TH IRD QUARTER 2008

(continued on page 2)

I hope you’re staying cool this summer. If not, drive faster, the wind will cool you off – just don’t stop!

It’s hard to believe it’s been six months of presidency this time around and things are going pretty

smoothly. We changed meeting places to Los Cucos, which every-one seems to enjoy. We have gained some new members which is also

exciting. One of the things I didn’t have in the past was a club web site. (I’m computer-challenged). Now Darian Henderson’s doing a great job for us as the webmaster. So check out his good work - www.alamomg.org

We have changed our club logo. The old one was too cluttered, so Mark Rue designed a new one. It really tells who we are – the MG crest with an Alamo crown. Pretty cool, don’t you think? Thanks, Mark. We decided to keep the newsletter name, “High Beam” after Mark rede-signed the masthead. I really like it.

In the last newsletter I men-

We’re getting older, but we still play with cars!

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE ALAMO MG ASSOCIATION – A BUNCH OF FOLKS WHO ARE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT ALL THINGS MG

s “Froggy” - Larry’s ‘69 MGC roadster at the annual Texas MG Register GOF in Salado Mother’s Day weekend. Larry has been going to this meet every year since the late ‘70s. From left to right: AMGA members Barry O’Connell, Larry and Jim Faut.

tioned something about antique license stickers. Well, I was wrong – duh! They go on your old tab on the plate or on the license plate directly, so we’re still special.

The most important thing to address at this time is the All Brit-ish Car Day (ABCD) which the

AMGA is in charge of hosting this year – so leave your calendar open for October 12th. It will be in Gruene this year. Boerne has become just too popular and we could not get a date, they were booked up for the year. Gruene is

Larry RogersAMGA Queso Largo

(continued on next page)

2

Larry’s letter (continued from cover)

Larry Rogers, President

T H I R D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 8 A L A M O M G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R

a cool place and we plan to have a great meet – that is with your help. We need you to participate to make this a good show, so please call and volunteer a helping hand. Thanks. We’ll put out memos as needed.

Meanwhile, we’re all just getting older. Hey – are you going to let that get in you way of having fun? No, I say! Just put that top down, smear that sun screen on and get those British Jewels on the road. I’ll be seeing you in my rear view mirror.

M.I.T. at our monthly meetingsThe Marshall Institute of Technology, that is. The mechanically minded

Mr. Marshall has made the most of sharing his vast knowledge with us at our monthly meetings. He explains how our cars work and easy ways to improve them. He does a great job, complete with illustrations showing ex-actly what he’s talking about. At the last meeting, Leonard taught us an easy way to be able to hear when your turn signals are on. (this is a good thing). It’s achieved by adding a very inexpensive “Pizzo” buzzer available at Radio Shack. Someone at the meeting said it was so simple that “even I could do that!” Leonard, now that you’re retired, you’re doing well at your new part-time job. We look forward to your next lecture. Thanks a bunch, Leonard!

s “Professor Marshall” demonstrates an easy improvement for our cars at the July AMGA meeting. Leonard has a real knack for explaining all things mechanical.

DIRECTIONS TO THE FLIP OFF SUN. JULy 27TH

This years Flip-off will be in the Garden Ridge neighborhood. It’s easy

to get there from anywhere. From 1604, go north, “outside the loop” on Nacogdoches Road. Rolling Oaks Mall

will be on your left. Drive through Bracken. Turn left on Bat Cave Road. Then turn right on Blazing Star. Go to the 4-way stop, turn left one block to

the park. If you get lost, just call “Little Debbie” Rue, 210-724-8876.

THESE aREN’T aMGa CLUb EvENTS, bUT THEy’RE DEFINITELy wORTH CHECkING OUT:

Cruise Nite, every Friday Biff Busby’s, Topperwein & I-35 North, San Antonio, 7PM

Cruise Nite. every Saturday Fuddrucker’s, 6759 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, 7PM

Show and Shine, every first Sunday Fuddrucker’s, 6759 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, 1- 5PM

Cruise Nite, every fourth Friday Hondo, downtown on 18th Avenue Cruise Nite, every second Friday

Castroville, Town Square, starts at 6PM Swap Meet July 25-27 - Fredericksburg, Lady Bird Johnson Park

P.S. On a sad note, we lost one of our dear members, Priscilla Earl. She had been struggling with health issues for quite a while. We hate to see her go, but for those of us that knew her, she will always have a special place in our hearts. Rest in peace, Priscilla.

