Member's Rides

Bill Sapp's '77 MGB

I bought my 1977 MGB new in September of that year and have been driving it daily since then. It the only car I own and is now well past the 350,000 miles mark. With the exception of a few setbacks, it has given me mile after mile of trouble-free driving. For about the last twenty years, Larry Diaz has been responsible for most of those trouble-free miles. Over the years, several changes have been made to the car that are not period for the '77 but suit my taste. Notably, a lowering kit which dropped the ride height to the pre-Federal interference and swapping the single Zenith carburetor for twin HIFs. It's hard to count the number of road trips club members have made as a group but the two longest distance runs I've made were to Indianapolis, Indiana where we got touring laps of the Indy track (and a dash plaque to prove it) and to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I retired in 2006 and as a present to myself, I restored the car from the ground up. Larry Diaz did all the work including an unbelievable amount of body work to repair the damage of thirty years done by the dreaded tin worm. To me, an interesting footnote is that the MG cost a little of over $6,000 at the dealership and I spent just about that in 2006 to restore it. Not a bad return on a thirty year investment.

March 2009

Bill Crostic's '66 Tiger

I've had this car longer than my wife.  I sold a '67 short wheel base 911S Porsche to buy my Tiger in 1978.  That's right, I have owned it for 30 years.  The car was originally bought by a doctor in '66 who promptly took the car to a speed shop and had the 260 built within an inch of its life.  It was blueprinted, balanced, venolia dome pistons, Isky cam, varicam set up on the timing chain, headers, and Holley 650.  Its currently running 11.5 to one and has finally blown a head gasket.  I had it in storage for 18 years while I lived in California.  It survived a house fire in Sugar Hill, GA.  It has 48,000 original miles. 

April 2009

Jim Munn's MGA

This is my second MGA . The first one was totaled 25 years ago .Got this one 14 years ago and it took three years to restore. It had about 15 coats of primer on it to hide the rust. Before getting this one, I had never even changed the oil in a car. Now I have learned to weld {somewhat} ,bondo, paint, bodywork, and shade tree mechanic. This was my first old green car but it sure hasn't been the last .
It has taken me to Penn., W.V., Va. ,the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, plus many SC and NC trips. I had two "failure to proceed" 's on these trips, both were bad rotors. It is strictly stock, except for a 3.9 rear end and bolt-on tubeless wire wheels .
The best thing about my MGA, is the great people I have met through it .

May 2009

Azzara's Midget

I guess this car started as my very young son and I "bonded".  Even before he could drive he'd hand me tools and I'd tune up my '67 VW .... points, plugs and the like. As he matured I found that I was the one handing the tools and he'd be dropping engines, transmissions and doing overhauls.  It kept him and his siblings in vehicles through their high school years and on to college.   I'd finance two "basket cases" and he'd make a viable vehicle that we'd sell.  Never made a bunch of money on any of them, but we had fun. After he purchased a home (how time flies) we set up a garage in his back yard which included a small body shop. A client bartered this '79 Midget for a VW he painted.  It was only a carcass with disassembled engine parts in the cockpit.  Before long it was the vehicle you see today.  Just completed a brake overhaul with the help of Sam Johnson.  A front end overhaul, shocks and a new top are on the horizon.  Have fun in your LBC with the wind in your hair !!!

