2011 British Car Festival is Just Four Months Away

Fairhope, Alabama is the place to be on October 22. The 21st Annual British Car Festival is going to debut at its new site - on the South Lawn of Faulkner State Community College in beautiful downtown Fairhope.

In the meantime, here's an image of a poster of the event -  come the next SABCC meeting on July 25th to pick up a few.

SABCC Wine Tasting - Saturday, June 25th

Vino e Birra - Daphne, AL

Join your friends from the South Alabama British Car Club at the club wine tasting on Saturday, June 25th at Vino e Birra at 790 Daphne Avenue in Old Town Daphne.

We’ll meet at the wine shop at 7:00PM for a blind tasting of 6 fine wines.  We’ll have a brief educational session that will explain the differences and characteristics of some of the well-known varieties followed by a ‘blind’ tasting where we will use our new found knowledge to identify the wines.

There is a fee of $12.00 per person payable at the event to cover the cost of the wines provided. The club will have some cheeses and crackers on hand to enhance the wine tasting and help cleanse the pallet between tastings.

The wines to be sampled will be available for purchase if you happen to find one you really enjoy.  The proprietors are looking forward to our event and have promised us a fine experience. 

I  hope to see you there!

Mugs & Motors and Lucas Smoke

Mark May 21 on your calendars for the next installment of SABCC's Mugs & Motors - Coffee and Conversation for Motoring Enthusiasts.

We will meet at the Spanish Fort location of Panera Bread at 8:00AM to enjoy coffee, baked treats and the company of good friends. Afterwards, we'll caravan to beautiful Silverhill, Alabama and visit Darby Classic Restoration where Mike Darby will give us lessons in basic automotive electrical systems. We all know that it is paramount to keep the original factory Lucas smoke safely inside the wiring and Mike will show us how to do just that.

See you there!

British Car Festival 2011 Theme Artwork

I am pleased to unveil the the theme artwork for this year's British Car Festival. The event will honor the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Jaguar E-Type. This artwork will grace the dash plaques, banners and perhaps a few more goodies. 

See you at British Car Festival in October!

MINI of Pensacola to Sponsor British Car Festival Again

The nice folks at MINI of Pensacola have signed on as title sponsors of British Car Festival again this year. MINI of Pensacola, one of the dealerships in the Sandy Sansing organization, has supported our event since they opened the dealership in 2009. Their generosity helps us put on a great show as well as allow us to make a donation to a local charity.

Thank you MINI of Pensacola!

Experts in the Care and Feeding of Your British Car

The South Alabama British Car Club is very fortunate to have two experts to help us look after our British cars. I am very pleased  to consider both of these gentlemen my friends.

Jean-Pierre Fontana

Jean-Pierre Fontana is a long time resident of Mobile where he is considered one of the most knowledgeable people in local automotive circles. Pierre works with classic cars of all types, European or American, classic, vintage or veteran Pierre has the ability to bring them back to rude health.

I've known Pierre since the mid 1970's when he got my brother out of a couple of mechanical jams with his '71 MGB (like the time he ran the diff dry and it locked up- but I didn't tell you that). In that time Pierre has been an indispensable source of information and advice for my MGB as well. Pierre writes a monthly column for the South Alabama British Car Club's NEWSLETTER. You can check out some his wit and wisdom here.

Mike Darby

The other expert is Mike Darby, the proprietor of Darby Classic Restoration in Silverhill, Alabama. Mike is known nationwide for his meticulous restorations of classic British cars. I am a frequent visitor to Mike's shop and I am constantly amazed at the variety of vehicles there in various stages of renovation.  Mike provides comprehensive services for British cars primarily, but he is also expert in other imported marques as well.

Since Mike's shop is close to my home, I almost always bring my cars there for help when I run out of mechanical talent (and it doesn't take me long to do that). He is incredibly patient and takes his time to actually explain the details of the malady as well as how an owner can prevent a re-occurrence of the of the problem. Mike is also a columnist for the SABCC NEWSLETTER and you can read his columns here.

Owning and driving a classic British car would be much more difficult without the help of these two great resources.

SABCC YouTube Channel: "It's Alive!"

As if we didn't have enough ways to reach out and bore the living crap out of entertain you, the South Alabama British Car Club now has its own YouTube channel where we plan to post videos of club events. The first video, shot by video guru Richard Cunningham, covers our February Mugs & Motors event where we visited the Continental Collection. 

