From the Cockpit

My quarterly homily to you this time will, of necessity, be shorter than usual, (who said ‘Good’?!). The main reason is that we are out and about at your meetings and events with the Moss Road Show and the “Mossmobile”. What with driving out to Washington D.C, then down to Atlanta, over to Arkansas and up to Grand Rapids, then out to the West Coast among many other places, time available to philosophize in this column has been at a premium.

However, we have noticed sever al things this Summer which impressed us a great deal. For instance, the standard of the cars shown at events is just tremendous—the attention to detail and the enormous amount of preparation is evident. Our congratulations go to all those hard working show competitors who provide us with so much pleasure. I well remember the standard of concours in the USA, some 15 years ago, and compared to the European scene then, it was frankly pathetic. Now however, what a difference! The British sports cars now prepared for show in the United States compare well with-and could probably beat their counterparts anywhere in the World!

Another aspect which has struck me is the tremendous amount of enthusiasm shown at any meeting we’ve attended this year. My old teacher was prone to say, “Enthusiasm is knowledge on fire”! He was quite right, and the endless search for knowledge about your cats and how they run, where they were built and how they came about, has been one of the high lights of our time on the road this summer. This can only be for the good as YOU are really the custodians of cars which have long since ceased to be manufactured, and yet were such an important part of the history of the automobile.

Finally, I want to thank all you who made us so welcome on our visits. We realize that each one of you individually is the reason we are in business, and we value your custom and support very highly. Wc intend to ensure that whatever your British sports car, we will be here to serve you, and your needs, for a long time to come. The warmth with which you’ve greeted us on our travels makes all the hard work well worthwhile, and we thank you most sincerely for your friendship.

See you on the road…

– Ken Smith