April, 2016

Elliot Gr over’s 1948 TC

Next MeetingsApril 4, 7:00 pm at Moe Joe’s Family Restaurant

2175 Candia Road, Manchester, NH 03104April 21, 7:00 pm at the Common Man in Plymouth, NH

2continued on page 15

Elliot Gr over’s MG TC

My passion for MGs began a long, longtime ago, perhaps in a previous life. Inreality, it was in 1950. I had been toDurham on a jaunt in my Crosley andwas returning to Raleigh when I saw thiswonderful automobile coming towardsme. I had seen pictures in a magazine,but this was a real MG. I quickly made aU-turn and followed. The driver of theMG stopped in front of a shop and gotout. I did the same. He was a GI whohad brought his TC back from England.I fell in love with the beautiful lines andeverything else about it.

After two or three years of talking in-cessantly about MGs, my father agreedthat we should go to Boston and look atMGs at the dealer there. He had othermotives, as he was a graduate of MITand thought I should follow in his foot-steps. However, there was not to be anMG in my life as a teen driver nor wasthere to be an MIT degree with my nameon it.

As everyone knows, life gets in the way,college, marriage, jobs, kids, houses, etc.An MG in my life was not to be until1999 when Marty, who shares the samepassion for MGs, found her TD 27565at the Antique Car & Boat Show inWolfeboro.

In the papers that came with her TD wasinformation about a parts supplier inWalpole, New Hampshire and an articlethat appeared in the Keene Sentinel

Magazine in 1990 about a car museumin Westminster, Vermont. So, on one ofour many trips to Walpole to find partsfor the TD, I asked Jerry Goguen if wecould go across the river and see his cars,which we did. Jerry had many beautifulMGs, but I had eyes only for a red TC.I sat in it. I bought it. My life was changedforever!

The MG TC 7153, a home market TCbuilt 18 November 1948 and registeredin England as Fay 475, was now mine.The Registration Particulars state that Fay475 was a private red tourer 2-seatersports MG powered by petrol andequipped with XPAG engine 8005 witha rating of 1250cc. That engine remains

in the car today, although with subse-quent modifications the displacement andcompression ratio have been increasedslightly.

The early owners are unknown to me. Itwas first registered on 20 December1948. It was registered to William JohnFord in 1966 and to Michael JohnHoward in 1967. In 1968 it was sold toGary Schonwald of Scotch Plains, NewJersey. He and his bride, while on theirhoneymoon in England, bought the TC,drove it around England, and thenbrought it to the States. He sold it to JerryGoguen in 1972.

Unfortunately, when I bought TC 7153,it barely ran and didn’t want to stop, soit was trailered to its new home inMoultonborough. All of you who havesorted out your cars know the routine.In the beginning, I was still involved in

3

BCNHMONARCHY

PRIME MINISTERRobert Mitchell

CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

John Giese

NEWSLETTERChuck & Diane Connors

Owen & Virginia Christiansen

REGALIAJoan Young

SECRETARYNorma Karle

WEBMASTERKate Stanley Robinson

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORLouis Belanger

TECH SESSION COORDINATOR(open)

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR(open)

PUBLIC RELA TIONS(open)

INTER-CLUB COORDINA TORBob Dougherty

CALENDAR COORDINA TORSue MacDuff

SHOW OF DREAMS DIRECTORBob Stanley

HISTORIANMike Sweet

NORTHERN COUNCILMINISTER

Karl Braconier

NORTHERN COUNCILSECRETARYKillie Braconie

www.bcnh.orgContact information on page 4

AC – ALLARD – ALPINE – TVR – DAIMLER – MORRIS MOTORCYCLES – TRIUMPH – MG - JAGUAR – AUSTIN HEALEY

LAND ROVER – RELIANT SCIMITAR – LOTUS

BRITISH CARS OF NEW HAMPSHIREMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Visit us at www.bcnh.org

If possible, please submit a photo and article of your car to be included inThe Boot, Hood & Bonnet - BCNH’s monthly newsletter.

Any photos submitted will be returned.

Name_______________________________ Spouse______________________

Address__________________________________________________________

City____________________ State____ Zip________ Phone_______________

E-mail address____________________________________________________

Year, Make, Model of Your Auto(s)___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Name of Referring Member_________________________________________

___ Paper Newsletter* or ___ electronic copy of the Newsletter

Please send application and $30 annual dues (payable to BCNH) to:Lou Belanger, 11 Forest Lane, Litchfield, NH 03052

*Dues for those who want a paper newsletter are $35.

British Cars of New Hampshire (BCNH) is an organization devoted to the preser-vation, restoration and enjoyment of all British automobiles.

BCNH provides to its members and their families British auto-oriented activitiesand social events throughout the year. Benefits of the club participation includemonthly meetings, rallies, tech sessions, club socials, car shows and other events.

The club publishes a monthly newsletter, The Boot, Hood & Bonnet. News ofupcoming events, club activities, car show results, technical tips and articles sub-mitted by members are included in the newsletter. Members also receive a dis-count on a subscription to the British Mar que, a monthly car club newspaper.