3L I F E I S T O O S H O R T T O D R I V E B O R I N G C A R S

Sebring in 1964 was one of the world’s top-tier endurance races. Two MGBs finished the grueling 12 hours, an extraordinary achievement demonstrating the competitiveness of the MGB. The car here, #48, came home fourth in class and 22nd overall. Follow-ing the race, the car was sold and its lightweight alu-minum body parts were removed and replaced with SCCA production class-legal steel panels. Its intake was changed back to the stock pair of SU carbs, and the car went on to establish a successful SCCA racing history. The Sebring parts were carefully preserved, and were passed along with the car to each new owner. The car has since been meticulously restored to its 1964 Sebring configuration. It is equipped with many rare and unusual factory-supplied competition parts. The intake manifold is cast magnesium and it has a special generator and lightweight starter. An en-gine stabilizer, rare enough that it is only mentioned in one obscure list of factory competition parts, is also installed. Even more remarkable is one of four Abing-don Competitions Departments special engines. One

of the earliest MGBs built, with Sebring history and a comprehensive and accurate restoration make this one of the most important MGs in the world.

This car sold for $104,500 at RM’s Monterey auction in 2004. For those of us “of a certain age,” who got hooked on cars in the late fifties and early sixties, MGs were the sports car equivalent of a Chevy Bel Air — dependable, competent and accessible. They were good cars.

Let’s face it - $104,500 is a lot of money for an MGB. Garden-variety vintage racing Bs sell for $15,000. One of the best sold a while back for $19,000. In Europe, good FIA-legal cars are a bit more expensive, trading hands for £20,000 (about $40,000). So what’s the collector premium here? The Sebring car had all the right collector “utilities,” that is: great provenance, clean histories, original racing parts, and factory aluminum bodywork. It’s as desirable for vintage events as an MGB is going to get.

(This was edited from sportcarmarket.com, with historical and descriptive information courtesy of the auction company).

s This factory MGB race car has been called one of most important MGs in the world.

4T H I R D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 8 A L A M O M G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R

The weekends in the last quarter were full of MG fun! I invited the gang over and showed them how to repair a minor dent I had in a rear fender, so we called it a “tech session”. A little bondo and paint and “presto” – good as new! (Well, almost good as new).

May got really busy with the La Bahia Tour lead by Jim Irland. They traveled to some of the less-seen places to our southeast, Runge-Sulpher Spring-Pana Maria and others. Towns opened their doors for all the car clubs in San Antonio. The next weekend was the Texas GOF in Salado. This meet is always fun, when you’re with nothing but MGers it’s got to be a good time. AMGA members that went brought home a few trophies, and everyone brought home a good memory. The Blanco Car Show followed the next weekend. We showed our special little English Jewels alongside Corvettes and Mustangs. We relaxed by the river and just enjoyed the day. Tom Stuhldreher set us up on a run to Castroville the week after that. Tom led us through back roads so we could enjoy the open road, ranchland, farmland and we even stopped at a 100 year-old hardware store in Rio Medina, then on to Sammy’s to eat. After that Tom led us downtown to an old church which was worth the trip alone to see. Some hung around and went through the antique stores and others headed east for S.A. What a wonderful trip! Thanks, Tom. The AMGA had not done a Gimmick Rallye in about 10 years, so, we were way overdue. I asked Mark and Debbie Rue if they would help Pam and I set one up, so off we went. This event was held in June so I guess people are afraid of heat or something, but we still had a handful of cars. We sent cars out one at a time with a set of instructions and 61 questions to answer along the route. Some of the questions weren’t that easy. It took about two hours to run the course, then we all met for a great burger on 281. Nobody got all 61 questions right but the best in the pack were: 1st Place - Brian and Trish Martin; 2nd place - Troy and Pat Taylor; 3rd place - Jim and Patricia Irland (just one point from second). Everyone enjoyed this gimmick ralleye – wish you could have been there. See the photos on page 5.

