With the 2010 Driving Season in full swing there is not so much to talk about other than the actual events themselves. July saw two of them, the One Tank Tour "On Blackhawk's Trail" and the 14th Annual Road America Camping Trip. You'll find a full report on the One Tank Tour courtesy of Scott Boyer in this issue. Ten MG's, including a Midget, an A, several B's, a C, and a RV8, plus a TR6, a Mini, a Miata, and a Corvette participated in Jim and Lois' second One Tank Tour and I think that they found an excellent concept for a new type of event for years to come. The camping trip saw a little bit of a decline in participation this year despite Editor John Kearns' great job in presenting the background of Brian Redman. Maybe the hot weather and threat of a thunderstorm held some regulars to the event at home this year.
The club also saw a caravan of MG's drive all the way to Belleville, Ontario, in Canada for the 19th Annual NAMGBR Convention. And although this convention is too big to be considered a Chicagoland MG Club Driving Event, it is certainly worth noting that a group of very committed members attends this long distance event every year. Champions are Roger and Shirley Goebbert who attended all 19 of them! A full report of the trip would probably take this entire issue of the Driveline, but you'll find a report from Steve and Beth Gorr on their success in the Track Day that was part of the NAMGBR convention.
The report on the Secrets of Jo Daviess County Tour from George Phariss didn't make it into the July issue, so you will find it here.
You may wonder why I am putting so much emphasis on the driving event reports. Well, the answer is quite simple. We want to make sure that those who participated in the events share the experience with the members who were not able to attend. And hopefully these enthusiastic stories will bring out more MG's for next year's version, or even better, to the events that are still to come in the 2010 Driving Season calendar.
Speaking of the events to come. The Driveline will be too late for the Vintage Transportation Extravaganza, August 1, but you will find everything you need for the Lucas Memorial Night Rally and Orphan Car Picnic in this edition.
Dave and Sue Tucker's Lucas Memorial Night Rally will be a unique blend of urban roads, with well-lit signs for the gimmick questions, along with winding and hilly roads in the dark wooded South West suburbs. Saturday August 21 is only a few days before Full Moon and if you haven't had the “topdown-clear-sky-bright-moon” experience yet, this is going to be your chance.
After that Bill and Scotty Cole are coordinating the Orphan Car Picnic which we will share with the Vintage MG Car Club of Chicago -- a great opportunity to see some older MG's and meet friends from our sister club!
And if you think that that is not enough for the Month of August please note that Carl Vogel of the Vintage Club has invited us to participate in their Tally Ho Rally on Sunday August 15 in the Barrington area. If space allows, you'll find an announcement in this newsletter, otherwise give Carl a call at (847) 304-0633

…and, finally, but not least of all:

2010 Driving Season updated
POINT STANDING
LEADERS
for our traveling trophies:
(the full list can be found onthe Club Website).

Moss Motors Cup for Driver of the Year:
Jim Evans 14; Barney Gaylord 11; Dan Herman 10; Tom Holzman 9; Victor L'Heureux 9.
Victoria British Cup for Navigator of the Year:
Lois Evans 11; Nancy Herman 10; Penny L'Heureux 9; Susan Arata 8; Teresa Gaylord 8

I hope to see many of you at these events because,
“The more you drive, the more you smile”
-- Reinout Vogt

(And, as I found out on our last tour when I let my wife drive for the first time, apparently "The more you navigate, the more you vomit!" You can get quite carsick if you keep your head down reading the rally sheet. So don't underestimate the Navigators! –Editor.)

Vintage Transport Extravaganza Recap Part One Planes, Trains and Automobiles August 1, 2010 Hold the presses! Maybe Tour Master Paul Urquhart will forgive me if I slip in a timely Transpo Extravaganza mini-recap “lite”, in order to plug the First Ever World Micro/Mini Car Meet coming up August 21-22 in Crystal Lake, since his friend, Ken Weger, is one of the organizers. A beautiful day to be sure, winding around the country roads of the Crystal Lake environs in our '80 LE! Definitely the highlight of the Extravaganza was the guided tour graciously conducted by Ken of his private micro and mini-car museum and workshop in Crystal Lake, which was the rally end. Juliana and I were the last to finish. Why did we finish last? Here, buried in the middle of the paragraph, is the reason: I navigated. And the directions were pretty simple, too. OK, I wasn't paying attention. Yes, this was the first time Juliana drove the MGB! Yeah. And she had a great time driving, loved the car, did great -- and my clutch is still OK! And driving made the rally a really worthwhile experience for her -- except for me getting us lost and coming in at Ken's place last. …Not much pizza left! So therefore, I hereby propose a NAVIGATOR‘S RALLY, where the usual crews switch position. It is time for Women's Lib, my brothers. Then you get to look around more and enjoy the countryside (but pay attention to the directions!) And you might have to move the seat! Well, I hope we can get more details in next month about the Extravaganza, and maybe more pictures -- Ken Weger's “Warehouse of Wonders” was really like Santa's Workshop! I am sure Paul will give us the official Extravaganza results for next month's Driveline. -- Part Two next month? —John Kearns