Panhandle British Car Association: August 2000 Newsletter


THE BRITISH LINE

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE

PANHANDLE BRITISH CAR ASSOCIATTON, INC.

August 2000

As published in the August 2000 edition of the "British Marque" newspaper.

President: Gus Fell, (850) 994-0123
Contributing Editors: Tom Schmitz, (334) 961-7171
Barbara Sanacore, (850) 932-1821


Townsend show

Bill and Melissa Silhan with their Sunbeam Tiger and Tom and Jeanne Schmitz with their MG TF 1500 attended the Townsend, TN, British Car Show on May 6th. What a show this year! There were 189-plus cars. This is always a good show and this year was no excep- tion. The tour through the Smoky Mountain National Park was perfect for our type of cars and the Bar-B-Que Pork Dinner topped off a fine weekend. It is only to be hoped that more PBCA members will plan to make it next year.


Lillian Car Show

PBCA really turned out in force at the Lillian Volunteer Fire Department Car Show this year. There were 69 cars in the show, of which 19 were British Cars. Bob Henson was the Show Chairman, and not only did he make a good deal of money for the local fire department, he provided a great time for participants.

The British car attendance was so good that we split them into two classes. Those attending were Tim Anderson, Austin-Healey 100-6; Fred Beinke, MGB; Bill Cornacchione, TR3; Jim Ellis, TR8; Bill Eshelman, Jag XJ6; Bob Henson) Jaguar E-type Roadster; Mike Japp, Triumph Spitfire; George Mohanco, Jaguar XK140; Pete Peterson, Triumph Spitfire; Fred Saas, Jaguar MkV; Barbara Sanacore, MGB; Keith Sanders, MGC; Bill Silhan, Aston Martin; and Tom Schmitz, partially emptying the garage with his MG TF, MGA Coupe, Mini Cooper, Mini Moke, and Jaguar E- type.

Also attending from the South Alabama Club was Parker & Alex Bowab with a Triumph Spitfire, and Bob Mason, from Mardi Gras MGs with an MGB V-8. Joe Hajack and Bill Eshelman also brougnt their Porsches and Tom had his '57 VW. Maybe next year will we make it a British Car Show and let other makes participate.


Montgomery

Attending the British Car Gathering in Montgomery on June 17th were Bob Henson and Tom Schmitz, who took notice of the threatening weather, played it safe and drove up in Tom's XJS.

On the way, the A/C drain duct became clogged, the passenger foot well filled with water, and Bob spent the trip being flipped back and forth by the power seat which shorted out and kept moving on its own. British gremlins! Keith and Nelda Sanders, Gus Fell, and Bill and Mellissa Silhan also made the trip.

Very nice event, capped off by a tour of Pat Ryan's gorgeous classic car collection, followed by a very inter- esting visit to Hamers Phillips' shop to see his 28-plus cars in various stages of restoration. This includes one particular Bugeye that Tom thinks should be in his garage. As the T-shirt says, "Too Many British Cars Are Never Enough British Cars."


5th Annual PBCA/SABCC Picnic

The 5th Annual Joint Picnic with the Panhandle Club and the South Alabama Club was held Sunday, July 16th, at the Schmitzes' in Lillian, Alabama.

Hot! Wow, was it hot! Most all of the 80 members attending opted to stay in the house or car collection garage to take full advantage of the A/C. A few of the younger and more intrepid hit the pool or spent some time on the pier, where there was a little breeze coming from somewhere out there in the Gulf.

At least 15 hardy souls did drive their British cars and were rather wilted upon arrival. They to be congratulated for suffering the 100-plus heat. No one ventured forth down the bay in the pedal boat this year so everyone was on hand when the food was ready. All in I all, a good deal of delicious food was consumed and Pete Rice and Richard DeCrevel are to be thanked for serving as burger flippers this year.

Two of the premier cars to show up included Fred Saas's 1950 Jaguar MkV and Katy and John Webster's freshly restored MGA Coupe which he and Mike Darby finished the day before. Just in time to head for the NAMGAR Convention!


Coming up

With expectations of the hot, hot weather continuing here along the Gulf Coast through the remainder of July and August, things will be a little slow. The next major event will be the AACA Car Show at Seville Square in Pensacola on September 30th. We always have a good turnout for that and they make a special British Class for us. Don't miss this one.

The next one will be the South Alabama British Car Show in Fairhope, Alabama, on October 7th. We always have a good club showing for this one, too, as we have a good number of joint members and the location in. the park on Mobile Bay in an ideal setting.

The Natchez Brits on the Bluff Show grows every year, and each year we wonder what they will do nest to make it even better. And that wiJI be a real accom- plishment as Terry and Merideth Travato and their crew always do a memorable job. This year there will be a new venue in the downtown market area. It is a pleasant and easy drive over to Natchez. .Contact Gus Fell or Tom Schmitz to see if we can work up a caravan to head west on Friday.

Be sure to visit the PBCA web page at www. geocities.com/pbca1. Now that Mike and Cherie Japp are back from their honeymoon, he will be posting more pictures of your cars and recent events.

Try to make the August PBCA meeting at Ryan's Steakhouse. There are still a few trophy plates from the Pensacola Beach show to be picked up, as well as some new member name tags, club window decals, and a new Club Roster with all 72 names complete and hopefully correct.


.THE END.

Back to PBCA Main Page | Newsletters list