Raymond Costa attending this year’s MG GOF West and has sent in the following report …
If you are a fan of all things MG, Delevan Wisconsin was the place to be between June 27 and June 30 this year. Gatherings of the Faithful, or GOFs, are regional get-togethers for owners of MG cars. Originally conceived as gatherings for 1955 and older MG cars, more modern MGs are welcome if you can call a car that is no newer than thirty-eight years old “modern.” This year’s event was sponsored by the Vintage MG Car Club of Chicago.
This GOF Central included the annual gathering of the North American MMM Register, an organization dedicated to preserving sporting MGs made before 1936, and many of these jewels arrived from as far away as Denver, Atlanta, and Alabama.
This year’s GOF activities included a road rally and a scenic tour. Technical talks were presented by Dave Braun, who is the technical adviser to the MGB Register (but arrived in a perfectly restored MG TD), and noted MG historian and restorer Tom Wilson, whose 1945 MG TC was a stand out in a row of beautiful cars. The legendary John Twist (sponsored by Moss Motors) was on hand for a four hour “rolling tech session,” where he diagnosed what was wrong with some of the MGs on hand. John was also the keynote speaker at the awards banquet.
Other events included both a live and silent auction and a most entertaining “funkana,” a themed obstacle course “race” put on by the Chicagoland MG Car Club. This year’s theme was the American Revolution, which had participants throwing tea bags (bean bags) into Boston harbor (blue tarps), and navigating a slow speed slalom with the passenger steering the car from the passenger seat. CMGC really put the fun in “funkana.”
Newcomers took the stage for the first-night car show, with twenty-two cars that had never been to a GOF parking under the tree-lined inner courtyard of beautiful Lake Lawn Resort. The big event, however, was the main car show. The weather was perfect, and the venue was gorgeous. More than ninety MGs were spread out between the shores of Lake Delevan and the hills next to the resort.
There were ten MG TCs, ten MG TFs, thirty-nine MG TDs, three MG M-Types, and more than a dozen J and P series MGs from the early 1930s. There were a couple of MGAs, a few Midgets, and a passel of MGBs, two with V8 engines. There was also an RV8, one of only a handful in the United States. Rounding out the field were two MG saloons, a ZB Magnette and a magnificent, unrestored 1938 SA. There were two “Other British” entries, and both were Morris Minor Travellers with MG Midget engines.
An active swap meet had owners looking for bargains and rare parts in between looking at all the beautiful cars. Several vendors sold out of everything they brought with them. The car show awards will be posted soon on the GOF Central website.
GOF Central XXXX will be held at the end of June in the St. Louis area. Details will be posted on www.gofcentral.com.
Again, many thanks to Raymond Costa for this great event report.
