Jaguar Brown's Lane Plant

Most Jaguar enthusiasts know that the historic Jaguar Brown's Lane factory has fallen victim to the wrecking ball, with current production now dispersed to Solihull, Halewood and Castle Bromwich . The Jaguar-Daimler Heritage museum, however, is still on the Coventry site.

Our friends at Google Maps have included photos of the former assembly plant during it's destruction. I was poking around Brown's Lane (figuratively speaking) trying to see what was left at the time of the photo shoot and I spotted a rather gaudy XK8 in the parking lot. It is either one of the "Shaguars" used in the Austin Powers flick or a close approximation of it.


I'm all about the Union Jack, but that's a bit much- even for me.

Craigslist Cortina

You can find anything you want (I know, your mental stereos are already ahead of me here) on Craigslist it seems. Have you ever had a deep hankering for a Ford Cortina? Me neither, but they are interesting.

The seller of this car says his 1969 Cortina GT (!) has its original paint and interior. Being a vehicle of the 1960s, that's saying a lot.

This is a Mark II Cortina produced from 1966 through 1970. Ford cranked out over a million of them with engine choices (in the UK) from 1.2 to 1.6 liters displacement. They could be had in four door, two door and estate (that's a station wagon, pilgrim) versions. Brand new it listed in a US Ford dealer for $2,313.00. They were withdrawn from the US market in 1970.

You can buy this little jewel for $6,500.00 and it's located in Fairfax, Virginia. Let me know when you pick it up.

Tom's Knob

OK, MGB drivers, show me your Tom's Knob.

If you haven't heard of Tom's Knob you can be forgiven. Unless you've removed an engine or had water leak problems with the fresh air intake ahead of the windshield, you likely haven't seen it. If you have seen it, you may not know what it's called. Technically, it is a tube with a drain/dust valve or Moss Motors part number 363-170 (or number 56 in this reference drawing) but it has been known as Tom's Knob for nearly ever.

It's purpose is to allow drainage of water from the fresh air intake while preventing ingress of dirt, fumes and water thrown up from the road. It is found on the passenger side (in left-hand drive cars) in the transmission tunnel. You can see drain hole in the fresh air intake by looking down the fresh air box on the passenger side.

There's an excellent write up about MGB heater box drains here. Legend has it that the device was installed on the MGB and MGC (and GTs) bodies by a worker who's name was Tom. I can't tell you more than that, but I can tell you that Tom's Knob has a slightly, ah, phallic appearance.

Maybe all MGBs are male? Potty humor comments are welcome.

Photo Courtesy www.vord.net

Road Racing 24/7

I've recently found a way to indulge my passion for watching road racing. RaceFansTV is an online source for nearly any sort of racing that involves turning right as well as left.

It is easy to log on and watch competitive events in sports car, touring car, open wheel and motorcycling as well as several other forms racing. It's free to watch events as they are streamed online, but for $5.00 a month, you can get more flexibility in the viewing schedule. The images are certainly not TV screen-sized, but they are adequate for individual viewing on your computer monitor.

I enjoy watching the documentary channel where you can see interesting presentations from the recent past as well as subjects ranging back to the dawn of the sport.

I used to watch this sort of thing on the late, lamented Speedvision before it became the neutered, reality-TV plagued wasteland it is now in the form of SPEED TV .

A Smaller MINI

MINI has presented a trio of scooter concepts in London and later at the Paris Motor Show. The scooters are electric powered and are designed for high-style urban commuting in the larger cities of Europe. While these have been introduced as concepts, there is a better than even chance that the two wheelers will see production.

Automakers are facing more stringent corporate fuel economy standards around the world and many manufacturers are turning to gasoline-electric hybrids or pure electric vehicles to plump their numbers. BMW, MINI's corporate master, has long been rumored to revive the Isetta name - actually trademarking i-Setta - to place on a family of sub-MINI electric powered cars. An electric scooter would fit nicely in those plans.

