Sunday, January 16, 2011

"British Invasion" Exhibit at America on Wheels (a.k.a. MGB Gets A Warm Spot for a While)

The Keystone Region MG Club is well represented at the The America on Wheels Museum's "British Invasion" exhibit. I'm happy to say that all of the MG's in the exhibit are owned by current KRMGC members -- Mike Jones' MG TD, Tom Brobst's MGA and our MGB.

I'm lucky enough to have a next-door neighbor who is a Brit Car guy. Fred, who has owned MG's in the past, now owns two Sunbeam Tigers. He asked me one day in the fall if I was interested in being part of the exhibit being planned at the museum. He took a couple of photos of the MGB. Next thing I know, the MG has a warm spot for the winter!

Fred and I brought our cars over to the museum for "induction" on January 6th, leaving Nazareth with the temperature right about 20-degrees F. It was a bit brisk, but I went top-down! As the Swedish say, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." Or something like that. I got some interesting looks from pedestrians and other drivers on the drive over.

We ran into Tom when we got there as his MGA was being "inducted" also that morning.

I hope you enjoy some of these photos of the "induction" and the completed exhibit.

The museum described the exhibit:

"One may wonder why are the British invading America On Wheels. Simply stated there is an American love affair with the British sports car that dates back to the days of WWII. Many American GI's were stationed in Britain during the war and fell in love with their cars. As the war was ending, Britain was the only European country that had the capability to produce cars and they took advantage of that by importing their products to the US. The American GI was excited by this and purchased these products in droves.

All of the vehicles in this exhibit not only represent the vast variety of cars that were produced in Britain just after the war but also represent the true craftsmanship and engineering that the manufacturers were able to quickly bring to the table in an attempt to revitalize their manufacturing transition from the war effort to that of a civilian based one. In reality, it was this effort that kept the British economy alive after the war and the American GI gave them a ready made market in the USA.
"

The exhibit runs through January and is composed of 15 British cars representing a nice spectrum of styles and vintages. In addition to the three MG's the lineup was filled out by Sunbeam, Jaguar, Mini, Austin Healy, Triumph, and Morgan.

I hope you enjoy some of these photos of the "induction" and the completed exhibit.



British Invasion Exhibit Entrance

Mike's TD

MGA MGB Jag

Our MGB

MGB and MGA

Tom Brobst MGA

Warm and Cozy

Fred Tiger

Fred's Tiger

AH 3000

Richard's Alpine

Sprite TR6 and Alpine

Some of the British "Invading"

Mini

AOW Museum garage entrance

Waiting for The Lift

MGB On Lift

Pushing the MGA

Pushing Jag

Fred Tiger

Pushing Fred

Situation Tiger

Polish Tiger

Pushing Mini

Facebook-AOW-Page

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

KRMGC Drive-In Movie Nite

Some members of the Keystone Region MG Club took in a Drive-In movie at Becky's Drive-In on Sunday night. Thanks Bob and Penny for organizing!

Click on photo to enlarge
KRMGC-2010DriveIn

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Some members of the Keystone Region MG Club and the British Car Club of The Lehigh Valley participated in the first Famous Smoke Shop car show.

It was an absolutely beautiful day! Sunny and near 90 degrees -- sunscreen was in effect! Four cars converged on our place for some coffee and a back-roads drive to the car show. Joe D. joined us at the event later to round out the group to 5 British cars. We pretty much *were* the car show. Bill Paige also stopped by to say hi.

This was the first time Famous Smoke Shop did a car show, so the word didn't get out as well as you'd expect...it was basically a "cruise". The folks who run the Smoke Shop were a very friendly bunch who seemed genuinely happy to have us participate. Featured at the event:

Comraderie, of course
Free beverages (adult and otherwise)
Free food (hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, soft pretzels, etc..)
20% off all cigars and other items in the retail store

There were two other classic cars that showed up...a well done '66 289 Mustang and a really nice 1947 Dodge Sedan with original interior that some of the 'fellas drove over from Brooklyn.

We lounged around in the sun listening to tunes and conversing, occasionally taking refuge in the shade of some of the well-placed trees. Tom tried out his new "King Dick" jack and Dennis did some parking lot tuning of his TR6 with some fine adjustments to the timing.

