March, 2009

1971 TVR Vixon 2500

Next MeetingsMarch 2nd, 2009 7:00 pm at The Weathervane in Bedford

(603) 472-2749

2

Car of the Month

continued page 7

1971 TVR Vixen 2500

by Jeff Torrey

British Cars - Currently I own two Brit-ish Cars. One is a 1987 Lotus Esprit HCITurbo, which I have owned for almostfour years. The other is a 1971 TVRVixen 2500 which I have owned for sixmonths. Oddly enough, I didn’t start offas a British Car Enthusiast. I kind ofevolved into one.

My adventures with automobiles beganwhile I was in College and needed trans-portation to get back and forth to Boston.That would have been 1980 through 1983.Money was hard to come by and I amone of seven children, so I bought what Icould afford. That was a 1961 Ford Fal-con straight six which was capable ofabout 110 horse power when new. It wasbasic transportation and simple to fix ifanything wore out. It worked out prettywell. On one occasion I was told that Ihad a lot of guts to drive that thing toBoston every day. I never really thoughtof it that way but she probably was right.

I was an Arts Major in college and duringthe summers the Professors would workdoing construction jobs in Cambridge. Iwould help out on the painting crew. Af-ter College, work was slow so I started a

painting business. Over the years thingsgot better and I wanted to buy an antiquecar. I saw an old Ford Falcon for sale intown and bought it. I figured I spend somefree time in the garage restoring it and betrue to myself, that being my first car andall. I spent five years and $15,000 work-ing on that car. It looked good and ranwell, but over time I wanted to upgradeand so I sold the Falcon. From there Ibought a 1995 Corvette. Two months laterI traded it for the newer Corvette. I got areckless driving charge speeding in thatcar. Then I got bored driving it at or aroundthe speed limit and so I traded it in on aused Cadillac. Among other things it wasgood for the family church run on Sun-days. My wife got frustrated with theCadillac because the kids would argue inthe back seat. So I traded that in aftertwo years on a used Dodge Viper.

I owned the Viper for three years andwas invited by the local Lotus Ownersclub to go on a “Fun Run”. That is whenI was introduced to British Sports Carsand Lotus. I was fascinated right awaywith the Lotus Marque; the whole princi-pal of power to weight ratio. To make asmaller less powerful car go just as fastas the big block behemoths like a DodgeViper was something I had never heardof. We talked market value of some ofthe Older cars and I was happy to findout that they are relatively cheap cars tobuy. So, I vowed to the Lotus OwnersGroup that I was going to buy one. Withinthree months I did.

For three years I owned both cars, theViper and the Lotus. Over time I workedthe kinks out of the twenty year old Lo-tus and began to enjoy driving it more than

the Viper. It was quiet compared to theViper and with the Turbo Charger youcould move right along. Finally a car thatcould give you a relaxing ride within aluxurious leather interior and, when youwanted to drive above 5000 RPM’s, itcould keep up with most Super Cars allday long.

My interest in the Viper was fading fast.The problem I had at the time was that Iwas the President of the Viper Club ofAmerica / New England Region. So Istuck it out for the two year term while Iwas aggressively looking for my next car.

My sister was living in England at the timeand she had an English friend who was abit of a car enthusiast and we talked Lo-tus. Shortly thereafter he came into somemoney and bought himself a TVR. Menot knowing anything about TVR, I wasfascinated the hear what he had to say.But what is a TVR? Wipekia says: “TVRis an independent British manufacturer ofsports cars based in the English town ofBlackpool, Lancashire. The companymanufactures lightweight sports cars withpowerful engines and is the third-largestspecialized sports car manufacturer in theworld, offering a diverse range of coupésand convertibles. Most vehicles use anin-house straight-6 cylinder engine design;others an in-house V8. TVR sports carsare composed of tubular steel frames,cloaked in aggressive fiberglass body de-signs.”

What is a Vixen 2500? In the words ofMarshall Moore, “TVRCCNA-The Vixenwas the refined replacement to the age-ing Grantura, much as the Tuscan wasthe replacement for the Griffith. The Vixen

3

BCNHMONARCHY

DIRECTORSWade dos SantosRobert Mitchell

TREASURERJohn Giese

NEWSLETTERJohn Giese - Irene MacDougall

REGALIASuzi Polenchar

SECRETARYNorma Karle

WEBMASTERKate Stanley Robinson

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORSLinda Cagan

Louis Belanger

TECH SESSIONS COORDINATORWade dos Santos

ADVERTISING COORDINATORLinda Cagan

PUBLIC RELATIONS(open)

INTER-CLUB COORDINATORJeff Abbe

SOCIAL DIRECTORSGinger Christiansen

Cheryl BernsteinIrene MacDougall

CALENDAR COORDINATORNorma Karle

SHOW OF DREAMS DIRECTORMike Sweet

www.bcnh.org

Contact information on page 4

AC – ALLARD – ALPINE – TVR – DAIMLER – MORRIS MOTORCYCLES – TRIUMPH – MG - JAGUAR – AUSTIN HEALEY

LAND ROVER – RELIANT SCIMITAR – LOTUS

BRITISH CARS OF NEW HAMPSHIREMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Visit us at www.bcnh.org

Please send application and $25 annual dues (payable to BCNH) to:Linda Cagan, 25 West Country Road, Bedford, NH 03110

If possible, please submit a photo and article of your car to be included inThe Boot, Hood & Bonnet - BCNH’s monthly newsletter.

Any photos submitted will be returned.

