SABCC Movie Night - Fast Fun!

The first SABCC movie night was certainly a hit. Nearly 30 SABCC'ers came to the inaugural event at the Garagemahal Theatre.

The movie night was hosted by the always gracious Richard and Donna Cunningham at their home in Daphne. They worked very hard to transform their large garage building (the Garagemahal) into a not-too-shabby movie theatre.

When the movie goers arrived, they were met the by the aroma of freshly-popped popcorn, courtesy of the popcorn machine ably operated by our own popcornmeister Jack Ross. The screen area of the theatre was separated by eight foot tall black drapes that kept the movie theatre darkened from lighted concession area. Ice cold soft drinks, yummy candy and hot coffee were there for the enjoyment of the patrons.

Early arrivers were treated to a series of Little Rascals shorts prior to the start of the feature film. Everyone found the perfect place for their chairs and settled in for the showing of Grand Prix starring James Garner. The film was a long one - three hours - but time for an intermission midway through gave everyone a chance to refill popcorn bags and pick up another soft drink.

With the feature film ending around 10:00PM, the happy film fans packed their gear and headed home. Nearly everyone there asked about another movie night at some point in the future. Maybe the club can organize a short drive and a group dinner prior to the next one.

The club certainly thanks Richard and Donna for their hard work and generosity in hosting this fun event.

An MG That Never Was

Like all car builders, MG produced proposals for new or replacement models as part of their ongoing effort to stay competitive. In the early '70s, MG explored a number of potential replacements for the Midget. Sadly, none were ever approved for production by whatever corporate overlord there was at the time.

One my favorites was a mid-engine study done under the code ADO21. This razor-nosed coupe would have had a 1500cc, transversely mounted four cylinder E-series engine. Like the production Mini of the time, the car would have had interconnected Hydrolastic suspension.

You can read more about this car that never was at Austin Rover Online.

British Car Festival 2009

As you know by now, British Car Festival is October 24. This year's show theme is "Celebrating 50 Years of Mini". And here for the first time, the official artwork for the show is unveiled. Mark your calendars, download the entry form, polish your cars. We'll see you there!

Movie Night

This Saturday night is SABCC's first movie night. We'll be the guests of Richard and Donna Cunningham at their home in Daphne. The world-famous Garagemahal will be transformed into the Garagemahal Theatre. We're showing a 'racy' movie (the kind with numbered cars) and there will be popcorn, soft drinks and theatre candy. If you don't know the way to the site - get in touch.

Separated at Birth - - Part 2- The Backwards Cap

The new MINI Coupe Concept

A Hip Hop Star

An 'Ace Cafe' for Our Area?

I had the pleasure of meeting a young man at the MINI of Pensacola event who is from Fairhope and drives a modern MINI.

I was out in my classic Mini Sunday afternoon and on returning from Fairhope, I spotted a familiar Pepper White MINI in my rear view. Waving, I turned off scenic 98 onto a side road and - low and behold - it was the same young man and his wife from the Pensacola event. We chatted briefly and he noticed the Ace Cafe London sticker on the rear window of my car. He went on to say that his goal was to have a restaurant operation inspired by the Ace Cafe up and running in the Fairhope-Daphne area in the next 12-18 months.

He said the restaurant would be motorcycle/automotive themed and he planned to have various theme nights, ala Ace Cafe London. I told him to keep us in the know and that SABCC members would certainly be there in force and often.

I invited him to attend one of our meetings or events. He can share his plans with us then as he sees fit.

And a Great Time Was Had by All!

As mentioned in an earlier post, SABCC was invited to attend the Grand Opening of MINI of Pensacola this past Saturday. We caravaned over - a group of six British cars and several club members in 'civilian' models. SABCC'er Tom Schmitz came over from Lillian in his Mini Cooper 'S'.

The weather was threatening all day, but we stayed dry all the way to the dealership on Airport Road. When we got there, we were greeted by the sight of almost 60 modern MINIs parked near the showroom. We were warmly welcomed and asked to park our cars for a panoramic group photo which can be found here.

We signed the register and were given souvenir T-shirts and stickers that commemorated the day. We found several MINI owners from south Alabama and invited them to visit one of our meetings or activities. Sandy Sansing (who is the dealer principal) presented a check to club president Noel Eagleson to fulfill their British Car Festival 2009 sponsorship commitment. We found Mr. Sansing to be a pleasant and affable gentleman who shares our enthusiasm for classic British cars.

MINI of Pensacola laid on a fine cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs fresh from the grill. Afterwards, a special birthday cake to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mini was shared with the attendees.

Congratulations, MINI of Pensacola! A special thanks to the Panhandle MINIs group, Ms. Sheila Lohbeck of MINI of Pensacola and all the M-O-P personnel.

Photos courtesy of Ron Wolverton- SABCC & Chris Calohan - Panhandle MINIs