Midget and Sprite Club

INVITATION INTERNATIONAL SPRIDGETTOUR

2009-06-09T09:48:00.001+01:00

INVITATION INTERNATIONAL SPRIDGETTOUR
The weekend of 4, 5 en 6 September 2009

From 4 to 6 September 2009, we are organizing the Spridgettour again. Everybody with a Sprite or Midget is welcome. We would like you to enjoy the sociability and friendship around these classic cars, but also the beautiful places the eastern part of Holland has to offer. This year the participation limit has been increased to 40 equips. This is the maximum we can handle without breaking with the minimalistic setup that characterizes this tour. This year, we are expecting German and English participants again. If you don’t want to miss out on this, please submit your participation form, because available space is limited.

The tour will start at the clubhouse of the karate club “Heiwa” in Overdinkel. The clubhouse is the center of all activities. Starting Friday 4 September 7pm you may set up your tent behind the clubhouse. Toilets and showers are available in the clubhouse. It is possible to have your breakfast arranged. This costs € 2,50 per person per day.

During these days, the bar is nearly always open. Coffee and tea are free, drinks affordable and the cars are parked on a safe place. We expect it to be a great event. For the people who are staying until Sunday, we offer a nice tour though the environment. This will be in the “follow the leader”-form. This tour will end with a lunch together. Consumptions will be at your own account.

Twente has lots of “English” roads. This time however, we will show you the Dutch/German border area. The tour is manageable for all drivers, but keep it mind that some adventure has been added. Do not forget to bring your passport as we may pass the German border.

Program Friday;

à From 7pm you are welcome in the clubhouse. If desired, you may pitch your tent behind the clubhouse.

à Nice night at the bar of the clubhouse.

Program Saturday;

à 8.30am: Breakfast together for the campers that ordered the breakfast service.
à From 10am: Coffee, tea and cake in the clubhouse.
à 11.30am: Briefing followed with the start of the varied tour.
à Picnic or lunch during the tour (Depending on the weather).
à Around 6pm: A hot and cold buffet (also for our vegetarian guests).
à Winners (and price) announcements.
à Opportunity to have a few drinks (hopefully till the late hours, the bar will close at 12am).

Program Sunday;
à 9.30am: Breakfast together for the campers that ordered the breakfast service.
à 11.00am: Briefing followed with the start of the “follow the leader” tour.
à Around 1.00pm: Lunch at a restaurant en route. The lunch will be for your own account.
à After the lunch we will say our goodbyes and hope to see you again.

The costs for this day (or weekend) are € 50, - per equipe of 2 persons. Including:
à Free coffee and tea in the clubhouse during the weekend.
à Roadbook and rally shield.
à Saturdays lunch.
à A hot and cold buffet on Saturday night, also for our vegetarian guests.
à A reminder for all equips.
à Nice prices for the winners.

Registration can be done via the attached registration form. At the moment your payment has been received, you will be placed on the list that can be followed via www.spridgets.nl <http://www.spridgets.nl/> . The website will become active again soon. For questions or information (after 7pm) via: Richard Rieksen Phone +31535381330 email richardrieksen@hotmail.com <mailto:richardrieksen@hotmail.com> ,
Cees van Doorn Phone +31742433748 email cees@MGcase.eu <mailto:cees@MGcase.eu> , Sipke Steggink Phone +317425249 email s.j.steggink@studieaccess.nl <mailto:s.j.steggink@studieaccess.nl> . After reception of the registration fee, after 15 august a confirmation of registration and a route to the start point will be sent to you.

Admission is possible untill the 28th of August. When doing an annulment after this date, restitution of the registration fee will not be possible since most of the costs have already been made. Bed and Breakfast addresses can be requested from the local VVV (for example www.vvvoldenzaal.nl <http://www.vvvoldenzaal.nl/> ).

COME AND MEET HAMPSHIRE CHAPTER ON DRIVE IT DAY

2009-04-08T21:07:00.001+01:00

We hope you have seen our advert in Mascot

it will be held at

The Fox and Goose in Greywell, RG29 1BY

Between 12 and 4pm

The pub does good food and beer, but as it's a Sunday there will be Roasts available (Beef, Chicken and another) as well as the extensive menu. We would ask that if you are thinking of eating you ring the landlord and book a table so that you are not disappointed. They would like an idea of numbers.

The telephone number is 01256 702062

Come and meet the Hampshire Chapter on Drive It Day.

2009-04-07T09:01:00.000+01:00

MGOT TRACK DAY AT SNETTERTON APRIL 14

2009-03-25T00:06:00.000Z

All

Dave Livingstone has been in touch and for the first time they have loads of spaces for Easter Tuesday at Snetterton.