A club logo window decal is provided. Additional decals may be purchased.Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at Moe Joes restaurant andthe third Thursday of the month at the common man in Plymouth unless otherwiseannounced. All members are encouraged to attend and bring guests.

BCNH invites you to become a member of our active and growing club by submit-ting the application above.

4

Prime Minister ’sMissive

Louis Belanger 11 Forest Lane, Litchfield, NH 03052 (603) 424-7835 80mgbman@comcast.netKarl Braconier 295 N. Mayhew Tpk. Hebron, NH 03241 (603) 744-8444 bractek@gmail.comChuck Connors 8 Mont Vernon Drive, Londonderry, NH 03053 (603) 401-0101 canddconnors@comcast.netWade dos Santos PO Box 840, Manchester, NH 03105 (603) 361-2653 wademds@gmail.comBob Dougherty 28 Ledgewood Drive, Strafford, NH 03884 (603) 948-2078 Rdocmg@gmail.comJohn Giese 153 Crooked S Road, Lyndeborough, NH 03082 (603) 654-2565 johgie@tds.netNorma Karle 51 Durgin Road, Chichester, NH 03258 (603) 437-8931 karle01@comcast.netSue MacDuff 510 Sand Hill Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-1066 Lucymac1@comcast.netRobert Mitchell PO Box 270, Stratham, NH 03885 (603) 772-1116 RBMit-MM@comcast.netBob Stanley 64 North Shore Drive, Center Barnstead, NH 03225(603) 776-6698 bobstan1950@gmail.comMike Sweet 3 Cross Street, Laconia, NH 03246 (603) 527-8563 CoventryCat71@comcast.netJoan Young 204 Concord Hill Road, Pittsfield, NH 02363 (603) 435-8660 TWYJGY@aol.com

Contact information

Once again, as Prime Minister of yourClub I am overwhelmed by what a vi-brant group we have become.

Here we are, in the “off season” whenour cars are all still tucked away wait-ing for a Spring which seems to be herebut the weatherman warns us may notyet be. And yet, 92 Members attendedour 25th Club Birthday Party at theGraponne Center in Concord; 50 Mem-bers attended the Regular March Meet-ing (now held at Moe Joe’s on the eastside of Manchester) and 19 Membersattended our St. Patrick’s Day Party at“the Lakes Region & North Council”held on March 17 at the Common ManRestaurant in Plymouth.

What’s more, in the fourth month of theCoffee & Cars at Historic MotorSports, we had 170 people passthrough in the 3 hours that the doorswere open. Not all of them wereBCNH members – but a lot were, andI think we may have gained some newones.

If we get this kind of turnout in the “offseason” we certainly have reason toexpect a great new year for BCNHMembers in 2016.

Note that I did not say it would be agreat year for The Club – I said it would

be a great year for The Members.

I have often said that the primary pur-pose of our Meetings is to meet. Thatis also the primary purpose for having aClub at all. We are a very social cluband all of our activities are focused ongiving Members as many opportunitiesas possible to spend time with others thatshare our common interests.

As a demonstration of just how impor-tant that “sharing” is, almost half of the19 members that attended the Meetingin Plymouth were those that already at-tend the Manchester meeting regularly.They were in Plymouth for two primaryreasons. 1) because they wanted toget to know these Members that wehave not often seen in Manchester(because it’s too far away for them) and2) because they wanted to be sure thatthose Members (some of whom haveactually been in BCNH for years) genu-inely feel that they are part of “theClub” and not some “splinter group.”

Being St. Patrick’s Day, we had greatfun with an Irish Trivia Contest whereRod Folia & Norma Karle and Bob &Kim Dougherty tied in being the mostknowledgeable on all things Irish (at leastall obscure things Irish.) The attendanceat this Meeting was about twice as manypeople as the original group that MikeSweet pulled together to start BCNH 25years ago. It doesn’t get much betterthan that!

But it Might!! We are now finalizing ar-rangements to merge the activities of theNew England MG Car Club(NEMGCC) with those of BCNH.Hopefully, many, if not all, of the currentNEMGCC membership will be able toshare the comradery of the mergedClubs. We also hope that this will allowus to accelerate our plans to establish aSeacoast Council along lines similar tothe Lakes Region & North Council.

Our first opportunity to meet with theMembers of the NEMGCC will be attheir annual “Blessing of the Fleet”which occurs at the Notre Dame Spiri-tual Center in Alfr ed, Maine. Thisyear that event will be held on Sunday,May 1. They gather at the Oak Str eetBistro in Alfr ed for a Social Hour(does that sound familiar) at 10:00am;then brunch at 11:00am; and then a shortrun over to Notre Dame for the Blessingat Noon. All BCNH Members areinvited to join in this season kick-offevent.

At this point, I want to give one morehuge shout-out to Karl and KellieBraconier at the Lakes Region andNorth Council. If it wasn’t for them, theLakes Regional Council would still be“an idea” and not a real group. It willtake another core team of two or threepeople to allow the Seacoast region tohave a similar success. If you have in-terest in a Seacoast Council, please con-tact me.

