bem} a oe Page M14 May 16,1990. This te: oon En See ae Me ea ee ae Week MOTORING — By JOHN STANTON This Week Contributor he gleaming red 1948 MG-TC — top down, its driver bundled up for a blustery spring day — cruises through Bea- con Hill Park on to an open expanse of green grass. Alan Fraser and his imma- culate vintage car, an exam- ple of British automotive technology from the late 1940s, is accompanied by two other drivers and their MGs. This sporting lot all belong to the Victoria MG Club. They park their cars side by side — the TC, a 1958 MG Magnette ZB sedan and the still very popular MGB — for a photo session. “I bought the TC years ago, for $700, when I was a starv- ing student,” says Fraser. The car is now worth about $20,000. To be precise, he made his worthwhile pur- chase 26 years ago. “My kids are in the habit of telling me that I’m the only person they know who's had the same car for a quarter of a century.” Fraser is a director and one of the founding members of the club which was formed in 1981. “We wondered if there were any people in Victoria who liked MGs and wanted to form a club. We put an ad in the paper and had a terrific re- sponse. That was the start of the club.” The group’s current presi- dent, Derrick Sparks, is also on hand in the park with his four-door MG Magnette se- dan. “My objective right now is to ensure we maintain the en- thusiasm that is already there and ensure that we pre- Self Employed? No Dental Plan? We offer employee benefit plans for groups as few as ONE individual. 361-9300 Ask for Adrian or Malcolm Prime Life Management Group Ltd. REBECCA & GARY BRAILSFORD *NO! - | can't be bothered to ses any crazy salesman. 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The third MG owner to at- tend the windy session in the park is Jack Baker with his white 1975 MGB. The club secretary, Jack reels off a list of the organization’s activi- ties. “We have autocrosses and slaloms for people with hot blood. There are also rallies, pub runs and parties in Vic- toria as well as occasional forays to Washington and Or- egon to visit MG buffs there,” he says. In addition to enjoying one another’s company, members make toy runs during the Christmas season with the Mustang (car) Club. “We even have a yearly ball game in which we beat the Mustangs with baseball bats, and general skill and ability,” he says, chuckling to himself. When a group of MG ow- ners get together, regardless of the occasion, they also like to talk about their cars. Bak- er’s squeaky clean MGB, with only 44,000 miles on the odo- meter, shines even under the cloudy skies. Lifting up the bonnet (hood) reveals an en- gine so clean one could eat a meal from the manifold. “I try to keep it in good condition,” he says modestly, adding that this is his second MG. The first was a 1956 MGA two-seat sports car. Sparks describes the Mag- nette, which was restored with help from his father, as somewhat of a trailblazer in the British automotive indus- try more than 30 years ago. In the 1950s, the sedan was MG’s answer to the sports sedan. The car was produced as a sedan to meet the desire of sports car enthusiasts of the late ’40s who, in the ’50s, had new families. Sparks and family spent many hours restoring the body, the leather and the gen- uine walnut interior. The car looks brand new even though Club members have love affair with MGs it has 82,000 original miles on the odometer. The Sparks clan also owns two other MGs: a TD, the successor to the TC, and an MGB. While both the MGB and the Magnette are beauti- ful to look at, one’s eyes keep going back to the brilliant red MG-TC with its long hood, wire wheels, slender tires, and the spare wheel bolted to the fuel tank aft. Other fea- tures include the dash board which sports, among other in- struments, a speedometer on the passenger side of the car. Legend has it that the driver was only to be concerned with the engine revs (he monitored the tachometer in front of him, indicating when he _ should shift gears), while the passenger gazed awe struck at the speed with which the vehicle was travelling. The car is constructed from metal and wood and the chas- sis is made of solid steel. From the front bumper to the fire- wall, the car is built of steel but the rest is built of wood covered with sheets of thin steel. These are bolted into place, in the tradition of coach building. Admitting that his car is getting “long in the tooth,” Fraser says more and more owners of other aging MGs are keeping their steeds in their garages. That will come as a disappointment to “MG- less” car buffs who can only stand and watch, but not touch, a piece of British auto- motive history rumbling past them on the street. Fraser is one of a declining group of enthusiasts willing to take their precious cars out into the sometimes insane Victoria traffic. Although paid up member- ship is 79, about the same as last year, the group is trying to expand its membership. People are invited to join all the fun offered by the club, even if they do not own an MG. The next big event is the annual All British Picnic at Beacon Hill Park, June 17, when car buffs take their pil- grimage and ogle at many different makes of British cars, including the famous MG with its octagon orna- ment on the hood. MG-TC’S POLISHED GRILL highlights the gleam on the rest of the vintage car. Owned by MG Club member Alan Fraser, the 1948 beaut is easily identified by its long hood, namow tires and wire wheels.