For those traveling in for British Car Festival in a few short weeks, here's a list of motels in the Fairhope area that you might want check out for accommodations: Barons Inn on the Bay - A favorite of car show attendees for years. Locally owned and near the show site.
Key West Inn - A pleasant place on Highway 98 (the 'four lane') near several chain eateries.
Holiday Inn Express - Another place on the four lane. Their web site claims they are near Point Clear. They ain't.
Hampton Inn - The newest place in Fairhope. Downtown near the site and it has a covered parking garage.
The official tally of all cars traded in on the Cash for Clunkers program has been published by our Unca Sam. Jaguar lovers, you might want to look away.
According to the numbers, 70 Jaguar XJS - and XJS variants - were scrapped. Clunked. Crushed. If you've got one of these beasts, now would be a good time to give it a hug.
While returning from a business trip to Florence, Alabama I was startled to see a sign in front of a building that said "We Buy Old Race Cars and Kit Cars". I noticed that there were several European vehicles out front along with a number of kit cars from the 1960s and '70s. A quick U-turn and I was outside the former church building - complete with steeple.
The gentleman inside greeted me warily as if he had all manner of crackpots stopping for a visit- I was probably one more in a long line. He warmed up when I mentioned my interest in old British cars and he offered to show me around his Aladdin's cave of old cars. The first stop was five (count 'em, five) 500 series Lotus Elites in various stages of neglect. Never my favorite (but then my taste has been questioned before) of the Lotus family, he said that these cars were purchased for a pittance and were destined to be sold off for parts - unless a brave soul wanted to buy a couple for restoration. Nearby, was an early Lotus Europa complete with extra-tiny rear window and Renault power. He said - almost apologetically - that the Europa was destined to have a Ford V8 transplant. The proprietor also showed me a couple of 50s-era Woodill Wildfire and Glasspar kit cars awaiting restoration. There were several tube frame mid engine racers from the late 60s in various states of disassembly as well.
Inside the building were several partially restored kit cars with some destined for export to Europe. In the back of the shop sat an MG TD that had received a Ford V8 engine in the 1960s. It was being restored as it was then - not back to the original Abingdon specification. The workmanship appeared to be first rate. Back outside I was shown a Volvo PV544 that raced at Sebring in 1964. It was beautifully preserved and was being readied for the historic racing circuit.
I bid my host farewell and continued on home having spent about an hour in a pretty cool place.
This year, we planned to 'visit' several former members of the British Empire by dining at local restaurants that serve cuisine from those nations. Our first was 'Hong Kong' and this evening SABCC'ers turned out in force for the India stop of the Empire tour.
Most of the gang had never tried Indian food before and some of the dish names were a bit confusing. Most of the diners made team decisions on what to order. Several club members ordered tandoori dishes and were pleased with the results. The naan bread was universally liked as well.
While the food was delicious, the service left something to be desired. Apparently the kitchen was a bit understaffed and the orders came out at the rate of two at a time. It took about an hour for the group to be completely served. We spent the time visiting, sharing tastes of each others dishes and giggling at the Bollywood song and dance numbers showing on the television.
Since the songs were not in English, several of us made up English lyrics for them. We figured that the songs might be old Broadway show tunes that were being recycled. At least this one wasn't on the playlist.
The 25 or so members who attended had a great time and most said that they were looking forward to the next stop on the Tour of the Empire.
The UK was home to dozens of auto manufacturers dating back to the earliest days of the motor car. Sadly, most of the marques we know and love no longer exist, or if they do, are owned by foreign entities.
One aspect that many of these manufacturers had in common was the affinity to use wings somewhere in the corporate logo. In some badges the wings are highly stylized while in others they were more true to nature. Here, in no particular order, is a brief look at a few winged badges.
Morgan uses wings on either side of a road wheel. This 'last British-owned car maker' celebrates its centennial this year, still producing cars with timber framed bodies.
Aston Martin also has a stylized winged badge with the artwork looking rather ancient Egyptian-derived. For a number of years, the name David Brown appeared above the Aston Martin name.
The Bentley approach to a winged badge is more simple with a 'B' in a winged oval. Bentley changed background color of the logo to reflect how powerful the particular model was.
MINI adopted a winged badge for the BMW-era cars. The current one is a simple black circle with the MINI name spelled out. Previous generation Minis had a green circular badge with longer wings.
