ON THE ROAD.. ROAD... Las Cruces British Car Days April 26-May 1 by Rex Funk A small contingent of TBCR members participated in this event, and collected quite a lot of hardware. Our convoy group of Marv and Kay James, Jon and Patty Small, and me took off from Joe s pancake house a little after 10 AM. Marv and Kay were trailering their Austin Healey 100, Jon and Patty had their black and white modern Mini, and I had my Alpine. We had an uneventful trip, cruising at highway speeds, and arrived at the Las Cruces Springhill Suites by Mariott in the late afternoon. NM is on Daylight Savings, so is an hour later, but no one complained of jet lag. There was a reception and registration Thursday evening, and we had a nice chat with the Las Cruces gang. Friday began with a 40 mi. drive to the War Eagles Museum near El Paso. There were lots of great old planes to see, and some very nice cars including an Aston Martin DB-4, a line of MG TD and TFs, and an exquisite Auburn Speedster. Most of the cars were donated. Many of the planes were in flying condition, and almost all appeared restored to high standards. We had a great catered barbeque lunch, and stopped by the US Weather Service Center on the way out. They told us the forecast was for wind in the afternoon, to which the top-down gang said: duh! The funkana was a treat, with a drive-on teeter totter, and lots of clever challenges. I broke a backup light lens towing the wheeled dory around the course. The wind discouraged many, only about 10 cars participated, and I completed the course without a navigator. Saturday began with the car show at Old Mesilla Plaza, about 2 miles south of the hotel. You could enter your car in its class, or in the Funcorso d Elegance, which was filled with outstanding cars. The oldest car was a 1925 Morgan trike. There were 2 stunning e-type coupes, a beautiful red XK140 coupe, lots of new and old minis, 3 Sunbeams, and an assortment of MGs (all grouped in one class Morris Garage!). There were also entries representing Lotus, Bentley, Land Rover, Jensen Healey, Austin Healey, and others. The event concluded with a basket raffle. That windy afternoon we had the Longitude and Latitude Steeplechase. Participants were given a map with coordinates, and a sheet with longitude and latitude of the first station. Once at the destination, we were given another set of coordinates to the next station. Six stations were included, and we did a circuit around Las cruces, crossing the Rio Grande 4 or 5 times. Contestants were timed and odometer readings taken at the beginning and end for total mileage. The object was to use the most efficient route, and match the original time of the set-up vehicle. I had no navigator, but my Geography Major was finally put to use. Saturday evening was banquet night, and the food at Lorenzo s was great. We had prime rib, crab cakes, and lots of sides and desserts to choose from. A professional magician performed, and we were well entertained. Sunday morning we all packed up and showed up for the Awards brunch at Lorenzo s at 9 AM. Best in Show was the Red XK140, while Eric Hoover and his black TR5 won the distance award traveling over 300 miles from Santa Fe. Marv and Kay James won a plaque and a trophy for 2nd place in the Funcorso. John and Patti took 2nd Place in the modern Mini class. I won 3rd place in the funkana, 1st place in Sunbeam class, and was astounded to hear I tied for 1st place in the Top Gun award, which aggregates participation and finish position points for all the events. Although the Kendalls, didn t have a car entered, they jumped in and volunteered to do registration on Thursday evening, and were presented with a bottle of wine for their efforts. The ride back was nice, but windy. We agreed that it had been a great weekend, and we were well rewarded for our efforts. 25 MORGAN TRIKE PAT & TOM E-TYPES TBCR GANG BEST IN SHOW MARV S HEALEY PATTI & JOHN S MINI REX S SUNBEAM
On the Road to Cindy Lou s 2nd Saturday Breakfast Drive Beautiful morning for a drive...a good-sized group gathered for instructions and off we went on another great drive Almost perfect match-up Great photos Paul... (And Geo too) Ben s E-type Marv s beauty Always a car show...no matter where we are Cindy Lou managed to pack us all in... And pack us up with good grub! Herbie got a little hot under bonnet... Ain t she sweet?!