Hey Dale,

I will be there! I’ll arrive some time Friday and I am staying with the speedster group also.

Hey Dale,

The TD.

I’m pretty sure Al Merklin and Max Zimmer will be there. not sure about any of the other NJRC guys.

Paul

Dale…are you driving up from VA?

Look like it’s “Carlisle as usual” again this year. I won’t say the “R” word, but the weather radar is dark green and the weekend forecast says it’ll stay that way.

When the NJRC used to make this a yearly club attended “event”, it was wet every year but 1 of the 8 years in a row that I attended. In fact, it had been wet every year but the first year for over 15 years!

There was a movement to get the date switched to the Fall, when the weather in that area is normally dry, but it fell on deaf ears.

Hope you guys are dry and warm!

Dale and I added a touch of British elegance to the Speedster gathering.

My Friday drive was rain for 175 miles and took almost an hour longer than my usual. But…my Classic Roadsters Duchess kept me warm and dry the entire trip. Even the trunk was dry. It’s just not as much fun driving around with the top up and curtains but being warm and dry helped.

By the way, that Duchess turned 25 this spring. I built the car in 1982, but finished it in December. So I did not register it until Spring 1983.

Saturday was not bad. Sunny and about 60 in the morning, clouds gathered during the afternoon and the wind picked up. But the rain held off until during dinner. Show field was full, Lots of Saabs, Volvos and Audis. All of those clubs get really excellent support and attendance from their membership. About 25 Speedsters, a dozen or so Cobras, a half dozen beautiful dune buggies…really nicely done.

And of course, two red MG TD replicas.

Chatted with a few people that were interested in TD kits and directed all to the tdreplica.com site.

Flea market was the usual.

The Speedster guys are starting to creep into the very low end of the Cobra market. I know some of these guys have $30 grand and more in their Speedsters. That just seems unbelievable to me for a VW based kit. Not today’s Cobra territory, but you used to be able to put a decent Cobra on the street for $30 to $40 g. Now that’s Speedster money?

The Speedster on-line group dinner was at a nice Italian place, “Rillos”, 60 Pine Street in Carlisle. Sixty-one people! We had a six entree buffet. Food was excellent. I recommend it if you are in Carlisle for a show.

I did not go back to the show on Sunday. I was having brake problems and wanted an early start in case I had trouble getting home. An early start also helped me avoid the rain. I left the top up just in case, but no curtains for the drive home. Some light rain for the first 30 miles or so, then a clear run all the way home.

Now I have to figure out what’s wrong with the car. The brake pedal is firm, but I just don’t have a lot of stopping power. Feels like the fronts are doing all the work. And when I release the pedal, it feels like the brakes release slowly, the pads don’t immediately pull back from the drums. And there is a noise from the front left when I apply the brakes at relatively low speeds. I’m not so good at brake work. So it may end up with a mechanic.

Glad you guys had a good time…even if it was enduring the Speedster snobs. Hey…those cars are VW’s…not Porsches!!!

Even real TD’s (and every other British sports car) leaked like sieves, so I guess our TD’s are special if they don’t leak.

I think the show was 17 or 18 years old the last time I attended and it had rained every year except 2. The show vendors and clubs, including the New Jersey Replicar Club, petitioned Carlisle Productions to switch to a Fall date, but that never happened. The kit car companies have a huge show at Knots Berry Farm in CA about 2 weeks previous to Carlisle and they were supporting a date revision too. I believe the kit car magazines even posted editorials about it too. All to no avail though.

I got tired of the rapacious local motels and eateries. A non-show weekend $50 room became a show weekend $150 room. I guess that’s the main income for these people, so they take adavantage of it…literally! To add to the congestion, Dickinson College graduates the same weekend.

Glad you guys got to meet up though.

OK Paul…I guess I was just a little harsh!

I need to get in touch with the kit car magazines. I am still getting calls about NJRC. Dave never contacted them to replace my name with his. Now the club is sadly gone.

I answer all the calls to keep whomever it is interested in the hobby and offer any little bit of help I can. I guess it all depends on what type of car they have too. The MGTD guys get directed right here. The Speedster guys I send to Rocky C. The Cobra guys to Dave B., etc.