Williams recognizes that this event is actually a celebration of cult Oregon wines with a little spirited driving thrown in, and has declared that as an East Coast resident, “It’s time to teach all the Oregon wine fanatics a little about Don Julio Extra Anejo tequila and Cohiba Esplendidos HR cigars. I’m coming prepared.” And we are equally eager to be his willing students.
Just six days later, on Sunday, July 12 at 7am, The B Team heads towards Reno for the MG National Convention. All three MGBs seem to be ready for the task. The snazzy B Team jackets have been ordered, dinner reservations made for the first night at Crater Lake Lodge (where it is reported that all the hiking trails in the area are still under nine feet of snow), and logistics are in place for the 30-car Northwest MG contingent to motor to “The Biggest Little City in the World,” stopping only to replace clutches, rebuild engines, and swap out rear ends along the way.
Meanwhile, lest you think the rest of the SCM fleet is slumbering, Legal Files columnist John Draneas has been shaking down our 1964 Chevrolet Nova wagon, and reports that the steering is a little vague (surprise?), running at 70 mph caused all the leaves in the fresh-air intakes to cover the interior of the car, and shifting into second is just “not right,” especially since the Saginaw box has been rebuilt.
We got our “spare” Mercedes ponton, the 1959 219 with the 220 engine, to start and run and are cleaning it up so that it can be sold. The Becker AM/FM/Shortwave radio is back from the repair shop (again) and is being installed in the 220S that is a permanent part of the fleet.
Even the Giulia Spider Veloce got a little exercise last week, as we had a window of about 30 minutes of sunshine. Alfa engines love to rev, and the sound this one made at 6,000 rpm, on the top deck of the Marquam Bridge, was very satisfying.
You might ask if producing SCM is just an excuse to play around with old cars, and our response would be, “And what’s wrong with that?”