Gathering of the Faithful South 2019

April 11-14, 2019, Daytona Beach, FL.

The "Worlds Most Famous Beach" was home to the 53rd annual Gathering of the Faithful South.  Some mistakingly interpret the name of the event to indicate that it is of a religious nature.  Well, not in the traditional sense.  It was a term coined in the 60's to describe an event where people, who were faithful to the car marque MG, would meet to display and drive their MGs.  Over 50 years later these MG Faithful continue to meet to celebrate this famed marque, learn more about the cars, and enjoy the camaraderie.

The Gathering of the Faithful began as an event of the New England MG T Register in 1964.  Two years later, the Classic MG Club of Orlando, which was an affiliated chapter of the NEMGTR, organized the first GOF South.  It has been an annual event ever since with two clubs now sharing the responsibilities of organizing, financing, and operating the event.  GOF 2019 was produced by the MG Classics of Jacksonville.

https://www.mgclassics.org/

The Plaza Resort served as the host hotel, with a large parking lot right on the beach that was reserved for MGs to park and for the Saturday car show.  The Plaza is a historic hotel built in the late 1800's, appropriate for a gathering of historic cars.

The major reason that Daytona Beach was selected as the site for the GOF was being able to offer an opportunity for the participant to run some laps on the road course at Daytona International Speedway.  Sixty-five MGs lined up outside the turn 4 tunnel awaiting the appointed time.

A drive through the tunnel and into the infield, then down pit road and onto the racetrack.                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                      

The Little Blue Coupe on the Track  -  Sunny Hester Photo

Daytona International Speedway Photo

The main reason that car groups have an event is to have a chance to see cars and learn more about the various models created by the manufacturer.  And, there was a wide variety of MGs at the GOF.  Two prewar cars, a 1931 M-type and a 1933 J-2.  The J-2 competed in vintage racing until a few years ago.

There were some big classes filled with beautiful, immaculately prepared cars, making it very difficult to select the best in each class.  MGTDs are lined up in this image.

Red MGTFs bookend a pair of cream MGTFs.  These cars comprised part of the MGTF class, which was large in comparison to the number of cars produced.  The TF was the last of the T-series MGs, manufactured only 2 years (1954-1955) with the fewest cars made of the post war T-series cars.  Ever car in this class was deserving of recognition.

The chrome bumper class of MGBs is always the largest, appropriate as the MGB was the highest number of sports cars ever manufactured.  Until recently, when it was outnumbered by the Miata, which was designed to be the successor to the MGB.  Successfully so.

How do you go about bringing an old car back to life, looking like new?  Every car has a story and the owners/restorers are always willing to share the details to assist others in their journey.  This MGB owner's wife even published a book of his process in preparing this car.  The beautiful job earned Jon and Cindy Helton second place in the MGB chrome bumper class.

Once a car has won it's class, it cannot compete in that class for three years.  Those very fine cars can still be entered in the show, competing against all the best cars in the other classes.  A group of very fine, but different era cars.  The Little Blue Coupe placed first in Premier.

Rarely seen in the U.S., the MGY was a sedan produced in the late 1940s during the production of the MGTC.  It was advanced for MG with new features like independent front suspension, a design that was carried on through the end of the MGB production.  The cars had a system that MG branded "Jack All," which with a flip of a switch would jack the entire car up with all 4 wheels off the ground.  This Y is well prepared and upgraded with a larger MGB engine.  This Y was prepared and is owned by "Choo Choo" Germano and is one many early MGs in his collection.

Gary Whiting Photo

The winner among the MGA class was a very well done 1962 MGA Mark II, owned by Gary Whiting.  It was Whiting's first time at the GOF.  In addition to showing his MGA, Whiting served as official GOF photographer, producing a quality slide show of the event which played during the awards banquet.  He added much to the enjoyment of the Gathering of the Faithful.

Gary Whiting Photo

Gary photographed every car in the car show, then produced a video to accompany the awards presentation at the banquet.  As the winners of each class were announced, a photograph of their car appeared on the screen.  Knowing which car was earning an award made the awards much more meaningful.  Not only did you see the person who created the car as they accepted their plaque, but you also got to see the car that actually won the award.  This image is Whiting's photo of the winning rubber bumper MGB owned by Rick Smith.

For more of Gary Whiting's photos and videos of GOF South, go to the MG Classics website.  If you are interested in nature photography, Whiting's specialty, access his personal photography website.

https://www.mgclassics.org/gof-photo-albums

http://garywhitingphotography.com/

Gary Whiting Photo

While it is both fun and educational to look at the beautiful cars and talk with the owners, MGs are for driving.  Driving opportunities are always a part of a GOF.  In addition to the laps on the race track, a drive to the Ponce Lighthouse & Museum was followed by dinner at the North Turn Restaurant, located at the north turn of the old beach race track.  On Saturday afternoon, two drives were on tap:  one to Ormond Beach, the "Birthplace of Speed," where the land speed records were run and around the Old Florida back roads known as the Ormond Loop; a second drive went through Daytona Beach to The Living Legends Museum.







