The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE
British Car Festival, Palatine, IL - (September 10, 2023)
Sunday, September 11, 2023:
British Car Festival at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. By end of day the official count was 426 British cars present, and it took a lot of walking to visit them all. Way much better than last year when it was nearly rained out. This was supposed to be the perfect show day, temperature in the mid to high 70's, somewhat overcast, not too much sun, and no rain. Correct on most counts, but the sun came out full bore with temperature in the 80's,so we needed to run for shade occasionally. At least it made for good pictures, as long as I kept my back to the sun. Start with the MGs, because that's where I parked.
First thing you may notice is lots of people walking in front of the cars. Tough for pictures, but it makes for a good car show. The red car next to the canopy is Dino Perez's MG RV8. Across the aisle a BGT and a YB.
At least a dozen MGA, and there were a few more parked somewhere else away from the main group (more later.
MGB were spread through at least two aisles, keep walking.
Eight Midgets at first count. A red TVR Griffin (I think), followed by a yellow Jensen Healey.
More TVR, a surprising assortment. A couple of Austin, really old and less old.
Two Jensen 541R, 1957. The next two should be obvious, but I don't recognize them. The yellow Nash Metropolitan was easy.
Next is a 1965 Ford Anglia, and 1954 Arnolt Bristol Bolide. A 1933 Morgan Sport. A Rover 3500 and the first big Healey.
Next may be a Ford Capri with turbocharged engine(maybe a little over cooled). Then lots of big Healeys.
Several bug-eye Sprite and one flat bonnet MK-II side curtain Sprite.
On to the row of Range Rover, the first towing a large camper trailer that looked every bit as rugged as the tow vehicle. I suppose these were progressing from older to newer models.
Rolls Royce and Bentley,and they get better as they go.
This one is 1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost belonging to David and Nancy Watts in Greys Lake, Illinois.
Getting into the vendors up the center aisle, starting with Sport 'n' Specialty (they do like big Healeys). Burt Levy was hawking his books, and I needed to pick up a new "The Last Open Road" sticker. Brittrix really lights up the show with all their LED lighting products.
Sorry I missed the name here, but a nice assortment of piston lamps (high intensity, I presume). Apex2Apex Motorsports.com. Auto Appraisal Group.
Northshore Sportscars. Yes, that is a brand new 3-wheel Morgan, and I think there was another one in private hands at the show today (check more photos below). Aston Martin Chicago to make you smile.
Taco Shop for lunch. I'm sure I missed a few vendors. Oh boy! Valve cover races, hotly contended, sometimes a photo finish (but no camera).
A couple vintage British bikes. A 1954 Sunbeam Talbot 90 MK 2A. One Sunbeam Alpine (4-cyl) and three Sunbeam Tiger (V8).
Several Triumph Spitfire. Then some interesting more rare models. 1960 Triumph Herald 948. 1949 Triumph TR 2000 Roadster. 1973 Triumph Stag. And the white TR 2000 with Dickie Seats hiding in the middle.
A hoard of Triumph TR6.
Then come play with the Lotus cars. So many different models in production for so long that the line seems to go on forever.
On the end, another Lotus Cortina, a Lotus 7, and then the next one surprised me. At first I thought Lotus 11, but it seemed a bit too big. It turned out to be a 1959 Lotus 15 in the "British Re-Creation" class (so may be a kit or hand built special). The Lotus 15 is slightly larger than Lotus 11 with the engine angled 7.5-degrees (in the plan view) to give the driver a bit more space. The bonnet blister seems a bit much, so I don't know what engine may be in there.
This British bike is a 1961 Ariel Leader. New to me. There were a lot of British bikes back in the day. What you see is what you get, look it up. At least eight Morgan in this flock, mostly Plus-8, but I think that a vintage Sport 3-wheel hiding behind the spectators.
I found a few Triumph TR4 and TR250, and one 1968 TR250 slightly modified under the bonnet.
Looks like more TR8 around than TR7. Another MGA 1600 hanging out near the modern Minis.
Don't miss the Mini Moke tucked between the row of vintage Mini.
A few Morris Minor in the crowd, a delivery van, two woody wagons and a convertible.
Do you like Jaguar? Some old, some new, still in production, so plenty here today, take your pick.
Looks like this dominating Jaguar group took the premier spot right behind the registration booth. I only got here last because I was walking from the far end of the car park. There was plenty space for those who brought trailers. On the long walk back I stopped off at the regalia table with the folks doling out generous door prizes, and later announcing the show awards. I was picking up my habitual "old stock" discounted T-shirts.
Back in the MG section I was called to check out this MGB that had spread a lot of oil when it was backing into the parking space. Looked like the oil was running off the front edge of the suspension lower A-arm, right below the rubber boot on the steering rack. The boot looked okay, almost like new. I suspect the oil was leaking from the steering rack input pinion shaft, either the front end cover or the top damper cover. Considering the size of the puddle, I suspect the rack may have been over filled with gear oil. I offered to try some wrenches on it, but someone else was already heading to do that. From a field this large there is always at least one car needing a little personal attention.
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