Events in the next couple of months will be slowing a bit. Starting off will be my annual “Flip Off” July 27th out at Garden Ridge. (See the bottom of page two for directions). Come join us for a burger with all the trimmings. If you want to bring something you can, but you don’t need to. If you want beer you will need to bring your own. I have been doing this for some time, so I know how to burn chicken quite well. Please come and eat it anyway and please have a smile on your face while doing so. And say “thanks” to M.G. “Ham” Hamilton for making the arrangements. Brian Martin has put together this years “Moonlight Run” in August, We will be driving to a restaurant a little east of town. Come join us for a fun evening drive. We may do something else in September other than the Austin ABC Day – we’ll keep you informed. Then we need to be ready for our All British Car Day, in Gruene on Oct.12th.

Happy trails, Larry

EVEN

TS

s The MG TD, a very famous car with classic sport car lines, was built from 1950 to 1953. 11 AMGA members own MG TDs. Art by your editor.

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5y O U ’ R E N E V E R T O O O L D T O P L A y W I T H C A R S

Gimmick Ralleye

s First Place went to “eagle eyes” Brian and Trish Martin, who answered 51 of 61 questions correctly. Way to go – you rock!

s Second place winners Troy and Pat Tay-lor said “That was a lot of fun! We should do more gimmick ralleyes!”

s Jim and Patricia Irland show off their trophy for third place. They said they really enjoyed the ralleye and the burgers.

U P C O M I N G A M G A E V E N T S

J U LY• LaRRy’S aNNUaL FLIP-OFF - Sunday, July 27th. Garden Ridge. 11 aM ‘til whenever. Great burgers and chicken flipped (burnt) by our resident grillmaster “Dick Tator”. Bring a dish if you’d like. BYOB, everything else supplied. (See the bottom of page two for directions).

A U G U S T• MONTHLy MEETING - Tues. August 5th. Socializing 6:30PM, meeting at 7:30 PMLos Cucos Mexican Cafe, 226 W. Bitters Road (right off 281, close to the Embassy Theatre)San Antonio, TX 78216, phone 210-403-2704, www.loscucos.com

• MOONLIGHT RUN - august 16th. we’ll leave at 5:30 PM sharp from Rolling Oaks Mall, 1604 and Nacogdoches Road. The meeting spot will be in the southeast corner of the mall parking lot. We will tour the back roads for 60-90 minutes and end up in New Berlin for a great meal. Questions? Just call your “run hosts” Brian and Trish Martin at 829-4192.

S E P T E M B E R• MONTHLy MEETING - Tues. Sept. 2nd. Socializing 6:30PM, meeting at 7:30 PMLos Cucos Mexican Cafe, 226 W. Bitters Road (right off 281, close to the Embassy Theatre)San Antonio, TX 78216, phone 210-403-2704, www.loscucos.com

• TEXaS aLL bRITISH CaR Day - Sun. Sept. 28. Old Settlers Park, Round Rock. Registration: 8 AM - noon. Judging: 1 PM - 2 PM.Door prizes, awards, raffle. (Editor’s note: this is one of my all-time favorite car shows every year. It’s in a beautiful setting, has real friendly “car people” and a nice mix of very interesting classic English cars that will simply blow your mind. For all the info, just go to www.txabcd.org. Sponsored by the Hill Country Triumph Club. Their web site is www.hillcountrytriumphclub.org

6T H I R D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 8 A L A M O M G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R

Salado GOF

s This photo of the show field gives you a feel for how many cars and people show up at the annual Texas GOF, and how gorgeous the setting is. There’s a beautiful creek that runs behind the show field – some people go wading to cool off.

s An MGC in the foreground, followed by a bunch of beautiful Bs of all years, colors and wheel styles. Bs are getting much more popular at the Salado Gathering of the Faithful. The quality of the Bs at Salado gets better year after year.