Name_______________________________ Spouse______________________

Address__________________________________________________________

City____________________ State____ Zip________ Phone_______________

E-mail address____________________________________________________

Year, Make, Model of Your Auto(s)___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Name of Referring Member_________________________________________

British Cars of New Hampshire (BCNH) is an organization devoted tothe preservation, restoration and enjoyment of all British automobiles.

BCNH provides to its members and their families British auto-orientedactivities and social events throughout the year. Benefits of the club par-ticipation include monthly meetings, rallies, tech sessions, club socials,car shows and other events.

The club publishes a monthly newsletter, The Boot, Hood & Bonnet.News of upcoming events, club activities, car show results, technical tipsand articles submitted by members are included in the newsletter. Mem-bers also receive a discount on a subscription to the British Marque, amonthly car club newspaper.

A club logo window decal is provided. Additional decals may be pur-chased.

Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at the Weathervanerestaurant unless otherwise announced. All members are encouraged toattend and bring guests.

BCNH invites you to become a member of our active and growing clubby submitting the application above.

___ Paper Newsletter or ___ electronic copy of the Newsletter

4

Director’s Corner

Contact informationJeff Abbe 243 Queen Street, Boscawen, NH 03303 796-2922 mgdurango@yahoo.comLouis Belanger 11 Forest Lane, Litchfield, NH 03052 424-7835 80mgbman@comcast.netCheryl Bernstein 14 Franconia Drive, Nashua, NH 03063 882-8682 Cherylbern@comcast.netLinda Cagan 25 West County Road, Bedford, NH 03110 472-5212 lcagan@comcast.netGinger Christiansen 7 Sycamore Lane, Nashua, NH 03063 883-0288 gingchrist@aol.comWade dos Santos PO Box 840, Manchester, NH 03105 623-5209 wade@grolen.comMaggie DuPont 75 Island Pond Road, Derry, NH 03038 434-4627 bigcat106@comcast.netJohn Giese 153 Crooked S Road, Lyndeborough, NH 03082 654-2565 johgie@tds.netNorma Karle 22 Partridge Lane, Londonderry, NH 03053 437-8931 karle01@comcast.netIrene MacDougall 147 Concord Street, Nashua, NH 03064 305-5976 limacd@msn.comRobert Mitchell PO Box 270, Stratam, NH 03885 772-1116 RBMit-MM@comcast.netSuzi Polenchar 19 Shoreline Drive, Hudson, NH 03051 598-6494 spolenchar@comcast.netKate Stanley Robinson, PO Box 235, Chocorua, NH 03817 491-4667 webmaster@bcnh.orgMike Sweet 50 High Street, Penacook, NH 03303 753-9164 sweetm@graphicpkg.com

$1406.99-$274.22

-$4.80-$93.50-$94.40$32.00

$1825.00$26.00

$2823.07

Treasurer’s Report

Start BalanceNewsletterRegalia expenseClub business cardsPizza Night50/50 RaffleMembership DepositsRegalia SalesEnd Balance

December 15 to February 15Club account

$1037.25$100.00-$98.35

$1038.90

Start BalanceSponserExpenseEnd Balance

Show of Dreams account

You may not know it, but when you“elected” me as Co-Director, you got along time Rotarian. I hope you’ll find thatto be a good thing.

Rotary has been around for over 100years now and they have kind’a figuredout a lot of truths about having a Club.Here are three “ideas” that I think canbe applied to the BCNH.

1) Human nature being what it is, we havea tendency to gather with the people weknow and like. When someone newcomes along that we don’t know, we havea tendency to ignore them – not on pur-pose, it’s just “easier” to go talk to thepeople we already know.

So in Rotary, new Members wear a dif-ferent color name badge for the first 4 or5 meetings. That “reminds” the “old”members that they really should make anextra effort to include the “new” peoplein conversations. As Will Rogers said,“A stranger is just a friend that youhaven’t met yet.”

To adapt that idea to our use, I picked upa dozen of the little “table top” Britishflags. I propose to greet people as theyarrive at the regular monthly meetings and,when I learn that someone is either“new,” or hasn’t attended many meetingsbefore so they don’t “know” us well, Iwill give them one of the flags to put attheir place at the table.

At future meetings I encourage the “old”

members to look for those flags and toactively seek out the “newbies.” Afterall, friends are what we’re here for.

2) On the subject of “getting to knoweach other” Rotary has a novel way ofdoing that – and raising $$$ for the Clubat the same time. At a specific time onthe Agenda, members are encouraged tostand up and tell about something goodthat happened to them – or a family mem-ber – during the past month. It can be aBirthday or Anniversary or child’s(grandchild’s) School Graduation ormaybe a Play or Movie or Dinner thatthey really enjoyed and think others mightenjoy too. In celebration of such “happy”events, the members give “Happy Dol-lars” to the Club.

It really is a great way to get a little in-sight into our friend’s lives – and to padthe Clubs coffers at the same time.

3) A third thing I’ve learned from Rotaryregards the planning of “events.” You caneither plan a few “big” events - that re-ally need everyone’s participation to besuccessful – or plan many “small” eventsso members can go to any and all thatappeal to them (and fit into their sched-ule) but where “success” is simply mea-sured by how much fun those that did at-tend have.

