The Steering Column Left Hand Drive from our President

Spring has officially arrived according to the calendar and I know it’s true even if the thermometer disagrees. It’s not the sight of returning robins or emerging tulip bulbs that confirm it to me. It’s the first sightings of hobby cars out on the road. While others search for colorful airborne birds, the ones I look for are on the ground: Road Runners, Golden Hawks, Superbirds, and Eagles. I am more inclined to notice what’s emerging from neighborhood garages than I am to notice green things emerging from the flowerbeds. There! – Isn’t that the grill of an early Mustang peeking out from that garage? Wait – I’m sure that was an XKE that just passed by the end of the block. Never mind those rabbits frolicking in the garden, my interest is peaked by iron creatures frolicking on the pavement.
There are other signs, too, such as the appearance of sidewalk sales at Harbor Freight, and the expanded Sunday inserts from Pep Boys and Murray’s. And what about those mail order catalogs that start showing up about now? Look at all those neat things! Hmmm, wonder if I should get one of those gizmos this year? Could come in handy, you know. Would it be better to get tools or supplies? Always a vexing decision.
The club, too, is showing signs of the new season. First up on the calendar is our annual Spring Tune Up Party on April 25. This is one of the longest running events on the club calendar going back many years through multiple locations. Simple ideas sometime are the best: what could be more simple than the idea of arranging for club members to check over their cars in a professional environment with lifts, pneumatic tools, and all the other items that make it easy to get your car ready for the upcoming driving season? It’s been a popular event for years. If you haven’t been to this before, you should mark your calendar and plan on joining us, even if you come as a spectator.
Next up is an early May tech session addressing suspension rebuilding of a Midget, using the club’s new kingpin reamer. Kingpins are a chronic problem on all MG’s, so even if you don’t have a Midget you will learn things that are applicable to your own car. And you will also learn the correct way to use this sophisticated tool, just in case you want to borrow it yourself from the club’s tool inventory.
Followed soon thereafter by the Spring Chicken Tour, our first driving event of the year. This is another longtime club event, one that has morphed from one version to another over the years but has always retained “Spring Chicken” in its

name because it has always been held early in the Spring and has always been somehow associated with the term “chicken”. This year, we will be doing a tour of the south central Wisconsin countryside before adjourning to Bill Reece’s place for – what else? – a grilled chicken sandwich. At one time, this event had more the characteristics of a gimmick rally, and the chicken was served at the famous White Fence Farm in Romeoville; then there was the time that a musical stuffed toy chicken played the popular wedding song “chicken dance”, complete with artificial “clucking” to start the rally; and, well, probably a few other variations over the years as well.
The club has a full calendar of events planned for the upcoming driving season – ralleys, autocrosses, tech sessions, tours, car shows, and social events. Some have been around awhile and have stood the test of time, while some are newer and still gaining in popularity. We hope that you will be able to join us throughout the driving season for many of these enjoyable activities.
So start checking the club calendar now - as well as your neighborhood driveways - for those signs of spring around you. And keep your binoculars handy: you won’t need them to identify a Road Runner or a Superbird if one passes nearby but they may come in handy on club ralleys!
Safety Fast, -- Jim Evans

The Steering Column Right Hand Drive from our Vice - President While I was in Arizona I was looking forward to getting home and getting to work on my MGs. Instead I got to work on a massive rehab of a rental unit which has absorbed virtually all my time and taken a significant physical toll on me. It seems there is always something that gets in the way of working on the cars. I did get a chance to attend a couple of car shows in AZ. One was a show I had attended years ago, a general interest show ranging from antiques to the latest high dollar special interest cars with all of the street rods, pick-ups, muscle cars and sports cars represented in between. There were a number of MG's present and from their owners I learned of a show put on by the Tucson British Car Register. This show had 67 entrants ranging from MGs and TRs to a Jaguar 220 whose owner said Bill Gates had helped him get registered in the U.S. Perhaps the most Continued on page 4