While in New Zealand last year, Candy and I had the opportunity to enjoy a few hours at the Southward Car Museum. Among the many spectacular automobiles we came across was an MG we’d never even heard of… the R Type.  

If you are ever in New Zealand, be sure to include this museum on your itinerary.  It is on the North Island, near Wellington.   It is the most comprehensive we’ve ever seen.  We thank fellow Member Michael Shouse for getting us there. 

Some of you have heard that the club has an MGB Overdrive Transmission that we will be auctioning.  Well, it is true!  If you have an MGB and are tired of running at 3,5400-4,000 RPM or more  to cruise at highway speeds, this is your chance!  MGB Overdrives reduce engine speed by 18% for any given road speed which is significant.

 

This is a BLUE LABEL overdrive transmission that club member, Rob Ficalora, refurbished (with a lot of guidance, phone calls, & email support from MGB transmission guru Dick Morritz).  It has been disassembled, cleaned, inspected, worn parts replaced, reassembled, and bench tested to operate correctly.  All 4 synchros (the main wear components) were replaced in this refresh as were all gaskets and seals.

 

Auction details:

• Date:  April 5th during our monthly meeting
• Location: Spring Creek BBQ in Shenandoah TX (near The Woodlands)
• Must be a club member in good standing no later than April 1st to participate in the auction.  If you are not a member and want to participate, you can join at www.houstonmgcc.com/join-us.
• Must be present to win.
• While it is believed to be in excellent condition and has been bench tested, it is being sold as is/where is.  The transmission being auctioned carries no warranty.
• Starting bid will be $1500.
• The winning bidder must collect the transmission at the auction on April 5th unless otherwise coordinated with Rob Ficalora at or before the auction.  If not collected at the meeting, the winning bidder will need to make arrangements to pick it up at Rob's home in Willis, TX.

NOTE:  If you are interested but not sure about compatibility for your car, email the club @ HoustonMGCarClub@gmail.com and we will send you the compatibility information we have.

In our February Monthly Meeting, Rich Colwell will give a presentation on how to extract horsepower from your engine. Tactics were taught by Carl Heideman and John Twist in their "Tuning for Speed" Course in Grand Rapids Michigan.  See the events page for location details.

2024 was a very good year for the Houston MG Car Club.  It is clear to me that the leadership during the last 5 years or so has been exemplary, and the club events exhibit a lot of vitality.  My thanks to the past leadership for leaving the club in a healthy status as we enter 2025.

It is my hope that the driving trend will increase in 2025, and that the driving events will be desirable and fun, enticing club members to come out and join in celebrating our shared passion.  I am going to attempt to run a funkhana during our club picnic, something that I have not done before, but would like to.  If you have experience with organizing such an event, please reach out and give me your two cents.

One activity that we will be doing more of is providing tech sessions and vehicle safety inspections throughout the year.  Additionally, if you are a club member, and your car is not on the road, please reach out to me.  We will come to your house and provide technical consultation/help so that you can benefit from those with experience in keeping these little cars running.

Another fun event will  be watching club member Pete Sandy race his little British sports car at  MSR (Angleton, TX) on 26 April.  More details on this to come.

The first monthly club meeting for 2025 is this Saturday at 11:00 at Lyndon's BBQ , 5320 Hollister just off Highway 290.  I hope to see you there.

Rich Colwell, President

Club Awards for 2024 were presented at the Christmas Party. The time and energy devoted to planning and coordinating driving and other events that generate these awards cannot be understated. Well done officers and volunteers!

(Detail about each award can be seen on the website tab ABOUT/AWARDS.)

