Side Curtain News. Gateway Healey Association St. Louis, MO. Rumblings. Greetings:

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1 Side Curtain News VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2017 Proud chapter of the Austin-Healey Club of America since Inside this issue: Rumbling 1-5 Minutes 6 RUMP Lunch 7 Cars & Coffee 8 Hot Wheels 9 6 Car Components to revive 10&11 Events 12 From the boot 13 Greetings: Gateway Healey Association St. Louis, MO Rumblings Great meeting last Tuesday! For a moment all was right with the world. Roy and I reminisced about the late great Joe Mann and his Pierce Arrows. Dave didn t get the point of the value of Paul Newman s watch and elaborated on the recent Cars and Coffee Cruise: I was there. Chris told us all about the Triumph Club Sweatfest: It was hot. We all concluded that the car hobby was superior to planes or boats. Keith, restorer extraordinaire, was wrestling with an MG wiring harness. We have shared interests and experiences, which really enhance a club and its meetings. Actually, the latter part of July has been intolerably hot. In spite of the heat, I did get to attend a few car events. The Westport Cars and Coffee was less well attended than usual, but I still got to see some familiar faces. John L., Dave M., and Jim R. represented our club. Ron V. attended with his pleasant daughter, who is reportedly a car fan, too. Brian B. emerged from the past to show us his newest acquisition, a VW Beetle! There were some interesting cars there. A reproduction Healey looked good and was apparently powered by a Ford turbo four cylinder. Two feature vehicles from the Speed is the New Black TV show attracted attention. These could be most charitably termed rat rods. A 1960s Saab and an apparently rust-free (!) 70s Fiat sedan were cars you don t ordinarily see. I also attended the car show held in conjunction with the Collinsville Catsup Bottle festival. It was held in a shady part of Woodland Park, which made the experience bearable. This was mostly muscle cars and hot rods, but there was an MG

2 VOLUME 38, 38, ISSUE ISSUE 8 8 PAGE 2 Midget, Porsche 912, and a really nice Datsun 240Z. Most unusual was a later model Myers Manx SR (circa 1970). As you may recall, Bruce Myers supplied the prototypical dune buggy kit of the 60s. While selling about 6,000 of his own kits, around a quarter of a million knocks off were produced by other manufacturers, according to Wikipedia. To combat the copying, Myers produced the more complicated Manx SR. About 200 were made. This later Manx had butterfly-type doors and a hard top, while still being built on a VW platform. It is the only one I ve ever seen. He then produced the Tow d on its own tube chassis to limited success. The company went out of business in The Triumph Sweatfest was, indeed, hot. It was a really nice gathering nonetheless, held at John L. s home in Chesterfield. Predictably, the Triumph marque was well-represented. A beautiful black Healey was there, too, an apparently recent acquisition of a hopefully potential club member, Brent W. This is his second Healey, and his brother owns Fast Lane Classics! To mix it up, I drove my 1968 Corvette. At our meeting, we reviewed many car activities that are coming in the next couple months. Hope you all take the time to enjoy our hobby in the coming months. Westport Cars and Coffee Richard Brian s VW Ron Varley and Daughter Brian B Repro Healey John and Jesse Speed is the new Black Rat Rods

3 Page 3 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 Collinville s Catsup Bottle Festival Rust Free Fiat MG Porsche Meyer s Manx Meyer s signature Triumph Sweatfest Healey at Sweatfest Carl and Chris AH and Triumphs Richard s Corvette

4 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 Page 4 Route 66 Show More pictures from Westport Cars and Coffee Saab Fiat More Cars from Catsup Bottle show Datsun 240 Z

