Majors Motors - Private, Now Public Collection

Winter Park/Orlando, Florida, March 22, 2018

Majors Motors, MLounge, and MBar.  It can get confusing.  A car collector purchased a building in a commercial/retail area between Winter Park and Orlando.  He opened a roof-top bar, called the MLounge.  On the first floor of the building, he housed his car collection of over 60 cars. The collection is known as Majors Motors.  MLounge proved popular.  However, the patrons would peer in the windows on the first floor and see all the cars, asking how they could get inside to see them up close.

With the demand to see the cars getting always higher, he decided to make his private collection public.  When the first floor was a private museum, the cars were spaced throughout the area for perfect viewing.  Turning it into a public space, now called the MBar, required the cars to be moved close together next to walls - not nearly as good for viewing, but more people get to view . . .  including the participants at the Gathering of the Faithful who rallied in their MGs to a private showing of the collection.

Above is an MG bar, constructed from a late MG Midget, located just outside the entrance door to the MBar.  Always good to tie MGs into a post on the blog.  It is sad, in a way, that the passenger door has been removed and the floor cut out so the server can stand near the middle of the car to interact with customers.  A sheet of Lexan has been attached to the car to provide a smooth, level surface to function as a bar.  It is positive that the bar will allow people to interact with an MG who would otherwise not do so, even if it is in a way far from its intended purpose.

Entering the MBar one is met by a collection of microcars.  There are thousands of possible categories of cars that could be collected.  One that this collector chose is the microcar, tiny cars designed to transport people economically, both in gas mileage and use of materials.  First in the display are a Morgan 3 wheeler and a Fiat Multipla, possibly the first minivan, or maybe a mini-minivan.

Then, the Messerschmitt KR 200 was opposite.  So, a British, Italian, and German microcars right off the bat.  The Messerschmitt demonstrates why these cars were known as "Bubble Cars" in their heyday of the late 1950s.  It was the dislike of the bubble car style that motivated Alec Issigonis to design the more traditional appearing Mini, which became a hit and was produced through the 2000 model year.

From the small (appropriately) foyer containing the microcar display, one enters a large room ringed with cars shoulder to shoulder.  The cars have been moved to the sides to provide room for events in the MBar.  The day the GOF visited, the staff were setting up for a private event, a fundraiser they were hosting that evening.

Many cars from many manufacturers are part of this collector's interest.  Here a red Ferrari sits next to an Austin Healy 3000 and a Nash Healey.  Yes, the same Donald Healey was the major force behind both of the Healeys, very different cars.

Donald Healey was so impressed with Briggs Cunningham's success at the LeMans 24 Hour race with the modern Cadillac overhead-valve V-8 engines (see post 1950 Cadillac LeMans) that he made a trip to the United States to meet with General Motors in an effort to acquire Cadillac engines for a car he was designing.  GM turned him down.  On his trip back to England on the Queen Mary, he met George W. Mason, CEO of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, a manufacturer of cars and refrigerators.  A partnership was developed and a 6 cylinder Nash engine was mated to Healey's car.  The engine was given a few more horsepower by replacing the cast-iron head with a high-compression aluminum one and feeding the engine through two SU carburetors, popular on British sports cars.  The Nash Healey arrived in the U.S. in early 1951, two years before the Corvette.  It did have some racing success as a Nash Healey finished 1st in class and 3rd overall at the 1952 24 Hours of LeMans, behind two Mercedes Benz 300 SLs.  The Nash Healy led a short life with production from 1951 until 1954, as high production costs of the Italian made, Pininfarina-designed aluminum body and Healey's interest in his new Austin Healy 100M doomed the Nash engined car.  One can learn a great amount of history at an auto museum.