500 MILE AWARDS

Dash plaques, recognizing 500 or more miles driven in an MG, were provided to:

SAFETY FAST AWARD (Most Events in an MG)

• Mike Craven, attended 18 events

KIMBER SPIRIT AWARD (Most Events in any Car)

• Dwight and Candy Dawson

MG DRIVER AWARD (Most Miles in an MG)

• Ron Redding, 1849 miles (many in his 1958 MG Magnette)

ALAN RAYNE MEMORIAL AWARD (also known as Broken Crankshaft Award

• Ray Holtzapple

RALPH DIEBERT AWARD

• Arnel Brown, 1953 MG TD

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ AWARD

• Ron Redding

PRESIDENT’S AWARD for member who has provided exceptional leadership or service 

• Jim Goldmeyer

BACK SEAT DRIVER AWARD

• Greg Fleischer & Tony Galt

PRESIDENTIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

Bob Chalker was honored for his leadership and accomplishments as President in 2023 and 2024. This included recognition from the North American MGB Register for coordination of a most successful NAMGBR national convention…MG2024 in Katy, Texas.

The Worst Road Trip… Ever!! NAMGBR 2025 in Crystal Lake, IL

(NOTE:  Before you ask, Driver's Award miles are only accepted if 3 or more Members make the trip. This was decided by our Board of Directors.)

UPDATE: This trip is definitely a go! Surprisingly, we have managed to convince some otherwise responsible MG Owners that this trip would not be the worst decision they have ever made. How about you? Have you ever regretted not doing something wild and crazy with a really high potential for disaster? Well then, let your inner teenager make the decision for you and give us a call! Or read on and let us really scare you before you decide.

So you have been thinking that this year you would finally make it to a NAMGBR convention, and you figure that Crystal Lake, IL is a lot closer than Calgary was, right? You’d love to see how Chicagoland puts on a show, but aren’t sure you want to make that long trip yourself? You want to treat yourself and your MG to a nice, relaxing road trip? Well, you’re outa luck, because our planned drive to the Land of Lincoln will be THE WORST ROAD TRIP… EVER!!

“Why?”, you ask, “Why is it going to be THE WORST ROAD TRIP… EVER!! ?” Well, for one thing, you could make the trip in two days. Just hit the interstate and the cruise control on your MG and wake up in Chicago two days later. But no, not us! We’re going to take six friggin’ days! And those nice, comfortable interstates? Fugetaboudit! We’re going to take those miserable, slow, two-lane, twisty roads that will have your arms aching by noon!

What else, you say? How about the scenery? We could choose to drive through the enchanting expanses of suburbia, with their arrays of neat strip malls and outlet stores. But instead, we’re going out of our way to avoid buildings and expose you to endless vistas of fences, pastures, trees and hills. For mile after mile after endless mile.

But surely it gets better when it comes to food, right? WRONG! You will be dying for a chain restaurant by the time we hit Chicago. You better like those run-down local diners, with their “character” and “diverse” menus.

So if we still haven’t convinced you that this road trip is entirely underwhelming, just check out this proposed itinerary:

• Day 1: Meet up in aptly named Sulphur Springs, TX.

• Day 2: Bake in the sweltering Texas summer heat on your way to Hot Springs, AR. Where it also smells.

• Day 3: Fight off mosquitoes in the Ozark National Forest and seek cover in Eureka Springs, AR.

• Day 4: Get your kicks on sleepy Route 66 and celebrate tackiness raised to an art form. Overnight in a forgettable town not named after a spring.

• Day 5: Fight through traffic in St. Louis and overnight in Springfield, IL – a town that still celebrates log cabins. Really.

• Day 6: Try to not let the endless corn fields put you to sleep as you finally spill out of your car exhausted in Crystal Lake.

If you’re still thinking of going to NAMGBR 2025, and if we haven’t convinced you that our route there will be THE WORST ROAD TRIP… EVER!!, then you have our deepest sympathy. If you would like to further discuss this or your other poor life choices, please contact Scott Hardy at scott.b.hardy@gmail.com and we will be glad to offer you a consultation. Offer only available until the end of March, 2025.

Our 34th Annual All British Car (and Motorcycle!) Day on October 12th was a great success! 