Clearly the BCNH uses both of these ap-proaches. The annual Show of Dreamsreally does need full participation, butother events and “rides” do not. What isa little different here is that there is noEvent Committee. If we, as Members,want to “do things together” – then we

have to plan those things ourselves.But the message here is that it doesn’thave to be a big thing! If you know ofa pretty picnic spot somewhere that youthink others would enjoy, just pick a dateand write up a notice to go in the News-letter. Send it in to Ginger Christiansen(Gingchrist@aol.com) or CherylBernstein (Cherylbern@comcast.net) orIrene MacDougall(LIMACD@msn.com) and they’ll seethat it gets in the next edition.

But it won’t happen unless we do it.

“There is no ‘They’ – there’sonly We. There is no ‘Them’ –there’s only Us.”

5

Minutes Disclaimer:As a matter of policy, British Carsof New Hampshire does notendorse any of the businesses thatadvertise in this newsletter.

January 2009 BCNH Meeting

Wade called the meeting to order at7:15PM. The previous meeting minuteswere accepted as published since no oneread them and had anything to correct.It being the beginning of tax season Johnwas not available to present thetreasurer’s report but it is also in the news-letter.

We were all duly reminded that member-ship dues are due. 94+ have paid andthere is one new member who just signedup. We have a total of 189 members, ifyou haven’t paid your dues you won’t getthis newsletter (how’s that for logic?).Not so new members Bill and MargeMcCoomb were in attendance for thefirst time. They have a 76 Mini Cooper.We also had several birthdays and anni-versaries . Happy Birthday to MargeMcCoomb and Will Bernstein (it was alsohis lucky day). And anniversaries of Pauland Doris Karle (32 years) and Peter andBetty Bland(25 years). Notice that thenumber of birthdays wasn’t announcedand there were no cakes or desserts inevidence.

John Giese needs articles for the news-letter. Now that I’ve been laid off maybeI’ll have time to finish my article on ourIndia trip.

News on our website is that we’veswitched servers. Thank you to Pinchand Suzi for donating the cost of hostingin the past. If you have updates, photosetc you’d like to see on the website sim-ply email the information to one of theclub officers and we’ll be glad to forwardit on to Kate our web master.

Mike Sweet gave a Show of Dreamsupdate. Yes, it seems early but if you’vebeen asleep remember that it will be atwo day show this year. The committeeis meeting with the board of directors ofThe Nick on Saturday Jan 9th to discussthe weekend activities. On the 16th wehave a planning meeting at Bill and LindaCagan’s. We are still looking for mem-

bers to participate so please contact us ifyou think you’d like to help.

We are looking for sponsors for the showand we would like each member to bringtwo raffle items. If you have raffle itemsprior to the show you may bring them toany meeting and we will collect them andcart them to the show.

We’ve once again been invited to Mid-night Madness in Wolfeboro. This eventkicks off the summer season and is puton by the Chamber of Commerce. Wewould like to have a display of vehicles.

Past events included the Christmas party.Thanks to Rod and Bob Mitchell for pull-ing it together at the last minute. We hada lovely dinner at the Puritan Backroomin Manchester. Everyone enjoyed thefood and adult beverages. Especiallythose of us without electric power athome! The hot item of the Yankee swapwas the stained glass British flag. Thiswas made by a club member – maybeanother can be crafted for the raffle tableat the car show.

New Events:

Bob Mitchell presented an idea of goingto the Shaker Village next year for theholiday party and going on the Candle-light stroll.

Our February meeting is traditionally afree Pizza night. This year it will be heldat Strange Brew in Manchester sans thepizza. We’ll be having appetizers instead.

Bob has suggested a trip to the northernpart of new Hampshire in late spring. Thevisit will be to the Franconia Sugar Hillarea. Lilacs are in bloom in May and midto late June is the Lupine festival. Thismay become an overnight event for thosewho are interested in staying.

Our activities committee is looking into aChocolate Tour in Walpole, NH.

If you have suggestions for events orwould like to “host” an event please con-tact one of the social directors or a boardmember.

Will Bernstein our birthday boy won the50-50 of $33.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30PM

February 2009 BCNH Meeting

The BCNH Monthly meeting was heldon Feb 12th at the Strange Brew Pub inManchester. This is the annual club birth-day social and was appropriately accom-panied by cake.

The meeting was more of a social meet-ing with just a short quick business meet-ing. No new members were in atten-dance. There were 20 members in at-tendance. The menu was appetizers onthe club and 1/2 price beers.

Bob Mitchell our director for the nightconducted a short meeting. He men-tioned three events for the weekend ofJune 13th. The tour of the mountain area- Franconia, Sugar Hill etc. He is work-ing with the Sunset Hill Inn to set up anafternoon tea (high or low I’m not sure). In addition, we have received an invite fora tour through the back roads in centralMassachusetts. This is a fund raisingevent for Multiple Sclerosis and will be agimmick / scavenger hunt event. The feeis $500 per car. They expect that youwill get sponsors for your car. If anyoneis interested I can provide details.

The Manchester Vermont Car show isalso planned for the 13th and 14th of June.The featured marque is Jaguar and someAmerican brand (Hudson). We attendedlast year and there were at least 50 Brit-ish Cars there. It’s a nice weekend.

We did have a 50-50 and it was won byBetty Bland.