Before the 53rd annual GOF began, planning was underway for the 54th Gathering of the Faithful South.  The Classic MG Club of Orlando will be hosting the next GOF South in Central Florida, at Howey-in-the-Hills, April 17-19, 2020.  The Mission Inn Resort & Club will serve as host property.  Historic MG cars will once again gather at a historic resort.

https://www.classicmgclub.com/

The Little Blue Coupe

At NAMGAR GT-43 in Richmond, VA, 2018

At the Gathering of the Faithful 2017, Jill saw an MGA Coupe that the owner drove down from Atlanta to the event in Crystal River, Florida.  Among the over 100 MGs in attendance, there was only one MGA coupe.  It is just like the MGA roadster, but with a fixed hardtop.  She fell in love.  During a search for MGA coupes, one was found on the auction site BringaTrailer.  It was a medium blue that MG called "Mineral Blue" and only used on the coupes.  There was an interesting history behind the car including a run at an invitation-only road rally, the California Millie.  Yes, the car was in California, a long, long way distant.

Bidding was easy.  Just type in some numbers and hit Enter.  Then repeat.  A number of people were interested in the car and the bids grew in size rapidly as the auction end time neared.  The winning bid was on our computer.  Jill became an MG owner.

The day after the auction, the seller contacted us with an offer.  One of the bidders was in London, England.  He still wanted the car and offered $3,000 to allow him to buy the car at the bid price.  Since the motivation to buy was not for financial gain, but to gain an interesting car, the offer was turned down and arrangements were made to ship the MGA coupe from California to Florida.

The Little Blue Coupe arrived a few weeks later on the upper level of an enclosed trailer.  The same transporter who brought the MGTC from California was contracted to ship another car.

One would think that interesting MGs could be found on the east coast.

She was driven from the off-loading site to her new home in Flagler Beach.  It is a bit scary to purchase a car, particularly an old classic car, sight unseen.  Photos tend to make everything look better.  She was running and stopping and in good shape and drivable.  The TC arrived with differential fluid and brake fluid leaking out onto the trailer floor.

A thorough examination should be accomplished on any older vehicle before putting many miles on the car.  Ceres Motorsports, in Oviedo, put her on the rack and checked all systems with a focus on safety.  One brake had some issues, so a brake job was accomplished and a number of minor issues where addressed.  Having those with expertise and experience on thousands of cars evaluate the entire car is a large step toward safety and reliability.  Many thanks to Brian and Jack at Ceres.

https://www.ceresmotorsports.com/about.html

There are widely differing opinions on how a classic car should be prepared.  One camp believes strongly that cars should be prepared exactly as they left the factory; originality is of utmost importance.  A second group finds that period modifications and some changes to improve drivability are appropriate.  Then, there are those that want to replace engine to suspension with modern parts, known as Restomod in the American car hobby.  We are in the second group and this car fits that desire with many sensible modifications.  The 1500cc engine was replaced with a later MGA 1622cc engine with high-performance cam, balanced bottom end, exhaust headers, and a cross-flow aluminum head fitted with twin dual-throat Weber carburetors.  A Ford 5-speed transmission with a sycro 1st gear and overdrive top gear makes driving better both in town and on the highway.

Gary Whiting Photo

The outside is original, with a few exceptions that are easily changed back to stock.  The center-lock wire wheels have been replaced with Minilite type aluminum wheels - straighter, rounder, and stronger.  A free-flowing exhaust with chrome dual tips rather than a single rusty steel pipe adds performance and appeal.  The license plate is mounted below the bumper rather than above to accent the curved line of the trunk.

Attention to little details make a classic car more interesting.  In Florida, antique cars of a certain age range are allowed to carry an original license plate from the year of manufacture.  A search for a plate found this low-numbered plate with an appropriate Q symbol, indicating that the plate is for an antique car.  The car this plate was originally issued to had to be 1932 or older.  The paint was quite faded and state law states that plates cannot be refurbished.  A man, located in Alabama, who specializes in license plate painting, was found and the plate was sent off.  His paint colors and technique is so perfect that the plate sailed through its inspection in Tallahassee and was approved.  Adds an interesting touch.

The interior is gray with leather seats.  The Mineral Blue coupe was manufactured with 2 different interiors - gray seating or black with gray piping.  The dash is painted body color.  A smaller Motolita steering wheel has been installed to give better feel and grip.  Appropriate for a rallye car.

At St. Augustine Antique Auto Show, 2018, Gary Whiting Photo

Many hours of work has been invested to make a number of improvements in the car.  A week-long polishing and waxing was accomplished with everything that could be unbolted from the body removed, then reattached later.  She really shines, now.

Recently some work was done under the hood.  The head was removed for a fresh valve job and a bit shaved off to increase compression.  While it was apart, a gear drive starter and an aluminum radiator were added. The radiator reduced the running temperature 20 degrees, a big improvement.