DAVE WRITES

In five years of MGs on Track, I have never had to appeal for your help like this before. Our Snetterton day on 14th April (Easter Tuesday) still has 19 places unsold in the two MG sessions and a further 19 places unsold in the MX5 session. With three weeks to go both clubs - MGoT and MX5OC - are looking at substantial losses - for the first time ever. So how can you help?

If you're already booked in: - can you bring a friend? We're happy to have any compatible car - clearly not something outrageously out of character with an MGoT day. We will continue to run one MG only session which should accomodate most of you already booked in. The second session will be mixed marque and some of you may be happy to run in that session leaving spaces in the MG only session for those that want that.

If you are a track day regular: - can you recommend a friend? As above really, but please explain our track day etiquette, as you won't be there to guide them on the day. Alternatively, can we twist your arm on this day? Give yourself an Easter treat!

If you've never been on an MGoT day before: - can we tempt you? We'll offer free instruction and assign you a track day buddy (from our committee or regulars) to make sure that you're well looked after. We'll ask our regulars to make way for you in the MG only session. Any of you who attended North Weald in February - remember that you have an offer on the table!

Everyone: If you have any contacts in compatible clubs - Mini, Triumph, Austin Healey etc. please can you email them or post on their forums - whatever it takes to spread the word. However, please take care with the caveats above - about compatibility with MGs and track day etiquette. We must not compromise our day.

What else can we do? Please put on your thinking caps. Also, what's gone wrong here? Your feedback would be useful. We know there is a recession on, but Silverstone sold out all 80 places in less than two weeks when we opened it for bookings. What's different with Snetterton? It sold out two sessions without difficulty last year. Was the Easter week a mistake? Please let us know. Remember that we are a club and if we lose money on this event it seriously compromises our ability to deliver the wonderful calendar below.

If you are interested or know someone who may be then please email Dave

Dave Livingston <dave@mgs-on-track.com>

AHC SOUTH WEST NEWSLETTER

2009-03-20T00:22:00.001Z

HI I just received these from the Austin Healey Club South Western area.

Following on from the "All Clubs Together" theme for Spridget 50 Mark Knight always feeds these to me and if anyone wishes to share with them I am assured we will be welcome.

There looks like a lot of "good stuff" in here...

I have included the links Mark sent me and I hope they stay live during the transfer.

Any Problems please let me (Bill Mohan, acting as inter-club liaison-er) know and I can get a link for anything here for you.

AHC SOUTH WEST NEWSLETTER

Forthcoming Events

Events for your diary stand at Event Planner Issue 1.

Kemble Autotest/Gymkhana – Sun 15 March. The opening event of the season so make sure you are there! Great opportunity to have a fun day out, test and improve your car handling skills and all in the safety of a non-public highway environment. Contact Mes Edwards for further information on: mes.edwards@tubelines.com or 01285 740529.
Season Opener – NT Dyrham Park just north of Bath– Sun 5^th April. As in years previous and such a great location! Mark@mknight.force9.co.uk
Prescott Hillclimb– 9/10 May
As in previous years, an invitation to join (and support) the annual Cheltenham Cleeve Rotary Club charity event at Prescott, the Saturday being a tour through the Cotswolds and Sunday on the hill. Contact Geoff Kimber: geoffkimber@btinternet.com
Fairford Classic Car Club St Georges Day Classic Run - 'A Taste of the Forest' - Thursday 23^rd April 2009 An invitation from one of our own members for a mid-week event held by the Fairford Club; see attached letter for further details.
'Action 3000' - The 50^th Anniversary Weekend! Hopefully you will all have seen our plans for this flagship event, held jointly with the Healey Drivers, at the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb and throughout the Cotswolds with a fantastic hotel deal at the Abbey in Malvern. You simply cannot afford to miss this! More details in Revcounter and: http://www.southwestern.austinhealeyclub.org.uk/ Application form attached above.
24^th May – Nailsworth Classic Car and Bike Charity Event – see flyer attached (Car Shows 2009).
7^th June: An invitation to the "Classic and Sports Car Show" held at Northampton & Lamport Railway. Please visit our website at http://www.vintagetransport.org.uk/ . Any queries? Simply reply to vintagetransport@ntlworld.com
A Reminder! The Noggin & Natter at The Globe in Sampford Peverall, first Wednesday of the month; contact Ian Harkness on 01398 361 424 or i.harkness@virgin.net
12^th June: Classic British Welcome: Le Mans: the very popular classic car meeting and exhibition which featured 'Healey at Le Mans' 2 years ago is now to feature 'The Centenary of Morgan'. Heading for Le Mans? This is a 'must do' day out, details here: www.classicbw.org
Eastern Centre Weekend – Aug 28-31^st: Eastern are keen to see other Region's members at this event – see attached flyer/application form.