5 Page 5 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 The Breitling DC3 Thursday, July 20, I rode in the Breitling DC3. Breitling is a high-grade Swiss watch brand that trades on its historical connections to aviation. In years past, Breitling had provided cockpit instruments and in 1952 first produced the definitive aviation watch, the Navitimer. It incorporated a circular slide rule (remember those?) for quick calculations. Breitling now sponsors aviation events and owns at least two planes, a Lockheed Super Constellation and a Douglas DC3. The DC3 is in the middle of a 24,500 mile around the world journey. Since it was made in 1940, this DC3 will be the oldest plane to fly around the world. The DC3 was introduced as an airliner in Breitling s plane was built for American Airlines and was used in that capacity for one year before it was requisitioned for WW II service. During the war it was the only DC3 that performed a bombing run. When a German submarine was detected off Newfoundland, the DC3 s door was removed and hand-held bombs were loaded on board. However, the sub was not found. After the war, this DC3 was used by a variety of airlines including Texas Air and Eastern. In the early 80s, it ferried tourists from Florida to Caribbean destinations. Breitling purchased the plane around 2008 and had a second restoration performed. The round the world trip began in Geneva in March and will finish in September with a return to Switzerland. To extend the plane s range, some seats were removed to accommodate two huge bladder -like fuel tanks. This converted the plane from 30 seats to 14 seats. On one of the hottest days of the year, I was one of 14 who rode on a short trip past downtown and south to somewhere near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. This is a tail dragger plane: there is a small wheel at the rear of the plane on which it sits. It takes special pilot certification to fly such a plane. The take -off and landing were the smoothest I ve ever experienced and the noise and vibration were way less than I expected. We flew so low that it seemed like we were alongside the Arch! The low altitude means it remained hot in the cabin (no A/C). The DC3 does not fly very high due to a problem with wing icing. The plane had already flown across Asia and the Middle East. Apparently aviation gas is hard to get in the Middle East (who would have thought?) and India, necessitating trucked in fuel for some of the stops. Fifty stops are planned across the world. The crew flew from Dallas to St. Louis on the morning of the 20 th. Their stop was at St. Louis Downtown Airport (Parks) at the Jet Aviation facility. Jet Aviation appears to be some sort of avionics manufacturer. The next stop was a vintage aircraft rally at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Five hundred commemorative watches are flying on the plane for the entire trip. They are traditionally styled Navitimers with an engraved back commemorating the trip. These will be available in October. I am not sure what the price will be, but I wouldn t expect them to be cheap. Richard

6 PAGE 6 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 Gateway s Officers President Richard Etz (314) dretz@sbcglobal.net Vice President Ron Varley (314) ronvarley@aol.com National Delegate Tom Hartman thomasehartman56@charter.net Membership Chairman & Treasurer Dan Forguson (618) aforgus@aol.com Secretary Tom Hartman thomasehartman56@charter.net Social Events Coordinator Marilyn Salini (314) Msalini73@gmail.com INTERIM Newsletter Editor Jim Reiter (636) Ghawebmaster@yahoo.com GHA Webmaster Jim Reiter (636) Ghawebmaster@yahoo.com Don't forget to go to the club website! Members and Guests at meeting Tom Evans Keith Bester Jim Reiter Bandit Bob McElwee John Thousand Jim Cravens Dave Massey Chris Kressler Richard Etz Ron Varley Phil Ellerbrock Dan Gravens Meeting Minutes (Courtesy of Jim Reiter) Financial Report: No Report Old Business Discussed how good Pierce Arrow show was. Cars and Coffee two Healeys present New Business Many car shows and drives coming up. Check Gateway Relay for details

7 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 Page 7 RUMP Lunch at Cousin Hugo s Cousin Hugo s Bob McElwee Keith Bester Tom Evans Richard Etz Steve Nelson Steve Hurst Jim Reiter

8 Page 8 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 July Westport Plaza Cars and Coffee John Lore Ford Street Rod 60 s VW Micro Bus Curt Engler 1920 VW based Bugatti Boat Tail 61 AH 3000

9 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 VOLUME 38,PIAGE SSUE98 Otto Kuhni, creator of the Hot Wheels logo, inspired generations of kids died earlier this year, but his packaging art inspired generations of kids, and will be remembered for generations to come. Austin Healey Hot Wheels from Keith Bester s Collection