A couple Allards, another British car, are in the collection.  The Allard was another British chassis/body powered by an American power plant.  (And, most think that marrying a light-weight British car with a powerful American engine was an original idea of Carrol Shelby with the 1960s Cobra.)  Shipping engines to England was problematic, so in the early 50's Allard shipped cars to the U.S. without engines, installing Cadillac, Chrysler, Buick, or Oldsmobile V-8 engines when they arrived in the states.  Carrol Shelby raced Allards and Zora Duntov (designer of the Chevy Corvette) worked for Allard from 1950 to 1952 and raced for Allard at the 1952 and 1953 24 hours of LeMans.

The passion of this collector may be Kaiser Darrins.  The industrialist Henry J. Kaiser began building cars after WWII.  In 1951 they introduced a car considered advanced in design, the Henry J.  A designer working for Kaiser, Howard "Dutch" Darrin secretly designed and built a fiberglass body to fit the Henry J. chassis.  When shown to Mr. Kaiser, he railed that they were not in the business of building sports cars, but his wife said as soon as others see this car they will be.

The Kaiser Darrin is the first fiberglass sports car, being introduced to the public in 1952, two months before the Corvette.  Chevrolet and Ford (Thunderbird) also thought a two-seat sports car was a good idea.  Many problems plagued Kaiser Motors, including 50 of the Kaiser Darrins being destroyed in a storm, resulting in Kaiser Motors merging with Willis (Jeep) and the Kaiser cars being discontinued.  Only 435 Kaiser Darrins were produced, all as 1954 models.  Nine Darrins are displayed in this collection.

One innovative design feature Dutch Darrin built into his car was doors that slid into the front fenders rather than hinging outward.

Well, if you are going to turn a car museum into a bar, how do you construct the bar?  Out of a car, of course.  A Cadillac in this case.

And, you need shelves behind the bar, so why not make use of a British Singer arranged vertically?

The car theme carries on throughout the MBar,  The pool table is built on a shortened 1965 Mustang.

The seating in this area is inspired by 1959 Cadillacs with a Cadillac V-8 engine as the coffee table base.  The automotive theme is carried out everywhere.

Part of collecting rare and antique cars is the joy of sharing them with others.  This collector has been able to share by expanding his business model.


If you find yourself in the Orlando area, consider working a visit to the MBar into your schedule.  The MBar has limited hours, different from the roof-top MLounge, and is often used for private events, so check before planning a visit.  For more details and to find hours, check their websites - Link to MLounge   Link to MBar  Link to Majors Motors

TC 7162 - View from Another Angle - Two

John Debelius participated in the Winter Tour of Florida in February 2017, a rally organized by the Chesapeake Chapter of the New England MG 'T' Register.  He photographed sites and activities along the way and wrote an article about the experience.  The New England MG 'T' Register published the article in their magazine, The Sacred Octagon, April 2017 issue.  Here John is pictured (on page 27 of The Sacred Octagon) in his MGTD on the Winter Tour, at John Pennekamp State Park, Key Largo, Florida.

With a name such as "New England MG 'T' Register" one would think that it is an organization serving people in New England.  Well, it might have started that way, but membership kept growing and now includes members from every continent on the globe.  Over 13,000 T-Series MGs have been registered with the organization.  The cover of the April 2017 The Sacred Octagon, the issue with John's article, is on the right.



All photos in this blog post were made by John Debelius, published in The Sacred Octagon, with images made directly from the magazine, with one exception - the image to the right on the cover of the April 2017 TSO is credited to TSO.  All photos used with the permission of John Debelius and TSO.

So, how does the Winter Tour and the article in TSO fit into this blog?  The Classic MG Club of Orlando hosted a picnic for the cars and drivers on the Tour to welcome them to Florida - The North/South Picnic.  The TSO article begins with a photo at that picnic as seen on the upper left of the two pages here.  If you look closely, you might see Jill and Glen standing among the members of The Classic MG Club and the Chesapeake Chapter members on the tour.  Then it becomes specific to this blog later in the article by including photos of the Moore MGTC as seen at the picnic.