Sales and Wants Lots of offers for Europe especially, see below the signature block! And this:
If you're thinking of your next restoration project, or know of someone looking for a project, then you may want to look at www.healeydriversclub.co.uk/Healey100

And finally, a really interesting and important project, which many of you will no doubt be aware of: www.healeysreturntobonneville.com

Best regards,

Mark Knight

Trip Abroad or within the UK this summer – how about these?

Rallye Alpina 2009 This year sees the debut of the all new Rallye Alpina motor tour running through France, Switzerland and Italy between the 7th & 11th September.It is different and more exciting because it is competition based and with a £2000 first prize is well worth thinking about. It will feature 1200 miles on the greatest roads in the Swiss and Italian Alps for an entry fee of just £275 per car. Please find an information sheet attached in .pdf format and visit our website at www.dragonrallyraiders.co.uk

The Hall at Abbey Cwmhir: Following 10 years of restoration, my wife and I have opened our 52 roomed Gothic mansion in 12 acres of landscaped gardens some 7 miles rom Llandrindod Wells in Mid Wales to tours of the public. http://www.abbeycwmhir.com
I expect you are already aware of it, but in case not may I draw your attention to the Swiss British Car Club Rally at Morges 3rd October next. Entry is free. Austin Healey 3000 is the key featured marque for their 50th, together with Morgan's 100th and Mini 50th. We went last year with our Somerset Coupe (Austin was then the featured marque) and had a brilliant time. 1500 British Cars and 20,000 visitors. It's a one-day show, but there is are lots of very worth-while places to visit on the way.

Keith Wynn, the organiser, has a splendid Austin Ascot. He and his wife are lovely people and will make you VERY welcome. You can contact him at www.british-cars.ch

Fantastic French destination in Brittany for your rally- club or individually.

Indoor secure parking for 40+ vehicles with fully equipped workshop and lift.

See www.bergeronnettes.com for more information. Les Bergeronnettes is the perfect location to base yourself for touring the west coast of France. We cater to both car and motorcycle clubs. The largest motor museum in France is just 40mins away. In addition to the information detailed on our main web site pages, we offer secure indoor parking on site. Our property is located up a long driveway on the edge of the peaceful village of Lambel. As enthusiasts ourselves, we have a large fully equipped workshop complete with 4 post lift including hydraulic wheel-free jacks, oxy acetylene , tig, mig and arc welding equipment, AF, mm, and Whitworth spanner sets. There is an excellent engineering shop 5 mins away capable of manufacturing gear wheels, hydraulic rams etc. For sailing enthusiasts we also have 2 yachts based 1 hour away

Pyrenees Tour?

Please find attached the itinerary for our Pyrenees Tour 2009. I hope that you find the information interesting and note that in the present economic climate it represents excellent value for money. Contact: Ray Guiver ray@rguiver.orangehome.co.uk

7 attachments — Download all attachments

ESSEXBOOKING2009.xls
53K View as HTML Open as a Google spreadsheet Download

invitation.doc
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Yelden Strawberry Fayre.doc
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Car Shows 2009.doc
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St Georges Day invitation to other clubs.doc
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Action 3000 Booking Form (1_0).doc
110K View as HTML Open as a Google document Download

UPDATE FOR THE SNIBSTON FESTIVAL

2009-03-18T13:43:00.001Z

We have been advised that the Snibston Festival will now be a one day event on the Sunday 17th of May

Details and a downloadable entry form are at:

http://tinyurl.com/ca9wj8

It seems likely that several of us from SS&NB and others from Notts Derbyshire will be in attendance, do come along and see us wont you.

We expect the organisers will have booked the weather for us, but if they have forgotten I'll put in a request for our own CLUB weather for the day.

Should be good!

---FESTIVAL OF POWER AT CHOLMONDLEY CASTLE---

2009-03-17T16:52:00.001Z

HI, I HAVE HAD THIS EMAIL FROM LES ROBINSON
(Northwest Area rep)

Thanks Les

If interested in participating I suggest you get in touch with Les soon, his email address is:

lesrobinson@blueyonder.co.uk

Dear all

Ian has very kindly been looking into us going to the Cholmundley Castle Pageant of Power on the 18^th and 19^th July. See attached link for details.

http://www.cpop.co.uk/

In summary this is what we will get :

Free entry for car and driver for both days.
Free club pitch (10m x 20m with direct link to toilet – what ever that means!)
Passenger pass, including entry to paddock - £36 for both days less 10% for booking before 30^th March and less a further 10% if we get 10 cars or more.
£18 each for fireworks and proms type event on Saturday.
Camping is available at £15 / tent / night.