5

Upcomming Events

Treasurer’s Report

January 15 to March 15Club account

Start Balance $4,317.12Membership $480.00Birthday Party Deposit $ 80.79Food Bank donations $160.00Newsletter -$250.85Food Bank -$160.00End Balance $5,487.06

Show of Dreams accountStart Balance $4,461.42Porta-potty raffle $190.00Sponsor $100.00Registration $120.00Regalia Sales $15.00Vendor Registration $75.00Club Trailer -$2,100.00End Balance $2,766.42

So Saith the Prime Minister

But in the meantime, we are not stand-ing still. I encourage you to take a lookat the Club website at www.bcnh.org.Click on Events just under the bannerand the Events Calendar should pop up.You will see that Sue MacDuff has beenhard at work entering the activities thatour Club Members (and other club’sclub members) have already planned forthis season.

When you get to any month’s “page” inthe calendar, you will see dates wherean entry is shown. Click on the entryitself and more detail will pop up. If it isa listing from another club (or the LarzAnderson or Owl’s Head Museums)there may be a link on the event pop-upthat will take you to more detail suppliedby the organization actually staging theevent.

We all owe Sue a great deal of appre-ciation for the time she has put into this!!You will see that there are already ALOT of events on the calendar –more than any of us can possibly at-tend – and some that you may nothave an interest in attending. Ourgoal is to be sure that there will beat least some opportunities to attendactivities that are of interest to you.

Three of the events scheduled are newoutings put together by Jerry Griffin.A big thank you to Jerry for putting thesetogether.

At each month’s regular meeting wewill talk up each of the next month’sevents. We do this so you can hearmore about those events from othermembers that have actually been tothem before. But if you can’t make ameeting, and you find an event of inter-est, feel free to call other members tosee if they are interested too.

Keep in mind that “the Club” doesn’torganize these events. It is Club Mem-bers that come up with the ideas anddo the work to make them happen. Ifyou have an idea that you think your

fellow members may enjoy, please goahead and plan it, and we’ll add it tothe calendar.

We hope to see YOU as much a pos-sible this Season. The Cars are just “avehicle” to bring us together.

Our monthly meetings will be inManchester at Moe Joe’s on MondayApril 4th and our Northern Council willmeet at The Common Man in Plymouthon Thursday the 21st. Cars and Coffeewill be at Historic Motor Sports inCandia on Saturday the 16th from 8-11with a Show of Dreams Meeting afterstarting at 11. Coffee and Cars has beena very well attended event rain, shine andeven snow! By this time, some of us willhave our little cars on the road so comeand show them off!

Manchester MeetingMinutes

The meeting was called to order while Iwas eating my dinner and making myselfa nuisance to other members, so I haveno clue what time it was. Giving PrimeMinister Bob the benefit of the doubt Iwill say he called the meeting to order atjust the right time. No one was drunkand rowdy, but we could have beenrowdy. But, I digress; Treasurer’s reportwas accepted as printed in the newslet-ter as was the secretary’s report.

continued on page 7

Our first official event of the season willbe on April 24th with John Bowe’sSpring Dust off Drive. We’ll meet atJohn’s shop from 9-11 for coffee, do-nuts and socializing. We will leave at 11for a drive around the area with a stopfor lunch in Exeter at the Green Beanthen another route back to the shop.There are some very nice roads in thisarea.

Do keep in mind if you want to do someof the overnight adventures, to make res-ervations. There is British by the Sea inJune in Connecticut as well as the Brit-ish Motorcar Festival in Rhode Island.The British Motor Car Festival in NovaScotia is in July with the drive up start-ing on July 12th. In September is TheBritish Invasion in Stowe, VT as well asour BCNH Fall Foliage Tour up to theWhite Mountains. The first of Octoberis the annual Speckled Hen Run in WestDover, VT.

Information on all of these events canbe found in the on line calendar on ourweb site. It will be updated regularly andan email will be sent out before the event.If you have questions, would like to addan event or see something that needs tobe corrected, let me know!

Lycymac1@comcast.net

Sue MacDuff

6

March 2016 SOD Meeting

The March Coffee & Cars event at His-toric Motorsports greeted 175 likeminded people. This event creates agreat start for the monthly Show ofDreams meeting. The March SODmeeting welcomed 21 committee mem-bers.

The following items were discussed:

Wine is in production

Alvirne Hills House Field Use Agreementis signed and ready for mailing

The following vendors have been con-firmed for the show:

Five Star Barbeque & CateringBruster’s Ice CreamBig Brown Dog Wood WorksGood News GarageStone Oven Catering (pizza)Town of Merrimack Seat Belt Con-vincerPicture Your GiftsDamsel in DefenseSports Car Art16BCNH Parts Table: Please contact WilBernstein if you have parts you wouldlike to sell.State of NH DUI Command Center (ifavailable)

The following Raffle/Silent Auction Itemshave been pledged / received:

Sports Car Art: Framed 18"x36"Morgan +4 value: $315.00Inn at Mill Falls: One night stay at anyof the 4 Inns in Meredith value:$275.00Moss Motors: Two- $100.00 giftcertificates value: $200.00Little British Car Co.: Items will bereceived before the show value:unknown

NHMS: Two tickets for the Sept.,Saturday, Truck Race value: $100.00Barbour NYC: Two Gift Certificates@$250.00 each value: $500.00

More raffle sponsors were discussed.They will be contacted within the nextmonth.