The theme of this post is a "View from Another Angle."  It examines how other people view our MGTC 7162.  An earlier post described how a newspaper reporter in Jacksonville viewed the car and linked to the photos he made and published in his blog.  Here is a page from the TSO Winter Tour article with MGTCs that the Chesapeake Chapter members viewed at the North/South Picnic.  The bright red MGTC in the upper left corner is the Mark and Ellen Tidwell car, a top-of-the-line TC which really grabs one's attention when viewed.  The other three images are photos of TC 7162, the Glen and Jill Moore car.  As with the earlier post with photos by Dan Scanlan, some interesting angles were used in making the images.  Often, a single side shot is used to illustrate a car. In both cases, the photographers took images from non-traditional angles and focused on small areas of the car.

One aspect of owning a classic car is the enjoyment you get from maintaining and driving a classic work of automotive art.  The other joy is sharing the car with others for their enjoyment. Dan and John's enjoyment of TC 7162 extended to publishing photos to enable even more people to see and enjoy this particular piece of art.

The magazine's centerfold was one of John Debelius' photos from the North/South Picnic, with the T-Series cars on the Tour in the park in Mount Dora.  The car behind the red MGTF is TC 7162 again.  It seemed to find itself in many places in this article.












Many thanks to John Debelius for his photos, interest in our MGTC, and sharing the car through his article in TSO.  May this blog post extend the reach of his photography and the people those images effect.

Thanks also to The New England 'T' Register publication The Sacred Octagon for allowing the use of the images of John's article which appeared in the April 2017 magazine.  The Sacred Octagon, PO Box 1028, Ridgefield, CT  06877           
                                    

John Debelius Photo

Gathering of the Faithful South LII

MGs and Friends Forever

Altamonte Springs, Florida   March 22 - 25, 2018

The 52nd annual GOF South was held at the Hilton Inn in Altamonte Springs, Florida.  One hundred nine MGs automobiles and 228 MGers gathered to share their cars, stories, attend technical workshops, break bread together, build new friendships, and renew old friendships.  The theme was "MGs and Friends Forever," a promise well delivered.

The car above, a 1933 MG L1 Magna Police Car was judged Best in Show, deservedly.  This car was an award winner at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, the gathering of the finest Concours-prepared cars in the world.  It did outclass the many cars restored and maintained by their enthusiastic amateurs owners.  It was also entered in the Newcomers Class for cars that had not been shown at the GOF before.  Forty-seven cars were in that class, which it also won, the only car to score higher than Jill's Little Blue Coupe.

In addition to examining and discussing cars, workshops on various technical topics were held, including 5-speed transmissions, SU carburetors, Lucas electricals, and racing MGs in vintage races.  The workshops were a great educational tool.  Often, GOFs feature back road trips, providing MG owners a chance to drive their cars on interesting roads.  Altamonte Springs, with 6-lane roads filled with traffic jams, did not provide good options for drives, but one caravan of MGs did make a journey to Winter Park to view a private car collection, which will be documented in another post.

This year's GOF South was produced by The Classic MG Club, headquartered in the Orlando area.  They produced an outstanding event.

Lonnie Cook Photo

Barrie Jones presents during the workshop on Lucas electrics, a topic of mystery and frustration to many.  Barrie came from England to attend the GOF.  He has served the MG Car Club (England) as the MGTF registrar for many years, keeping track of MGTFs worldwide.  The workshops were all well done, informative, and a highlight of the event.

Vendors were displaying their wares and educating owners about their cars.  Here, Brian and Jack, principals in Ceres Motorsports, are set up with the display of their custom parts next to the trailer in which the 1933 MG Police Car travels.  They produce mounting plates to allow modern tube shocks to be fitted to the rear suspension, offer lighting options, and a few other goodies.  The in-development turbocharger kit for MGBs was also displayed.  Ceres Motorsports is a full-service shop serving the British car community, and in particular, MGs.

