Spring is here! At least that is what the calendar tells us. Luckily then, this will be the last Directions column that I write in a month without a real driving event. Because April 30th will be our first event of 2011, the Spring Tune Up. You’ll find details, also for the other driving events that I'll be writing about here, in the announcements in this issue of the Driveline.

Because you must first drive your MG to Willowbrook before you can tune it up it qualifies as a very good season opener for the 2011 Driving Season. May, traditionally, is for the Spring Chicken Tour. Bill and Jan Reece will lay out a route to Lake Geneva for their Chicken cook out on the last Sunday in May.

The week before that, Sunday the 15th of May we have another opportunity to drive our cars. Bob Hanselman an enthusiastic member of the Ford Model A Club and of both the Chicago MG Clubs is moving to California. He will have a tour to Brighton, WI with cars from all three clubs. Along the way, about 80 miles or so, there will be two stops at private car collections and the Ford-MG Battle will end with horseshoe and bean bag games at the lunch place in Brighton.

June is for MG 2011, the BIG, all MG model convention in Reno, NV. I wrote about it in my columns in the Sept.- Oct. 20101 and Jan.-Feb. 2011 Drivelines. It is not too late to register and John Schroeder (630 852 1731) is coordinating the drive out there.

The stay-home MG’s will have the opportunity for our club’s first MG Garage Tour on Saturday May 11. Dino Perez will lead a tour that visits a few garages of members in the far NW area and end at his place in Lake in the Hills. If the reliability of your MG concerns you so much that it stops you from participating in club driving events, this is the one that you should try. You go from garage to garage, with people that know MG’s. What better insurance can you get?

Also in June, on the first Sunday, we’ve been invited to an Autocross with the Austin Healey Club. It has been a while since we had one of these and many of you may not even know what an Autocross is. An Autocross is speed event where cars race (so to speak) on a short course that is marked with orange traffic cones on a parking lot. The time is usually around 1 minute, and you are on the course all by yourself. The maximum speed is not very high and you will probably not even shift out of second gear. To make things as safe as possible you wear seat belts (if your car came equipped with them) and a helmet (loaners are available). Every car gets a few runs and the shortest time wins - Very simple. At first glance, Autocross’ing seems to be all about horsepower and other go-fast parts. But in reality it has much more to do with driving skills. You’ll be amazed how much we can all learn and improve our time by just driving the short Autocross course a couple of times. A few years ago, this was a very popular event but unfortunately it disappeared because we couldn’t find a suitable venue. The Austin Healey Club uses the parking lot of the Regal movie theatre in Warrenville. It is easy to get to right at the Winfield Road exit of I-88. If you have never done an Autocross it may sound a little bit intimidating. I suggest that you just come out to watch the Healey’s and MG’s for a while. Maybe it starts to itch and you decide to give it a try. Maybe you plan to give it a try the next time we put it on the calendar. Maybe you just hang-out there for a while and appreciate the camaraderie. But certainly you’ll enjoy seeing MG’s and Healey’s do what they were designed to do. Be driven in a sportive manner, with a little bit of competition, and in a friendly environment. Safety Fast! If you

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