June 2009

Tuleibitz's Morgan

In the summer of 1960, I was already a sports car fan.  To me, there was nothing that would top a two, or even three, tone Studebaker Hawk. Sure, the Thunderbird was okay, especially the older two-seater, and the Corvettes were fast, but that Hawk was just the sportiest car made. Then, a friend showed up with his ’57 Morgan Plus 4.  British racing green, a single driving light mounted in the middle of the grille, four rows of louvers in the hood and two seats with inflatable cushions that could bounce you right out of the car on a bumpy Pennsylvania road. Talk about a life-altering encounter! That started me on a life-long trek through the ranks of questionable automobiles. Since then, I can remember Pat and I owning at least 38 cars or trucks. 19 were British; 22 were 2-seaters; 15 were convertibles and 1 had an automatic transmission. But, for the first 45 years, none was a Morgan. For most of these years, TR-3s, Jaguar, Elan, TVRs and other such machines were daily drivers. And hilly, snowy, semi-paved Western Pennsylvania was not somewhere where even someone as irrational as I could justify commuting in a foot of snow in a Morgan. I did spend a winter in Chicago and another in North Carolina with a TR-3, but the closest hill was over a tank of gas away, so much of the challenge was missing.  We bought books on Morgans, visited the factory; and bought kits and pre-built models galore, but we only dreamt of actually owning one. Then, we retired (or, at least I did) and moved to South Carolina. Five weeks later, I drove home in a 1960 Morgan Plus 4 complete with inflatable seats and a single driving light in the middle of the grille. It was a beautiful car, and a ball to drive, but it was definitely towards the toy side of the automotive spectrum. 100 miles a day was about as far as it could be driven in a day without beating us senseless.  What I really lusted after was a Plus 8. In fact I knew just the car I wanted. Then, just about two years after buying the first Morgan, that special Plus 8 was up for sale, and I was at the front of the line. The Plus 4 was sold and replaced by a Westminster green, 3.9 liter, fuel-injected Plus 8. It has two driving lights instead of one, and the seats don’t have to be blown up, but it can handle a 500-mile drive without working up a sweat. As long as we stop every two hours and pour cold water over our smoldering shoes. It was a long wait, but the car is even better than I expected. Looking back, we have had a lot of really great cars.  But if I had to do it all over again, for what I paid for my first new Tiger in 1966, I could have gotten a really nice Plus 4.  And it would have been at least as good in the snow as the Sunbeam.

July 2009

Darrell's Toyz

August 2009

Shannon's Arch Fender

September 2009

 Ron Jacob's 1965 Tiger

October 2009

Lee Gaskin's #0, 1952 Morgan +4

Lee Gaskin's #0, 1952 Morgan +4 is this month's Featured Member Ride. At the September running of the SVRA U.S. Vintage Grand Prix, Lee finished first in the pre-war class. Lee promised more info on the car, and some more information on his beginnings with this car soon.

McCall's MGA and Land Rover

1970 Land Rover-Short Wheel Base and 1959 MGA Roadster.  We picked up the Land Rover at the factory in Solihull,  England while I was stationed in Germany with the US Army.  As was the custom at British Leyland during those times, the factory went on strike while we were waiting in the reception area for our car.  Land Rover had to give us a rental car for a week to finish our vacation and end the strike.  We had lots of adventures with the LR in Europe, going on an 18 day camping trip to Norway, camping with our baby daughter at Berchtesgaden for a visit to Hitler's Eagle's Nest in the snow, and sleeping in the back of the LR parked in the yacht basin at Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix.  I had planned to be buried in the LR but it looks like our younger daughter wants it.  Oh well.  Now for the MGA.  Found it in Hemmings painted 72' Chrysler truck turquoise with white top, white wire wheels and dyed white seats.  Four year ground up restoration by my cousin in Charleston, we nearly killed each other before it was done.  Took 3rd place 1500 MGA at '96 national MG meet in Indianapolis.  Larry Diaz installed 5-speed gearbox conversion following high speed crankshaft failure a few years ago. MG has traveled on many club trips and is now just a great driving car for a guy who lives at the foot of the Saluda Grade. 

December 2009

Larry and Donna's 1965 MGB 

In 1992, Donna and I purchased our 1965 MGB from a lady in Lancaster, SC. Her husband had been the second owner of the car, which had originally been purchased from a dealership in Gaffney, SC.When we purchased the car, it was not running - even though the original engine and transmission had been replaced at one time. This was ok by us because I had a later style overdrive transmission mated to a 5 main bearing engine waiting to be rebuilt and installed into the car.  We trailered the car home, and I began working on it. I stripped off five coats of red paint, cut out all of the rusted metal and welded in new, and applied Dupont’s version of Old English White paint. We then had the seats and interior reupholstered. I dropped in the rebuilt engine and we started driving it. Sounds easy enough, wouldn’t you say?We have enjoyed many trips and excursions in our car. From what I can remember, we have taken separate trips to Canada (twice), New York, Massachusetts, Indianapolis, Memphis, Charleston, West Virginia, Hagerstown Md., Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. We have also been to Savannah and Charlotte too many times to mention. Somewhere amongst those trips, we decided to replace the original 1965 seats with more comfortable seats out of a 1972 MGB. We have been fortunate with the reliability of our car. Only once, on our way to New York, did we have to stop and make repairs. This involved replacing the generator brushes in a hotel room in Dover, Delaware.

January 2010

Hap's 74 GT