BRISTOL, R.I., June 6-7 — British Motorcars of New England delivered another fine event in conjunction with the local booster group, Explore Bristol Rhode Island (www.explorebristolri.com), that included a Friday morning drive, a visit to the Rhode Island Veterans’ Home, an evening block party and a car show the following day.

BMCNE’s Rick Crosby once again served as tour guide for the drive around the Rhode Island/Massachusetts East Bay area that began at 9 a.m. Friday. Participants were back in time to regroup in Colt State Park for the visit to the nearby Veterans’ Home in the early afternoon.

My partner Faith Lamprey and I, relieved of our usual vendor duties, were able to make the trip to the Veterans’ Home — a recently renovated and nicely landscaped facility — for the first time, and it was fun displaying our car at the Home in the circular drive leading up to the front entrance and chatting and trading jokes with some of the residents. We could see why this has always been a popular feature of the British Motorcars in Bristol weekend.

The customary parade through downtown Bristol to Independence Park for the Friday night block party seemed to draw fewer spectators than usual, but that was probably because this was graduation weekend for the local high school and people’s attention was otherwise diverted. Still, there were British flags displayed in front of several homes and businesses with folks waving and giving us a reason to smile and honk our horns.

A live band, a food truck and a tent serving drafts from a nearby craft brewery awaited us in Independence Park. After a snack and a brew, we wandered across the street with friends from the Cape Cod British Car Club for dinner, being careful with our alcohol consumption as we had to head back home that night.

Saturday morning brought the threat of rain and even thunderstorms, but more than 100 cars showed up at Colt State Park for the show. Austin-Healey was the featured marque. As our classic Mini was in the shop, our MGB was the vehicle of choice this weekend.

New this year was electronic voting, with the ballot accessed by a QR code that listed all the entries. Once in the system, you simply tapped your phone to select a favorite in each class. Everyone knows I absolutely hate QR codes because I always have trouble with them, but once I logged on I was impressed with how easy voting was. Each selection was recorded and by 1 p.m. the system was shut off.

As the votes were tallied immediately, by 2:30 not only were the winners determined and the awards given, but all the tents were put away, the class signs were gathered up and the field was empty! The customary paper ballot method would have required manual counting that would not have been over by that time. So, kudos to BMCNE for instituting the new system.

The only thing I found that was a problem (and it was my fault, really, for not having a spare camera slung around my neck) was that my preoccupation with voting meant I did not use my phone as a camera until it was almost too late. Thus, many pictures “escaped” me, including the Minis that came out for the show. Next year I’ll know better and either not vote, or bounce between voting and taking pictures.

Steven Aoyama’s VTEC station wagon, always a crowd pleaser, scooped Best in Class among the classic Minis, with Michael Walsh’s stock OEW sedan (which I voted for) in second. Sue MacDuff’s 2013 Cooper topped the MINI class.

One last bit I must mention. After making a number of special awards as the show drew to a close, Tom Bernier, BMCNE’s master of ceremonies, called Faith and me up front. On behalf of the club, he saluted our work on British Marque Car Club News and gave us a beautiful handcrafted wooden plaque to commemorate our retirement, a grille badge from our friends in the Delaware Valley Classic MG Chapter (another club to which we belong), and a very special scrapbook assembled by BMCNE member Mallory Walsh with congratulatory greetings from dozens of the Marque’s Participating Clubs. This was an emotional experience and I hope I conveyed our gratitude to BMCNE, which had been with us from the very first issue in 1990, adequately in the remarks I made after the presentation.

Thanks, BMCNE, and congratulations on another excellent British Motorcars in Bristol.

WATERFORD, Conn., Jun. 1 — The Connecticut MG Club managed another rainless, albeit windy day at this year’s “British by the Sea” gathering at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford. An eye-popping array of British vehicles of all sorts — easily topping 300, I heard 340 from a couple of people — filled the field, with the largest number of Land Rovers I’ve seen at any multi-marque show, including Stowe. There were four rows of them, classic and modern, 30 at least and more likely 40.