Respectfully submitted

Norma

6

BCNH 2009 Calendar of Events

March2nd Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NHApril6th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NHMay4th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH9th Spring Thaw Day @ Brit Bits, Rye,NH norm@britbits.com15th-17th VRG New HampshireVintage Festival, NHMS, Loudon, NH16th Tech Session with MG-TParty atBob & JR Cushman’s barn Bedford,NH RSVP to Norma atkarle01@comcast.net with attendanceand potluck30th – Jun 7th British Car WeekJune1st Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH6th & 7th MMSCC Vintage British CarShow & Hill Climb, Camden, MEwww.mmscc.com7th British Car Day. Museum ofTransportation, Brookline, MA7th CTMG British By the Sea,Harkness Memorial Park , Waterford,CT

10th-14th MG T Register, GOF 85,Marriott Courtyard, Concord, NH14th Galaxy of British Cars, McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Concord,NH 603-271-782713th & 14th Lupine Festival Weekend,Sunset Hill House, Sugar Hill, NH SeeBob Mitchell.14th Scenic Road rally of SouthCentral Mass to benefit MS.www.scenicroadrallies.com26th Moonlight Madness, Wolfeboro,NH 6PMQueen’s Birthday PartyJuly3rd - 5th Goodwood Festival ofSpeed, Chicester, UK11th Castle in the Clouds Car Show,Moultonborough, NH 603-476-59006th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH26th Day of Triumph Museum ofTransportation, Brookline, MAAugust3rd Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH8th- 9th 13th Annual Show of Dreams,The NICK, Wolfeboro, NH14th – 16th Jaguar Festival of NewEngland, JANE, Sturbridge, MA,contact Brenda Soussan 617-953-145715th Derry Village Rotary Car Show,Pinkerton Academy, Derry NH

15th MG Rover Day, Museum ofTransportation, Brookline, MA BCNH at the Milford Drive In22nd – British Motorfest, SaratogaAuto Museum, Saratoga, NY28th- 30th VIII British MarqueTriathlon, Jiminy Peak Resort,Hancock, MASeptember5th – 6th Falmouth Dream Cruise andCar Show, Falmouth, MA7th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH18th-20th British Invasion, Stowe VT,www.britishinvasion.com26th- 28th British Legends Weekend,CCBCCOctober4th Owl’s Head TransportationMuseum, Foreign Car & VintageAeroplane Show, Owl’s Head, ME 5th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NH11th Brit Bits Halloween Rally, Lee,NH norm@britbits.com16th VRG at the Glen, Watkins Glen,NY17th Classic Car Show, CanterburyShaker Village, Canterbury, NH18th Rally of the Kennebunks,Kennebunkport, MEwww.thekennebunksroadrally.comNovember2nd Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NHDecember7th Monthly Meeting, Weathervane,Bedford, NHHoliday Party

Show of DreamsUpdate

Things are cruising at a fast pace for thisyear’s SOD. The committee had a meet-ing with The Nick board of directors onJanuary 10, with a very positive outcome.There was mention that there was very

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continued page 7

7

little in way of advertising the show inWolfeboro, and they suggested contact-ing a couple of local radio stations,WLNH and WASR.

There was concern, however on the Sep-tember dates that we had chosen for the2 day event; the field is booked with ath-letic events once school starts. Concernswere parking issues for school and showspectators, and there wouldn’t be a safeplace for funkana events. We agreed tochange the date to August 8th & 9th real-izing it would make for a more enjoyableshow for all those involved.

Permits – there’s a ton of them neededto make this show happen. If there isn’tenough to do already, the permits rangefrom signage, insurance, special event,and certificates proving your tent is fireresistant, among other things.

The two day fee for the Nick is $1500.00

After the meeting with the Nick board,the group went to the host hotel for theshow, The Lakeview Inn, and met withGretchen Russell. Arrangements havebeen made to use the alcove next to thelounge (very convenient!) from 1pm to5pm as the show registration area FridayAugust 7th.

Our dinner will be on the 8th. We evenget to create our own British Menu! Appsand cocktails will be 6pm – 7pm, saladsserved from 7:15 to 7:30pm, and entreesfrom 8:00 to 8:15pm. Tables will be deco-rated with white table cloths with a singlecandle in a hurricane glass. Centerpieceswith dual UK/US flags and Union Jackbandanas will certainly make for a veryregal setting.

The hall holds 250 people, and there isroom for a band in the balcony area orthe main floor. We’ve got the hall for 5hours at a cost of $600.00.

Six rooms have already been booked atthe Inn by club members. Even if you’renot staying there, but plan on an overnight,book now. Area lodging fills up fast in thesummer.

That’s it for now. Spring is almost here!

Mike

Car of the Month continued

was a successful model that retainedmany of the positive features of the pre-vious TVR models, while increasing per-formance, comfort, and generally mak-ing TVR more attractive to the public asa whole. The Vixen went through sev-eral iterations with the final one being ahybrid model that helped to usher in theM-Series cars. The Vixen 2500 was es-sentially a Vixen body mounted on a M-Series chassis and running gear. Thesecars were only produced in 1971 and arethus fairly rare.”

My TVR Vixen 2500 is powered by theTriumph TR-6 Engine and 4 Speed Trans-mission. With the fiberglass body it is quitea bit lighter and quicker than the Triumph.That being said; what is it like owning aTVR? In the words of Tim Baxter theonline editor of Classic MotorsportsMagazine, “A TVR is like a Lotus with abad attitude.” After I read that I was like,“I’ve got to have one before I die.” So Ijoined the TVR owners group on Yahoo.I watched and waited and learned moreabout TVRs in the USA and kept an eyeout when cars came up for sale. As soonas I found the TVR I wanted I sold theViper and bought it.

