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.
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| The Little Blue Coupe on the Track - Sunny Hester Photo |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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/
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| 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/
