 1969, Laura and I are now married my transportation was the basic large sedans of the time, Mercury Montego Brougham, followed by a Mercury Marquis, followed by a Cadillac Seville. While owning the Seville, I happened to be driving by and spotted a 1970 MGBGT. I ended up buying it and spending far too much money restoring it, however it was a great little car for a couple with 2 small kids who could fit in the back seat. A friend who had a nice 1973 MGB roadster told me he was leaving Sarnia and I ended up buying it. Harvest Gold with dark blue interior. For quite a few years we had both cars, they were in great condition and enjoyed. Also to mention our regular car had become a Jaguar XJ, the first of 4, and we still have a 2005 XJ8L to this day that we enjoy. I had a chance to buy a 1963 Austin Healey 3000 BJ7 Mk 11A, in 1994, so the MGs were sold and we had the Healey restored, blue with dark blue trim and top. While owning the Healey, a one owner 1979 MGB LE came up for sale. Guess what, bought that and had many enjoyable miles and road trips with it. It got sold, and while at British Car Day in Bronte I saw and bought a 1961 jaguar MkII 3.8L. This car we still have and have had for 8 years. It is now for sale. However after 20 years of Healey ownership we sold the Healey to a buyer in Holland. Sad to see it go but we decided that our next sports car would be a Jaguar XK convertible. Continued on Page 8

7 7 By David B Kelley CAMBODIA Currency riel 200 r 1912 Rover 12 C 500 r 1907 Austin 30 CV 900 r 1909 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 1500 r Austin12 CONGO PEOPLES REPUBLIC Currency Central African Franc 90 fr 1936 Armstrong Siddeley Twelve 205 fr 1938 Morris fr MG Series MGA 400 f r 1931 SS1 500 fr 1938 Alvis 25 SB JERSEY Currency Pence 39 p 1912 Rolls Royce Ghost 55 p 1933 Austin Seven 75 p 1946 Morris Minor p 1949 Rover 75 Sports Saloon GREAT BRITAIN British auto legends; the workhorses Morris Minor Van Austin FX ffrd Anglia 105E Land Rover Defender 110 C

8 THE LONG JOURNEY, 8 Continued from Page 6 Surfing the internet I found a 2012 Jaguar XK Convertible for sale at Imperial Motors in Lake Bluff Illinois. Everything seemed right. The colour, Cashmere, the interior, Caramel and the top, Tan and low mileage. The model I wanted was produced between 2012 and So a deal was done without me even seeing the car. Dealing with Imperial Motors could not have been better, they assured me the car was as described and it was. The car was trucked to Port Huron and I drove it home after clearing customs. My journey from MG TC to Jaguar XK is now complete, I have been from a 1947; 1250 cc MGTC to a 2012, 5 Litre V8 386 bhp Jaguar XK convertible. Its been a hell of a ride! And maybe its not over yet, who knows! Kim R.

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10 10 Thanks to the OMGTRegister