The featured marque/model was MGA, and Robert Daddario’s beautiful example, registered as a 1963 model, was Best of Show.

NEMO’s own Mark Fodor topped the Mini Classic class with his 1962 Austin. Raymond Lewis’ 1963 Austin made second, and Lorine and Derick Karabec, up from Ulster Park, N.Y., landed third with their 1962 Wolseley Hornet.

A Clubman won the New Mini class, but it wasn’t my partner Faith Lamprey’s BRG 2019. It was a stunning black-on-black 2010 model owned by Derek Shepard. Steve Barrow’s 2012 Cooper S was second, and Scott Baylock’s 2021 GP3, also black-on-black, came third.

Among the NEMO cars in the Classic class were the familiar “Thurd” of Dave Black and Sebastien Geerens’ 1981 Rover Mini 1000, which he advertised as a “Belgian car” on his windscreen card.

Another NEMO member attending was Dave Icaza, but he brought a Triumph TR3B to the show instead of his 1969 Austin Countryman.

Along with the Land Rovers, the Morgans and Lotus also had their customary impressive displays. But there were rare cars, too, most notably a Dellow MkIIB Trials Car that was shown at the Lime Rock Historic Festival last year and featured in British Marque Car Club News.

There was also an MG TD sporting a Ford engine, I suspect from a junked Mustang. The lump fit nicely in the engine bay though the very concept would make a T Series purist shudder.

Missing among the vendors lined up on the right side of the field was British Marque as this was the first event Faith and I attended since the Marque ended publication. It was a little strange, but kind of nice that the only things we had to worry about was that our car looked presentable enough to show and there was enough gas in it to get us to Waterford and back.

PUTNAM, Conn., May 4 — Eighteen members attended the NEMO planning meeting at the Black Dog Bar and Grille in Putnam, CT. We shared the agenda in advance, which included the topic of how the club will communicate with members when British Marque Car Club News ceases publication after the May issue.

There was a cocktail hour until people on the reservation list arrived. A few additional members who were not on the list also showed up. Fortunately, there was plenty of space in the room, and the restaurant had already set extra places.

After lunch, prior to the start of the meeting, Dave and Barbara Newman gave Faith Lamprey and Bruce Vild a huge thanks and a plaque commemorating their years of service in publishing the British Marque. The plaque includes the NEMO logo and the message, “Thank You For 35 Years of the British Marque Car Club News.” This was well deserved, and the message was echoed by many other clubs in the May issue of British Marque.

Next, we moved on to the meeting agenda.

Dave Newman had proposed several of the agenda items, and he led off by asking whether NEMO should host a future Mini Meet East. NEMO ran this event twice in the past, as did Brits of the Hudson with some NEMO support. Mini Meet East requires a huge amount of work, and no one at the meeting expressed an interest in taking it on.

I followed up with the topic of communicating with members after the final NEMO newsletter is published in the Marque. In the fall, I priced out several email services and concluded that ConstantContact was our best alternative. They provide a large variety of message templates that include newsletters and surveys.

A related topic was upgrading the NEMO website. The current site is hosted on the British Marque server, which is on life support. The site was created using old web development tools and cannot be imported as is to a new host. I also researched web hosting services in the fall, and recommend moving to WordPress. It is one of the best-known services and provides a lot of website templates to use as a starting point.

NEMO member Sebastien Geerens told the group he is working on a driving rally with a lunch stop (date to be determined.)

Other topics included the dues structure and amount starting July 1st, and the benefits received by paying members versus non-members who only subscribe to the Google Group or social networking sites. NEMO currently has 53 paying households, some of whom are couples, so the number of individuals is higher. Dave Newman pointed out that there are free MINI clubs that simply have a Facebook page and don’t charge dues.

