Welcome to Issue 60, June 2020.
The world has changed – will it ever be the same again?
Readers must have been more than a little confused about the opening lines in the Editorial in the previous issue. I said that I was writing it well in advance because my son Steve, (referred to as ‘the organ grinder’) who does the clever finishing bits on the magazine and uploads it to the website, because I, (referred to as ‘the monkey’) can’t do this, was off to the US on holiday.
In the event, the magazine was very late in coming out because Steve fell ill just two days before he was due to fly. He had a pretty bad dose of something, because he had difficulty in breathing – which he has never experienced before – and a persistent cough. Sounds like the dreaded virus, but we will probably never know, unless they test all 68 million of us Brits, which seems unlikely.
When all this is over (will it ever be over?) there are plenty of learning points for the UK Government. One, which is dear to my heart, is the absolute need to have a decent manufacturing base to provide a measure of self-sufficiency and to pay down debt. With a National Debt of eye-watering proportions there are shades of Sir Stafford Cripps’ post-war slogan ‘Export or Die!’
The front cover shows Ruedi Spycher’s TC0304 in Switzerland with his wife, Christine, standing alongside. Ruedi bought the car in a breaker’s yard in 1965 – thank goodness it was saved! The car is supercharged (picture below) with an original (21.07.1947) Marshall J75.
Whilst on the subject of early TCs, a friend of mine is looking for one. Condition is unimportant, but it must have matching numbers and a log book and preferably be unmolested. If you can help, please get in touch jj(at)ttypes.org [please substitute @ for (at)].
An alert to those of you who use the Spares for Sale/Wanted and Cars for Sale/Wanted sections of the website; the ‘scammers’ have been active again. ‘Maxwell Criddle’ and ‘Ray Nash’ both sent pictures of a TD in response to a TB ‘Wanted’ advertisement (probably the same person). Another who has come to notice is ‘Paul Prebois’.
Peter Hehir has recently been in contact with news of a ‘new kid on the block’ in the form of the M.G. T Type Owners & Restorers Club Inc. Australia. The Club has blossomed from the initial germ of an idea arising out of a discussion between Peter and Rob Grantham last December, to 116 members in a few short weeks and is growing daily. Included in the 116 are 10 members in North America. Subs are a modest $13 AUD.
The focus is on hosted restoration events for members, from a grease and oil change to stripping a gearbox! The club is totally preoccupied with the ‘hands on’ acquisition of skill and the passing on of knowledge. It doesn’t have runs, just ‘happenings’.
Full members are accepted as young as 13, as long as they own an early 1955 M.G., prior to the ‘A’, or even just a chassis. A bi-monthly magazine is produced which is totally focused on restoration. For more details, please contact Peter Hehir at: pjbm(at)bigpond.com [please substitute@ for (at)].
Just enough room left to advise those of you who have opted for the printed copy of TTT 2 that I have to increase the subscriptions because the magazine is not paying its way. Subs are due now as follows:
UK 18 GBP; EU 22 GBP; Rest of World 28 GBP.
Stay safe and well!
JOHN JAMES
