Event Review

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16 ANNUAL M.G.s ON THE ROCKS' CAR SHOW & PARTS MARKET

The M.G.s of Baltimore, Ltd. Car Club did it again with their annual gathering held on Saturday, 30th September at Rocks State Park, near the town of Bel Air, Maryland. This year's event proved to be bigger and better than last. With over 200 cars on the show field and 16 in the For Sale area, not to mention at least 25 vendors, the day was spectacular for both the participants and the Club.

The day began early for the show's workers as they started to arrive at 6.00 a.m. to set up the show field, get the pit beef cooking on the barbie and be ready to greet the vendors. The field was opened to the show cars at 9.00 a.m. and they were already queued up well before 9.00 wanting to get that spot in the front row.

As the morning progressed, the show field became a sea of M.G.s.

This year, one of the oldest M.G.s ever to enter the Rocks was Rob Martin's 1934 PA. In addition to this classic there were more MGTs and MGAs at the show than anyone can remember in its 16 year run. However, the MGB both roadster and GT were by far in the majority, with a combined number totalling well past 100.

For the third year in a row, the event was open to all British cars, and they made a good showing too, with our 25 other British cars on the field. Triumph was the largest of the other marques represented. It was decided, based on the number of Triumphs pre-registered, to have a five judge panel present awards to the two best cars in this new class. Other British marques on hand were: Jaguar, Austin, TVR, Hillman, Morgan and Land Rover.

To entertain the crowd at the show, the club arranged for some bagpipers to wander the field, lending an air of authenticity to the event. There was a dee-jay playing British Invasion hits of the 60s over the public address system. Door prizes which were donated to the Club by Moss Motors, Ltd., The Roadster Factory, M.G. Magazine, Crossroads Auto Systems, Castrol Motor Oil, Victoria British and British Car Magazine to name a few (space doesn't allow me to name them all) were given away every half hour starting at 11.00.

The Club served up the usual pit beef, hot dogs and baked goods, this time around with sales being greater than expected. The Latrobe Brewing Company donated Rolling Rock beer to the club for the show, figuring that their brew was appropriately named to be the official beer for the event. The Rolling Rock beer was well received and the Club hopes that the brewer will do the same for next year's M.G.s On The Rocks .

The show has always received a great deal of support from the other M.G. and British car clubs located in the nearby states and this year was no exception. The M.G.s of Baltimore, Ltd. presented an award for the best participation by another club and for what seems like eternity the LANCO M.G. Club (Lancaster County M.G. Club) of Pennsylvania has walked away with it. This year there was a challenge to them by a newcomer, The British Car Club of Delaware (all marques). Their President Ed Barlow told his membership of 150 that he was tired of seeing LANCO take this award home and it was time for their club to have it. It didn't quite happen that way; LANCO M.G. Club won it by two cars. It still was a pretty good showing for a club that has only been around for a year.

Some of the other clubs whose members were in attendance this year were: The M.G. Car Club Washington, DC Centre, The M.G. Car Club Central Jersey Centre, Keystone M.G. Club, British Motor Club of South Jersey, The Chesapeake Chapter of The New England T Register, The North American MGB Register, The North American MGA Register and The American MGB Association.

The awards presentation began at 4.00 p.m., a little later than in the past due to the volume of ballots that were cast in this popular vote event. The awards were presented at the owners cars again this year after receiving so much good feedback from the owners and spectators at last year's show. As the crowd walked to the winning cars the announcer would call out the car number, owners name, year, model, colour and what position it won in its class. This way the spectators could actually see the winner and the car.


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