Stay tuned for more updates as they develop.

It's Official: British Car Festival Has a New Venue

You may recall from an earlier post that SABCC was in a bit of a quandary as to where British Car Festival 2011 would be held. You see, the club received a letter from the City of Fairhope that all events conducted at Fairhope Beach Park would be subject to a raft of hefty fees. Fees so great as to imperil the event entirely. We had to find a new location.

The SABCC executive board considered several proposals - some of which would have taken event out of Fairhope - but in the end, a lovely spot was selected and arrangements were made. 

The Show Site - Courtesy Google Maps

BCF 2011 will be on the South Lawn of  Faulkner State Community College in downtown Fairhope. The chancellor of the institution was very enthusiastic in his welcome of the event. He sees it as an opportunity to expose Faulkner State to a wider audience and bring people to the Fairhope campus. If you've attended a Friday night welcome party, you've been on the campus of the community college. Dahlgren Hall is the quaint one-room schoolhouse that was part of the original Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education. 

The actual show field is due south of that building and is bordered by South School Street, South Bancroft Street and Morphy Avenue. The open field is level and surrounded by trees of all sizes. There's lots of parking around the site, and best of all, it is only a block away from the shops, galleries and dining for which downtown Fairhope is so well known.


View Larger Map

The club membership is excited about this change, both from a standpoint of budget constraints and that we will be able to continue to make a charitable donation from a portion of the days proceeds.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Mugs & Motors - Official Mug

Mugs and Motors has become a favorite activity for SABCC. We enjoy gathering at a local coffee shop to exchange stories, catch up on each other's news and spend time in the company of those similarly afflicted. In short, coffee and conversation for motoring enthusiasts.

The club now has an official mug for you to enjoy your morning jolt of caffeine while you show off your loyalties. It's a big 13 ounce ceramic thing of beauty and it is guaranteed to make your coffee taste better. Check it out in the SABCC Swag shop.

I hope to see you at Mugs & Motors on February 19th!  

Pub Quiz - Without the Pub

"Diabolical... impossible... who did this?" And those are the comments that I can use. What elicited this string of commentary? A pub quiz at SABCC's general club meeting.

Since the first one was received so well, Quizmaster Mike Darby will have another one ready for the January 25th meeting (which starts at 7:00PM instead of 7:30 - make note!). 

Should be loads of fun! *heh, heh*

The Dark Side

The club has had official logo merchandise available for purchase for a couple of years now. We've even got a site up for special limited edition SABCC 20th anniversary goods, too. What's been missing from the offering, however, is dark colored goods with the logo. 

Well, we've got it now. If you've held off ordering a white tee shirt for fear that your grease-covered habits will show up on it, fear no more. The club has tees in long and short sleeve for men and women and a nice selection of sweatshirts, too. Check out the site and show your club colors - in color.

Saturday, November 20th SABCC Activity

Wait! Don’t put that car away for the Winter just yet. South Alabama British Car Club has a full day of fun stuff to do with your SABCC friends and your car on Saturday, November 20th.

We’re meeting at Serda’s Coffee Company at 8:00AM for more “Coffee and Conversation for Motoring Enthusiasts”. Mugs & Motors has been one of the more popular events on the SABCC calendar so we’ll end the activities year with one more. Serda’s is at 3 South Royal Street in downtown Mobile near the Riverview Plaza Hotel. They open 8:00AM, so we’ll be first in line to grab a cup of joe and something sweet from the pastry counter.

Bring some pocket change to feed the parking meters! Several in-the-know members have reminded me that street parking is free on on the weekends.

After we enjoy our Mugs & Motors session at Serda’s we’ll move south along Royal Street to visit the delightful Museum of Mobile at 111 South Royal. The museum is housed in the Old Southern Market/ Mobile City Hall Building– one of Mobile’s oldest standing structures. We may move our cars to the parking lot near Fort Conde; it depends on the group attending.

Admission to the Museum is $5.00 ($4.00 if you admit to being a senior citizen). Robb Ogletree has graciously arranged a special SABCC museum admission deal: only three bucks! 

