Buttonwillow Extravaganza 2007

May 5 and 6 – On a brilliant and breezy weekend, hundreds of Brit cars and vintage racers of all persuasion converged at the Buttonwillow Raceway for the Eleventh Annual Buttonwillow Extravaganza hosted by Moss Motors and VARA.

As vintage formula ones and race-equipped Sprites and Minis and MG’s and Triumphs sped around the raceway, shiny Brit cars lines up for the BBCC / Moss-hosted car show.

The raceway is in the middle of a desert-like plain about ten miles north of the actual small town of Buttonwillow, and the sun can be intense — especially since there is a near complete lack of shade trees around. This weekend was no different; however, the coolness of the breeze made the time under the sun refreshing.

A highlight for the BBCC was Linda Freeman’s taking of two First Place trophies for her beautiful E Type – one for the Jaguar category, and one for Most Popular Car in Show. Wally Freeman took Second Place in the “Other British Open” class. So it was a bit of a Freeman sweep for the weekend.

Cortnie and I met some new friends – Steve and Linda Simmons of Southern California. Their beautiful racing-equipped 1969 MGC GTS won First Place in the MGB class. The car is an immaculate red with classic white sport dots on the hood and sides. You can view more of their automobiles on their personal website, www.mgnuts.com.

The highlight of the event for Cortnie and me was the track time. We took out ’69 GT Coupe onto the track with the other participating Brit cars and let the car stretch out. The pace car kept us at a maximum speed of about 55 miles per hour, but that was plenty for us track newbie’s getting a feel for the curves for the first time.

Add an your own anecdote or story of the event by clicking “Comments” and posting as “Other.”

Take your MGB Shopping

When you go out to run errands like grocery shopping, don't forget to take your little MGB or Triumph or Mini. Your car desires only to spend time with you and gets very lonely when you leave it home alone.

If you simply must leave your car at home, then strongly consider getting a second British automobile to keep it company. They are social autos with natural pack instincts and abhor being left covered and parked away from you for any stretch of time.

The March 10-12 Morro Bay Overnighter

By Lou Zaninovich

On a mild, clear, spring-like Saturday morning, we gathered at the usual jump-off point – Saunders Park. Wally and Linda Freeman had already done an outstanding job of planning and organizing before we did the first mile. They had done a pre-run to lay out the route, basically west on Highway 58. Linda persuaded the manager of the upscale boutique motel, La Serena Inn, into giving us rooms usually priced at $130 for the low price of $89 Saturday and Sunday without extra charge. The hotel let us use the breakfast room for a potluck Saturday night.

While we formed up our ten car column at Saunders Park, Linda issued everyone an individual quiche Floren-tine and a blueberry muffin. This was very welcome to those who had al-ready been an hour on the road from Tehachapi.

Wally issued everyone a route plan with turning points, segment distances, and ETA’s like the water and gas break at Buttonwillow junction. With four of us positioned along the column with walkie talkies, it seemed foolproof at the time. At 9:10 a.m. we launched westward.

All went well through Buttonwillow Junction, Buttonwillow town, McKittrick, and into the Temblor Range. Wally and Linda led in that beautiful white E Type Coupe, followed by Jeff Johnson in his red XK 140 Jag, then Sandra Sandstead in her red gnat MG Midget, Geoff and Barbara in the beautifully restored ’69 MBG/GT, Pierce and Joan O’Leary in their im-maculate ‘79 MGB, Lou and Sula Zaninovich in that ebony ‘97 Miata faux Brit, (because their three Brits are on medical leave), Xavier and Olivia Ramirez in their Kia Sportage, Gary and Donna Boss in a Toyota Camry, Kevin and Eileen Lykins in a Chevy SUV, and “Tail End Charley” Harold Sugden and wife Carol in an Explorer, in cleanup position. Would they all make it?

Halfway up the curvy-curvy grade, we were all passed, Alpine rally style, by a Kamikaze in a blown Rice Rocket be-ing chased by a black Ferrari. Shortly after, our first casualty – the Toyota! Gary eased right onto a turnout, as if to take in the view. Kevin fell back to check on what was up, or help, if needed. By way of walkie talkies and cell phones we learned that the Toyota was out, and the Bosses’ son in law would bring up a trailer from Bakers-field.