The following Goodie Bag items havebeen pledged:

Surf City Garage: Car care productsSpray Way: Glass CleanerRace Deck: Promotional Flyers

The following sponsors have donated/pledged:

Anonymous $1,000.00Davis & Towle Group $500.00Weathervane seafood’s$100.00Historic Motorsports $500.00Historic Motorsports Tee-Shirts$100.00Norma Karle Tee-Shirt$100.00

All of the Tee-Shirt sponsors will be listedon the back of the shirts.

The Dash Plaque artwork has been com-pleted. Norma has ordered a sampledash plaque which was approved by thecommittee. Wine label artwork has beencompleted and approved. Tee-Shirtartwork should be ready shortly. Assoon as the artwork is ready a final pricefor the tee shirts will be acquired.

Registration forms are ready and will bepublished in the newsletter and on thewebsite.

Posters have been printed. We needvolunteers to distribute the posters.

Norma is preparing the ballots.

Dave Le Blanc has contacted 23 carclubs throughout New England and NewYork to invite the clubs to the Show ofDreams. He has sent registration formsto be distributed to club members. Sofar, Mid Maine Sports Car Club andBerkshire British Motor Club have sentpositive responses. “Thank you” David!CTMGC have asked us to send SODregistration forms to be placed in the reg-

istration packets for each car registeredat the British by the Sea Show on June5th in Waterford, CT.

The Austin Healey Club of NE has con-tacted Bob Stanley to request sponsor-ship information. They will donate$50.00 as a “class sponsor” for Class#1

Chuck Connors has volunteered to bethe show photographer.

Casella Waste has been contacted torequest a dumpster for the show. Thedonation needs to be approved. Wait-ing for response:

The Traffic Control Officer has been re-served for the show.

Regalia were discussed at great length.BCNH hats need to be ordered. JoanYoung will be acquiring a price fromTeddies Tees. It was suggested that theclub have BCNH logo patches made tosell with the club regalia. The patchescan be attached to any bag or garment.

Bob Mitchell has the BCNH car badgesin production. Bob will try to have themready for the SOD.

Cars registered to date: 12 Cars- threetee shirts ordered

Future Show Discussions:

A permanent SOD logo has been sug-gested. Norma suggested a logo com-petition. The committee would approachthe graphics art departments in the NHTechnical Schools to see if any studentswould be interested competing for$100.00 prize to create the Show ofDreams Logo. Bob Stanley suggestedwe acquire prices for SOD/BCNH keyrings and other promotional items.

April Show of Dreams meeting is sched-uled for Saturday, April 16, 2016 @Historic Motorsports, Candia, NH @11am (right after Coffee & Cars).

The May SOD meeting has not beenscheduled.

The June SOD meeting is scheduled forJune 18th at the Queen’s Birthday

7

Celebration. More details will follow asto time.

The July SOD meeting will be held atthe home of Bob & Diana Stanley 64North Shore Drive, Center Barnstead,NH. On Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 4pmfor cocktails, then at 5 pm we will packof the Goodie Bags, followed by pot luckdinner. The July 16th meeting will be thelast gathering before the Show of Dreamson July 23rd.

To all club members: Please contact WilBernstein if you have parts you wouldlike to place on the BCNH Parts Tableat the Show.

Please bring your raffle items to the clubmeetings so Wayne & Maggie Bolen cancatalogue them ready for the raffle table.

Manchester Meetingcontinued from page 5

Saturday, March 12, was the fourthmonthly Coffee & Cars at Historic Mo-tor Sports. What an incredible turnoutwe had! Over 170 people came throughthe doors during the hours between 8:00am and 11:00 am.

The weather was beautiful and a few of

you even pulled your cars out of the ga-rage early to give us a treat and show usyour ride. We thank you for that. Infact, one of those cars was a just com-pleted restoration of a 1950s vintageAllard Palm Beach Mark I that we werenot even aware existed. Member BobHartson (owner of the Palm BeachMark II that was the last Allard built)was all over this beautiful bright redMark I. See pictures below.

Congratulations to the many winners ofthe various door prizes that were spon-sored by some of our favorite compa-nies. We hope you enjoy their productsas much as we do! We hope everyoneleft with a free treat off our table but ifnot, there will be more next month justfor you!

If you haven’t had a chance to join usyet, mark your calendar for April 16th!There is no Program and no Agenda,it’s just a chance to meet up with oldfriends – and new ones – to share com-mon interests. With April being officiallySpring, we expect there may be

We had a new member attend the meet-ing; Greg Zimmerman has a ‘32 Alvis andhails from Bedford, NH.

Past events :

The only event we had in February wasthe BCNH birthday party where we had90 people in attendance, and a good timewas had by all.

