{"id":43163,"date":"2019-10-11T15:48:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGAR2020\/?p=43163"},"modified":"2019-10-11T15:48:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T15:48:44","slug":"california-dreaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/california-dreaming\/","title":{"rendered":"California Dreaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CaliforniaWhen I first applied for the NAMGAR Internet Coordinator position, I figured what the heck? I was interested to get involved with other MGA owners and support a community of like-minded automotive enthusiasts. I could put some dusty web skills to use and then my day job got in the way. Two back-to-back projects required that I camp out in Los Angeles from June through September effectively “deep-sixing” my plans to participate in my first NAMGAR GT-44 event in Dubuque IA in July. It also meant that I wouldn\u2019t be able to participate in the rich array of automotive-related events that happen in eastern Nebraska each summer.<\/p>\n

But alas, the automotive deities threw me a bone.<\/p>\n

Just as I was about to wade into the deep end of the pool of self-pity, things got interesting. The first weekend in June, as I walked out of a local Starbucks in El Segundo early one Saturday morning, I was greeted by a parking lot of assembling vintage British iron \u2014 MGs, Austin Healeys, Jaguars, Aston Martins \u2014 all resplendent in their southern California glory. After a few minutes of chatting with owners, I found out that the \u201cAll British Car Show\u201d was happening that very day at the Automobile Driving Museum (https:\/\/www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org\/event\/british2019<\/a>) a mere two blocks away! The ADM is a fantastic exhibit of automotive history and memorabilia celebrating all things automotive. If you\u2019re ever in Los Angeles, ADM is almost adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and it worth working into your travel plans.<\/p>\n

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Lightning struck twice when the \u201cBoots and Bonnets\u201d Annual All-MG Car Show was hosted at the ADM in September, this time sponsored by the Southern California MG Club (https:\/\/www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org\/event\/mg_club_2019\/<\/a>). Did I mention it was within walking distance of my hotel!?! The show was a veritable feast of MGs and MGAs and I had ample time to walk around and meet several members of the SoCal MG Club and learn about their special cars and stories.<\/p>\n

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Here are a few.<\/p>\n

Matt Dabny<\/h3>\n

1958 MGA Roadster<\/p>\n

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Matt heads up the Southern California MG Club (http:\/\/socalmgclub.org) and is a fellow NAMGAR member. His roadster oozed patina and looked just right in triple black. Matt found his MGA locally (long term storage if I recall correctly) and was able to air up the tires and drive it home. What a find!<\/p>\n

Ken and Jackie Brion<\/h3>\n

1957 MGA Roadster<\/p>\n

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Ken and Jackie greeted me when I first arrived and were selling various SoCal MG Club regalia\u2026needless to say I purchased one of everything! Ken shared a few moments telling me about his light blue roadster that they\u2019ve owned for over 40 years. Ken offered that he restored the car himself and that it was Jackie\u2019s car (good call Ken)!<\/p>\n

Charlie Meister<\/h3>\n

1957 MGA Roadster<\/p>\n

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Charlie first alerted me to the event and needless to say I was blown away by the quality and presence of his beautiful roadster. The fact that he walked away with \u201c1st Place\u201d and the \u201cAutomobile Driving Museum Choice\u201d awards came as no surprise. I asked Charlie to share some history on his car:<\/p>\n

\u201cI acquired my 1957 MG MGA online in June of 2018. She was described as Iris Blue with black interior, and top with recent mechanical work that was done to a frame off restoration originally completed in 2007. I have always loved the curved lines of the midcentury modern era roadsters and could not pass up the possibility to acquire one. However, when she arrived, she was more an old tired blue and less Iris and the interior was worn in cheap plastic while the top needed to be replaced. I had previously owned a 1979 MGB and went back to my mechanic, Radcliff in Santa Monica, to get his evaluation. Radcliff indicated the car was in good mechanical condition but the list of work that had been done to the car had not been done recently and there were several items that needed to be redone correctly. Nevertheless, I was excited to have the car and decided that since it was in good mechanical condition with a few items that needed updating, I would upgrade the paint and interior to the factory original heritage certificate colors \u2013 black with red interior and wire rims to give it a whole new life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dave Theil<\/h3>\n

1960 MGA Roadster<\/p>\n

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Dave is the new owner of this beautiful British Racing Green MGA 1600 Roadster, I asked him to share some background for NAMGAR members:<\/p>\n

\u201cI purchased this car from Sun Valley Auto Club. The restoration of the car began in March 1990 in Illinois. I was lucky enough to find it online, go up and see the car, drive it and make the decision to purchase it. I\u2019ve never done anything like that before in my life. But, it was a great experience dealing with the guys at Sun Valley Auto Club. I have owned an Arctic White MGB, which I had previously towed home and restored. So, I was delighted to find this car, in the condition it was in, and at the right time for me. I made the purchase this June. I don\u2019t know what it is about these MG automobiles – they just are addicting. I was hooked the very first time I rode in an MGA that was owned by my cousin, when I lived on the West side of Cleveland, when I was in high school. It\u2019s taken a few years since I graduated in 1970, but I finally acquired this really wonderful vehicle! Better late than never! It runs great, looks fantastic, has a really smooth ride and it\u2019s just a blast to drive!”<\/em><\/p>\n

To read more about the 8 Sep 2019 Southern California MG Club \u201cBoots and Bonnets\u201d event, visit http:\/\/socalmgclub.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first applied for the NAMGAR Internet Coordinator position, I figured what the heck?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage-banner","category-namgar-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namgar.com\/NAMGARMAIN\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}