Then on across the Carrizo Plain, into the coastal hills, and arrival at the Still Waters Vineyards' Wine Tasting Room outside of Paso Robles. There the proprietor, Paul, a Cal Poly Viticulture grad and Oildale expatriate gave us a wonderful presentation of tastes and truths about winemaking. Throughout, Geoff kept remarking about seeing “legs” in his wine glass. “Not to worry,” said Paul, “That may be a good thing.”

Next, Big Bad Bubba’s Barbeque in Atascadero. Plenty of good food and good prices. Even a couple of booths behind bars for rowdy customers.

Leaving Bubba’s for Morro Bay, trouble struck again. Within two blocks, the back half of the caravan disappeared! Our phones couldn’t raise them. No worry, we reasoned – they have Wally’s route sheets. When we arrived at Morro Bay and the La Serena Inn, Tail End (Harold) was there ahead of everybody! Kevin got there a little later, but hours later for Sandra. She had followed Xavier, not knowing he was going to visit relatives in Pismo first.

The La Serena was modern and clean, the rooms well appointed and large, with many balconies overlooking the town, the south bay, and Morro Rock. The potluck was also a surprise birth-day party for Geoff (Saturday) and Lou (Monday), complete with cake, song and ribald cards. Sunday was an on-your-own day to relax, recover, or fol-low your nose around the area. Some folks weren’t staying over and went home in the afternoon.

Monday, some club members did local visiting on their way home. Near San Luis Obispo, the O’Leary MGB died in the best area of the state for a vintage Brit car to do such a thing. Pierce was able to coast to a safe spot on an off-ramp from Highway 101. It was mid Monday, and Triple A towed them to British Motors of San Luis Obispo where Peter Jurgens quickly found an ignition short, then solved two other electrical problems that had been bug-ging Pierce.

The E Type and the Miata motored home uneventfully, and Wally and Linda finished the adventure with an afternoon barbeque at the home of Bernardo and Shirley Romingquet. More about that another time.

The Ultimate Tech Session

There’s something slightly sinister yet magical about ripping something beau-tiful apart – especially if the ultimate goal is to rebuild it and make it better.

Last month, Lou Z. shared with us a Rattle and Hum report about his problems and plans for his little red MGB GT Coupe. It read like this:

“About three weeks ago one cylinder seemed to go on strike on the MGB and left the other three to do all the work. I thought that wasn't fair, since they were already sick, but still trying to carry on for me. I decided to put them all on sick leave, pending major surgery on the engine, including over-bore, new pistons, rings, bearings, cam assembly, and headwork. This will all go back in front of an overdrive transmission.”

He wasn’t kidding when he said he‘d put them on sick leave! I was invited to the engine removal party at Jon Paschke’s, along with Pat Bailey and Pierce O’Leary. Pierce showed up in his shiny white MGB Tourer, and I drove my GT Coupe up from Bakers-field.

I didn’t want to miss this! I don’t plan on taking out the engine of my little coupe any time soon (if ever!), so this was a great opportunity to see the inner workings of the engine.

There were greasy hands, and a few oil spills with cat litter thrown over them. And good pizza, compliments of Lou. Jon’s dogs kept us company.

I banged my hand up sufficiently – necessary badges of honor from a big job.

Finally, that engine lifted out, and we proceeded to dismantle it, piece by piece until it was nearly down to its basic building blocks.

We’ll wait anxiously for more updates from Lou regarding his upgrades and repairs.

Rattle and Hum

Bill Brewer – 1961 Triumph TR3A and 1967 Mini Cooper

Many of the BBCC members remem-ber me because they ate at the bear Valley Springs Country Club for Moth-ers’ Day brunch, got a glider ride, or took a tour at the cement plant in Tehachapi where I was automation pro-grammer. Well, do to a series of une-plainable wild and crazy events I ended up quitting on Friday the 13th of October and starting the following Monday at Scaled Composites in Mo-jave. Many members have taken a tour out there with the BBCC.

I am now Data Acquisition and Te-lemetry engineer for Burt Rutan and doing the instrumenting of White Knight 2 and Space Ship 2. It is an unbelievable fantasy come true. Unfor-tunately, it also cuts into the British car time heavily. I work extra hours every day and study at home at night.

The old Triumph TR3 will have to take a back seat for awhile until I get on my feet. When Scaled is open for tours again, after the Space Ship 2 rollout to the public, we’ll see about getting an-other tour at Scaled!