Future events:

Sue MacDuff and Denice Anderson re-viewed the calendar which is on line aswell. Highlights include Coffee and Cars,the Lake Sunapee Cruise, the British bythe Sea show and the Speckled Hen Runto the Kitzhof.

There are many rides planned this sum-mer. Both Saturday and Sunday drives.Join just the drive, stay for a meal, orjust join the meal. It’s all in fun. JerryGriffin has planned three rides for us, aRide to the Roses, Airplanes and OldAutos, and a Rocky Road Drive. JohnBowe is organizing an April Drive for usand there is also a ride to the Lupine

Festival in Franconia. Steve Vekasy isplanning to repeat his Covered BridgeDrive over in the western corner of thestate and Chuck and Karl has aWinnipesaukee and Wright Museumdrive planned.

The annual tech session is planned forMay 14th at Historic Motorsports. Thisincludes hotdogs and burgers. Pleasebring a dish to share and it is BYOB and.if you don’t want to bring something oryou forgot to bring it please donate $5per person for the burgers and dogs.

Diana and Bob Stanley were in Floridaso we just had a short update on theShow of Dreams. Pinch spoke about thejunior judging and the program Haggertyhas set up to get young people interestedin our cars. The posters are ready wewill need volunteers to put them up whenwe get closer to the show. Registrationforms are out and people are register-ing. Website has also been updated.

Bob Mitchell updated us on our mergerwith NEMGCC. NEMGCC is head-quartered out of Maine and its member-ship has dwindled over the years toabout 40 members. In January, they ap-proached us about merging with BCNH.We met with them at one of their meet-ings and we’ve now progressed to thepoint where we will be absorbing theminto BCNH. This gives us a great op-portunity to start up the seacoast coun-cil. If you’re interested in being active inthat please contact Bob Mitchell. Meet-ing was over at some point in time. Withthis group you never know.

Norma

Respectfully submitted,Bob & Diana Stanley

Coffee & Cars

continued on page 15

8

Archie Urciuoli’sRacing Career

I, Chuck Connors, met Archie whilewalking the beach in Casey Key Florida.He was walking his dogs and I said hello.Then I bumped into him again on CaseyKey Road and said hello again. I com-mented on a post on his property thathad many small signs pointing in the di-rection of various race tracks includinghow far away they were. He said thathis wife, Maggie, had painted them so Iasked, “Did you race?”

He said yes, and proceeded to tell me abrief summary of his racing experiences.I later contacted Archie and asked if hewould mind if we put his story in theBCHN newsletter. Thankfully he saidyes. The story that follows is Archie’spersonal eclectic experiences in racingaround the United States and the world.

Archie’s (Arthur Urciuoli) personalbackground: Chairman, ArcherGroupLtd, Retired Chairman, Merrill LynchInternational. Director, Road RacingDrivers Club and International MotorRacing Research Center. He also en-joys motorcycling, boating and shoot-ing. Married to Maggie, children Carynand Christian. Resides in Casey Key,Florida and Rowayton, Connecticut.

I got interested in sports cars and racingas a teenager, but in those days one hadto be 21 to get an SCCA competitionlicense. I first attended SCCA drivers’school and then raced at Lime Rock andthen at Thompson Motor Speedway in1959 and 1960. Then I raced a fewmore times, mostly in NE SCCA, be-

fore the Marine Corps, marriage andwork intervened. I then got back intoracing in the 1980s, and continued untilretiring a few years ago.

I have owned a number of British cars. My first car was a 1952 MG TD, then a1954 Jag XK 140 MC; both bought usedand cheap. I later owned and raced aD-Type Jag, an E-Type Jag, a GT40(British-American hybrid), a BrabhamBT 38 Formula Atlantic, a Ralt Formula2, a Lola T70 (another B-A hybrid), anda Chevron B 36. I have also had/haveseveral British road cars: Austin-Healey100 Le Mans, another XKE, Maggie’sMorris Traveler wagon, two AC Cobras,1937 Jag SS-100 3.5, Wingfield Jag C-Type replica, and a BSA Gold Star 650and Norton Commando 750.

I first raced Jaguars (XK140MC & E-type) in SCCA regional events in the late1950s and early 1960s at Lime Rock andThompson, CT; Bridgehampton andWatkins Glen, NY; and Vineland, NJ. Ireturned to racing in 1988 in Barber For-mula Ford, and VSCCA, SVRA andHSR vintage classes. In 1990-96, I cam-paigned a D-type Jaguar, Ford GT40Mk IV and Ralt Formula 2 at tracksacross the United States, with a numberof podium finishes. I won the Skip Bar-ber Racing Cup in 1994.

I ran my Ford GT40 Mk IV at Bonnevillespeed week in 1996, at a top speed of226 and one-mile average of 187 mph(spun & crossed the finish line back-wards!). I co-drove the G &WMotorsports First Union Bank PorscheGT3 in IMSA (1998) and USRRC(1999) Rolex Daytona 24-hour races(did not finish in 1998; 9th in class in1999). I continued vintage racing dur-ing those years, winning the MontereyHistorics Award in 1997.