Austin, that one-time powerhouse of British auto production, used a rather bizarre winged badge consisting of a road wheel connected to a steering wheel. This badge was applied to the earliest cars.
For a time, Jaguar even adopted a winged badge with the Jaguar name spelled out over not only a pair of wings, but tailfeathers, too.
I can't leave out Austin-Healey. The big Healeys sported a winged badge with the Austin-Healey name spelled out in script with the model name below that. Sprites made do with a round coat of arms badge.
Several motorcycle manufacturers also adopted winged badges - BSA and Royal Enfield coming to mind.
Do you know of any others? Drop me a line. Images via nzclassiccar.com
Team Lotus is planning a return to Formula 1 in 2010.
According to this article by the BBC, Team Lotus will be initially based in Norfolk, UK but will eventually move its operations to Malaysia. For those who don't remember, Lotus is owned by Proton - a Malaysian automaker.
You may remember the photo of the new MINI Coupe that I used in the Separated at Birth Part 2 piece. That car will officially be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week along with a 'Speedster' sibling. The Speedster will be a drop-top version of the coupe, complete with faired in headrests. As of now, we don't know if it will be a fabric or metal top.
In the meantime, MINI has produced a few teaser videos to generate some pre-show buzz. This one, straight from the Department of WTF, attempts to portray the, ah, differences between the Coupe and Speedster.
Long time readers of this humble blog may remember the tale of the Katrina-ravaged 1969 Jaguar E-Type. To recap the story, Richard Cunningham and I bought a complete E-Type coupe and had it delivered to his garage and workshop in Daphne. We set to dismantling it and selling parts both on Ebay and by word of mouth.
In the last year and a half, Richard and I have almost completely disassembled the old cat and have sent parts all over the world. To date we've shipped parts to England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Canada and Australia. Items as innocuous as bolts were sold to help someone restore their car to a high standard.
We still have a lot of choice items left to move - the bonnet, front suspension, glass and minor interior trim items - and we expect to stay busy for the foreseeable future.
If you know of anyone looking for a deal on used E-Type parts, send them our way!
Ladies and gentlemen, the second wave of infuriating 'lovebugs' are here. I noticed that my wife's MINI had a generous covering of the dead lovers on its' nose when she got home Friday evening.
These wretched insects leave paint scarred with their acidic guts if they are allowed to dry. Take the time to wash them off as quickly as possible. The gory details about this curse of the South are here.
Some of you know that I enjoy a Scotch whisky once in a while. My preference runs toward fine single malts, but I rarely have the budget to cover the desire.
One of the best known Scotches in the world is Johnnie Walker. This blended Scotch whisky has a fascinating story story told in a six minute commercial starring actor Robert Carlyle. I don't know how many takes were required to nail the commercial, but his timing is perfect. Take a break and watch it.
One of Johnnie Walker's descendants, Rob Walker, played an important role in Formula 1 racing in the early '60s through the '70s. Rob Walker was a privateer team owner when it was still possible to do such a thing. Rob would purchase whatever car seemed to have a good chance at being competitive and then recruit the talent to drive them. Some of Rob's drivers included Sterling Moss and Graham Hill and he entered Coopers and Lotuses painted in the (unofficial) Scottish racing colors of blue and white. Rob was also a correspondent for Road & Track magazine - I devoured his dispatches about Formula 1 racing.
So, enjoy the video and if you are so inclined, raise a glass of amber liquid.
Saturday, September 12 is the Fall edition of Mugs & Motors. We'll meet at the French Market Cafe at 8:00AM for Coffee and Conversation for Motoring Enthusiasts. I hear the beignets are pretty awesome! Be sure to drive something British. The French Market Cafe is located at 2056 Government Street in the Loop area.
Saturday, September 26 is the latest installment of the Tour of the Empire. We'll be visiting India - actually we'll meet for dinner at the Delhi Palace restaurant at 7:00PM. If you're new to Indian cuisine, be sure to sit near one of our members from the UK. I understand that Indian restaurants are as common there as Chinese restaurants are here. They will be glad to help you choose from vindaloos, kormas and curries. The meat dishes are delightful, but it is amazing what a good Indian chef can do with simple vegetables. The Delhi Palace is located at 3674 Airport Boulevard in Mobile.
