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First a shout out to Clark and Ilene for a great party despite a 3 minute down-pour minutes before the party started. The food was wonderful and so was the hospitality. Thanks again for a great time. November 10th was our day at the Daytona Museum of Arts and Science. Under the threat of rain we had a small but good turn-out. Good in that we may have 4 new members. We also enjoyed touring the art studio and Planetarium nar-ration.
I even received some hints on installing my nemesis the dim-mer switch in the MGA from one of the new members. I haven’t tried it yet but I will soon, when I feel lucky. We welcome the new members as well as our old members to our Dec 9th ABCC Christmas Party at Spruce Creek Park from 12 pm to 4 pm. Hope to see eve-ryone there!
Safety Fast
Deb
President’s Message
The British Connection December 2018 Volume 2018 Issue 12
2018
ABCC Officers
President - Steve Bradley
Vice-President - Gary Thomas
Secretary - Debi Bradley
Treasurer - Gene Schoonmaker
Editor – Bob Storke
Presidents Message 1
Top 10 list of Automotive
ideas
2
ABCC Upcoming Activities 4
Upcoming Events 5
Inside this issue:
The British Connection Volume 2018 Issue 12
6.PUSH BUTTON AND PADDLE SHIFTERS: I've driven a lot of cars in my day, both automatics and stick boxes. Please
pick one or the other. I cannot see the connection you get to the car and your driving enjoyment by pressing a button to shift up or
down a gear (unless of course you are disabled and this allows you to drive in conjunction with other hand controls). Most of these
push button shifters have our old friend the computer program that controls them. This assures your utmost pleasurable experience
when driving a “stick" by overriding any bad decisions you may make as a driver. Select a gear the computer deems "too low" for
given specific inputs to the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) and it simply chooses the correct one - "That's OK Mr. Driver, we knew
in theory what you wanted to achieve so v/e took care of it for you". Buying a car with a paddle or push button shifter does not
make you an F1 driver. F1 drivers have had Paddle shift for years now. But let's face it, these guys have a whole lot more to do at
180 MPH than you or I can imagine. Not to mention the space constraints don't really allow for the knee flex needed to engage and
disengage a clutch - which brings me to the next item.
7. RAW HORSEPOWER: We all like to go fast. I'm as guilty as the next guy in that department. But when is it enough? I
like a car that I can use all of its potential. Driving a car at eighth throttle, because any more tosses it out of control doesn't make
sense to me. Some of these production supercars are getting ridiculous. I won't name names because I know I'd be stepping into a
shark tank here. Some of you out there may own a production car that has some incredible "out of the box" HP. But let's be honest,
most of us cannot utilize that unholy amount of go power. Admit it, most cases it's a matter of more car than we are driver. We all
break the local speed limits one time or another but with some of these cars it would be sheer madness to open them up even if you
were a driver up to the task. Burning tires, stoplight to stoplight is fun (despite highly not recommended) but burning rubber in
every gear? Really now, what good is that. Power out of control is as simple as
expended energy to no real gain. Give me a car that launches hooks and goes, one that accelerates like a rocket in a straight line,
not squirming all over the place every time I tap the throttle. Couple that with lots of useable torque and I’m happy. HP
numbers for HP sake sure sells cars but let’s get a grip here (Sorry no pun intended)
8. COMPUTER TOUCH SCREENS: The first time I came across this was when I read about it in Autoweek. I think it was in
the hew BMW's called I-drive or something. Here the idea was turning a knob for the A/C fan speed or pushing a switch to adjust
the seat was not good enough. Designers thought we needed a more evolved process, you know, make it better. So now there is a
computer screen in the console that controls everything. Instead of a single twist of a switch, it was now "easier" to all up the Cli-
mate Control screen, touch A/C, look for the Fan Control menu, choose high, medium, low (who knows, probably medium-low,
medium-high, super high, extreme cool, initial cool, high cycle cool...). Now on to the Temperature Control screen to set the ther-(Continued on page 3)
Pg. 2
Top ten list of automotive ideas (Continued) By: Ken Caskey Kidd Damn's Restorations & Custom Built Cars
The British Connection Volume 2018 Issue 12 Page 3
FOR SALE
1962 Morgan +4 and 1960 TR 3A, Contact Vince Owen at [email protected]
1975 MGB shell. Contact Daniel Richardson at 321-578-0201 September
1973 TR6 Red with tan interior, 4 speed with OD. Asking $14,500. Contact Ryan Owen [email protected] or 832 715 4288 (Texas) October
mostat. Now, finally you had the A/C system adjusted to your liking. Until of course you need to adjust it again, at which point
you'd say screw it and roll down a window.
9. DRIVE BY WIRE: This one scares the hell out of me. OK, first they decided it was "better" to have the accelerator pedal
send an electrical pulse to our buddy the ECU (Electronic Control Unit, Computer Control Unit, pick one they're all evil) to pro-
cess the position and then send the info to the throttle body. So if I have a computer failure the worst that would happen is that I'd
be stuck on the side of the road (I don't know about you, but for me it's always in the middle of the night -which is why I don't ven-
ture out in the middle of night anymore, well that, and I'm usually asleep by 10:00). But now in the constant effort to forge new
ideas into our vehicles, we have Electronic Parking Brakes or E brakes (no longer called an Emergency brake - too scary I guess).
Pull up on the "E" brake handle and a signal is sent to the brakes to "engage". OK, this one could cost me my life, maybe. But
again probably, if I'm lucky (and I am not), just a little accident involving a tree if my brakes fail. But wait, if my brakes fail how is
it my electronic "E" brake will work? Hummmmm. Oh by the way that's next -braking by wire. Say it isn't so you ask. Sadly yes.