Then I continued in HSR/SVRA vintageGTP and FIA classes with Chevron B-36, Porsche 956, and Ford GT/40 MKI, and at Daytona, Goodwood, LagunaSeca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Mid Ohio,Mosport, Mt. Tremblant, LeMans,Pocono, Road America, Road Atlanta,Roebling Road, Sebring, Summit Pointand Watkins Glen where I took many“Top 3” podium finishes from 1988 topresent. Some results: at the 2002Sebring Rolex Enduro, I took 1st in class,6th overall. At the 2003 Sebring RolexEnduro, I attained 1st in class and 4th

overall. In 2003, won the Road AtlantaHSR Enduro, and also won the GTP 2,2003 HSR/SVRA GTP/Group C SeriesChampionship.

I co-drove the Synergy Racing DaytonaPrototype in 2005 Daytona 24-hour racebut did not finish. I was, however, theoverall winner of the HSR GTP/GroupC Series Championship, 2005.

I did not do any of this alone, and owemuch of my great fun and modest suc-cess in amateur racing to my great crewsat Bob Akin Motorsports, MCR Rac-ing, Metro Racing Systems, & Lee

9

Chapman Racing, and great coachingfrom my good friends Bob Akin (sadly,killed at Road Atlanta in 2002) and BrianRedman.

North CouncilMinutes

The knock off hammer came down at7:01pm with 19 fellow BCNH membersalong for the ride. This being March 17th,St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to cel-ebrate with a few decorations, some cornbeef and cabbage and of course a pintof Guinness. A few hearty members didenjoy the wearing of the green and acouple of blinking hats and glassesstarted the night off on a very fun note.

Minister Karl started off with a questionabout Churchill tools and the many uses,which you can never have the right toolwhen you need it. A few memberschimed in about a great resource forChurchill. Karl asked if people couldbring along a Churchill tool or any otherfixture of interest and a story behind it tothe next meeting, which will be on Thurs-day, April 21st.

Introductions started around the roomwith Vance and Sue Spaulding joining usfrom the Southern area. Elliot Groverfilled us in on his winter project with his1948 MGTC which he is reworking therear end on. Marty said her ’53 TD isjust fine. Chuck Connors should havereceived first prize for his glasses thatblinded everyone every time he turnedthem on, Diane had her own green blinggoing on.

Bob & Kim Daughtery mentioned that

they had stopped by Historic Motor Sportsto say hi to the cars and promised theywould be back soon to bring them home.Bob Mitchell and Bob D. found anothersource for electronic regulators in NorthCarolina, Bob D. will be the trial run forthat.

Shirley Splaine is looking to sell her Midgetand maybe pick up an MGB. Russ joinedus for the festivities.

Paul Ardito said his 67 series 1 Jag stilldoesn’t leak, I think a few people in thegroup thought about sneaking over andputting a fake oil spill under his car. Paulalso told us about the time he was drivingDon’s car and hit a deer with surprisinglylittle damage to the car. Don is workingon his Austin-Healey 3000 getting it readyfor top down weather which is right aroundthe corner.

Norma went so far as to have Rod trailerher car from the house out to the road (thelast warm weather spell we had recently)so she wouldn’t have to drive through themud.. good thinking!

Linda Wirth said her and Pete’s first datewas in a ’65 TR4 and the rest is history.Pete asked a show of hands for how manypeople of the 19 attendees are actuallyIrish. Maybe four hands went up, but weall know “we are all Irish on St. Patrick’sDay”.

Bob Mitchell said that the BCNH grillebadges samples will be here soon andshould be available for sale at the Showof Dreams.

Some new events and dates where dis-cussed, such as the “Blessing of the fleet”which will be on Sunday, May 1st and June11th for the Lupine drive, more informa-tion to follow.

July 2nd Norma has set up a Sunapee din-ner cruise from 4:00 to 5:30 pm out ofSunapee harbor. Please contact NormaASAP if you are interested as the capac-ity is for 46 people.

Chuck is working on a tour to the Wright

World War II museum in Wolfeborofor August 20th. We will be workingwith Chuck to set up places along thedrive for members to join up with thegroup.

This month’s Northern council meet-ing had been slated for a tech sessionby Terry Haines. Karl asked for a fewmoments of silence to remember a manwho brought so much knowledge andexpertise to the club and tech sessiontips for the entire BCNH club.

Marty Grover said the date for the an-tique car show at the Castle in theClouds will be on July 9th. This wasthe same date a tour is planned for theHarpoon Brewery & Precision Mu-seum drive sponsored by Karl andKellie. We will get together with Sueour calendar girl and pick another datefor this event. The Castle in the Cloudsevent is a wonderful gathering thatshould not be missed.

With all the business at hand concludedMinister Karl queried the group as tohow many people watch Jeopardy; asurprising number of hands shot up.Karl then introduced the new rules forthis game assuring all that in no waydid they resemble Jeopardy and AlexTrebek should have no fear of beingreplaced.

We then broke into eight teams and hada rollicking game of Irish Trivia. A va-riety of questions where put to theteams, scores where kept and talliedand at the end it came down to a tiebetween Norma’s team and Bob D’steam. Prizes where handed out andeach team received some gold bullion(in the form of chocolate); Leprechaunslike that stuff.