Scooters are red-hot in most US markets, with a new generation discovering the joys motorcycling without actually riding a motorcycle. There's actually a group in Fairhope calling themselves Mods and Rockers in homage to the movement in 1950-1960 England.

I'm thinking that these scooters would be a major success here if they go into production.

SABCC 'Visits' Jamaica

The latest stop on the South Alabama British Car Club's Tour of the Empire took us to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Yep, reggae, dreadlocks and exotic dishes awaited the tour group there. You may recall that the tour is a series of dinner activities at restaurants serving the cuisine of the former British Empire. Prior to today's visit, the club enjoyed food from Hong Kong and India.

The club met at the popular Jamaican Vibes restaurant on highway 90 in Mobile and were greeted warmly by the owners of the establishment who made us feel at home by pushing every table in the restaurant together for us to occupy. In fact, the doors were locked and the OPEN sign was turned off. We had the place to ourselves without even asking.

Mona, our gracious hostess, took time to educate our group about what we should expect from Jamaican food and drink. She told us that most of the heat had been removed from the recipes but they would gladly add it in the form of hot jerk seasoning on the side if we wanted it. They had a wide array of fruit juice beverages, soft drinks, ginger beer and a delightful brewed beverage called sorrell. Mona took our drink orders and a surprising number of SABCC'ers chose the sorrell and (according to the aficionados in our group) some of the best cream soda that they've had in a while.

She then took our orders for food a few couples at a time and set her husband Noel (or 'Tips' to his friends) to filling the plates with generous portions of curry chicken, curry goat, jerk chicken, oxtails and sides such as rice and peas, cabbage and other delights. Some of the first timers to Jamaican food were a little taken aback by some of the dish names and perhaps by seeing goat on a dinner menu, too. Noel generously offered small 'tasters' to those who weren't quite sure what to order.

Once a choice was made, plates came out quickly and our group of 25 hungry British car enthusiasts enjoyed the slightly spicy, slightly sweet meat dishes. Samples of dishes were passed up and down the table to share choices made with neighbors; even the meat and vegetable 'patties' were shared.

I don't think anyone went away hungry or disappointed. In all, the 'visit' to Jamaica was very enjoyable. We were even invited to attend the celebration of the second anniversary of the restaurant's opening - an event set aside for Noel and Mona's family and close friends.

Yes, we all left as friends - and fans.

Out of Sight - Out of Mind

I was checking tire pressures on the McDonald fleet this afternoon, and decided I'd better have a look at the spare in the MGB. The car came into my life in 1997 and I haven't put but a few thousand miles on it in that time and I've never had to use the spare tire. You can imagine my shock when I noticed that the Michelin XZX tire carried a "Made in W Germany" label on it.

If memory serves, the two Germanys were reunited in 1990. That means that the big black doughnut in the boot was made prior to that. Consulting the Internet I found out that the tire date code system changed in 2001. So, decoding the manufacture date on my antique spare, I see that the code FTJ3A4MX237 translates to the 23rd week of 1987.

My spare tire is 23 years old. Ain't no amount of Armorall gonna help that one bit.

I now recall that I pulled this tire off one of the parts cars that my brother Alan and I bought when we were renovating our MGBs. I had four good tires on the ground but I had a crappy spare in the boot.

I guess nothing changed much has it?

The Demise of British Leyland in a Capsule

While trolling the Internet I ran across a rather interesting article about the smoking pile that British Leyland became in the 1980s. The site that hosts this article (uniquecarsandparts.au.com) is based in Australia and seems to be trying to be an "all things automotive" destination.

They have a ways to go, but some of the supporting historic articles are worth checking out.

