The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

Random thoughts from your president

It was the first day of spring when we had our monthly meeting and even though the weather was not very spring like it was encouraging to see some MGs in the parking lot. It was a pretty mild winter for Chicagoland so I shouldn’t have any complaints but we have been teased a couple of times with spring weather and I am now getting impatient with Mother Nature. I don’t know about most of you but I always think that the weather should have gradual changes. It is suppose to go from cold to cool to warm to hot and then reverse the trend. This cold then warm then cold is getting old. I am hopeful that the warm period is here at the time you read this and this will be the musings of an old curmudgeon.

Did you know that MG does not offer a convertible? At least I can’t find one. They only offer two models. The MG3 a small coupe starting at £8,399 and the MG GS, their first SUV starting at £14,995. As of this writing that converts to about $6,719 and $11,996 respectively. Not a bad price but you do have to get it here. Not sure that’s possible unless you ship it in pieces as car parts. I am not sure the car passes our emissions/safety regulations. Neither model being a roadster I don’t think it would be worth the effort.

For those who know Dan Herman’s wife Nancy. She has moved from Lake Carroll but still lives in the area. She still has Dan’s MG. She wanted us to know she is grateful for naming the tour “The Dan Herman Memorial Tour” and to let you know she thinks of the club members often.

~~ Ray Hansen & Maggie     (AKA Little Red)

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

We are another month closer to the official start of the driving season. Have you had your MG out yet? I did. Everything seemed fine! So, I drove out to Blackhawk Farms Raceway on March 18th for the indoor racing school. Made it there no problem. Parked and went to class. After class, we were supposed to take a tour of the course. I couldn’t get my MG to start. Bummer. I kept cranking. Eventually, I cooked the starter. I knew better. But, I kept trying to start the car. I didn’t let the starter cool down enough. DUMMY!!! So, I had to call a tow truck to get it home.

My point in telling you about this is another lesson I learned that day. You see, I’ve had towing insurance for so long I had forgotten what it covered. 61 miles on a flatbed is NOT covered. OUCH! That has led me to start looking at a new insurance carrier for all my cars. Check your insurance coverage. All our cars are mature. So, we are all one unlucky day away from needing a tow to get home. Learn from my mistake.

The good news out of all of this was our club swap meet. That Sunday, Phil (our club treasurer) heard my tale of woe and promptly found a vendor with a used starter for sale, cheap. Thank you, Phil., If I get a chance I might put together a short tech session on starter testing for some time in the near future.

Safety Fast

~~~ Jim Compton