I’m not sure that I can go from owning aViper to buying a TVR without an expla-

nation. Ultimately the goal is to have funwhen driving your sports car. Newer carshave become more refined. Big strongcars go faster but speeds are limited.Driving a light car with good handling thatis connected to the road and going withthe flow of traffic or slightly ahead of thepack is a heck of a lot of fun. It is notimportant how fast I am going but howfast I feel like I am going. Driving myTVR is a blast.

Many people ask about the car and it issurprising how that plays out. If they arenot into cars most people have never seena TVR. Those who know what they arelooking at have nothing but positive thingsto say. Ferrari Owners give thumbs up orcomment on how incredibly well the carhandles. BMW owners hang out theirwindows to give thumbs up or they pumptheir fist cheering you on as you traveldown the highway. Auto-cross instruc-tors either own one or wish they had one.Lotus Owners appreciate the classic styleand performance. Most of the TVROwners I’ve met are in their late 40s or50s. I met someone in their 20s at a carmeet this year with a Subaru WRX. Whenhe saw and heard the TVR his reactionwas, “What is that? I want one.” I turnedto him to say it’s a TVR. His reactionwas a feeling of inadequacy. It seems totake time to get to owning a TVR. It’skind of like what they say in Maine “Youcan’t get there from here”. TVR’s arenot for everyone, but it fits me just fine.

8

Lupin SeasonNorth of the

Notch

June 13 (and 14?) 2009

At the end of this article you will see alink to “Our Favorite Back Roads” writ-ten by Nancy Henderson. I foundNancy's description of that route so ap-pealing that I immediately wanted to "takethe tour" - so I called Nancy.

Nancy is the current Innkeeper of the his-toric Sunset Hill House in Sugar Hill, NH.Built in the late 1800sthe original grand hotelwould accommodate350 guests. What re-mains is much moremodest – but the setting,surrounded by theGreen Mountains, re-mains spectacular. Andmid-June is Lupin Sea-son.

So, I propose thatBCNH takes a ride onNancy’s Favorite BackRoads – and visitNancy while we’re at it.

Along the lines of theShaker Village ride, Isuggest two separateroutes – one up theeastern portion of theState, with a secondgroup going up a west-ern route. Members arefree to join up any-where along the way. Ifyou look at the routemap, you will see thatmost members livewithin 10 or 15 miles ofone of the two routes.

In fact, since the twostarting points are only

about 25 miles apart, some members fromthe southeast might want to do the west-ern route – since they don’t get to seethat part of the State so often – and some“westerners” might want to do the east-ern route for similar reasons.

Each route is about 130-140 miles, so atMG-TD speeds – and with multiple stopsas additions members join along the way– it should take 3 ½ to 4 hours for eachgroup to complete their route. If we startat about 9:00 we should get to Nancy’sPlace at around 1:00.

Nancy is psyched about the idea of hav-ing 20 or 30 British sports cars arrive andserving High Tea to the occupants. Withthe Shaker Village run we learned thatHigh Tea (as opposed to Low Tea) is amuch more substantial meal. Those that would like to stay in the area

for the weekend – maybethere at the Sunset Hill House– are encouraged to make res-ervations well ahead of time– Lupin Season is a big drawup there. Be aware that manyinns in the area – including theSunset Hill House – have atwo night minimum on week-ends during Lupin Season.

Joyce and I plan to “make aweekend of it” and stay at theSunset Hill House.

Those that chose to just makethis a day trip will be welcometo head home after Tea – do-ing any additional touring theychose along the way.

Please do contact BobMitchell (rbmit-mm@comcast.net or 772-1116) with at least and Indi-cation of Interest. If thereisn’t much interest, then wemay need to bag the High Teaidea and those of us that dogo can just catch lunch as wecan when we get there.

Our Favorite Back Roadshttp://

www.sunsethillhouse.com/activities-all.html

9

In case you thought the car situation was bad here, here’s what’s happening in the UK.

Aston Martin: Extended Christmas shutdown and 600 redundancies

Bentley: Worked a three-day week in October and longer Christmas break.Closing Crewe plant for seven weeks from the beginning of March

GM (Vauxhall): Extended Christmas closure and 40-day shutdown

Honda: Four-month shutdown between February and May

Jaguar Land Rover: Series of one-day shutdowns and production cuts late2008 plus 450 redundancies planned

Mini: Christmas shutdown extended by 10 days. 300 agency staff let go and oneweek shutdown planned for February and two weeks in August. Sales are down32% in December 2008 compared to the same time last year.

Nissan: Two-week shutdown late last year and 1,200 redundancies

Toyota: One of the night shifts suspended

UK Government automaker bailout loan package of 2.3 billion pounds. (US$3,296,983,732.53 at conversion rate of $1.43 on January 28, 2008)

Total UK car sales are down by 11% with total of 2,131,795 cars sold in 2008.

1961 Triumph TR3A$49000

1965 shelby 289 Cobra MKII $467000

1969 e-type series II for$106700

Collector Car Prices Soften but Don’t Crash

Breakfast Casserole

serves: 6

preparation time: 1 hour

size measure ingredient 8 large eggs 1 cup cottage cheese 1 cup heavy cream 4 shakes Tabasco sauce 4 ounces mild green chilies

chopped 3 ounces cheddar cheese

butter 2 pinches salt

Beat eggs In a copper bowl. Blend inall of the ingredients, then pour into abuttered 8" x 8" glass pan. Bake in apre-heated 350E oven for 35 - 40 min-utes.

Welcome ourNewest Members

Martin and Christine Burns288 Hanover St.