Geoff Kimler – 1965 MGB

This is the B roadster I rescued from a barn out side of Cholame. I am replac-ing the complete front end, ‘firewall’ forward. It is in the body shop in Taft, been there a year or more. This past weekend I spent most of the day screwing it together in preparation for the final welding. I hope Lee is working on that this week! He has a little sheet metal work to do to get the left foot well to line up correctly but not much. It had taken a big wallop bending the frame and inner fender and that is why I had to splice on the front end off a donor car. It will be nice when it is all in grey primer. Stay tuned.

Wally and Linda Freeman – 1972 Jaguar E-type series III and 1967 Sunbeam

Linda’s 1972 Jaguar E-type series III, is a white 2+2 with the original num-bers matching V-12 engine. It has not been restored and has been a Califor-nia Central Valley car since the begin-ning. We purchased the car in 1994 from the 2nd owner. Although not a daily driver, we do drive it frequently, especially on Club activities. It still has the original Blaupunkt radio (operating) installed by the importer in 1972.

The 1967 Sunbeam Alpine series V, has the original 1725 cc numbers matching engine, which I believe has not been re-built or overhauled. The car was very professionally repainted by the previous owner, an instructor of automobile design at Pasadena Col-lege. The interior and trunk were re-stored at that time, and I have a new soft top to be installed this spring. It also has the factory removable hard top which is in very good condition.

This is the third Sunbeam Alpine I have owned. I purchased my first one soon after getting out of the Army in 1964. It was a 1959 Series I. I really loved that car but an overseas transfer forced a sale. Later, in 1968, I pur-chased a new Series V, while living in Germany. I drove the car all over Europe, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Holland, before bringing it to the USA, where again an overseas transfer forced a sale.

I had been looking for a replacement for years when I found our current car on the Internet. The rest is history.

Jon Paschke – 1967 Jaguar E Type series I

The car is a 1967 2+2 XKE, series one E Type to us. The car appears to be about 90% or more there and no rust or body damage, and it looks like a replacement motor was being in-stalled. A new exhaust is already in-stalled and a new radiator.

The interior is close to a 9 I'd say only missing the floor carpets and a small tear in the head liner. It looks to have new chrome wire wheels and tires although I don't know how old the tires are.

The paint is a total wreck, looks like it could have been green at one time
(rattle and hum cont.)

and it is covered with maybe “rattle can red paint” so after I get it on the road a paint job is in order and all new rubber seals everywhere.

The car was in a mini storage building for six years and then the owner dis-appeared and defaulted on the rent so it went to lien sale and as they say the rest is history, being in the right place and knowing the right people at the right time made it a once in a life time event for me. I never even would have dreamed of getting a British car like this ever in my wildest car day dreams. Needless to say getting this car going is on my front burner, come up any-time and check it out.

I think you could say it qualifies as one of the fabled barn finds, truly one of the luckiest finds in a while.

Bill and Ann Brewer

Members Since
1994

Car
Year: 1961
Marque: Triumph
Model: TR3A

Car
Year: 1967
Marque: Mini

About
Bill and Ann Brewer live in Bear Valley Springs in Tehachapi and have been club members since 1994. They have a 1960 Triumph TR3A which Bill has had since 1992 when he paid $300 for it because it came with $300 in new parts. They also have a 1974 Mini Cooper, which is Ann's toy. They have three kids, Adriana age 12, Carrie age 10 and Jack age 8. Bill works as Data Acquisition and Telemetry Engineer at Scaled Composites (of Burt Rutan fame) in Mojave.

"And we'll bask in the shadow / of yesterday's Triumph, / sail on a steel dream"
- Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"

Back to Members

Rattle and Hum Club News

Jeff Johnson – 1956 Jaguar XK140
“Got a chance to take it for a drive to Bakersfield last month. After getting rid of local mice colony, I backed out of the garage and found, to my dismay, my right front tire was flat. So much for my trip. Happily I found a local tire shop to repair the tire a week later but the rains have now interrupted my travel—I have about two miles of dirt roads (muddy) to travel to get to a paved road.”