The knock off hammer finally fell around8:45 pm and all appeared to have hada good time.

Respectfully submitted, Minister Karland Secretary Kellie Braconier

10

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BCNH 2016 Calendar of Events

April

4th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

16th Cars and Coffee, Historic MotorSports

21st Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

24th Spring Drive with John Bowe

May

2nd Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

7th 5th Annual Spring Coastal MGDrive

7th Lift day at Brit Bitts, Rye, NH

14th Annual BCNH Tech Session TBD

19th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

21st BCNH Hobbs Brewery and ClubMotorsports Drive

June

1st-5th New England MG “T” Register

Gathering of the Faithful, Groton, CT

5th British By The Sea, Waterford, CT

6th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

11th BCNH Lupin Festival Drive

16th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

18th BCNH Queen’s Birthday Gather-ing

25th BCNH Fuller Gardens and OrchardStreet Chop Shop Drive

26th British Car Day, Larz Anderson

July

2nd BCNH Lake Sunapee Cruise andDinner, Contact Norma @ 603-490-6115 or karle01@comcast.net

9th BCNH Castle in the Clouds

11th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

16th British Motoring Festival, NovaScotia

21st Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

23rd BCNH Show of Dreams

25rth BCNH Ride to the roses

31st Day of Triumph, Larz Anderson

August

1st Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

6th BCNH Aeroplanes and Olde AutosDrive, Manchester, NH

14th BCNH Peterborough, NH Cruz-InDrive

18th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

20th MG Day, Larz Anderson

20th BCNH Drive to Wright Museum,Wolfeboro, NH

BRITISH BY THE SEASHOW

TO ALL BCNH MEMBERS:

The Connecticut MG Club is presentingtheir annual “British by the Sea”

Sunday, June 5, 2016 at Harkness Me-morial Park in Waterford, CT.

BCNH has arranged a special group ratefor lodging at:

Hilton Garden Inn224 Gold Star HighwayGroton, CT 06340Group Rate: $169.00+taxGroup Code: BCHSpecial Rate Dates: 6/3/16 – 6/5/16Cutoff Date for special rate: 5/01/16Website: www.mysticgroton.hgi.comPhone: 860-445-6800We suggest you call the hotel directly tomake your reservations. Please mentionyou are members of BCNH and use thegroup code.

Please visit the Connecticut MG Clubwebsite to register for the show.

www.ctmg.com

13

Events planning meetingSeptember

10th BCNH Drive TBD

12th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

15th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

17th BCNH Covered Bridge Drive,Western, NH

16th-18th British Invasion, Stowe, VT

23rd-25th BCNH Fall Foliage Tour

24th BCNH Rocky Road Drive,Salem, NH

30th BCNH drive to Speckled Hen Run,West Dover, VT

October

1st-2nd Speckled Hen Run, West Do-ver, VT

October 7th-9th British Legends Week-end, Falmouth, MA

3rd Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

15th or 16th Extreme Pumpkin Chuckinat NHMS TBD

20th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

23rd BCNH Drive TBD

November

7th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

17th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

December

5th Monthly Meeting at Moe Joe’s,Manchester

15th Monthly Meeting at The CommonMan, Plymouth

On Saturday, February 6th duringCars and Coffee at HMS, we had ourAnnual Planning Meeting. We had asmall group with big ideas. Mostweekends have events planned withthe exception of Holiday weekends.One of our main concerns was whereto hold our annual Queen’s Birthdaycelebration. Elliot More graciouslyoffered his and Jaimee’s lovely homefor this event. BTW without consultingJaimee.We start off the last week in April withJohn Bowe’s Annual Spring Drive andgo into late October.In May we have our Annual TechSession. Bob Dougherty has offeredto do a drive to Club Motorsports inTamworth and the Hobbs Breweryalso in May.June is always a full month. We startwith British by the Sea in WaterfordCT where many of our membersattend, some spending a few days totour the area. We often have a groupthat will drive down together. BobMitchell is hosting the Lupine Runwhich will be a day trip. We have ourQueen’s Birthday on the 18th inDeerfield. Gerry and Inge Griffin areplanning a drive to the Fuller Gardensin Rye followed by dinner at theOrchard Street Chop Shop in Dover.In July, Karl and Kellie Braconier areplanning a drive to the Precision

Brewery. Norm Michaels has planneda drive to the British Motoring Festivalin Nova Scotia. Norma is againplanning the popular Dinner Cruise onLake Sunapee. We have our big event,the Show of Dreams this month.In August, the Griffins are planning avisit to the Aviation Museum inManchester. I will plan somethingaround our Cruz-In here inPeterborough. On the 20th theBraconiers of, our Northern Councilare planning a drive to the WrightMuseum in Wolfeboro, Chuck andDiane Connors will plan a drive fromthe South to meet up with them. Wemay also do something with the NewHampshire Motor Speedway inAugust.Gerry and Inge have proposed a visitto Stonehenge in September. This isalso the month of the British Invasion inStowe, VT. Steve and Sue Vekaseywill do a tour of the Covered Bridgesin the Keene area.The fun continues in October with theSpeckled Hen Run, a weekend eventin West Dover, VT. A PumpkinChuckin event will be held at NHMS,plans are in the works to do this.These are our own club events wheremembers participate. It’s still early,most clubs don’t have their calendarsset so more events will be added. Allsubject to change so be sure to checkthe on line calendar. I will do my bestto keep it updated. Also, there are afew open dates should you want toplan something. Thanks to all whohave helped with your ideas andwillingness to make this anothersuccessful year for BCNH.