7V I S I T U S O N T H E W E B – W W W . A L A M O M G . O R G

The Texas MG Register’s Gathering of the Faithful (GOF) happens every Mothers’ Day week-end in Salado and is always a blast. Great MGs. Great people. Great fun. This is the premiere MG car show in the state. In fact, there’s always at least a car or two from out of state – that’s how popular it is! AMGA ladies enjoy the incredible shopping in the village of Salado, which has lots of boutiques and galleries. The guys just hang out, relax and tell lies about their cars.We enjoyed seeing the fun-loving MGers from all over. A good time was had by all, as always.

s MGTDs galore line up and show off their detailed engine bays. There were also MGTCs and even a mid-thirties MGPA. Such nice cars at this meet – a great show!

8

Salado GOF (cont’d)

s Barry and Sharon O’Connell’s pretty maroon ‘73 B looks quite modern when compared to the ‘23 Morris Crowley in the background. The Morris Crowley is an “ancestor” to MGs. (MG is an acronym for Morris Garages). The original, unrestored Morris Crowley generated more interest than any car there and deservingly won “Best of Show”. Now, granted, it’s not a sports car, but it’s legacy and its “patina” were totally understood and appreciated by the GOF attendees. The Morris Crowley is owned by a very friendly Salado couple who said “We enjoy driving it almost every weekend - when it starts.” Cool couple!

After masking off the area, Larry breaks a big ol’ sweat sanding down the Bondo applied earlier.

The finished product. “It’s not perfect, but it’s as close to perfect as I

want to get”, said Larry.

T H I R D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 8 A L A M O M G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R

Tech Session

s L to R: Tom Stuhldreher, Frank Schweitzer, John Setar and Brian Martin chill out while watching Larry slave over his bum fender. (Editor: Do they look bored or interested? Hmmmm...)

Photos by John Strieb

9y O U ’ R E N E V E R T O O O L D T O P L A y W I T H C A R S

Blanco Car Show

s Arguably the three coolest cars at the show (ha!), from left to right: the editor’s red ‘72 B, Barry O’Connell’s gorgeous ‘67 Austin Hea-ley BJ8, which is a very rare original color, and Larry’s ‘69 British Racing Green MGC. That’s the beautiful Blanco River in the background.

s A rare English car, a 1954 Alvis, was one of the more interesting cars there. Try finding parts for this baby - OMG!

s Our past president Bryan Prindle relaxes by the river.

Middle: AMGA member Jim Place, a race car driver, reads up on his favorite subject.

Upper right: Long-standing club members Joe Frey and Pam Rogers enjoying the park

and each others company.

T H I R D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 8 A L A M O M G A S S O C I A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R10

The U.S. Air Force is bankrolling development of a pistonless internal combustion engine that would provide unmanned aerial vehicles with more power and greater torque in a smaller, lighter package.

It’s called a nutating engine and it uses a rotating disk that wobbles as it spins, creating voids or pockets. Air and fuel are forced into the voids, com-pressed and ignited to create propulsive force just like a piston.

So why is that better?Researchers say nutating engines

offer greater displacement than re-ciprocating engines of similar size. They produce twice as much power as two-stroke engines - and four times the power of four-stroke engines - of simi-lar size and weight. They’ll also burn anything, including gasoline, heavy fuels and hydrogen.

The Lucas motto: “Get home before dark.” • Lucas is the patent holder for the short

circuit. • Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper. • Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming

headlamp. • The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off. • The Original Anti-Theft

Device - Lucas Electrics. • Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices • “I have had a Lucas

pacemaker for years and have never had any trou...uh...” • If Lucas made guns, wars would not start. • Back in the

70’s, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product

they offered which did not suck. • Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the

Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit. Please Note: the opinions expressed in this article do not necessar-

ily reflect the opinions of the officers of the club. The AMGA will not be held responsible for the actions of the out-of-control

newsletter editor, who shamelessly “borrowed” the material from www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html (thank you very much).

The Air Force Research Laboratory is supporting development of a nutating engine by Kinetic Research and Develop-ment and Baker Engineering. The goal is creating a 36-pound engine that generates 77 horsepower and fits within a space of no more than .75 cubic feet. Michael Boruta, president of Kinetic Research, says Flight Global engineers are thermal-testing a prototype and getting close to the 36 pound target.