10 PAGE 10 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 6 Extinct Classic Car Components That Need to Be Revived Micah Wright As a new design comes to light, it will often replace an older, outdated version in an evolutionary step designed to further the advancements of the automotive industry. This kind of thing has been going on ever sincebertha Benz realized that her husband s brake design was sub-par and invented brakelinings in the late 1800s, and since then we have seen everything from the retirement of leaded gasoline to the discontinuation of using wooden body panels on station wagons. Even modern xenon and HID lights are now on the chopping block as more and more automakers make the switch to externally-mounted LED technology. People don t want old, they want fresh, cutting-edge designs that set new standards for automotive advancements. However, we still have yet to come across a person who doesn t think a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad doesn t look absolutely fantastic, thus reaffirming my suspicion that people love classic car designs regardless of how unsafe or outdated the vehicle may be. So if we re going to revive a handful of vital car components, what would be brought back to market? We gleaned a list of six fantastic classic components that need to be reincarnated along with a slathering of modern know-how. Many of are surprisingly simple, while others were way ahead of their time and only need a refresh before being rereleased. Regardless of their design, all of the parts on this cheat sheet serve a purpose, and we cannot wait to see their reintroduction into the auto industry s busy assembly lines. 1. Quarter glass Wing Windows This was one of those additions to a car, truck, or van that played a crucial roll in keeping people cool in summer when their AC was on the fritz. These miniature wedges of locking glass gave everyone up front plenty of airflow (especially when both sides were angled properly) and were a great way of cracking a window without rolling one down. While this amazing creation began to disappear in the late 1960s in cars, trucks were able to hold onto them considerably longer, with the last of them disappearing a couple decades ago. We just wonder if vent windows led to the coining of the phrase Man, it s hot in here. Crack a window!

11 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 PAGE Fender mirrors We love the idea of having fender-mounted side-view mirrors. Not only do they help the driver keep their eyes where they need to be, facing forward, but they also look pretty badass in the process. This design was especially popular with Japanese automakers like Honda and Datsun, but automakers began to phase them out in the 1970s when people began to complain about the difficulty of manually adjusting a mirror whilst driving. Since most mirrors can be electronically adjusted nowadays we say bring back this awesome style of safety, and let s get back to looking classy! 3. Bench seats Here is a design that actually had a very long run, and according to a report by Cars.com bench seats were not entirely phased out until 2013, when GM finally caved-in and agreed to give the 2014 Chevrolet Impala a bucket seat configuration. Critics blame safety issues and a general lack of interest in the older design as a primary reasons for the bench seat s death; but we still have a love for the design, as it allowed our honey to snuggle up next to us as we bumped down a dusty road and made hedonistic necking possible at a drive-in movie. 4. Shark fins This completely classy and preposterously pointless amenity is about as cool as it comes, and is one of the most recognized staples of countless classic American cars. But with the advent of the muscle car came a need for more streamlined styling (not like it helped much back then), and by the mid 1970s, fins had all but disappeared. So we say bring the fin back, but only if it is tastefully done and follows the original lines of a vehicle like the Chevy you see here. 5. Split front and rear windshields Quite honestly we cannot see why this design was phased out. It isn t like a thin strip of window divider is going to inhibit someone s vision that much while driving, and on the right car it looks absolutely fantastic! A split windshield also allows a driver to replace their windshield for half the cost of a one-piece windscreen. 6. Manual column shifters The manual column shifter was a crucial component on thousands of cars for decades, and was the source behind the saying Three on the tree! as this form of transmission typically only had three gears outside of reverse. This steering column -equipped design played a crucial role in the popularity of the aforementioned bench seat, as it allowed a third person to sit up front.

12 PAGE 12 Events 2017 Aug VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 Aug 19 8:00-10:30am Cars and Coffee Westport Plaza. I270 and Page Aug 24 7 PM GHA Monthly Meeting at Keith Bester s Garage, 115 N Sappington Road, Kirkwood, MO (314) Sept Sept 23 9:00am-3:00pm All British Car Show, Creve Coeur Lake Park. All details in following link: Sep 26 7 PM GHA Monthly Meeting at Keith Bester s Garage, 115 N Sappington Road, Kirkwood, MO (314) Gateway Healey meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month in Keith Bester's garage. Located at 115 N Sappington Rd, Kirkwood, MO Phone

13 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 8 PAGE 13 From the Boot Rubman s Law You always find something in the first place you look the second time. It was reported that at the July Meeting, Dave Massey played a very moving tribute to LM Sonny Tough s passing on the bagpipes. I am very sorry I missed it as I was on vacation. Thank you Dave. This car came by my house the other day. What is it and where did it go? Mystery on the block. jrr Photo by Joe Krekeler The Holiday season is rapidly approaching. Time to start thinking about and ordering your sweetie-pie a nice Lands End sweater or jacket with the GHA Logo embroidered on it. A link to the instructions on how to order can be found on the home page to the GHA Website. Wanted, someone to be new GHA Side Curtain News editor. jrr Join the Gateway Healey Association For information contact Dan Forguson or at aforgus@aol.com