Brian's Ford-powered MGB was on hand for admirers.  What began as a rough shape rubber bumper 1979 MGB, with 62 horsepower (factory spec, probably 30 hp in its sad state of condition) has been transformed into a beautiful, chrome bumpered, powerful, great handling road car.  The 2.0 liter double overhead cam Ford is fed by 4 motorcycle carbs. producing close to three times the horsepower of the original engine.  Very clean installation.

Two of the four rows of the first timers cars lined up for judging with Jill's 1957 MGA at the end of the line, but at the head of the judging.  Having 47 cars attending the event for the first time is a healthy sign for the continued interest in classic MGs.  The Little Blue Coupe took home a couple awards - 2nd in the first timers class and 1st in the MGA class.

There were 4 currently raced MGs in attendance, these two MGTDs, the red MGB in the background, and a beautiful blue MGA.

Georg Butz Photo

The blue MGA race car is beautifully prepared, both in the terms of a quality race car and in its immaculate appearance.  You would think that it had never seen a race track.

Geroge Butz Photo

Under the bonnet is as clean and prepared with detail as the exterior.  A beautifully presented car. 

A large field of MGTFs, with beautiful cars, was represented (more than are pictured here). Impressive since they were only built for two years, with the smallest number produced of any post-war MG.

One of the TFs was chassis only.  It is in the process of restoration, with all parts and body refurbished.  This is the progress so far of assembling all the pieces.  It served a couple purposes - showing the restoration process and allowing everyone to easily see the mountings that fit the 5-speed Ford transmission to a T-Series chassis.

Of course, the largest classes were MGBs, the most-produced English sports car.  There were two long lines of MGBs.  This partial view of one line has three MG Midgets among the MGBs.

MG is known for the sports cars they manufactured, but they also built some saloon cars - 4-door cars Americans would term sedans.  There were only two saloon cars in attendance, late 1940s PAs.  The one in the foreground is not unusually taller, it is displayed on built-in jack stands to demonstrate this unusual feature.

Our MGTC was placed in a 17 car field of modified cars, including the 4 currently raced MGs and some MGB V-8 engined conversions.

In the Premier Class, for cars which had won their model class previously, our favorite was Mark and Ellen Tidwell's MGTC, which just pops out of the crowd of cars.  The bright red paint and chrome wheels and polished aluminum brake drums are part of the reason for the bright appearance.

Will Bowden's old race car was here.  Will drove this race car to the race track, competed in the race, then drove it home.  He had a shop focused on T-Series MGs, Ye Old MG Shop, with seemingly acres of cars and parts.  He was one of the founders of The Classic MG Club in 1963.  Will passed away last year.  The GOF was dedicated to his memory.  His race car brought those memories to mind and a few tears to eyes.

In the photo above, Will Bowden accepts the Bill Parish Award from the MG Vintage Racers.  The award was presented at the "Mitty," held at Road Atlanta.  It is presented to the MG race driver "Having the most fun, and being a Master of Speed Deception, while racing their MG over the years - unconcerned about race winning."

Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance 2018

Amelia Island, Florida, March 9 - 11, 2018

The Amelia Island Concours d Elegance is one of the best automobile enthusiast events in the world.  The event consists of many different activities revolving around classic and collector cars; some of the finest cars in the world.  Cars are transported from all corners of the globe to be shown at Amelia.  There are five different auctions held on the island, including the RM Sotheby's auction on the grounds and inside the Ritz Carlton Hotel.  The 1931 Marmon Sixteen Coupe above was one of the cars in the RM Auction.  Beautiful car.  It did sell - $1,050,000.

A wide variety of years, styles, and types of cars are in the RM auction, from kids pedal cars (which sell in the 1000s of dollars), to 21 window VW buses, to desirable Ferraris.  This 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB was sure desirable to someone.  They paid $2,205,000 for the privilege of owning this car.  Just the car auctions are more than one can fully see over the three-day event.

