[Staowners] Report from the British Invasion. Stowe VT.

[CotaLymepond at aol.com]

Greetings all ... As some of you may know Frank Jenkins and I  entered his 
Sunbeam Alpine Special which I restored, in this years Concours  De'Elegance at 
the annual all British Stowe VT. show.
 Friday afternoon, the next days weather forecast was not looking  good, so 
we decided to bring the car up then, before the rain began, as I  only have an 
open trailer and we figured it would be better off getting wet on  the field 
in the rain, than getting covered with road slop on the trip up the  next 
morning.
 However when we got there, They said we couldn't leave the car on the  field 
as they weren't sure where the Concours was going to take place, (they  were 
leaving that decision to the very last minute because of the rain). Someone  
in charge gave us permission to leave the car inside the main tent overnight,  
only with the agreement that it Absolutely Had to be moved outside  first 
thing in the morning. Frank was staying in Stowe that night so we figured  he 
would come over early and move it out. Well, to everyone's surprise when  he got 
there it wouldn't start for him. attempts to push it by hand were  unsuccessful 
and desperate phone calls were made to me on the road. I was about  halfway 
to Stowe at the time and had no tools with me, (after all, I brought the  car 
up on a trailer and didn't plan on driving it, Why would I need tools ???  
SILLY ME !! )
Anyway, I arrived and after a "Laying on of hands" and with the very  last of 
the battery, got it going and moved her into the proper place. and set  about 
cleaning her up for the judges. Meanwhile the showers were turning into a  
somewhat steady rain and the whole field became a mudhole.
 Eventually it was our turn for the judges scrutiny, alas  there were chips 
in the paint, one parklite was out, and horror of horrors  the battery was flat 
(the car has to run to be eligible for  competition). 
The situation looked bleak ... Then it struck me ... There's a hand  crank in 
the trunk ... I retrieved the crank, stuck it in place, and after  a couple 
of mighty pulls the old girl roared to life, with much cheering and  applause 
from all in attendance. I held my "Lucas" starter aloft  and proclaimed "They 
said it has to start, they didn't say it had to be  with the key" ... again 
with much cheering from the masses! 
 At that point we were back in the competition, so I ran to the  autojumble 
and found a replacement bulb. (still nothing I could do about the  paint chip, 
but dammit all the lights would work). So with the rain pouring  down, mud up 
to our ankles, the awards ceremony postponed till the next  day, Many 
exquisite cars in attendance, and our spirits dampened we left for  home, I would come 
back the next day to pick up the Alpine. 
 Sunday the field was still muddy but the clouds disappeared, the sun  came 
out, and the tops came off.
There would be some salvage to this show afterall ... meanwhile the awards  
were getting underway and lo and behold we came away with a second place ribbon 
 in the Concours De'Elegance competition !!! 
An absolutely perfect black MGA coupe took best of show, and we were  best'ed 
in the concours by an absolutely stunning 1934 Jaguar, a 100 point  long door 
TR2, and a beautiful Rover 3500 saloon,
 I managed to start her a total of three times with the hand crank,  
including a cold start first thing in the morning, and then when it came  our time to 
parade by the awards area, she fired right up proper.
 <> Cheers <>  Steve and Frank  <>



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