Tickets need to be booked before 30^th March.

Can you please let me know if you want to go, I will then speak to Ian to discuss the best way of sorting out the tickets and payment etc.

If you have any questions then please feel free to ring me on 01772 432138 (evening).

SNIBSTON TRANSPORT FESTIVAL 16 AND 17 MAY 2009

2009-01-19T08:22:00.001Z

The club has just recieved this email from Leicestershire.

If any members fancy attending, perhaps having a club stand, could you email Alan Anstead or Bill Mohan. This looks like a good venue for a Midlands Area "gathering". Snibston is well situated for access from the East and West Midlands.

Snibston Transport Festival

Hi there,

I'm emailing you from Snibston Discovery Museum in Coalville.

We are holding a huge two day Transport festival here at the centre on 16th and 17th may 09.

A fascinating weekend of transport thrills from times past to modern day, a transports enthusiast heaven!

We would really like you to attend. Would you be able to get back to me to talk through this further
I found your contact details from the Midget And Sprite Club website.

If you have anyone else from that club that would be interested that would be super

Many thanks and looking forward to working with you!

Laura Bowler
Event and Programming Coordinator
Snibston
Ashby Road,
Coalville
Leicestershire
LE673LN
0116 3053427

THE THIRD BRUM TUNNELS RUN 2009

2008-12-31T22:23:00.001Z

Hi having sorted out the right date we are inviting you to join us for our third Brum Tunnels Run.

The date is set to be Sunday the 1st March and the meeting venue will be at Frankie and Bennys New York American Restaurant in Kingsbury Rd, Erdington, Birmingham.

B24 9QE For satnavvers (theres always one or two isnt there :-) )

Kingsbury road is the old A38 where it leaves the city centre to head north east

It is handy for exit 5 on the M6 for travellers from the south or the northeast (from the M42) and an easy run northeast for traffic leaving the south bound M6 at Spaghetti Junction (J6 M6) travelling along the Tyburn Road

We expect to meet up at 10.00 which will allow our friends from further afield time to join us and set off at 11.00

The last time around the manager of the restaurant saw us in his carpark and opened up early for us to get coffee (and use his loo!) but we cannot promise that will happen again.

After our customary run through the tunnels we will run back past the restaurant to head N/E on the A38 north of the City of Lichfield to finish the run at the National Memorial in the new National Forest, in Alrewas.

http://www.nationalmemorialarboretum.org/

We hope you will join us on this visit to pay our respects

SPRIDGET 50 PRESENTATION

2008-11-30T21:51:00.002Z

On Friday 28th November eight representatives of the Spridget 50 organising team were able to present a cheque for £5,034.41 to Bernadette Halton of Macmillan Nurses. The money comprised all the remaining funds after the payment of all bills from the event.

Not all club team representatives were able to attend the ceremony but a fair cross-section from the clubs involved were there.

In the picture are (L - R):

Bill Mohan, Anita Lachowicz, Gary Lazarus, Toby Anscombe, Bernadette (in centre), Pat Kimber, Julie Neville, Dennis Wharf and Mark Boldry.

The team wish to thank all the Spridgeteers that supported us in achieving the near enough full, one thousand car spectacle on that rare sunny day in May.

We also heartfully thank all those who sponsored the event and provided prizes and publicised Spridget 50 for us, worldwide.

Without your help we would not have been able to make the presentation to such a worthy cause.

MINCE PIES AND CLASSIC CARS!

2008-11-06T20:50:00.001Z

Get away from the Christmas shopping on Saturday 6th December by popping down to the Midland Classic Restorations and Peter May Workshop Open Day.

These well known classic restoration and race preparation specialists are opening their doors to visitors for a day of festive fun - Mince pies, mulled wine and classic cars will all make for a welcome break from the seasonal preparations.

Visitors will be treated to a mouth-watering selection of MCR’s completed restorations, as well as looking at a number of ‘projects in progress’. Peter May will be busy fettling racing cars, as well as working on one of his well known race engines.

Midland Classic Restorations’ owner, Dominic Mooney. said “Now that Peter has had time to settle into his new workshop, we wanted to open our doors and invite people see the range and quality of services we offer and, in addition, provide a welcome break from their Christmas shopping”

Both Peter and Dominic will be on hand to answer questions and offer advice to all visitors at their workshop, situated on the A449 at Ombersley.