The question was raised that without British Marque, is there continued value of a paid club? I joined NEMO to meet other classic Mini owners, and for the technical expertise and repair help. There are some very skilled mechanics in NEMO, several of whom work on British cars for a living. I like to check with club experts, not just rely on the myriad of on-line repair information (some of which is wrong.) At the meeting, I spoke with Derick Karabec and Dave Icaza about replacing the rear wheel bearing in my 1968 Mini with a Timkin tapered roller bearing. They both told me not to torque the hub bolt to 60 pounds, even though the Workshop Manual and on-line sites say to do so. Also, I just completed a full brake replacement on my Mini, and was in frequent contact with Dave Black and Iain Barker for advice. Case in point!

We ultimately agreed to keep the $20 annual dues. This will be used to pay for ConstantContact, the new web host, and a consultant to help develop a new website. The newsletter will be sent out via ConstantContact and hopefully will be posted on the existing website until the new site is available. These decisions will be revisited in about six months.

Get involved? How?

Newsletter Editor needed

Meet other Mini/MINI owners! Have fun with photos! Research new events! Publicize events! Earn the club’s eternal gratitude!

After 11 years of serving as the newsletter editor, I am ready to pass along the job. I’m happy to help a new editor get started and will continue to write some articles. Please let me know if you’re interested.

Also needed:

• Authors for newsletter articles

• Additional ConstantContact administrators to write and send messages

• Developer to create/maintain the new website (experience necessary)

• Posting content on the new website

• Planning and running events

Please contact me at dschwartz1957@gmail.com

The Bay State Motor Festival will take place on June 8th, 2025 at Cushing Memorial Park in Framingham, Mass. The Festival will celebrate the history of automobile manufacturing in Massachusetts, as well as showcasing classic and vintage cars from around the world.

NEMO member Ken Lemoine is the executive director of the Festival. He reached out to local British car clubs to welcome them to the event and encourage members to attend with their cars. An area will be set aside for British cars to park together.

Of the seven million cars made in Massachusetts, 4.6 million were made in Framingham at the General Motors plant from 1947 to 1989. Twenty-five hundred cars were built at the Bay State Manufacturing Company in Framingham from 1922 to 1925. Ken owns the last known surviving Bay State sedan, which will be on display at the Festival.

A Made-in-Massachusetts display will feature Springfield-built Rolls-Royces and Indian motorcycles, a Waltham-built Metz, Newton-built Stanley Steamers, Natick-built Northway trucks and others.

Vehicle pre-registration is $25, show-day registration is $30, and spectators are free. Show vehicles can arrive starting at 8 a.m. The show opens to the general public at 9 a.m.

See the event website https://baystatemotorfestival.com for additional information.

BROOKLINE, Mass. — From May through October, the Larz Anderson Auto Museum (LAAM) holds a monthly “Cars & Coffee.” These are free events, including complimentary admission to the Museum (a true bargain as Museum-sponsored car shows have gotten very expensive). The official hours are 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., though participants start arriving by 7:30. There is no advance registration.

If you are bringing a vehicle, plan to arrive by 8 a.m. or you may be closed out. The free espresso bar is located in front of the main Museum entrance. The barista works very hard and deserves a good tip.

Last year I attended the June 8th event. It was a bright, sunny day, and when I arrived at 8 a.m. volunteers were already directing cars to the lower (overflow) lawn.

There is always a good turnout of British cars, plus many other marques representing a wide range of years. Every Cars & Coffee has some rare or unusual vehicles. It is worth attending multiple events as you never know what will show up.

Several classic Minis were present at the one I attended. They included Adam Blake’s 1967 Austin Cooper S and a black Mini with a white roof I was not familiar with. There was a single MINI, a Triumph Spitfire, a Triumph TR250, a Lotus Elan, a recent-vintage Lotus (Emira?), a Rolls-Royce, a Jaguar E-type, and an Austin-Healey 3000.

It was a challenge identifying vehicle models and years since the Museum does not give out window tags for the show cars. I suggest bringing your own sign.