It's coming. What's worse so is “Steer by Wire”. All this brought to you by the same geniuses of engineering and technology that
designed such things as the home computer, Windows, and the cell phone. All wonderful ideas that function flawlessly day in and
day out.
10. ECUs, CCUs, SENSORS and BLACK BOXES: These are the enemy. Anytime I need to fix anything anymore (if I can
even diagnose the [problem without a $1200 laptop and accompanying software ($$$) I am facing the inevitable "black box" that
is near impossible to located and almost certainly can never be repaired. What's going on in there? Who knows, right? Just replace
it. I know that's the problem because that's what the computer tells me it is. Oh all right, it isn't all that bad right? Well, to me yes
it is. You see this means once again you and I are out of the loop. The learning curve to fix even the simplest thing is ridiculous
anymore. We have to spend more time learning how to fix the problem than actually fixing the problem. And today now more
than ever the consumer is the guinea pig. Any glitches in the software and things go wrong that absolutely make no sense to us
now. We trusted the genius who designed this to make it work.- now what? What's even more alarming is that GM has for some
time now (4 to 5 years) included a "black box" much like the ones on airliners. These boxes are there to gather information (read
evidence) during the occurrence of an accident. The box will record such things as speed at impact, when and at how hard the
brakes were applied, and so much more in the name of "safety". It couldn't be that auto insurance companies would use this rec-
orded information against you in case of a serious accident could it? Naaaahhhhhhh. GM just wants to keep us safe, right? (Yeah
right, see #1 AIR BAGS). I trust the software and related technology to be infallible don't you? I can't help but feel as our vehicles
get more and more complicated they become less and less enjoyable to own. For me, given a choice of any cool car I could own,
cost notwithstanding, I cannot think of any "new" car I could choose. A large part of this reputed "love affair" between man (or
woman) and the automobile is the involvement in what it takes to keep the thing running. Jay Leno once said "I like cars that need
me". Is it any wonder kids today opt for all the "bolt on" cosmetic goodies rather than the "hop up" stuff we used to look forward
to installing on the engine? Other than a "chip" what can you do, really? Exhaust systems and a fart can maybe. Any truly signifi-
cant mod to the performance is out of the question -and more importantly - beyond the budget of most new drivers.
(Continued from page 2)
The British Connection Volume 2018 Issue 12
Page 4
Celebrations
By: Gene
Birthdays for December
Gene Schoonmaker – 1st
Steve Miller 8th
Tom Fansher 13th
Toni Miller 13th
Frank Herbert 28th
Cars Wanted: Jaguar, XK-XKE, MG-T series, MGA, Tri-umph TR-2 -3-4-250 Mercedes 190, 220, 230, 250, 280SL, Porsche 356, 911, 912, 914, Austin Healey, Riley, Alfa-Romeo, Singer, Mustang 1964-1967, Ford Model-T -A, Karmann Ghia, Volvo P1800. Steve’s British Connection 630-553- 9023, Cell 708-772-5404, Email [email protected]. Actively buying cars for over 20 years, any condition, fast payment and pick-up. Generous finder’s fees.
2018 ABCC Upcoming Club Activities
DECEMBER 9 - ABCC Christmas Party. Spruce Creek Park
NOVEMBER 15 Deltona Christmas Parade.
Do you have an idea for an event? Contact Steve at [email protected]
The British Connection Volume 2018 Issue 12
Page 5
UPCOMING EVENTS
DECEMBER 7-9, 2018 VDCA Season Finale. Roebling Roads Raceway, Bloomingdale, GA. -
www.vintagedrive.com/
DECEMBER 9, 2018 ABCC Christmas Party. Spruce Creek Park - [email protected]
JANUARY 4-6, 2019 “Roar before the Rolex 24” IMSA test days. Daytona, FL - http://www.imsa.com/
JANUARY 3-13, 2019 Mecum Auction. Kissimmee, FL. - www.Mecum.com
JANUARY 21, 2018 SCCA SOLO II (Autocross). DeLand Airport, DeLand, FL – www.cfrsolo2.com
JANUARY 23-27, 2019 Cavallino Classic, Ferrari Gathering. Palm Beach, FL. – http://www.cavallinoclassic.com/
JANUARY 24–25, 2019 BMW Endurance Challenge. Daytona Beach, FL - http://sportscarchallenge.imsa.com/
JANUARY 24-27, 2019 Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. Daytona Beach, FL. – http://www.imsa.com/
FEBRUARY 10, 2019 Sir John Black’s Birthday, drive your Triumph day. – Worldwide event
FEBRUARY 22-24, 2019 Boca Raton Concours d' Elegance. Boca Raton, FL - www.bocaratonconcours.com
FEBRUARY 22-24, 2019 Winter Florida Autofest. Lakeland. FL. http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle-
events/default.aspx
FEBRUARY 17, 2019 26th Annual All Brit Car Show. Boca Raton, FL - www.goldcoastbritcar.com/
FEBRUARY 28 - MARCH 3, 2019 Spring Vintage Classic (SVRA) Sebring Raceway, Sebring, FL - www.svra.com/
APRIL 11-14, 2019 51st Annual GOF South. Daytona Beach, FL - https://www.mgclassics.org/gofsouth
1122 E. Wisconsin Ave. Orange City, FL 32763
We're on the Web
www.volusiabritishcars.com
OUR MISSION To encourage the preservation and enjoyment of all of British cars
A L L B R I T I S H C A R C L U B O F V O L U S I A C O U N T Y
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