The nutating engine differs from a Wankel rotary engine. In a nutating engine, a disk spins on a Z-shaped shaft that makes the disk oscillate. In a Wankel engine, a (roughly) triangular-shaped rotor spins on a straight shaft.

Engineers are already working on the second-generation aluminum engine that should produce 103 horsepower and mea-sure about a square foot. (Editor’s note: Wow! Talk about power-to-weight ratio!)

Pistons? We don’t need no stinkin’ pistons!By Chuck Squatriglia, from a blog site

...and now for something totally different ... poking fun at Lucas

L I F E I S T O O S H O R T T O D R I V E B O R I N G C A R S11

PRESIDENT Larry Rogers, 210-497-1541

mgrollers@yahoo.com

V.P./ACTIVITIES Jim Irland, 210-287-3628

townsedanman@yahoo.com SECRETARy/TREASURER

Leonard Marshall, 496-1204 ws422@stic.net

MEMBERSHIP CHAIRWOMAN Pam Rogers, 210-497-1541

mgrollers@yahoo.com NEWSLETTER EDITOR

Mark Rue, 210-490-2026 rue@satx.rr.com

WEBMASTER Darian Henderson, 210-862-7683darianhenderson@sbcglobal.net

PAST PRESIDENT Bryan Prindle, 210-497-7857 bryanprindle@sbcglobal.net

Join or re-join now, blokes!Joining the Alamo MG Association is as easy as one-two-three: 1. Fill out form. 2. Make out a check for a mere 20 bucks. 3. Mail it to: Alamo MG Association, P. O. Box 591129, San Antonio, TX 78259, or bring it to the next monthly meeting. Sound good?

NAME SPOUSE’S NAME

ADDRESS APT.

CITy STATE ZIP

HOME PHONE E-MAIL

MG CAR(S) yOU OWN (WITH yEAR)

Drop by our web site. Recent tests show that reading it lowers your blood pressure: www.alamomg.org

A B O U T T H E C L U B

M E E T I N G SWe meet the first Tuesday of every month at Los Cucos Mexican Cafe, 226 W. Bitters Road, close to the

Embassy Theatre. Social hour 6:30 - 7:30 PM.

Meetings start at 7:30.

TO J O I N See the form on this page.

Dues are only 20 “pounds” a year – such a deal!

a D D R E S S C H a N G E SContact Pam Rogers,

Membership Chairwoman, contact info on this page.

O U R w E b S I T Ewww.alamomg.org

Did you hear the one about the guy who asked an MG owner “How can you tell one switch from another at night? They all look the same to me”. He replied, “It doesn’t matter – whichever one you use, nothing happens”.

Another Lucas joke...

Alamo MG AssociationP. O. Box 591129San Antonio, TX 78259

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Please join us in welcoming Joan Carroll, Morgan King and Todd & Robin Garner. We look forward to getting to know them at our monthly meetings, runs, car shows and other fun AMGA events.

A pretty pitiful plea for help: Please send in articles, photos, etc. and help out the club. Thanks, your editor. E-mail: rue@satx.rr.com

By the early 1970s, the MGB was coming under increas-ing pressure from newer and more competent sports cars. British Leyland thought they’d liven things up with a high-flying ad campaign. The “big idea” was a commer-cial that involved a skydiver pushing a brand new MGB out the back door of a freighter airplane and then jumping out after the car. Both their chutes would open and the skydiver would hop in and drive off. At first, all went accord-ing to plan – the skydiver pushed the car out and then jumped after it. The skydiver passed the MG and

The Coolest MG Ad Ever!

The Internet with a Twist

then opened his chute. Seconds later, the car shot past him heading for the ground at 250 mph, (about 2.5

times its normal top speed), trailing a streamer instead of a parachute! Of course, the brand new MGB was flat-tened like a pancake. (Bugger you!) Look-ing like something out of a Wile E. Coyote cartoon, the B hit the ground with a huge “thud!!!” and a puff of smoke. The second, and final take, went a bit better, bringing sighs of relief to the

British Leyland marketing folks and their ad agency. you can see the final TV spot by logging onto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UimUXI6J8o

you may want to visit www.universitymo-torsltd.com – John Twist has some great videos there! He also has some on youTube.com

s John TwistFamous MG mechanic