Portsmouth, NH 03801(603) 436-0602

MBurns149@earthlink.net1971 Midget

The Central New England Chapterof the National MS Society is spon-soring a Road Rally fundraiser nearBoston on Sunday, June 14, 2009. Iwould like to invite you and yourBritish car club members to partici-pate in this unique event. Below isan attachment to the event flier withmore details. Please feel free to giveme a call at 812-623-5727 if youhave any questions.

10

British Cars Acrossthe Bridge – PrinceEdward Island-July

2008by Fred Goodrich

This story begins in Andorra, a tiny Prin-cipality in the Pyrenees Mountains be-tween France and Spain. Sylvia and Iwere on a ski vacation with a group in-cluding Norm and Charlotte Michaels.Some of you know Norm from “Brit Bits”in Rye, NH. Norm told us that he wasplanning to lead a group of British cars toa car show on Prince Edward Island inJuly.

I had not ventured far from home withMaggie, my 1959 MGA, since escortingher up from Charleston, SC where I firstmet and took possession of this littlebeauty four years ago. Consequently, Iwas a little apprehensive about setting offon a trip of this distance. For two yearswe had battled an ignition problem whichcaused Maggie to sit down by the side ofthe road after a short run and cool herheels for thirty or forty minutes beforereturning to action. However, determina-tion trumped fear and I decided Maggiewas ”up” for the long ride. I was alsoaware that we would be caravaning withseveral mechanics who had a wealth ofexperience working on British motor cars.

We were to rendezvous withsome of the others in the groupat the rest stop on I-95 just northof Kennebunk, ME at 7:45 am ona Thursday morning and proceedfrom there to Portland where wewould join with the remainder ofthe caravan. Norm Michaels wasdriving his ’73 supercharged GTMGB complete with Air condi-tioning. Dave and Jane Corbett(BCNH members) brought alongWanda, a beautiful ’59 MGA. There wasLeon Tranchemontagne’s ’88 Jaguar V-12 XJS convertible sporting a V-12powerplant, Barry and Joyce Humphreyin “Hump 2”, an unbeatable (as it wasdescribed by the MC at the awards ban-quet) Carmine Red ’79 MGB.

After fueling up and laying on the sunblock we headed north to meet up withthe remaining travelers. Just north ofPortland we exited the interstate and werejoined by Steve and Abby Neal in a gor-geous ‘50 MG YA sedan with right hand

drive and a supercharger. Timand Karen were to meet ussouth of Augusta in a TR-6 thatTim has been working on forover ten years and has it opti-mized for auto-cross competi-tion. This completed the entou-rage. We stopped for gas andlunch outside of Bangor andmotored on toward the Cana-dian border crossing at Calais.The day was warm and the halfhour bumper-to-bumper wait atthe border put Maggie in an uglymood; she was running a feverthat threatened to escalate intosunstroke or worse. But she“kept her cool” . . . well she

didn’t vomit, and after clearing customsshe felt much better and we struck outfor St. John, New Brunswick.

The afternoon drive became somewhattrying, for the passengers anyway, withthe heat from the sun combining with theheat from the engine to make the rideslightly less than comfortable. It probablywould have been wise to put the top upbut we “toughed it out” and eventuallythe sun went down as we motored north-ward, well baked, to the Homeport Bedand Breakfast in St John. This is a beau-tiful old establishment run by Ralph andKaren Holyoke who just happened to owna ’60 MGA. Their “A” isn’t quite a showcar; in fact, it is more of an everydaydriver. The fact that they owned an MGand a Jag as well wasn’t a surprise sinceNorm had stayed at the Homeport previ-ously and knew that Ralph and Karenwere planning to attend the show them-selves. Ralph had agreed to lead ourgroup via back roads to the PEI bridgeand Friday’s drive proved to be one ofthe highlights of the trip. On this leg wejoined a group of Canadian British carowners from Fredericton who were alsoheaded to the show.

A quick stop for photo op

After crossing the bridge that afternoonwe arrived at The Pines motel in NorthRustico where we would spend the nexttwo nights, nothing fancy but comfortableand nicely located in the countryside. Fri-day evening we enjoyed a “cook out”hosted by the founders of the event, Boband Sandi Bentley at their country estate.Lobster, steamers and all the “fixings”were the fare and the event was well at-

11

tended and enjoyed by all.

Saturday morning found the realshowmen amongst us with the“q-tips” preparing for the day’sevent. When we arrived at theConfederation Landing Park wewere directed to a reserved areain front of the bandstand. Itseems that this year’s featuredmarquee was the MGA since ithas been 50 years since the firstof Maggie’s relatives were de-livered and the “Powers thatBe” had declared 2008 to be the year ofthe MGA.

Although there were approximately 130cars at the show there were only seven“A’s” and Maggie was basking in the gloryof recognition.

Showtime

Norm Michaels was appointed as judgefor the MGAs and acknowledged feelingpressure since two of the seven entrieswere from his group. He acquitted him-self well giving a beautifully restored MKII entry first prize and second to Wanda.Maggie’s nose was only slightly “out ofjoint” running third and not getting a tro-phy but she would grudgingly admit tobeing somewhat unprepared for such anevent. The competition resulted in threefirst place awards and one second placetrophy for a total of four awards out ofseven entries for our group. Norm, Steveand Barry copped the first place hard-ware.