For further information please contact:
Dominic Mooney Tel: 01905 622166
Email: dominic@midlandclassicrestorations.co.uk

Remembrance Sunday

2008-11-06T18:38:00.001Z

On Sunday 9th November wear your poppy with pride.

2008-11-06T18:36:00.001Z

MG & Triumph Spring Meeting 2009 in Bad Lippspringe near Paderborn

2008-10-28T18:41:00.002Z

Dear Spridget friends,

from the 30th of April until the 03th of May 2009 we will organize a meeting for the MG Drivers Club and the Triumph Register. It will take place in Bad Lippspringe near Paderborn at "Gut Redingerhof". I would be pleased to welcome you to the meeting in Germany.It would be great, if you could make this event known on the homepage of the Midget and Sprite Club.
( All AH Sprite Teams are very welcome, too)

Also there will be another meeting from the 5th of June - 7th of June 2009 in Weiskirchen, Saarland, which isn´t far away from the boarder to France. More details and the invitation I will send to you soon.

Best regards

Marcus Pieper
Spridgets Germany
MG Drivers Club Germany

Flyer.pdf

THE NEWEST PLACE FOR SPRIDGET EVENTS (not solely MASC events)

2008-10-19T23:43:00.003+01:00

The MG Enthsiasts website which has been providing useful information and a place for discussion (Spridget 50 had its roots in there) has recently opened a new category, Midget And Sprite Events.

It is hoped that all of the clubs with a joint interest in our cars will enter any events they are planning which may be enjoyed by those of us in other clubs, into the new website so we can find them and if we fancy it, take part too.

The recent Day Out At Mallory Park and the rolling road session at Aldon Engineering were organised by MGCC and we were all invited to join in and enjoy them

We suggest that you all please take regular looks in there for events you may fancy trying in your car

The WEB ADDRESS for the site is easy to find from this link:

or log into the BBS itself and navigate from the drop down menu

http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgbbs

Our club is already posting our events and we hope all of the others will follow along "later"

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

2008-10-02T17:03:00.001+01:00

The Bugatti Owners' Club is pleased to announce the 1^st of its Breakfast Clubs to be held at Prescott on Sunday 5 October 2008.

Please come along and enjoy the atmosphere of the Prescott Paddock in the glorious rolling countryside of the Cotswolds.

Meet up with your fellow motor car enthusiasts with the option of breakfast at the Prescott Lodge. From a bacon roll through to a full English breakfast will be served from 10.00am.

Bring along your pride and joy……anything from an Austin 7 to a Bugatti Veyron….. all marques are welcome. Queries: Maggie Webster Tel: 01242 673136/679796 or maggie@bugatti.co.uk

Not much notice I realise, but...

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOVEMBER 9th 2008

2008-09-26T16:19:00.001+01:00

Midget & Sprite Club AGM

Sunday 9th of November at 2.00pm.

at The Patrick Collection

The Lakeside Centre/180 Lifford Lane, Birmingham, B30 3NU

Tel:0121-459 4656

There is plenty off street covered parking (should it be raining).

The AGM will be a good opportunity for the members to meet the incoming Committee as well as having a say in the running of their club.

We really hope that as many of you as possible will be able to attend.

The Patrick Collection has many interesting cars dating back to the thirties and is the home of the famous "you saw it at Gaydon" cutaway Midget.

And the original Tardis and the equally original Corporal Jones's van from Dad's Army

We hope to see you there!

FREE STUFF FOR US TO ENJOY

2008-08-30T12:59:00.001+01:00

Weve been invited to Mallory Park on Sunday the 12th October to take part in the last day in the MG Midget Challenge race series by Dennis Wharf of MGCC

No chaps and chapesses, not to race but...

There is to be a free Midget (Sprite too I'm advised) parking area set up at Mallory for about 50 Spridgets. This is a spin off from our fabulous club collaboration to get Spridget 50 on the rails.

All of the various clubs that joined in, and also other interested Spridget owners have been invited to attend the special day at the lovely little track just outside Nuneaton.

I have an email address for the organiser, anyone interested in a fun day out in the Midlands please call me or email me so I can tell Mike a set of numbers.

Lara and I intend being there, (subject to a safe return from our track day on the Saturday)Mallory really is a small friendly race track.

We will have special entry tickets and a parking area near the brow of the hill (near the entrance for those that know Mallory) This is a limited time offer as the entry tickets are based on race entrants tickets and must be declared early. It'll be no good coming down on Thursday and begging Sunday tickets. Numbers to me please. 07984 616371

And for further fun there is a "Power test" at Aldon's rolling road the following weekend in which we are also invited. The fee will be £25 instead of the usual £40.
There will be a couple of fast engined cars for us to run comparisons with, one a fast road/rally car I understand and another is an outright Midget race series car.