After the event a couple of the participants took a back-roads drive over to the Blue Mouuntain Drive-In for some ice cream. We had to detour (on Tittle Road) due to a MASSIVE tree that had recently...like minutes before we got there...fallen across Mountain Road.

All-in-all a great day...of doing nothing. As it should be!

I'd highly encourage you to consider it next year if Famous Smoke Shop does it again!

(Click on photos for larger view)

Morning Caravan Group
Morning caravan group -- Photo by Tom Brobst

Dennis in the TR6
Dennis in the TR6 -- Photo by Tom Brobst

HeadingOut
Heading to the Smoke Shop -- Photo by Marybeth Chamberlain

HeadingOut2
Still heading to the Smoke Shop -- Photo by Marybeth Chamberlain

Famous Smoke Shop Group
Most of the British Car Group at the Smoke Shop...Joe D.'s not there yet -- Photo by Marty Chamberlain

DennisTiming
Parking Lot Tuning, Dennis sets his TR6's timing -- Photo by Marty Chamberlain

Tom Tries Out His King Dick Jack
Tom Tries Out His King Dick Jack, and it works -- photo by Marty Chamberlain

Famous Smoke Shop British Lineup
The "full" 5-car lineup once Joe D. showed -- photo by Marty Chamberlain

Rear Ends
Tom's definitely a rear end man -- photo by Tom Brobst

MGA in Hot Sauce on Paper Plate
MGA in Hot Sauce on Paper Plate at Cigar Shop, a transient foodstuff artwork by Tom Brobst -- Photo by Tom Brobst

Stopping for Ice Cream
Stopping for Ice Cream -- photo by Tom Brobst

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Jim Thorpe Classic Run IV

Saturday, September 19, 2009

It was our second time participating in this very cool outing. The weather was great and the event, people -- and of course refreshments in Jim Thorpe after the run were right up there as well!

While the classic Mini lost a front wheel (no injuries, thankfully...and a roadside repair) and one of the Volvos lost an exhaust hanger, there were no other mechanical issues during the run (that I know of)!

Several members from the Keystone Region MG Club and the British Car Club of The Lehigh Valley participated in the run this year and rounded out the field of TWENTY vehicles.

To top it off, we even ran into a couple of other KRMGC club members in Jim Thorpe and had dinner with them. Good day! If you've never done it, I'd highly encourage you to consider it next year!

(Click on photos for larger view)

Fraternal Twins, maybe?
fraternal-twins-maybe

Typical of the roads on the Jim Thorpe Run
twisty-road

The twenty participants (click photos to see entire width)
lunch-pasted-pano

Lunch-Pano

A quick scenic stop at Flagstaff Ballroom
flagstaff-ballroom1

flagstaff-ballroom2

Sometimes, you need a third hand!
helping-hand

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Spitfire Painted Spitfire

Spitfire Painted Spitfire

Absolutely the BEST paint scheme for a Triumph Spitfire...painted like an RAF Spitfire fighter from WWII. Brilliant! (Captured at the Lord Of The Manor British Car Show in Pocono Manor PA 2009)

MGB Anti-Gravity Lift

MGB Anti-Gravity Lift

The Anti-Gravity LBC Lift...The easiest way to work under your MGB if you don't have room in your garage for a traditional lift. (Patent Pending)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Terry and Pat Allen's MG Run and Sunday Brunch

Keystone Region MG Club Event, July 19th, 2009. All I can say is...great day!

Click on image to enlarge

Group01
Turning a corner on the MG run route. (photo by Marybeth Chamberlain)


TerryLeading
Our fearless leader, Terry Allen. (photo by Marybeth Chamberlain)


HighSpeedPursuit
Penny, Bob and Vixie Pilat in high-speed pursuit! (photo by Marybeth Chamberlain)


HighSpeedCorner
Terry taking a corner like a bat out of hell...wonder why everything's blurry? (photo by Marybeth Chamberlain)


CarCorral
The participants literally in the corral at the Allen's place. More horsepower than usually in the corral, but not by much!


Vixie
Voted official mascot of the Allen MG run and brunch...Bob and Penny Pilat's new addition Vixie. She rode along. I think she may have even driven a bit. :)