Chicagoland MG Club: Driveline

January 2023

*The Steering Column*
Left Hand Drive from our President

The Christmas Holidays are now behind us, and the New Year is approaching – some people will feel empty (post-Holiday Blues) and lonely and some will not. If you have the Post-Holiday Blues here are a few suggestions for beating them.

1. Get out of the house and get some fresh air. If the weather permits get out and take a ride in your MG
2. Find a way to keep your body moving – get some exercise it’ll help both your body and mind.

3. Call someone if needed – don’t text – it is best to talk to someone verbally, especially if you are down.

4. Start cooking and build a nutritionally healthy plan, doing so may help you to lose a few Holiday pounds.

5. Look forward and not backward. Did you know that after Dec 21st the daylight hours will start to get longer? First it will be by seconds and then equinox in March each day will get longer by 3-½ minutes per day. This is exciting because the MG festivities will begin. By now, I am sure most members will have a lot of the work done that they have been planning to complete over the Winter. I can hardly wait to see what work has been done to your MG.

I don’t want to talk about the calendar of events that are coming in 2023, I will let Jamie our event coordinator handle that. I can assure you 2023 will be yet another phenomenal year for our beloved MGs. I look forward to seeing most if not all members in our club at some MG gathering.

2022 is behind us - hello 2023.

~~ Melissa Gonzales

The Steering Column

Right Hand Drive
from our Vice-President

Wintertime MG Blues

Winter can be tough when your passion is a Convertible MG. I know some of us have hard top MGs and drive in the winter, but for most of us our MGs are at rest. For me I walk by my MG in the garage every day and think about when I can drive it again. Last year the weather was nice enough I literally went for a drive with my top down on Christmas Day. For this year the salt has hit the roads and the MGs are hiding.

Natter 'n' Noggin North and South are a great way to get together and talk about the next driving season and winter projects. The Natter ‘n’ Noggin North moved locations mid-year.

Bulldog Ale House
1480 Golf Road
Rolling Meadows, IL

This new location has way better service. A wonderful beer selection and great food. Please come out and join us on the Second Wednesday of the Even-Numbered Months starting at 6:30 PM.

Natter ‘n’ Noggin South has been steady at Tom Raddatz garage. Here we get the chance to work on some cars as well as the club project car. We will be trying to move the project car inside to get progress going again. The conversations are always entertaining if that’s more your speed. We usually do some grilling burgers, hotdogs or whatever and it’s BYOB. Please come out and join us on the Second Wednesday of the Odd-Numbered Months starting at 6:00 PM:

Tom Raddatz garage
1600 W 55th St
LaGrange Highlands, IL

~~ Paul Pickley

On the front cover…
Not quite a Holiday card, but an appropriate scene for our January newsletters (certainly with the arctic conditions throughout most of the US).

This M-Type is on the so-called Test Hill at the Brooklands track in Weybridge in England. The hill was built in 1909 to test car’s ability to climb steep hills as well as the ability to brake on the way down. It is still in existence today and is often used for driving tests with vintage MGs. The hill is 352 feet in length and consists of three sections with 12.5%, 20%, and 25% grades. I have seen MGs going up the hill once and I seriously doubt that Emma, my 1932 M-Type would make it far beyond the first 1/3 of the hill. Let alone, as in this 1996 painting by John Pulford, after a typical January snow fall. The card was published in 2002 by the Brooklands Museum. The M-Type in the painting is the actual car in the museum and can be soon on the photo on the back page of this issue.

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