Many car people are at Amelia - design studio heads from various manufacturers, race drivers, magazine publishers, and some of the biggest names in the classic car world.  Pictured here is Lynn St. James, a pioneer of women in automobile racing.  She has raced multiple times in Indianapolis 500 and many years in sports car racing, with two Daytona 24 Hours wins and a 12 Hours of Sebring win on her resume.

There are workshops with experts sharing their experiences and knowledge with the attendees.  One of the 2018 workshops focused on the early years of IMSA prototype racing and the cars.  Drivers, car owners, and IMSA officials discussed the days of prototype racing with wisdom and humor.  The ballroom was also host to some of the cars they drove.  (Dave Sanders photos)

New cars are on display.  Porsche, Jaguar, Lamborghini, and McLaren even offer potential customers drives in various models.  Then, there are new cars that you will not see in your local dealerships, not even in the largest cities.  Yes, this car is legal for street use in the U.S.

Then there is the show itself.  Over 300 cars are displayed on the golf course of the Ritz Carlton.  Classes of cars vary from year to year, so different cars are in attendance each year.  One class this year was pre-WWI Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts.  All are more beautiful than the day they left the factory.  This 1911 car had a model in period costume to enhance the presentation.

The couple who own this 1908 Silver Ghost created a detailed display, including dressing in period   They have driven this car on a rally around England.

Looking at the beautiful engine in this 1912 Silver Ghost demonstrates why cars of this period are known as Brass Era Cars.

The fact that there was a prewar (as in WWII in this case) MG class was reason enough to attend the 2018 Amelia.  This image was made on the afternoon before the show as the cars were moved into place on the golf course.

1930 MG M-Type.  The production of the M-Type began in 1928. It was small, lightweight and an immediate success in both sales and performance.  The boat-tailed design with a fabric-skinned body was an immediate hit with racers and the casual but enthusiastic driver.  MG began production in 1924.

This 1933 L1 Magna was is one of eight L1 cars built as a police car, this one for the Lancashire Constabulary.  The car has recently been restored to its original livery with a black body, blue leather upholstery, and blue wheels.  It was an award winner in class.

1934 MG J2.  This model was often raced, with success, and was instrumental in building the reputation of MG as a performance car.  This car is a true "barn find," discovered in a hayloft in pieces.  It has been restored to its original condition including the duo red paint of Carmine and Saratoga reds.  The J2 featured an 847cc four-cylinder overhead cam engine with a cross-flow, eight-port cylinder head.

SU carbs have been the mainstay fuel mixer for MG since the company's beginning.  MG moved away from racing and more costly overhead cam engines in 1935 to cost-saving efforts during the difficult economic times of the Great Depression.

1935 MG NA Special.  An MG set up for racing.  The term "Special" has traditionally been applied to MGs prepared for racing.  This car has cycle fenders replacing the swooping standard wings for weight reduction and a pair of very knobby tires for better performance in hill climbs.  The custom aluminum, doorless body was built on a bare NA chassis for a female rally driver, Doreen Evans, when she was 18 years old.  The car's supercharged engine produces 120 hp, a very high power to weight ratio for this time period.

A view of the face of the NA reveals many aspects of the car.  The headlights are covered with screens to protect from breakage by rocks while on rallies on unpaved roads  The lump in the front valence covers a supercharger driven off the front of the crankshaft.  The top of the SU carb feeding the supercharger can be seen rising out of the enclosure to the right.  Those are cables running to the front brakes as the brake actuation is mechanical, not hydraulic.  The round, shiny parts on either side of the valence are the shock absorbers, in this case, friction shocks.  They dampen the suspension movements through the friction of multiple metal and fiber plates rubbing together.  The shocks can be adjusted by tightening the wing nut in the center, increasing or decreasing the pressure on the friction plates.