Comparisons with these can either make us jealous or smug depending on how our cars normally treat us when we push the "loud" pedal, I am down for this one too. I am already booked up for it.

All good fun anyway

And again let me know who wants to go.

07984 616371

Or bill.mohan@btinternet.com

From the NW area of MASC

2008-08-05T22:14:00.001+01:00

Ian has somehow arranged for us to have a club stand and to get free
tickets for all Midgets and Sprites attending the Gold Cup race meeting at
Oulton Park on Sunday 24th and Monday 25th August bank holiday weekend. If
anyone is interested then please contact me before 10th August.
That¹s all for now.
Contact
Les
Tel : 01772 432138
E-mail : lesrobinson@blueyonder.co.uk

Tales of La Sarthe

2008-07-17T12:25:00.001+01:00

Lara made a new friend en-route to France

At the ferry port in Newhaven we were in the queue with a Commer caravanette (old H reg!) belonging to some acquaintances from the Club Arnage website and as they were packed to the gunnels and I was travelling single crewed this year I offered a lift to one of them who was painfully perched atop a pile of camping kit in the back of the van.

They had a mini convoy, the Commer and a Porsche so after a calm crossing to Le Havre we set out over the Pont De Normandie with Bob, my new navigator getting comfortable at last.

For a while all was well but the venerable Commer began to show signs that all was not well within her engine room and between Lisieux and Vermontiers she just packed up. After looking around we found the remains of a plastic bag inside the glass dome of the petrol pump, presumably used in the past to act as a stopper after a lost filler cap. If this is so it must have been a long time ago as the present owner knew nothing of it. We cleared the residue out of the way but the pump soon packed up again. Andy the owner had a new pump aboard so we fitted that and after blowing the pipe clear we set off again for Le Mans.

The Porsche driver soon became fed up with travelling at 60mph and shot off, but with the Commer having had a bad start I decided to stick around just in case. After about a hundred miles and with the signs for the 24 Hrs circuit and camping sites in view, it became a good thing that I had. The old bird packed it all in again. Andy managed to get off the highway onto a slip road but as this was in use by juggernauts heading for an industrial zone we decided to get the van off the slip road up the hill. As it was too steep to push the van up (shades of Ice Cold In Alex!!!) I decided to tow it uphill with Lara to a roundabout and a small dead-end road where we could park her safely.

After squashing cries of "You'll never get her up there with that little thing!" I showed the sceptics just what a well turned out Midget was capable of, tow strap fixed around the flats of the rear spring and the front suspension arm of the Commer we made light work of the job and were all able to settle down whilst we made a few phone calls and rounded up a tow from a mate on the campsite in his Discovery.

I had been en-route to set up base camp for our team of Spridgeteers, Gary Lazarus, Toby Anscombe and Bob Tooke, with Bob's son Anthony and friend Dan. They were due on site on Thursday afternoon. Toby was due to be joined on Saturday (at race start time!!) by Rachel and her friend.

All the above had happened on Wednesday evening and come Thursday morning Andy and I set about fitting a new (second) in line filter between tank and pump so any repetition would not stop the van permanently.

After all this the racing was almost unimportant, but Lara hadn't finished showing the happy campers what she could do. On Fridays on the Le Mans 24 hours weekend there is "The Great British Welcome" at the local town of St Saturnin where many of the hundreds of Classic car owners that attend every year go to enjoy looking and chatting about other people's cars and have a congenial meeting with Jazz bands and commentaries, plus a celebrated Car Of the Year. This year's special, oddly for a "British Welcome" was Ferrari.

After the meeting several of us including our own Gary and Toby, (Toby was my passenger for today) went for a trip around the local countryside, guided by a pair of ex-pat Brits to a small bar about twenty miles away. In our small convoy was Gary's Frogeye, a couple of Cobra replicas and the Ferrari (some sort of Fezzer, I dunno!) of another local ex-pat.

I was stuck behind the Ferrari and spent the entire drive wishing I'd set off in front of him. He braked hours before the proper time, steered wide around every curve and Lara spent the whole trip far too close to him.

I wish she had let him go but she didn't have an ounce of pity for him or me!

Lara had taught me how much she could do on the track days we'd done together, so the drive on those French roads let me have great fun using the car's legendary agility.