Sue MacDuff

14

1980 MGB, $850 or B.O.Greg Mercado,mercado6ster@gmail.com

1974 1/2 MGBGT . Daily driver, solidcar and runs good. $5,500.Call Dave Stewart at 603-622 2145.

1967 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8$59,900 or B.O.Call Steve @ 603-867-6464 or email @hhf18@aol.comLocated in Manchester NH.1994 Jaguar XJS Coupe’

RHD shown, Car is LHD L 6 cyl, injected late XJ6 engine. approx. 30 mpg highway !!! Car won 96+ points at a Judged Jaguar event this past Summer based on its 100% originality. Texas, rust free car.Asking $8,500 Or Near Offer (ONO)BCNH MemberJohn Gallagher603-769-7797johnpgallaghers@earthlink.net

To order your BCNH name badgecontact John Giese at:

(603) 654-2565 or

johgie@tds.net

FOR SALE- 1979 MG MIDGET hasBeen in my possession since 1995 atwhich time The mileage is 35000miles, color is original blue, with blacktop and tan interior, near new tires, origi-nal radio, luggage rack and it runs reallywell. Best offer. Call Len 321 752 0737lcopoold@hotmail.com Melbourne,Florida

15

Car of the monthContinued from page 2

consulting, so some of the sorting out wasdone by others. But I soon discoveredthat if you want it done correctly, youshould do it yourself. So, after retiringfor the second time, I began the adven-ture of a lifetime.

It took four years or so to get everythingsorted out. The distributor did not func-tion as intended. The timing chain hadbeen installed 180 degrees out of phase.The carbs needed rebuilding. The fueltank was full of crud. With new mastercylinder, wheel cylinders and brake lines,stopping became routine. I replaced thefactory drums with Alfin drums. Finally,in 2004 with the mechanicals in order, itwas time for paint. The naked vehicle,so to speak, was trailered to Michiganfor a paint job. I chose not lacquer, butsingle stage acrylic-urethane. I was veryhappy with the result. Ten plus years laterit still looks great and shows just the rightamount of patina.

My inclination is to always be learningand improving. This approach has led toa number of projects. The stub axleswere replaced with Bob Grunau’s

highstrength steel versions, as were thehalfshafts. I replaced the TC gearboxwith a Ford/Mercury T9 5-speed whichallows me to cruise on the interstate at areasonable engine speed (don’t worry,the original gearbox stays with the car).I replaced the touchy TC steering boxwith the Australian Nissan truck steeringbox which makes driving a great dealeasier and much safer. I upgraded theD-lamps with LED inserts. The voltageregulator and the SU fuel pump now havemodern electronics inside. The Daytonwire wheels can be dynamically bal-anced. Marty & I, with the help of ourfriend Art Lewis, installed a new inte-rior. A new top and tonneau were in or-der. The instruments were sent to JohnMarks in England for restoration. Seatbelts were added. All four springs havebeen replaced. The Girling shocks havebeen rebuilt. Many parts have been re-built or replaced and I am in the processof refurbishing the rear axle.

At Stowe in 2015, one of the judgessuggested that I should enter the TC inthe Concours event. Given the improve-ments that I have made, that does notseem to be a reasonable option. Also,our cars are drivers. They are not showcars. We drive 2000 to 4000 miles a yearon each of our MGs and in fact we bothwon the Miles of Smiles contest in 2012.

The adventure continues, for how long Idon’t know. We are looking ahead to

Charles & Carole CrosbyKitter y, Maine1979 MGBJeff & Ir ene WolfMerrimack, NH1990 Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe

New Members

Gini Littlefield & Tom MulliganStraf ford, NH1960 TR3

another full driving season and goodtimes with our car friends. Safety Fasteveryone - keep them on the road!

morecars to look at outside (your cars)thanc there are inside.

We will also be adding one new “op-portunity” for you next month. Manyof you may be aware that Member BobStanley participated last year with hismother Ella in the Honor Flight programthat flies New Hampshire World War IIVeterans from Manchester Airport to theWar Memorials in Washington DC. Seeh t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m /HonorFlightNewEngland/ We have nowlearned that Dean Young, the Fire Chiefin Candia, is one of the organizers of theHonor Flight. So, we will put two andtwo together and have a Donation Jaravailable for those that would like to sup-port this effort to honor our Veterans.

See you an April 16th.

By Bob Mitchell Prime Minister

Coffee & Carscontinued from page 7

16

British Cars of New Hampshire51 Durgin Road

Chichester, NH 03258

Ar chie Urciuoli’ s Lola T70