One September afternoon in 1992, I was browsing through the August 31 issue of “Autoweek” magazine. What piqued my curiosity was a letter in rebuttal to an article in the July 27 “Autoweek” issue. That article claimed that a Devin-bodied special, currently being raced in vintage races, was the first Huffaker Special built. The letter…
A few months ago, I was invited to Goleta to serve on a panel assembled to judge a number of British enthusiast club publications. It was to prove a gratifying experience, one that left me optimistic regarding the future of the sports car fraternity (sorority, too). I was reminded of my tenure decades ago as…
Once again we raid the archives of the excellent publication Triumph Over Triumph, published by Paul Richardson in England. Let’s take you back 50 years to 1947! It was decided as part of the celebrations for the introduction of the Standard Vanguard in 1947 to organize a demonstration of Standard Motor Company products for distributors, suppliers, and…
It’s been quite a time for nostalgia lately, with contact from old friends and new enthusiasts. Firstly, Ken Richardson’s CO, Paul, paid me a visit here on Molokai and we spent a great day “talking story,” as the locals here would say. His dad was one of the most successful competition managers of the ’50s,…
As promised at the end of my last article in Moss Motoring, I thought an essay on the intricacies of the British car license plate system might be of interest. I know most of our Transatlantic cousins frequently find this baffling, and those who read British classic car magazines may be particularly keen on learning the…
Life is so complicated these days that simplicity once again is assuming the mantle of a virtue. Yet the auto industry continues to offer an incredible array of equipment that serves to distance drivers from the pure driving experience. Some of today’s performance machines are so over-engineered with systems like active suspensions and speed variable…
I read with some interest the story on Herschel Silverstone’s real Sebring Sprite in the Fall issue of Moss Motoring and started thinking to myself, “Maybe not so real!” Geoff Healey and I did not actually homologate (the FTA’s technical term for registering the specification of a competition car) until the fall of 1960.The first…
Old British cars seek me out. Honest. The more needy they are, the more likely they are to end up on my doorstep. Old British cars find me. In the Midwest, back in my misspent youth, it seemed there was always a family who took in strays of all varieties. It was usually a family…
On our recent trip to MG ’99 in Vancouver, we were privileged to visit with Peter Welch who has assembled a private collection of MGs—the condition of which has to be seen to be believed! I have seen many collections of automobiles, including other MG museums, but I have seldom seen a selection of cars which have…
You have to be just a little crazy to own a British car, and all British car owners will proudly proclaim that fact. It’s a case of constant breakdowns and repairs, strange and obsolete parts, bizarre mechanisms. But they love ’em, and my husband, Craig, is no exception. He is the owner of his second…