The racing was very good this year even if the diesels won again, Aston Martin winning their class very nicely. On Sunday morning there was much confusion about which tyres to fit and just about every team got it wrong-ish at one time or another. Due to poor pit work, during the early afternoon Peugeot lost their very strong act in a flurry of bad decisions and so Audi won again

After the race we took ourselves off to our customary watering hole at Bagnolles sur L'Orme for a great meal and the next day we split up to make our way home to our different destinations. Gary and I decided to travel along the main coast highway to Le Havre and his ferry at Boulogne after travelling many miles along dead straight French roads. They were like roads you see in "The Movies", marvellous.

After docking at Newhaven I had a three and a half hour run home with the roof off, reaching home at quarter past three.

And I was very, very glad to be home.

The great party update

2008-07-17T12:07:00.001+01:00

The Big Party at Gaydon in May

Spridget 50, a view from the car park

Thank you all, at least it looked as if it was all of you to me.

I firmly believe that the undoubted success of Spridget 50 (and yes what a success it was!) was due to the huge number of MASC members that rose to the bait. "Let's have the biggest collection of Spridgets ever" was the gauntlet Steve Clark threw down to the club at the AGM a year and a half ago and with your total enthusiasm that is what we did.

From the top, with a guarantee of centre page publicity in MASCOT from Barry and from your general air of "yes lets get on with it" I'm certain that the MASC contingent were the greatest percentage of 'members to participants' of any club involved.

The organising group from all five participating clubs met often to expand ideas and begin the actual planning, with different areas of expertise being taken up by the team.

Quite early on into the planning Steve Clark had to step down from the "chair" due to work changes and commitments. We all sidestepped taking up his mantle in favour of leaving Jeremy Cogman holding the reins. Which in retrospect was a very wise move, the event was tirelessly driven forward with Jeremy's enthusiasm and organisational skills to the result we all enjoyed on the 24^th May.

I offered to be "Head Traffic Warden" and be responsible for safely getting the huge number of cars expected off the Warwick/Banbury road without traffic jams.

The plan I put together with the constant enthusiasm from John Bishop at the Events Organisers department at Gaydon seemed to go well, due in huge measure to the enthusiastic help of the volunteer marshalls. The wonderful signposting efforts of Andrew in Yorkshire had the desired effect and not once did we get hold ups outside the site.

From the early days when I measured the car parking available via Google earth mapping I wondered whether we'd get you all in, but a promise is a promise so we gathered as much grass parking as we could into the plan and pressed on.

The 24^th was a tiring day for an old codger like me but at the end of it we on the steering group were very satisfied with what the five clubs had achieved together. Much of the day-to-day organisation drew on the skills of the admin team from the MGOC, under the guidance of Julie Neville, who worked tirelessly to keep us rolling along on the rails and helped me with building up the infrastructure on the weekend.

The Pride of Ownership and Concours competitions were ably policed by

mostly MGCC people and we dealt with much of the important "other stuff". Chris Jackson for instance dealt with the Regalia for the event. Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird did the majority of graphics tasks, designing the second batch of flyers, the Rally Plaques, the posters and the free programmes for the day, all along with getting his baby, EAO back to glorious life for the week. (The first Flyers were the work of Carlo la Duca and got the whole shebang off to a flying start)

AHC were able to bring along some very lovely historic Sprites and Midgets too, a great tribute to our marvellous cars.

This is starting to look like a "Thank you all" speech which it shouldn't so I wont DO any more of that.

On the Saturday morning we had a Green Innocenti Coupe waiting at the gates when I got there. Bill its pilot had come along all the way from the USA and later we had folks from Australia, France, Holland, Switzerland, Germany Czechoslovakia and Scandinavia amongst many others to join us and in general everyone behaved just as we marshalls asked them to with little dissention (we had a minor problem with a marshall sending a bloke in an MGB into the classic car park instead of letting him down on the arena. That wasn't the problem, it was in the ground rules, as I had specified in the briefing papers for marshalls. Mr Don Hayter was very understanding when I explained the reason for his diversion and then allowed him down to give the morning talk, which was very well received by all that attended!)

The only major exception to my rules was a chap in a Lotus that seemed to think his car was Spridget based enough to deserve entry. Me? I'm still not quite convinced but we did have enough room for him within the racing car area so I didn't pursue him when he slipped down the main road, Sprite Way.

In another incident, near the end of the day, I was disgusted to see someone having a moan at a MASC club officer. Not an appropriate time or place for such shenanigans in my opinion, everyone else was having fun!

Bill Mohan

Chief Traffic Warden

Scotland MASC

2008-07-17T08:21:00.000+01:00

All,

Can I introduce you to a new website for MG’s and Triumphs...

A few years ago, a Spitfire enthusiast David Lipowski met a group of MG Midget drivers, the Glasgow branch of the "Midget and Sprite Club".