Rostyle Wheels

Anyone associated with MGs knows about the iconic Rostyle wheel. They appeared on MGBs and Midgets up to the end of production. The Rostyle provided a "mag" wheel look at a low cost and were a great alternative to wire wheels. The Rostyle was a product of the Rubery Owen firm - a highly diversified company that specialized in original equipment car parts for British car manufacturers. The R O in rostyle is for, of course, Rubery Owen.

Rostyles appeared on many cars in addition to the MGs listed above. They could be found on Rovers, Range Rovers, some Rootes Group cars and British Fords, to name a few. The chrome plated version was more likely to be seen on the high end models, but were (and still are) available for purchase.

While wire wheels have their maintenance quirks, repainting a Rostyle has its own challenges. There are a number of masking kits available to make the job easier, but it takes patience and a steady hand.

My personal preference is the original painted Rostyle with a bright trim ring. The ring helps hide the road dirt, don't you know.

Another MG We Never Had in the US

Before MG-Rover went down the drain of bankruptcy, the company tried to move the MG marque upmarket with a number of performance models. American built Ford V8 engines found their way under the bonnets of the MG ZT sedan (saloon) and MG ZTT wagon (tourer) models. This was no small feat as the cars started out as the Rover 75 front wheel drive platform and the MG V8 models were rear wheel drive.

In 2001, MG-Rover purchased the Qvale Mangusta design from Qvale Motors. This Italian built car was powered by a Ford V8 and was already certified for sale in the US. The folks at MG-R thought it would accomplish their goals of going upmarket and returning to the USA in a limited manner. The designers at MG Rover were able to re-style the car and produce a running prototype in less than a year. The carbon fiber bodied car was targeted to sell at under £100,000 while providing performance of cars costing half again as much.

The new MG SV was unveiled to the motoring press in 2002 to almost universal praise. The introductory speeches by MG-Rover officials indicated that some models of the new car would be capable of cranking out 965 BHP - well over the base 326 BHP. In 2004, the even more powerful MG SV-R was introduced as a car that could be driven to a trackday event, compete and driven home again, not unlike the Ferrari 250 GTO of some 40 years before.

In all only 82 (or 86, depending on your sources) cars were constructed out of a planned production run of around 500. Word of poor build quality and unreliability kept the well heeled buyers away that MG-Rover needed to make the car a success. Porsche money for a car that needs to kept on a battery tender when not driven?



The plug was pulled in 2005 with the last cars finding owners as late as 2008. While the car didn't meet the goals set for it, it is a study in what might have been.

MINI Back in Rally Competiton

If you've been around British cars any time at all, you've probably seen images of Minis competing in in classic rally events such as the Rally Monte Carlo with such luminaries as Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Makinen behind the wheel. The Minis won the Rally Monte Carlo three times in the 1960s (it would have been 4 barring some subterfuge by the mostly French officials) earning themselves a place in motoring history.

Today's' World Rally Championship tour is contested by various Peugeots, European Fords and Skodas on courses throughout the world. MINI has not been a competitor in the modern era - until now.

Prodrive - a UK based tuning and competition group has been contracted to turn MINI's new Countryman four door off-roader into a World Rally contender. This four wheel drive model will be hitting US showrooms late this year.

Here's a video shot during testing of the MINI WRC car in Portugal.



Don't tell anyone, but the new Countryman is built in Austria...

NEW PRODUCTS JUST IN FROM USA!!!

Just received a shipment of products direct from Dr. G of Optimum Polymer Technologies.

ONR- Optimum No Rinse
32 oz.

1 gal.

OCW- Optimum Car Wax
17 oz.

1 gal.

OOS- Optimum Opti-Seal
8 oz.

OPC- Optimum Power Clean
17 oz.

1 gal.

OID- Optimum Instant Detailer
17 oz.

32 oz. concentrate.

OPP- Optimum Protectant Plus
17 oz.

OHP- Optimum Hyper Polish
18 oz.

OHC- Optimum Hyper Compound
18 oz.

Call KC (016-2209227) or Jack (016-6603217) for pricing or to order the products.