When things are apart, the "While we are there" syndrome sets in.  The engine builder had painted the engine black, as he probably did with all engines he built.  The fan was painted body color.  Both were wrong.  Changes with a purpose, such as an increase in performance should be acceptable, but things just done wrong for no purpose grate at people who understand the origin of the car.  So, the engine block was painted MG Maroon and the fan yellow.  The yellow paint on the fan provides a safety measure, making it very visible when it is running.

The Little Blue Coupe has shown herself well in many car events and shows, including the Daytona Dream Cruise and the Holly Hill Car Show, both events geared to American cars and Street Rods.  The Dream Cruise does not have judged cars, but Holly Hill does.  The MGA Coupe was selected as "Best Foreign" car at the event.  Street Rodders are a bit more creative in making awards.  The trophy is a one-off art creation made of car parts, metallic paint, and pinstriping for highlight.  Quite an impressive piece of hardware.  Also heavy and large, making it more challenging to display.  Everyone seems to enjoy seeing this car, even the Street Rodders.

The motivation for writing this blog post was driven by how the car performed at the recent Gathering of the Faithful event in Daytona Beach.  Since The Little Blue Coupe won the MGA class at the previous year's GOF, she moved to Premier Class to compete among the best cars from each class.  Among some truly beautiful and well-prepared cars, she placed first.

California Millie Rally

All British Car Show - Not Mead Gardens

April 6, 2019, Winter Springs, Florida

For the 35th consecutive year, the Central Florida British Car Club in Orlando organized this annual event.  It has always been referred to as the Mead Gardens because that was the location where it was held - a beautiful city park, filled with trees, in Winter Park, Florida.  Some in the leadership of the park did not see the British Cars in the park as a positive situation and ended the opportunity to use Mead Gardens.  So, a move was made from Winter Park to Winter Springs, two cities not far apart.  Winter Springs is more welcoming.  What name will be popularly attached to this car event once known as Mead Gardens?  Winter Springs or Central Winds Park or the official title of All British Car Show?  Whatever it is called, it is an enjoyable, well-run event.

MGs are always well represented at any All British show.  This photo has part of the MGTD group with an MGTF at the end of the line.

The MGA class was small this year.  Maybe the other cars were among the group that showed up to Mead Gardens only to find an empty field.  This field does represent the three versions of the MGA.  The first car is a Mark II which has a 1622 cc engine and low mounted Mini rear lights.  The second is a 1600, with a 1600 cc engine and a two element light to meet the US code for separate turn signals.  The third is the earliest version of the MGA, the 1500, with a 1500cc engine and single element tail lights.

The field of MGB roadsters were all well-prepared cars.

The hatchback class had both MGBGTs and MGCGTs grouped together.  The major difference is that the Bs are powered by an 1800cc 4-cylinder engine, the Cs by a 3000cc 6-cylinder.

The Jaguar XK120, XK140, and XK150 class had all Concours-quality cars.  Not just beautiful and well-prepared hobbyist cars, ones that were correct and immaculate down to every nut and bolt.

The finest of the fine were on either end of the line - a fixed-head coupe, and . . .

a drop-head coupe.

There was an even larger field of Jaguar XKEs, believed by many to be one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.  One time British Jaguar race car driver, David Hobbs, argues that the Yanks got the name of the car wrong in advertising.  It is properly titled Jaguar E-Type.

Ruby was there grouped with the British Modified class, a class for any British manufactured car that has been substantially modified from the form it emerged from the factory.

She was showing off one of her new features, an HCMSL (high center-mounted stop light) as required on all newer cars.  It was added as a safety item to give following drivers more warning when the car is stopping/slowing down to avoid rear-end collisions - not a good thing when your gas tank is mounted at the back of the car.  It is a period-appropriate light from a 1938 Harley Davidson, mounted in a camouflaged manner.  If you haven't before, note the original issue 1949 license plate.

With such a wide variety of cars, a brief glimpse of every make and model is impossible and an in-depth study will only be made on one car, the Austin 7.  This Nippy made an entrance onto the showfield with a full-sized black poodle as navigator.

The front license plate announces the year and common name of the sport model of the Austin 7.  It was an affordable car for the masses that had a lot of character and appeal.

The Nippy was a 2-seat roadster model making for a quick-handling sports car, sort of the Mazda Miata of its day.

The Austin Tourer could be classified as a 2-door sedan, albeit a tiny one.  This car was popularly known in England as the "Chummy."

The owner made a nice presentation of the car with a book of photos documenting the restoration and signs with descriptions of the car.

While the engine is tiny, it is more powerful than the rating.  In England, cars were taxed by the horsepower rating, which was mathematically calculated from a sum of the cylinder bores, rather than an actual measurement of the power output.  This led to English engines having very long strokes and small bores.

We will end with a quiz.  This is an engine in one of the cars in the show.  Describe the type of engine and the make of the car.