The awards banquet was held on Satur-day evening and again the food was goodand the camaraderie of this international

group was very much in evidence. Sun-day morning found us in Charlottetownlining up for a parade through the localcountryside. Mounties were assigned toclear the intersections over the 25 mileroute. A block long area was cleared indowntown Charlottetown for the cars topark and a luncheon for the group wasavailable for those who had signed up inadvance. Since we had not we lunchedat a sidewalk café before preparing forthe four hour drive back to St. John.

British Cars on VictoriaStreet

The 8 mile return trip across the Confed-eration bridge cost $42.00 (the trip overwas free and if you wish to spend therest of your days on the island it is a realbargain). The remainder of the ride to St.John was relatively uneventful with theexception of losing my hat when a stronggust of wind whisked it away as well asthe hat of the driver behind me. After din-ner at a local restaurant we enjoyed an-other comfortable night followed by anexcellent breakfast anda reasonably early start.Shortly after 8:00 am weput the top up for the firsttime and the side cur-tains in place becauseprecipitation was ex-pected.

The border crossing atCalais was, of course,without delay now thatthe weather was cooler.Both Maggie andWanda have personal-

ized license plates and whenDave and Jane Corbett pre-sented their passports to thecustoms official at the bordershe inquired as to whetherMaggie was Wanda’s sister.

As predicted, we did encoun-ter rain periodically on the re-turn trip, but nothing excessive.As she had on the way up toPEI, Maggie ran flawlessly.With a ’67 1800 cc. MGB en-gine under the bonnet and over-

drive on her 3rd and 4th gears, Maggiecruises quite easily at highway speeds.With the top up the wind noise is consid-erable but ignoring that, Maggie is a funcar to drive even on a trip of this length.We arrived back in Barnstead about 4 pmand talked about the possibility of repeat-ing the trip next year. Maggie had “doneus proud” and although she had no tro-phy the trip was an unqualified winner. Intotal I believe that the trip covered about1000 miles. Because Maggie only logsabout .7 miles for each mile of travel (shebelieves that it keeps her young) calcu-lating mileage is not straightforward; es-pecially when the road signs are in kilo-meters.

The entire experience was outstanding,the Canadians were great hosts and wewere fortunate with the weather. We en-joyed the company of the entire group.Norm did a great job orchestrating andcoordinating the entire trip. For those ofyou who have a vehicle capable of anextended journey “British Cars Across theBridge” is highly recommended.

An Invitation to Subscribe to

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Great Gifts for Fathers Days, Birthdays, Justto Show I Care Days!!!

BCNH Regalia Corner

INVENTORY SALE!!! CHECK OUT THE SAVINGS!!!

The following is a list of items currently in stock, priced to sell:

ITEM REG SALE1-Cotton Long Sleeve Golf Shirtsize M…color cobblestone w/embroidered crest $29 $17

1-Munsingwear 100% Flat back Rib V Neck Sweater size-Men’s L…gray w/embroidered crest $47 $30

1-3/4 Sleeve Crew size-Ladies L…black hot pink crest screen print $18 $13

1-Short Sleeve Golf Shirt size-S…royal blue w/embroidered crest $20 $15

1-Lee Hooded Zipper Up Front Sweatshirt size-L…grey w/black crest screen print $30 $20

2-100% Heavyweight Gildan Ultra Cotton Tee $16 $12

size-M…eggplant w/cream crest screen printsize-L…azalea w/dark blue crest screen print

1-Jerzees T-Shirt size-XL…white w/burgundy crest screen print $15 $5

1-Denier Nylon Duffle Bag (16x9x9) size-XL…grey with embroidered crest $23 $15

1-Golf Towel size-XL…grey with embroidered crest $19 $15

2005 SHOW OF DREAMS T-SHIRTS $12 $52 S…yellow2 M…yellow5 L...yellow13 XL…yellow2 XXL…yellow

2004 SHOW OF DREAMS T-SHIRTS $donation8 S...stone7 M...stone5 L...stone1 XL...stone

2003 SHOW OF DREAMS T-SHIRTS $donation1 L...prairie dust

2001 SHOW OF DREAMS T-SHIRTS $donation3 XL…sage4 XXL…sage

Contact: Suzi Polencharspolenchar@comcast.net

603-598-6484

Marquette DTNA VISIONOwned by a local garage since NEW. Ithink one cable got lost as I never got itfrom owner. I never used it because Ihave 2 others in my garage. A real classictool priced to move $150.00 or best offerIvan. chuck23@metrocast.net

1948 MGYA 4 door with large sunroof.Will sell to club member for $16,500 now.Not many of these. Active club in UKhas most parts. Uses some MGTD pieces.No time for this car. No space to store it.Car in Bedford, NH.wmann@mannad.com

Free to good home1. Owners Workshop Manual (softback)for MGB Roadster & GT Coupe 1962 to1974 by Haynes2. SU- Hitachi Carburetors Manual(softback) by Carbooks, Inc. - Tune,Adjust, Repair, Rebuildemail me at: Robert.Weller@Bdal.com 1956 Wolseley 15/50, rhd, very good

condition, located Harrington, Delaware.Please email for more info and photos atrileyelf01@aol.com $9800

MG Midget parts from rubber bumperMidget: transmission, rear axle withsprings, miscellaneous engine bay partstake all or just what you need. Make offer.(603)428-8439stevenbrooks2@comcast.net

MGB Removable hardtop - This isan aftermarket unit that is black with awhite interior. Top is in very goodcondition, but some weatherstrippinghas to be replaced. It’s held on by the2 clamps along the top windshield railand 2 angle brackets mounted justbehind the seats on the side. $200.00.(603) 883-0288 Gingchrist@aol.com

1972 TR-6 Complete Monza exhaustsystem. Only about 100 miles on it, butit’s been stored under our deck for afew years, so there is some surfacerust. $65.00. (603) 883-0288 Gingchrist@aol.com

For Sale

MGB Removable Hardtop—Mfg.bySnugTop of CA. It is black with whiteinterior and hooks on to car in the sameplace that the soft-top hooks on to thecar. Top is in great shape but needs someweatherstripping. Was on a 78 MGB.$175.00. (603) 568-6479.heffernan1@comcast.net.