When we finish our visit to the Museum of Mobile, we’ll caravan through Bankhead Tunnel and onto the Causeway to stop in at the amazing new 5 Rivers Delta Center in Spanish Fort. The center includes extensive piers, river views, natural history exhibits and a gift shop.  There’s a gigantic gator on display along with other delta wildlife and interpretive artwork.

Admission is free.

We’ll gather the caravan once again for a short ride to Stockton, Alabama for lunch at  the ever-popular Stage Coach Restaurant. The Stage Coach buffet has to be seen to be believed—there’s a fine selection of seafood, chicken, vegetables and other down-home dishes with excellent service by the attentive staff. 

I hope to see you there!

South Alabama British Car Club 20th Anniversary Goodies

You may have noticed by reading this blog that the South Alabama British Car Club is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of it's founding. The high point of this anniversary year is British Car Festival - one of the longest running all British car events on the Gulf Coast.

The club has set up a shop where you can order all manner of T-shirts, caps, mugs and other goodies to commemorate this milestone. Also, don't forget to register your entry for British Car Festival 2010!

Tour of the Empire - Jamaica

The Tour of the Empire series of evening dinner gatherings has been an enjoyable experience for the members of SABCC. To date we've 'visited' Hong Kong and India. Our next stop on the tour is Jamaica.

The flavors of this laid back Caribbean island are like nothing you've experienced if you are new to Jamaican cuisine. A combination of sweet and savory with a little heat thrown in for good measure form the basis of most Jamaican dishes. Jerk chicken is probably the best known dish, but you can also enjoy other delights such as curried goat, oxtail stew and eskovitch.

We'll meet at the Jamaica Vibes restaurant at 3700 Government Boulevard at 7:00PM Saturday, September 18th for the latest leg of the tour.

Mark your calendars!

British Car Festival 2010 - The 20th BCF!

South Alabama British Car Club will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the club and it will be the 20th British Car Festival. I'm putting up a photo of the official art work for this year's event. It will be on dash plaques, tee shirts, banners at the event and a couple of very special goodies that only BCF2010 entrants will receive.

We're featuring the MG TC since that was the car that kicked off the sports car craze in the USA. We're hoping for nice turnout of MG T series cars (I'm looking at you Mardi Gras Ts!) since they are always a crowd pleaser.

British Car Festival is October 23, 2010 at Fairhope Beach Park. Check out the SABCC web site for the latest information.

SABCC Movie Night!

The first SABCC movie night was a big hit with the members of the club. In fact we had great turnout from both the Panhandle British Car Association and the Mardi Gras MGs, too.

The next event is scheduled for Saturday August 28th at the soon-to-be world famous Garagemahal Theater & Oil Change Emporium. We'll kick off the main feature at 7:30PM but I'm sure we'll have a couple of short subjects a little earlier. Be sure to bring a comfy chair.

Stay tuned for the feature title announcement.

Oh, throwing popcorn at the screen (or the projectionist) is discouraged.

SABCC Family Picnic in Silverhill Again

SABCC selected the Oscar Johnson Memorial Park in Silverhill to be the site for the annual family picnic last year. Everyone enjoyed the spacious pavilion and rural location. At our last club meeting it was decided by a show of hands that the members would like to return for this year's event. I am pleased to let everyone know that the nice people at Silverhill's city hall put our name on the calendar for the June 12 event.

Don't forget that this is the meeting where we select the charity to receive a donation from the proceeds of British Car Festival.

As usual, the club will provide the hamburgers and hot dogs and we ask that you bring a dish to share with everyone.

See you there!

MINI of Pensacola is on Board with British Car Festival 2010

I spoke to Sheila Lohbeck, Marketing Director for the Sandy Sansing dealer organization in Pensacola at Brits on the Bay. She confirmed that MINI of Pensacola would once again be British Car Festival's title sponsor.

I know I speak for the whole SABCC organization when I say that we are thrilled to have them back with us again!

SABCC Grill Badges are In!

OK, SABCC'ers - you asked for them and we delivered. The second batch of 25 grill badges are in Alabama. We'll have them at the next club meeting, yours for $20.00 each. Show your pride and buy your ride a shiny new grill badge.

Happy Christmas to All!

Let me extend my sincerest Christmas wishes to all SABCC'ers and British car enthusiasts who look in on these humble scribblings. May this be the best holiday season ever for you and yours!



Image courtesy of mgcars.org.uk