During the January Houston MG Car Club meeting Scott Hardy shared an informative and entertaining presentation of his and Trish’s adventurous trek in their 1972 MGB from Calgary, Canada to their new home in Houston. If you missed it, you missed a good one. Not to worry, though, as you can see his presentation slides here. Plus, this was only part one of a two-part presentation. Scott will continue his tale at the April monthly meeting.

Year's ago Dwight Dawson had a blog about life with their MGB.  Following is an excerpt from that blog.

Welcome to my blog about our longstanding and unshakable love affair with a car.  Well, its not just any car, but a 1973 MGB Tourer.  It is pictured here with a hardtop that I hauled around for 25 years before selling it to an MG colleague in Austin, TX.  As a resident of Houston, I found that the heat and humidity rendered the hardtop rarely used.  Plus, I needed the space.  When I bought the top we lived in Billings, Montana.  There, it got some use as I drove the car year round.

Do you have a story about life with your MG?  If so, we would love to have you share it with us.  Simply send it to houstonMGCarClub@gmail.com.  

As always, many thanks to Greg for preparing the below report. 

By Mike Woodward, photos by Scott Hardy

This year’s Christmas party was once again held on December 14^th at Falcon Point Country Club in Katy. Mike Woodward presided over the event and handed out the annual awards.

The 2019 Driver Award went to Gordon and Angie Bard, for the most round-trip miles driven in an MG to club sponsored events. Additionally, plaques were given to previous years’ winners of the Driver Award who did not receive them at the time, including:

2011 John and Nancy Youens

2012 Ray & Mary Dee Holtzapple

2014 Gordon & Angie Bard

2015 Bob & Kim Chalker

2016 Roger & Kaye Sykes

2017 Mike & Stephanie Woodward

The twelve members who received the 500 Mile Club Award for their extensive driving of 500 miles or more this year were Bob Chalker, Nick Roccaforte, John Blum, Alex Laverock, Scott Hardy, Walter Bernard, Ron Redding, Bob Schroeder, Ken Evesson, Mike Woodward, Dwight Dawson and Gordon Bard. Well done, drivers!

The Alan Rayne Memorial Award, AKA the “Broken Crankshaft Award,” was presented by Dwight Dawson to Gordon Bard. After receiving both this year’s Driver Award and 500 Mile Club Award, Gordon appropriately pointed that “You gotta drive it to break it!”

The Ralph Diebert Award went to Jim Early for the All-British Car Show’s most popular MG marque vehicle, his 1962 MGA MK II.

 

In recognition of their respective outstanding leadership and service to the club, Ron Redding was awarded the Board of Director’s Award by Mike Gentry; and Dwight Dawson received the President’s Award.

Finally, the first ever Back Seat Driver’s Award was presented to much-deserving Candy Dawson for her extraordinary behind-the-scenes work throughout the year.

In addition to the awards celebration and wonderful buffet lunch, the customary silent auction and food donation took place, along with a unique and fun gift exchange. Most important of all, our members enjoyed both the spirit of Christmas and the lasting MG friendships within the club.

The Houston MG Car Club wishes all of our members and friends a very Merry Christmas and a joyous and prosperous New Year.  Thank you for making 2019 one of the club's most successful years.

The following article was published in the 25th Anniversary edition of The ROARS.  Joe Lopez, was the 4th member of the Houston MG Car Club and continues to be a member to this day.

By Mike Woodward

On November 29, 2019 Gordon and Angie Bard, Roger Sykes, Ken Evesson, Mike and Stephanie Woodward and their granddaughter Avi met at Willowbrook Mall to start this year’s Black Friday drive. Amongst them were three MGs (LBC) and one Jaguar (BBC!!). Unfortunately, Fred Whitla and his MGB were stricken by the “Prince of Darkness” on the way to the mall, providing us with our first qualifier for next year’s Broken Crankshaft award!

A picturesque one-hour drive through the countryside led us to the Cozy Grape restaurant in Montgomery. Joined there by Ed Rosenquist and Avi’s mom Fionna Phillips, we all enjoyed a wonderful lunch and, of course, great MG friendship. Towards the end of lunch Fred and Lisa appeared, courtesy of a local tow truck, and so at last the group was together, reminiscing about the wonderful “Prince of Darkness.”

…. and Houston MG Car Club members excelled at the Fall GOF.   The following HMGCC members and their cars took home awards:                                                                                                    

First, club members swept the MGA Roadster Class with

In the other classes

Sitting proudly in the Octagon of Honor were

Congratulations to all award winners!

By Dwight Dawson

Our monthly membership meetings are held in various parts of the Houston Metroplex. It means that active members sometimes have to drive a considerable distance. The November meeting, at Lyndon’s BBQ off 290, had 26 attendees. Among them were:

Jim Chase, 50 miles 

Bob Chalker, 52 miles in his MGA 

Ron Redding, 65 miles

Jim Early, 66 miles

Ken Evessen, 75 miles in his MGA 

10 Members drove their MG or other LBC 

 Well done Driver Members! 

By Bob Chalker

During the last week in October, Kim and I had the pleasure of spending several nights at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. I was there for business and Kim came along to enjoy the changing color of the leaves, great shopping, and the company of several of my colleagues and their spouses. We also enjoyed a couple pints at a few of the over 100 breweries in the area. The Grove Park Inn, built in 1913 in the arts and craft style, is an incredible lodge located on pristine grounds with breathtaking mountain vistas. 

The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C.

A highlight of the trip was visiting the automobile museum at historic Grovewood Village, located on the hotel grounds. Grovewood Village is a small collection of buildings that have been preserved to celebrate the history of the area. Along with the automobile museum there is an art gallery, gift shop from local artisans, and the Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum of weaving and woodworking factories established in 1901.

Grovewood Village Car Museum

The antique car museum was established in 1966 by Harry Blomberg, Asheville’s Cadillac-Pontiac dealer for more than 50 years, and houses his personal prized collection of antique and vintage automobiles. As you might suspect, this museum is a tribute to the American automobile that includes a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, a 1916 Willys Overland Touring car, a 1927 REO Flying Cloud, and a 1940 Packard Coupe along with many more rare and unique American made cars.

1959 Edsel Corsair

But there was one exception. The only non-American car in the collection is a 1950 MG TD roadster proudly on display in the very front of the museum. Like all the cars in the museum, the TD is unrestored but in excellent condition. In fact, the attendant at the museum told us that all of the cars are kept in running condition and are periodically driven. 

MG TD leading the pack

1950 MG TD

 

1950 MG TD Interior

As I stood there admiring this beautiful car, I imagined myself driving it up the Grove Park Inn’s long driveway on a crisp fall day with the smell of freshly fallen leaves mixing with the aroma from the inn’s kitchen in the air. The Grove Park Inn is a historic gem built from massive granite stones quarried from the local mountainsides. As we explored the hallways we came across a collection of paintings depicting the cars in the museum. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the MG TD painting. We couldn’t afford to buy it, so we will settle with a photo on my phone.

If you are ever in the Asheville area, the Grove Park Inn and the Grovewood museums are a worthy destination. 

1926 Cadillac Sedan

1922 American laFrance Fire Truck