By Shawn Frank Eight years ago, the Iowa British Car Club brought back to life a 1965 Triumph TR-4A that had sat dormant for more than 40 years. There were many parts missing but with some help from amazing friends, volunteers, and donations from Moss Motors, the TR gradually came together, bolt by bolt. They…
May 2012 Some friends dragged me to British Car Week’s National Meet. Thank God for friends. The highlight of the trip was meeting a car named Grace and her driver, John Nikas. Grace, a 1953 Austin Healey 100-4, was traveling the United States in an effort to offer love, encouragement and hope for people affected…
Ginger, a 1977 Triumph Spitfire, has made many trips throughout the central United States. Because she is not currently happy to maintain speeds of more than 55 miles per hour for very long, we always travel on the back roads and byways. In the more than thirteen thousand miles we’ve driven Ginger since we took…
How deep is the ocean? When one spends countless hours driving without a radio and only his or her thoughts to pass the time that is one of the questions that might come to mind. I’ve always said how thankful I have been since the invention of hands-free headsets so I don’t look like a…
They say cars are “just machines.” They say that automobiles don’t have personalities. We tend to agree, but with a disclaimer. Not that we think cars are a lifeform, have souls, or something like that. We do believe that some cars elicit feelings that are more than mechanical. It is hard to explain the passion…
I walked around the car show feeling very out of my element. Of course I am a HUGE car fan and my family complains endlessly about my obsession of the show Top Gear (the UK version of course—the others are just lame), but I only have a brain full of facts about cars going back…
When John Nikas turns the key, listens for the ticking of the fuel pump and presses the starter button of a 60-year old Austin Healey 100-4, he is acutely aware that, even with his high level of mechanical aptitude, soon enough he’s going to need help. Yes, these classic British sports cars do require care,…
Ginger and I have been traveling the country now for about 18 months (with the exceptions of the few times she’s been at McLeod’s British Cars for repairs) and we’ve had quite a few interesting experiences to say the least. While we travel we usually encounter people who relate their stories of having once owned…
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…
Riding along on the highway, I look over at the driver seated next to me as the airflow over the retracted windscreen deforms his cheeks into undulating waves of flesh.