David became the area organiser for the Glasgow/Scottish region of Club Triumph and joined forces with Carson Thomson & his group of Midget & Sprite enthusiasts. The group has become very diverse over the last few years - and I think we love it all the more for its diversity.

Although mainly consisting of Midgets and Spitfires we're an anything goes group and we are often joined on runs by such varied transport as motorcycles, modern Mazda MX-5s etc.

Being a branch of Club Triumph we are naturally always happy to see Triumphs of any description too. As with most car clubs we have a wide range of people and ages involved with the group.

This is a very active group. Its fair to say the group is more disposed to driving and enjoying the cars, though there is plenty of polishing goes on too behind closed doors.

We generally are out driving as a group every month between about March and October with drives ranging from gentle outings to marathon weekend trips to the islands.

For more details please go to http://www.glasgow-mg-and-triumph.co.nr/

Your Club Needs You!

2008-07-13T17:46:00.001+01:00

Do you have hours, even days, of spare time?
Do you have lots of spare cash?
Do you have untapped skills you’re eager to use?

Then become a Midget and Sprite Club committee member and see all of these disappear in an instant.

Seriously though, nominations are now being sought for the 2008/2009 committee. All positions are now open for nomination, particularly that of Editor following the resignation of Barry Lowe.
See inside page of Mascot for list of positions. Please note that the role of Editor is to revert to being a committee position.

If you would like to find out more about what is involved with any of the job roles or request a nomination form then contact Nigel Williams on 01179612175 or e-mail nigelwilliams7@tiscali.co.uk
Closing date for nominations 31st August.

The cars that we own..

2008-04-29T14:12:00.002+01:00

Many of you when receiving your membership cards following renewal will have had a request from me asking for the Make / Model of your cars where we do not have them, in order to complete our database. From this database at 28 April’08 we collectively have the following 698 cars listed within the club

Arkley
4

Austin Sprite
21

Austin A40 Farina
1

Banham Sprint
1

Healey/IOW Sprite
14

Innocenti
5

Unspecified Midget
21

Midget Mk 1
16

Midget Mk 2
33

Midget Mk 3
56

Midget Mk 3 FL
22

Midget Mk 3 RWA
59

Midget 1500
59

Sebring Sprite/Replica
4

Speedwell Sprite
1

Unspecified Sprite
4

Sprite Mk 1 Frogeye
230

Sprite Mk 2
35

Sprite Mk 3
34

Sprite Mk 4
78

Members looking for a car
10

Members undeclared
40

Interestingly since the club began in 1983, we have had 760 Frogeye and 570 Midget 1500listed, some may have changed hands but where are they all now? We will continue to refine the list and thank you for your cooperation. This is
some list and will have been a great show at Gaydon for Spridget 50 if you are all were able to come! John Platt (membership secretary)

Drive it day SS&NB style

2008-04-23T21:38:00.001+01:00

A run to Shugborough Hall took place for local members of our club on Sunday the 20^th April 2008.

With weather conditions chilly, almost winter like, only the brave turned out. They were

John and Pom..Red Midget. Andrew and Jeanette....Big Red Healey

Mark and Louise..Red Midget

Gavin and Dawn...Green Midget

Bob and DianneYellow Sprite

Also in attendance John and Pom's friends in their modern car.

Everyone had arrived on time and parking had been reserved by the friendly attendant, so far so good. We thought it was strange that we now parked a long way from the house so it was decided to walk to the coffee shop for drinks and then have a walk round the grounds. As we headed for the coffee shop a large but polite security man stopped us and asked for our tickets. Tickets? We all seemed to say together, what tickets? Entrance tickets he says. But we are only going for a cup of coffee! Without tickets of £12 each we were not allowed into the grounds or the coffee shop!

"Mutter mutter mutter" this must rate as one of the most expensive cups of coffee in the Midlands! A quick re-think by John and we all get into our cars and head for the Barley Mow on Milford Common where they served the biggest cups of coffee I have ever seen. Suitably refreshed we said our goodbyes to Andrew and Jeanette, John and Pom and Friends.

The three remaining cars headed by Gavin and Dawn had an impromptu run over the Cannock Chase back roads via Brocton, Hednesford and Slitting Mill. On the way round catching sit of a stag (no not a Triumph but one with antlers!) We even had people waving and cheering as we drove by. We finished up at a walker's/ biker's rest area and not only had more coffee but entertainment as well from the local bird life singing away, not to mention the visiting Woodpecker.

My thanks to all that turned up and especially to Gavin and Dawn who not only telephoned Bill, then lead us round parts of the Chase on a scenic traffic free run.

Regards to all Bob .