The oldest car was a 1930-ish Model A Ford pickup truck. Numerous recent-production American and foreign vehicles were there as well, including a Maserati and several Ferraris.

Plenty of American and foreign classics from the 1950s and 1960s were also present. My favorite American car was a 1951 Frazer Manhattan four-door hardtop. Only 152 Manhattan hardtops were built, and the owner said he still has the original engine, transmission and differential.

My favorite foreign car was the rare 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300d Adenauer. Only 3,077 were built from 1957 to 1962. This Mercedes is pillar-less, features removable rear quarter windows, and uses the same engine as the more famous Gullwing.

There were several Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) kei cars on the field, including a Nissan Figaro and a 1992 Suzuki Cappuccino. The Cappuccino is a two-seater roadster with a detachable hardtop, produced from 1991 to 1998. I had not seen a Cappuccino before. (It was certainly appropriate for a Cars & Coffee!)

The most unusual JDM car was a 1993 Toyota Sera. This is a three-door hatchback coupe featuring butterfly doors, which are similar to gullwing doors but hinged at the top center of the windshield. Toyota built 15,941 Seras, and fewer than 150 are in the U.S.

Other foreign vehicles included a 1989 Trabant station wagon, a Citroën 2CV Charleston in maroon and black, and the truly unusual 1977 Pinzgauer 712K six-wheel drive off-road military vehicle. The Pinzgauer was built in Austria by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and has been used by many armies around the world.

Two British cars were displayed inside the Museum, a 1951 Jaguar XK120 Fixed Head Coupe and a 1951 Rover 75 P4 Cyclops. The P4 was the first car produced by Rover following the Second World War. A center-mounted fog light led to the name Cyclops. These cars were part of the featured exhibit, “Revolutionizing the Road: Post-World War II Car Design in Europe & America.” The exhibit ranged from high-end cars such as a 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, to people’s cars such as a 1947 VW Beetle and a Fiat 500 Giardiniera.

The first LAAM Cars & Coffee of 2025 is scheduled for Saturday, May 10th. A new Museum exhibit, “Shifting Perspectives: The Japanese Car Revolution,” is due to open that day.

There is always a huge show car turnout for the first Cars & Coffee of the season. You should plan to arrive well before 8 a.m.!

NEMO and the North American British car community owe a vote of thanks to Faith Lamprey and Bruce Vild for the huge effort they have put in over many years to edit and publish British Marque Car Club News. I will miss reading newsletters from clubs around the country, having several favorite writers whose articles in the Marque I look forward to every month.

The quality of the British Marque copy has always been high, no doubt due to Faith’s editorial and spelling fixes. On a personal note, I want to thank Bruce for squeezing in so many photos with my articles even when space is at a premium. I take lots of photos of rare and unusual vehicles, and Bruce always humors me by printing pictures of non-British cars in the Marque.

We wish Faith and Bruce all the best in their retirement and hope to see them more often at area car events.

BACKBARROW, Lake District, England — As promised, here is my third and final article on Motor Museums in England.

In addition to those I wrote about previously, my trip with the Morris Minor Registry of North America also visited the Lakeland Motor Museum.

On the day of our visit, the weather was gray and rainy, and we arrived at the Museum the same time as a Brass Era car club. The cars all had hoods (convertible tops), but were completely open on the sides. Think about that the next time you don’t want to drive your classic Mini in the rain! Ford Model Ts were in abundance, and there were several unfamiliar marques including the Scottish-built Arrol-Johnston.

The Museum website states they have over 30,000 exhibits, including 140 cars, trucks and motorbikes. A variety of small airplanes were suspended from the ceiling, and there were several 1960s-era faux storefronts and a 1930s-era car repair shop.

There was an entire gallery of pedal cars, and a bicycle collection dating back to 1870. Costumed mannequins occupied some vehicles, and some interiors contained period products. Every inch of wall space was covered with automobilia. An incongruous advertisement for Exide car batteries showed a picture of a smiling baby playing with a toy car.