British Motor Corporation AM RadioNo knobs, no idea if it works. Best offer.call or e-mail Mike, (603) 753 -9164sweetm@graphicpkg.com

BCNH by-lawsIt was bound to happen. After passing aset of by-laws several errors and omis-sions were spotted. So, at the next meet-ing we will get to vote on the followingcorrections/additions:

Since we are not incorporated the sec-ond statement listed in the by-laws shouldbe eliminated.

A couple of sections mentioned an Ex-ecutive Board. I am sure that the PatriotAct had something to do with this. Any-way, the term “Executive Board” shouldhave been “The Board”

Article 3 Section 2: Add the word “mem-bers” to the sentence: “To present a re-port to the members at the business meet-ing or at the Boards request.”

Article 3, Section 4: The last sentence isa little confusing. Therefore, the last sen-tence should read: “The Secretary is ex-pected to perform other duties as requiredby law.”

We have a listing for Past Director butwith no responsibilities (other than beingon The Board). We can’t have that, so itis proposed to add to the by-laws: “ThePast Director shall preside at all Businessand Board meetings if the Director is notpresent.”

To order your BCNH name badge con-tact Linda Cagan at:

(603) 472-5212

Wanted

1976 MGB, red, good driver but not ashow car. Paint and interior are tired.New top in the box needs to be installed.Originally a California car, has been inMaine for 12 years, never in salt or snow.Has DCOE 45 carb and Allison electronicignition. Spare windshield and frame,some other spare parts, roll bar (notinstalled), Weber carb manual and MGBshop manual. Tonneau cover. Asking$3,500.00. Call Kevin at 386-316-9466for details or to arrange viewing.

1953 TD Engine I would appreciateanyone’s help in finding a 1250cc Engineto rebuild. Ivan Dorechuck23@metrocast.net

1973 MGB 4-speed with new head.Good top, fair interior and seats. Needsnew floors. Rockers are solid. $3500 orBO. Call Ivan at (603) 652-4717.chuck23@metrocast.net

1973 TR6 - burnt red with 68,000 miles.Very good condition with new top, dash,teak, interior upholstery, front windshield,CD player and door panels. Enginecleaned and rehabbed. Garage storedevery winter. More photos available.$11,000 or BO. Keene 603-352-8534

Water pump - can you identify this waterpump? At first glance its a commonBritish Leyland/BMC model found onmany British cars such as Austin, Morris,Rover, MG etc. However take a secondlook at the layout of the fixing holes andyou'll see its different. The impeller is54mm (2 1/16") diameter. If you knowwhat it is and you need it, I have 4 ofthem. Shop soiled but unused. Make mea reasonable offer. They are located inIsrael. henry8@013.net

1973 MGB new tires & exhaust, workingoverdrive, registered & inspected in NH,driven weekly, red/w black interior, radio/cassette, asking $5000, good condition,Robert, 603-224-1714, 603-344-4322codeman653@comcast.net

MGA 1500 short block - fresh groundbalanced crank and rods crank .020 and.030 Bore .020 Block only No head. Allwork preformed by Auto machinist$2,400.00 call 603-652-4717 Ivan.

1961 Austin Healey Sprite This is avery early square body Sprite. NOT A“BUGEYE” All original sheet metalexcept the hood. This car has never beenrestored, just repainted. Also a factoryhardtop (needs paint) to go with it.Engine: 1275 with Kent 266 cam, .030bored over and shallow dish pistons.Weber 45DCOE carb and Pertronixelectronic ignition. Transmission: 5-Speed Datsun Superlite wheels (but Ihave the originals) with Yokohama AVStires. Suspension: Competition springsfront and rear.This car is a lot of fun and is very reliable.I’ve enjoyed it for six years now. But, mystable is too full. perryr1@verizon.net

1976 Rover Mini Cooper. Car’sname: Maddig. B lue with white stripesand top. Fully restored, goodcondition, excellent running condition.Daily driver, good in snow. Automatic,97,000 miles. Member price: $17,500.Call Marge: (603) 964-6546email: mariahlou@aol.com

Picture ofsimilar car

Top Cover-Black (for cars with soft top)Moss part # 644-690. Was on a 78 MGB.Hardly ever used. Great Shape. $165.00(603) 568-6479. heffernan1@comcast.net

4 Tires for 1959 Morris Minor 1000.Size:5/5.60x14". Call John 225-6915, oremail jod4019@comcast.net

AA & RAC CAR BADGESRAC badge is new old stock; comes withfitting instruction sheet and mountinghardware. $45.00AA badge serial number 8A83344 (issued1957 – 59) VGC $60.00AA badge serial number 3B34774 (issued1960 – 61) VGC $60.00These are not reproductions. Please seewww.oldclaasiccar.co.uk orwww.theaa.com for additional info onbadge dating.Mike Sweet (603) 230 – 5124 orsweetm@graphicpkg.com

Poor old thing in the snow

British Cars of New Hampshire25 West County RoadBedford, NH 03110