President's Prattlings

by Carole Carter

What a great turnout for our July event!! We held our second annual road rally with twenty cars registering to compete. Jim Moon and Gene Carter planned a great route with three separate legs - a time speed distance leg, a scenic drive and a fun rally. Meeting up at the end, the group formed a caravan over to Gene and Carole’s place for a cookout, courtesy of the Car Club. See the article for pictures of this really fun day! Thank you to Gene Carter, Jim Moon and David Adams for all their hard work to make the rally such a huge success and so much fun.

Next up is a Gearhead event. August will bring a Tech Day sponsored by Bruce Berry, a brisk drive and lunch to discuss and answer questions. Meet at Bruce's shop at 9:30 on August 18th!

Our September event will be a scenic drive out to the waterfalls at Dupont, followed by lunch and a garage raid at Ken Gregory’s house. He will be showing off his three British cars - a Jensen, a Riley and an MG-TC. You have to see his garage to believe it, so be sure to come along to this one.

Autumn In the Mountains (October 6th at Chimney Rock Park) will be here before we know it. BCC members should register today. Thank you to Joyce Adams, our resident Web Mechanic, for making it possible to register on site and pay via Paypal or a major credit card! Be sure to register your car soon, order your T-shirts, and plan to come to Chimney Rock Park for this really fun event. Members, we will need all the help we can get. It is all hands on deck for this one. Paul Vliek, AITM chairman, will have sign up sheets at the September meeting, so be thinking about how you can help. We need people for parking cars, counting ballots, registration both at the event and the night before at the hotel, clean up, selling regalia and lots of other jobs. If you need a sit down job, we have one for you!! New members, this is a fun show and a great way to get to know other people in the club. Please be ready to sign up at the August meeting, and if you can’t make that meeting, email Paul now and let him know what job you can do.

Check out our complete event calendar posted on the Events page. We are planning a full year of fun things to do, great drives and plenty of opportunities to get the LBC on the road and meet other enthusiasts just like you. Look for events designated BCCWNC event for our local club socials and drives. If you are new to our club, please join us at any event or meeting. See our About Us page for information on meetings. We would love to meet you!

Carole

Life with a British Car

3 dollar fix?

by Steve Miller

Excited at both the prospect of a new toy and being in the Big Apple, I arrive a little early, so, upon leaving Grand Central, I decide to walk to lower Manhattan, to both kill time and find a deli. I guess cheesecake is inappropriate at 9 A.M. (the looks I got) so it was a bagel and O.J. for breakfast.

Walking briskly I find myself in the financial district and honing in on my destination. I call Dana Friedman, owner of the Delorean. The car was described on E-bay as being "as new". Based on the price I paid, I knew better, but, still had high hopes of that once in a lifetime, it was better than I thought it was gonna be kind of finds.

Dana and I make contact and he agrees to meet me on the sidewalk in front of his building and escort me in. After the exchange of paperwork and certified check we were off to a parking garage nearby. My heart is now pounding and I can`t wait to see the car as he starts to tell me what a great time I`m going to have once I get onto the interstate. “Just wait till you get it on the open road” he says. “A great highway car” he says. What could go wrong?

In the basement of the parking garage he takes me into a dark corner, to a tarp covered object that could be a WWII tank for all I could see in the darkness and he yells for Vito to take the cover off and pull the car into the light so I can be on my way. Well, to properly describe the next few minutes is beyond my literary talents, not to mention my vocabulary. The cover came off, the car rolled into the glare of the florescent light and it literally took my breath away. No really, there was so much dust that came off the car when he uncovered it, it was hard to breathe. What exactly does “as new” mean in NYC?

The doors popped up and Vito ran off as if he knew what was coming. My first look was at the drivers seat, now vacant, but yet, still looked “occupied”. I literally was waiting for a flock of Ravens or some other nesting type of animal to spring out from inside the car so bad was the condition of the interior. Oblivious, my honest lawyer “friend” hops in to show me how things work (switches,etc...). I do notice however that the whole time the engine IS running, downright purring, so I`m a little more optimistic about my purchase.

We go thru the whole car and once my eyes adjusted I do notice the stainless is in really good shape, the important switches he shows me all seem to work, lights and signals check out. Now I`m sitting in the car and the headliner is drooping so much I feel as though I`m wearing a hat. A dirty, dusty hat. A second bit of quick instructions and I`m ready to head off the big island. Anything I should know? Oh yeah, “one of the reasons I had to sell was I can`t get it into reverse”. You see Dana just had rotator cuff surgery and reverse is “down and to left and then back” and he couldn`t get enough leverage with his repaired shoulder to make it work, so, remember “down and to the left and then back”. I think I`ll just try to stay out of a reverse situation until I get it down.

So, out of the basement garage I go and the exit out onto the city streets. At the top of the ramp is Vito with a genuine look of surprise on his face as I head into the glare of the New York sun. A quick look to my right to try to see if anything is coming is futile because, well, the headliner is blocking my vision. I pull out anyway. What could go wrong? Next Month...

by Derek Cook

British Motor Corp Orphan

This car is a 1959 Austin A40 Farina countryman. This designation indicates that it is a hatchback, having a split rear tailgate and lift-up window. This arrangement predates the many two-door hatchbacks seen today. Read more ...

by Joyce Adams

It's hard to believe it is already August and Autumn in the Mountains is just around the corner. Just as a reminder you can register and pay for AITM through the event Web site. Payment is either Paypal or a major credit card. Don't delay in registering as we want to make this event a huge success!

I received an email from a TR6 owner who is looking for help with his “web dgv conv”. I don't have a clue what a “web dgv conv” is. But if you do and can give Sam some help I've included his request in the newsletter.

Until next time ... The Web Mechanic

Looking for some help

I am trying to install weber dgv conv on 72 TR-6 wondered if any of your members might have experience with this. I live in Winston-Salem and would appreciate any info and or pictures that may be of help. thanks Sam Sams72tr@aol.com