Lou Zaninovich – 1972 MGB GT
“About three weeks ago one cylinder seemed to go on strike and left the other three to do all the work. I thought that wasn't fair, since they were already sick, but still trying to carry on for me. I decided to put them all on sick leave, pending major surgery on the engine, including overbore, new pistons, rings, bearings, cam assembly, and headwork. This will all go back in front of an overdrive transmission. Unfortunately the ‘72 BGT is in line behind the ‘53 FLTRD. This is a project that is going on too long, now, especially since the MGB/GT has gone sick. The Moggie needs some corrective body paint, sanitizing of the engine compartment, and an engine rebuild which was started to correct F & R crankshaft oil seal leaks.”

Chris Eicher – 1959 MGA
See the “A Long Awaited Dinner” feature in the newsletter.

Sheldon Walker – 1975 Triumph TR6
“New head lamp relays, halogen head lamps, under hood liner, ignition switch. Car should be at next meeting if I can get the hood back on.”

George Aguilar – 1959 Austin Healey Sprite
“Restoring Bonnet for paint or looking at fiberglass bonnet.”

Tom Salisbury – 1958 Austin Healey Sprite
“What’s new? Virtually everything. It is a ground up that has been in process for the past two years. 1380cc hooked via rivergate to a Datsun 5sp. Eventually it will be a driver, but not quite there yet. Still some nit-pickin’ little things to do, am hoping for some new Band-Aid’s for Christmas... Little bitty cars need little bitty fingers to work on them! Have a merry christmas and happy new year!”

The Nethercutt Collection

"The recognition and preservation of beauty has been a major focus of my life, it would suit me well if what people remembered about me was 'Where he went he left beauty behind.'" - J.B. Nethercutt

Merle Norman Cosmetics co-founder J. B. Nethercutt had a passion for beauty of many kinds. Fortunately for us, his interests extended beyond cosmetics. One of his greatest passions happened to be for beautiful antique, classic, and vintage U.S. and European cars.

The recently opened Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California stands as testament to his passion. It is an amazing place for vintage car lovers to view one of the finest collections of U.S. and European concourse-ready automobiles, all restored to exacting standards. The collection includes Rolls-Royce, Pierce-Arrow, Packard, and Duesenberg cars as well as many other marques. The automobiles are lavishly displayed on marble floors, under glowing chandaliers, between amber classical columns, and in an order and manner that accentuates the historical significance of each automobile.

The museum boasts one of the finest restoration shops in the world whose work wins concourse prizes on a regular basis. Most recently, their 1930 Ruxton Sedan was voted "Dual Winner" at the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and their 1930 Cord L-29 Town Car won the "Most Elegant Award" at the Concours d’Elegance in Palos Verdes, California.

Surprisingly, there is much more to see than cars at the Nethercutt. The collections include a horde of music boxes the likes of which Louis IV would be impressed. Ask to hear them, and your wish just might be granted by the museum staff. There is also a musical instrument collection featuring musical pocket watches, phonograph players, pianos and one gigantic Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ - acording to the museum "one of the world's largest and most powerful." All pieces are restored to the same exacting standards as the cars.

Recent acquisitions include a 1912 Pullman Railcar and a Canadian Royal Hudson locomotive steam engine.

Admission is, amazingly, free of charge but requires reservation far in advance. Dress code (slacks, no shorts or jeans, etc.) is enforced. Children under 12 years of age are not admitted. Visit The Nethercutt Collection Online for hours of operation, reservation details and contacts.

Route from Bakersfield

From: Saunders Park in Bakersfield 93309
To: Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar 91342
Drive: 88.0 mi (about 1 hour 25 mins)

1. Head south on Real Rd toward the CA-58 Bakersfield Tehachapi Freeway 0.5 mi
2. Take the ramp onto CA-99 S 25.6 mi
3. Merge onto I-5 S 58.6 mi
4. Take the San Fernando Rd exit 161B to Balboa Blvd 0.5 mi
5. Turn right at San Fernando Rd 2.7 mi
6. Turn left at Bledsoe St 0.2 mi
7. Arrive at The Nethercutt Collection Museums, 15151 Bledsoe St. Sylmar, CA 91342

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Clarkson's Car Years: British Sports Cars

Club member Joh Paschke found the following "British Sports Cars" episode of Clarkson's Car Years on YouTube. It is hosted by - you guessed it - British auto personality Jeremy Clarkson.

The episode is split into three bites and covers MG, Morgan, Triumph, TVR, Lotus, and more. Enjoy, and thank Jon for the reference!

British Sports Cars 1

British Sports Cars 2

British Sports Cars 3

Click "comments" below to tell us what you think of the episode!