1935 NB Magnette.  The sweeping front wings standard on MGs can clearly be seen in this view of the Magnette.  The NB Magnette was the big brother to the PB Midget, equipped with a six cylinder OHC engine rather than the midget's 4 cylinder.  Only 298 of the cars were built as two-seaters.  Production ran from 1934 to 1936.  Two-tone paint was the norm at this time with duo red, duo green, duo blue, like this example, being offered from the factory.  Black paint was also an option. It is easy to see how this styling was carried over to the postwar production of the MGTC.

The Magnette was an upscale model with fine touches in design applied.  The door hinges (on the front of the doors) are works of art instead of a simple hinge.  The vertical chrome piece in front of the door hinges is a trafficator, indicating the direction the driver was intending to turn  A dash control made an arm extend out of the groove so that it could be seen by other cars both behind and in front.

1934 MG PA Supercharged.  This immaculate example of the prewar MGs was truly stunning.  It had been rebuilt from a rough example by the couple displaying the car.

The engine on a supercharged car appears quite different with a manifold piping the charged air to the head rather than the traditional pair of SU carburetors that normally reside on the head.

Rebuilding a prewar MG in America is difficult since the cars were not imported to the U.S. and there are no old parts to be found.  The trafficators were missing on this PA.  A long search through England was required to obtain replacements.  The story is that many owners in the 1950s removed the trafficators, modernizing the cars by installing turn signal lights, with the original trafficators tossed under a bench in the garage.

1938 MG TA Tickford Drop Head Coupe - a custom-bodied MG by Salmons and Sons.  After MG built the chassis, engine, and firewall forward at the factory in Abington, 250 TAs were then driven to this custom body manufacturer to build the drophead coupe.  There they were equipped with the patented, three-position folding top, which is referred to as a drophead.  The cleaver top design, straight doors with roll-up windows, and a fixed windscreen offered the convenience and protection of a hardtop with the thrills and excitement of an open road car.

1935 MG PA/PB.  This is arguably the most famous prewar MG in America.  Originally one of three cars in Captain George Easton's "Dancing Daughters" all female class-winning LeMans race team, its engine was subsequently updated to the 949cc PB specifications and sold by the factory to American sports car racer Miles Collier.  The Collier brothers began competing with their friends on the driveways of Overlook, the Collier Estate in Pocantico Hills, NY.  From these teenage events, the Automobile  Racing Club of America was born.  This car was a regular on the ARCA circuit, where it was raced unscathed despite Miles' spirited driving style.  In 1937, however, a shunt with a New York taxi destroyed the bodywork.  Seeing an opportunity to make a contender for overall victories, Miles had ARCA enthusiast John Oliveau design an aluminum aerodynamic bodywork for the car.  In 1939, in this car, Miles became the first American to race at LeMans in over a decade, running well but retiring at the 8 hour mark with a ruptured fuel tank. Miles' last victory in this car was at Bridgehampton in 1950, four years before his death.  The Collier MG now resides at the Revs Institute, in Collier County, Florida.  The Collier brothers were sons of Baron Collier, the Florida land developer.

The Dancing Daughters in three MG PAs in preparation for the LeMans-winning attempt.  Preparation proved to be the key to success.  Starting with a production MGPA, the Abington crew spent 205 man-hours building each team car.  The 847 cc four-cylinder engines were balanced, then fitted with polished heads, a lightened flywheel, Q-Type valves and stouter springs, and carefully matched manifolds.  Aluminum cycle fenders and hood shed pounds, an extra bonnet strap and safety catches were added to the doors for safety, while Q-Type drum brakes and twin fuel pumps ensured durability.  Aside from refueling stops over the 24 hours, the sole repair required was a single bulb change on their way to a class win at the prestigious LeMans race.  The Miles Collier car is the one in front - JB 6157.


Amelia Island Concurs d'Elegance is a wide variety of exciting and educational classic automotive experiences.  This post is just a tiny glimpse into the event.