Of course there was a focus on British vehicles, but there were also French, Italian, German, Swedish and American cars. British cars included a 1937 SS Jaguar 100, a 1936 Austin Seven, a 1964 Peel P50, a 1965 Peel Trident, a 1957 Austin A35 (with a loose metal child car seat in the back), a 1931 MG M-type Midget, a 1960 MGA Police Specification Roadster, and a 1968 Triumph TR5. The lone classic Mini was a 1990 Mini Cooper Limited Edition.

For motorcycle fans, there was a 1948 Vincent Black Lightning, as well as other historic British marques.

I did a double-take at the huge Smurf collection under the hatchback of a blue Ford Fiesta. Smurfs were very popular in Britain in the late 1970s and ’80s, when petrol stations gave them away as promotions and sold them in their shops. The blue, white and yellow color scheme of one petrol chain matched that of the Smurfs.

I counted four Citroëns — a 1921 Type A 10CV, a 1952 Model 11BL, a 1990 2CV6 Dolly, and a late model DS. American cars included a 1920 Model T Delivery Truck manufactured in Manchester, a Buick and a Corvette. Germany was represented by an Amphicar, a Messerschmitt KR200, and a Trabant.

There were far too many vehicles to list them all, but these were some of the highlights.

It was difficult to pick a single favorite vehicle, though the 1960 MGA Police Roadster was at the top of my list. The car was driven by male and female mannequins wearing police uniforms. There were flashing lights, police signage, and public address megaphones mounted at the front and rear. Controls for these accessories were mounted in the dash where the radio would normally reside. The MGA was a variation of the 1600 Deluxe/Twin Cam specification, with larger battery carriers to handle the extra electrical equipment.

It was amusing to see a Peel P50 and Peel Trident parked next to each other. The P50 holds the record as being the world’s smallest street legal motor vehicle. It weighs only 130 lbs., is powered by a 49cc moped engine, and lacks a reverse gear.

Many readers no doubt have seen the Top Gear episode where Jeremy drives a P50 to work at the BBC, then into the building, into the elevator, and around the office corridors. The Peel Trident is not much bigger. It tips the scale at 198 lbs., uses the same moped engine, and is optionally a two-seater.

The Museum owns about 50 pedal cars, many of which are a good match to their 1:1 scale counterpart. Most had their steering wheel in the center, though a few larger models were right-hand-drive. Marques included Austin, Jaguar, Lotus, MG, Morgan and Land Rover. The Morgan Aero Super Sports 3-wheeler had working headlights and a non-working replica of the V-twin engine.

The most noteworthy bike was a 1930 Tricycle with two front wheels and a single rear wheel. The Tricycle is believed to have been built in Bath and was powered by a front-mounted Micromoteur Propellor two-stroke engine, which the French company Labinal sold to be added to bicycles. According to the Museum, the engine did a fine job keeping the rider cool but did little to reduce the pedaling effort. I have never understood the French fascination with mounting propellers on vehicles other than planes.

Making only slightly more sense than the Tricycle was a 1936 French home-built aeroplane known as Le Pou du Ciel (the Flying Flea). The Museum’s example was fitted with a Scott Flying Squirrel motorcycle engine. The engine had only five working parts, with no valves, valve gear or tappets.

About 120 Flying Fleas were registered to fly in England. However, the designer had a poor knowledge of aerodynamics, and the planes began to fall out of the sky. The British Air Ministry withdrew its permit to fly following three fatal accidents, each involving experienced pilots.

There was a second building that contained replicas of world speed record cars and boats as a tribute to the racing career of Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald Campbell. Adjacent to the Museum was a 1950s-style café featuring local specialties such as sticky toffee pudding.

If your travel plans include the Lake District of England, I recommend allotting a half day to visit the Lakeland Motor Museum. Their website https://www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk/ shows a subset of their collection.