Deb and I had a well-used refrigerator up in Wisconsin. Old, not very efficient, and past it’s prime. Time to get rid of it. (The fridge, not the wife.) Instead of paying someone to haul it away up there, I decide to bring it home to Chicagoland where ComEd will pay $50 if you turn in an older working fridge. And they will pick it up! So I’m driving home with the refrigerator in the bed of my pick-up minding my own business doing the speed limit. Well, maybe just slightly over. A State Trooper was so impressed with my driving that he invited me to pull over to the shoulder of the road for a chat. After discussing the speed limit he asked me about the fridge in the back of truck. I told him that the lid had blown off my cooler and I needed some way to keep the beer cold.
He asked “you drinking?”
I replied “you buying?”
We laughed and laughed. In fact, he was laughing so hard that he could barely keep his hand from shaking while he started writing a citation. Great, I’ve just bought myself $250 worth of stupid! This would never have happened if I had been diving my MG.

Disclaimer: The above mentioned traffic stop is factitious. I certainly don’t condone drinking while driving (you could hit a bump and spill it) and it NEVER pays to be a smart ass with a traffic cop. Trust me on that, they always get the last laugh.

Over the past couple of months I have mentioned several books in our library’s inventory that are being made into movies. Lately I saw in the July/August issue of Smithsonian Magazine a nice article about Mickey Thompson’s quest for the land speed record and his son Danny’s continuing efforts in following the dream. A nice epilog to the book “Mickey Thompson” in our library.

Driving in Competition, by Alan Johnson, 1972

Race Car Engineering & Mechanics, by Paul Van Valkenburgh, 1976

Racing Car Design and Development, by Terry and Baker, 1973

Member Ralph Brooks has donated three books. Two of these are oldies, but I’m sure that the laws of physics have not been repealed. We now have two copies of Racing Car Design.

We also obtained two British Leyland Workshop Manuals
1. MG Midget 1975
2. MG Midget 1978

~~ Bill Mennell