We had over 70 cars registered this year and once again the weather cooperated giving us a beautiful day to show off our cars and enjoy everyone else’s pride and joy.   In addition to our MGs, we had a beautiful 2 owner original 1961 Rolls Royce along with other Rolls and Bentleys, Jags, Triumphs, and a nice turnout of our marque car this year, the Mini, including a rare example owned by David Fowler who won First Place.  

The Butler House Restaurant was once again our host and they came through by opening up their patio for us even though they are closed for remodeling. A special thanks to them for all their help.  Again this year we had people driving by that wanted to participate and entered their cars that day. 

In addition to our club’s great display of cars, our own Club band, Abingdon Express, provided live music!    Thanks goes to John Bowyer on Guitar and vocals, Walter Bernard on keyboards and vocals, Al Slayter on Bass, Ken Evesson on Drums and Ed Evesson as the sound guy and roadie.

Our Show would not be possible without the great  help of volunteers that gave their time and efforts during the show to make it the success it was:

Libby Nash, Doty Goldmeyer, Dwight and Candy Dawson...Silent Auction

Byron Nash…Parking

Scott Kalish and Roger Sykes…Entrance Directions/Handouts

Steve Session…Show Co-Chair, art design, voting process, late Registration.  

Our Annual British Car Day attracted the attention of the Houston area British Consulate who attended our festivities and handed out the winner awards. This was a treat and added British authenticity.  

The biggest thanks goes to all that attended and participated this year! Without you there would only be an empty parking lot instead of little puddles of oil in each parking space! See y’all at the 35th Annual all British Car Day next year! 

Lee Drum, Chairman

The Awards:

MGTD - Tracey Davidson

MGA - James McWhinne

MGB Chrome Bumper - 3 tied for first place 

               James McWhinne

               Ron Redding

               Gavin Kidd

MGB Rubber Bumper - David Lawrence 

Austin Healey 100 - Neville Skead

British Customized - Steve Session

British Luxury - Ed Stacey

British Special Interest - John Mottershaw

British Vintage - Franklin Carpenter 

Jaguar E Type - Erik Lipper

Jaguar 1969 & Earlier - Eddie Doughty

Jaguar 1970 & Later - Mike Woodward 

Lotus 1988 & Later - Neil Humphries

Mini - Dave Fowler

Mini 2020 & Later - Doty Goldmeir

Morgan - Kim Freeman 

Triumph TR2 & TR3 -Kenny Daves 

Triumph TR4 & TR250 Mike Hado

Triumph TR6 - Neville Skead

Triumph TR7 & TR8 - Williams Fickle

Triumph Spitfire & GT6 - John Barrett

Triumph Stag - Nik Jindal

Motorcycle - Al Dykes

Best in Show - Neville Skead

People’s Choice - James McWhinnie

Dear All,

Here are the results.

Published Results.pdf

 A September Run To Shiner, TX 

The trip to Shiner was nicely organized by Jim Goldmeyer and Scott Hardy.  The Houston group showed up at Katy’s Bucee’s at 9AM.  We had 10 cars including a mixture of British and modern for support.  The 100 mile drive to Shiner started with some shade and cooler temperatures.  The Alamo Club from San Antonio and the Capital City Club from Austin met us at the Shiner Brewery.  There we enjoyed some live music, barbecue and cool Shiner’s beer.  There was a good turnout of automobiles from all 3 clubs. 

...by Mike Craven

Saturday, October 26.  It was a great day for topless driving.  For the Buckner Parkway Place Senior Living Facility, the Club showed 8 cars including a Triumph and a 1956 Austin Healey...owned by one of the Residents.  A number of the Seniors showed up at 11 AM to take a look.  As usual many of them had an interesting story about when they had an LBC or something like the show cars.  As the photograph suggests, Jim Chase’s MG TC was likely the biggest hit of the show.  Five MGB’s, including both rubber & chrome bumpers,  rounded out the show.  A number of the facility staff members made a second visit to the show once the Residents finished, to get a closer look at the cars.  Just think of the day as you might  experience it...someday in the future...as a Resident!  

Photos and Text by Mike Craven