FALL 2012
Welcome to the Fall 2012 issue of Moss Motoring. Immerse yourself in a vast range of stories that range from personal profiles, to technical advice, and more. We promise it’s a ride worth your while. Browse the articles below.
A Handy Guide for the Do-It-Yourselfer
The following are suggestions for working inside in an environment that you share with your family: 1. Do not use the clothes washer/dryer as a work bench • Talk about warpage when welding, try porcelain coated steel. • While extra holes help clothes dry more quickly, auto parts and black spots are hard to explain…
Young Blood
“What the heck is that?” a pedestrian on the corner yelled out. I grinned and introduced my ’63 MGB, a car that’s twice my age. British cars were never completely foreign to me. My dad had a really awesome E-Type. He was a huge British car nut ever since he bought a 1965 Spitfire at…
Movie Magic with an MG TC
Whatever happened to that British Racing Green MG TC in the academy-award winning film, The Way We Were? 39 years later, I can tell you that it’s happily parked in my garage. Acquiring my MG TC At age 10 I saw a photograph of a 1947 MG TC. It was black, with chrome wire wheels, and red wheel wells….
TR-666
Can a Healey guy get along with a TR bloke? I can’t get the yellow TR6 out of my head. The car screamed seventies’ 8-tracks and shag carpet. It was an unusual shade of color and I’m surprised I liked it as well as I did. I wouldn’t have thought a car could pull it…
Go Ahead and Look
The travail of finding parts for a 1960 Jaguar XK150 It was a rare sunny day in Seattle, the clouds had all blown south to Oregon and I was free to take my Jag out for a ride. I lowered the “head” (top) and snapped the large bulky cover over the bulging material at the…
To Race the Alps
The Legacy of Yesterday’s Mountain Climbers I sometimes wonder if the British cars that we collect, restore and love so much still carry with them the legacy of the rallies and races in the 1950s and sixties. Back in those Golden Days of motor sport, the cars not only had to look the same as…
Driving Jenson Button
A World Champion gets his first Healey ride. A dark sky, rain threatening; early Sunday morning 18 June, 2000, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, site of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Canada. “Follow the course marshal’s instructions and DON’T SCREW UP! We’ll be in front of tens of thousands of people and…
Here to Stay
My parents moved to the states from England. Fortunately for me they brought their beloved Mini with them. Classic British cars are my life, and always will be. As kids, my twin brother and I spent countless weekends riding around in the back of the family Mini Cooper searching out interesting and fun British cars….
Sparking the Next Generation
In recognition of the challenges the classic car hobby faces with an aging population of enthusiasts, the MG Car Club Northwest Centre has been exploring new approaches toward fostering interest among the younger generation. There is a vocational high school in our area that has a sophisticated and large automotive technology program. Early this year,…
It Was a Canyon Racer’s Playground
I always knew where Mulholland Drive was though I didn’t find out just who Mulholland was for many years. I was raised near this epic road carved in the mountain, and when I got my first car I headed straight there. I believe the day Mulholland Drive was created—sometime around 1924—someone drove it fast. Famous…
A Day with Grace
My friends, if I had any, would tell you I’m not famous for charitable enterprise. In other words, if someone were to recommend we spend the day helping little old ladies cross the street, that someone likely would not be me. Grace, the Drive Away Cancer Austin Healey we’ve been following these many months, on…
The Best Music for Driving
This is the best, that is, as recommended by British car fans. Here they are folks; from the people who responded to our survey, this is the driving music that moves them the most. Listed in the order that they were received… Me and Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin I want to take you Higher –…