THE BURBLE & SQUEAK. The Official Newsletter for Annual Members of the Michiana Brits British Car Enthusiasts 2011 Michiana Brits, Ltd.

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1 THE BURBLE & SQUEAK The Official Newsletter for Annual Members of the Michiana Brits British Car Enthusiasts 2011 Michiana Brits, Ltd. A Chapter of Northern Indiana & S.W. Michigan January 2011 Happy New Year Greetings to All for 2011 President s Message Christmas and Hanukkah parties, dinners, gift lists, shopping, basketball, online orders, snow shoveling & plowing, kids coming home & going, UPS deliveries, family gettogethers, Christmas eve & day, presents, wrapping paper, returns, crowded malls, traffic, more shopping, New Year's eve & day, and lots of football. The fastest thirty-one days of the year seem to have replaced those old fashioned, slow moving holidays of our youth. January provides a bit of time to catch your breath after the holiday sprint through December. And although the 2011 driving season seems a long way off, the Board is beginning to plan LBC drives and to prepare for our Annual Car Show on June 26th at Saint Mary's College. Now is the time to float up those ideas for the spring drive, fall tour, fall colors drive, drives related to other club's shows, new drives, etc. We'd like to hear your ideas and try some new destinations. It took almost a month but I finally got the LBC into storage when the roads dried off a bit. Other than paying the monthly storage fee, I'll admit to not paying much attention to the car, but I'm thinking a bit about some new equipment and improvements. A few replacements or upgrades each year and pretty soon one of these antiques can look pretty good. We hope to see you at one of our monthly meetings/breakfasts on January 15th at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery next to the Elkhart Toll Road exit and/or Le Peep Restaurant in downtown South Bend on February 19th. General Meetings Jan. 15, :30am Perkins Restaurant & Bakery (574) Northpointe Blvd., Elkhart, IN (The location of this restaurant is off the west side of Cassopolis Street, across from the intersection of Cassopolis Street with the Elkhart Toll Road entrance/exit road). Feb. 19, :30am Le Peep Restaurant (574) S. Michigan St., South Bend. IN Page 1 of 7

2 Board Meetings Feb. 1, :30pm Larry Palguta (574) County Club Rd., South Bend, IN Club s Web Site - Board Members President: Larry Palguta V.P. Membership: Herminne Marrese Phone: Phone: palguta@sbcglobal.net hmarrese@comcast.net V.P. Activities: Keith Wishmeier V.P. Communication: Maurice Levitt Phone: Phone: ckwishmeier@cs.com maurice116@att.net Secretary: Maurice Levitt Treasurer: David Piser Phone: Phone: maurice116@att.net dayledavid@comcast.net British Marque Car Club News If you are not receiving this publication, please advise Kai Shepherd at (574) Newsletter Submissions This is the Newsletter of the Michiana Brits, Ltd., Car Club and is distributed to all paid Annual Members as part of their dues. If you would like to submit articles for publication, they are most welcome, the deadline is the 25th of each month. Send all correspondence, (electronic submissions are preferable), to the Newsletter Editor: maurice116@att.net or bring it to a General Meeting. Material is subject to editorial revision and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the 2011 Michiana Brits, Ltd., British Car Enthusiasts. Michiana Brits 2011 Spring Drive & Four Day Fall Tour Keith Wishmeier and Randy Glanders will be jointly planning these two 2011 Club activities, and of course would like as much time as possible to plan them. Would members please send to Keith (ckwishmeier@cs.com) or Randy (rbglanders@frontier.com) their suggested destinations. Page 2 of 7

3 Our 2010 Holiday Party A successful 2010 Holiday Party on Saturday evening, December 4 th took place at the home of Keith and Mary Wishmeier in South Bend, Indiana. There were 28 Club members in attendance with a huge selection of food brought in by members for the Pot-Luck that included appetizers, main meal dishes and deserts. There was a Club/family environment, which was very enjoyable, that is something on which our Club excels. One of the highlights of the evening were the guys and girls gift exchange that went off well. There were not many second round gift exchanges as members seemed to be satisfied with their first round draw or they didn t want to antagonize other members. However there was one guys gift that had a lively journey in the second round. The following were a few photos that I took: General chatting time Larry sitting guard over the gifts Don t forget the next General/Breakfast Meeting that will be at: Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, Elkhart, IN on Jan 15 th at 8:30am. Location/details included in the above General Meetings Box. Board Meeting January 4, 2011 The following items were discussed at this Board Meeting: The following Board positions were confirmed: President: Larry Palguta V.P. Membership: Herminne Marrese Treasurer: David Piser Page 3 of 7

4 V.P. Activities: Keith Wishmeier V.P. Communications Maurice Levitt Secretary: Maurice Levitt Financial Report: David reported the Club s current checking account balance to be $2, Examples of the 2011 Car Show signs were shown and were approved. Annual Dues paid after October 1 st for a new membership will be applied as the next year s dues Car Show Food Service: Negotiations are ongoing to locate this Service in the Club House to cover bad weather etc Car Show Featured Marque: Big Austin Healey is being considered for Spring Drive: Wilmington, Ohio is being investigated as a two day event but any other suggestions would be considered. Next Tech Session: Will be on April 30, 2011 at Roger Deacon s home as usual. Michiana Brits Financial Report for Year End 2010 The following Report has been respectfully submitted by David W. Piser, Treasurer on Dec. 22, David does not expect any more bills or income through Dec. 31, Cash at 12/31/09 $ C.D. $ Total Assets: $ Income: $ Expenses: $ Dues Car Show CD Interest Tea Advertising Income Donations Car Show Cards & Flowers Tea Web Site Name Badges Name Badges Total Cash: $ NAMGBR Checks Cash at 12/22/2010: $ How to Sell a Car. One of our members, Stan Mason sent me this advertisement that appeared on Craig s List, and thought members may consider a similar advertisement if at anytime they wanted to sell their car. Chick Magnet - $3,500 (Lincoln, Nebraska) This car is a total chick magnet. Driving this car is like walking through the park with a new puppy or someone else s baby. That is why I have to get rid of it. Every time I drive this car women get in line to Page 4 of 7

5 follow me home. Not only do they follow me home many stay and offer to clean my house and do my laundry. Many have offered to have a baby for me and I cannot even begin to tell you how many meals are left on my door step. My wife is getting mad. Not only does this car have the chick magnet feature, it also has given me the ability to see the future and the power of invisibility. Before owning this car I was just a regular Joe who was down on his luck. Now I have it all! A sweet job that pays a ton, a sexy woman that promises not to leave me if I sell the MG, and too many kids to count! This 1976 MG midget is the sweetest thing since sliced bread. She has a butt load of new parts and runs like chickens from a fox. If you are ready to change your life give me a call Location: Lincoln I called Kevin Renner who placed this advertisement on Craigs List, and so far he has not sold the car, but has had many calls from across the United States congratulating him on his unique wording and he has had many laughs with all the callers. Our Club s Web Site - When was the last time you logged into our Club s Web Site? Do you know what information is on our Club s Website? The Website provides a number of pages, and I am going to include another one of the pages in this Newsletter to let you know what you are missing. So, here goes with another of the Tabs you will find on our website: LINKS The opening of this Tab displays the following links to many Organizations, Clubs, Parts Suppliers, National Organizations etc. etc: Page 5 of 7

6 Car Insurance: AutoInsurance.com Other Clubs in the Midwest: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Indiana Triumph Club Vintage triumph Register Lake Erie British Car Club National Organizations: Austin-Healey Club USA Jaguar Clubs of North America British Cars Parts Suppliers: Triple-C Motor Moss Motors The Roadster Factory Victoria British TS Imported Automotive Custom Waterpumps Chicago MG Club Detroit Triumph Sports Car Club Twin Bay British Car Club Northern Indiana Lakes British Motor Club Austin-Healey Club of America (Northern Indiana Chapter) Vintage Triumph Register North American MGB Register British Miles Spit Bits University Motors Little British Car Company APT Instruments International Inc. Forums: MG Experience Other British Car Sites: MGCars.org British Car Specialists MG The Classic Marque Sites of Interest: I Love My Car Reading Resources: Union Jack MG-Midget.com Triumphspitfire.com Paintings by Gary Kirby Scions of Lucas Web Rings: The MG Car Ring If you have questions, please feel free to our President, Larry Palguta, In every month s Newsletter, I will include a topic that I hope you will find useful in connection with the maintenance and enjoyment of our cars. Page 6 of 7

7 So this month the topic is: Another visit to your Tires Have you checked your tires recently? They look pretty good do they? Lots of tread, no noticeable sidewall bulges? Do know how old they are? Do you know that most reputable tire outlets will not sell you or mount a new or used tire that was manufactured more that 8 years old. The date of manufacture is essential information for car owners and tire buyers because tires deteriorate even if they are not used. European automobile manufacturers recommend replacing ANY tire that is more than six (6) years old including the spare tire. No such recommendations have yet been made by domestic vehicle manufacturers. OK so how old are the tires on your beauty? How can you check the date when they were manufactured? Every tire displays when it was manufactured next to the DOT logo, and was explained in a previous Newsletter, and I am again passing it on to you again below: DOT This begins with the letters DOT and indicates that the tire complies with all applicable safety standards established by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Next to this is a tire identification or serial number a combination of numbers and letters up to 12 digits. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was manufactured. Example: XXXXXXXX 0601 (06, manufactured during the 6 th week of the year and 01 is the year it was manufactured). Drive Safe!! Page 7 of 7