Monthly Archiv: May, 2014
Well there isn’t explicitly a “Best of Show” listed for the Vancouver ABFM, but Colin Fitzgerald’s 1938 MG VA Tickford Drop Head Coupé won the award for best restoration over $100,000CAD which is the top category at this event.
The MG VA is a somewhat rare model being the smallest of three chassis available with Roadster, Coupe or Tickford Drop Head Coupé bodies.
Colin’s car is chassis 1520 and it was originally sold by University Motors in London. Afterward it spent a good portion of its life in Cannes before coming to Los Angeles in 1968.
Colin acquired 1520 in 2002 and spent ten years restoring it back to its original colors. The entire body was nearly rust-free requiring only a single small patch. Furthermore Colin says getting the dashboard details just right took considerable time.
The result is a stunning showpiece that is likely the best restored VA in the world.
This year we had to make the annual pilgrimage to the Vancouver ABFM at the VanDusen Botanical Garden.
And the show was an absolute blast. We offered our customer’s Austin Healey 100-Six for inclusion into the For Sale corral and also took some moments to see what else was on offer.
Despite the threat of 1mm of rain, the day was completely dry and full of BC’s best cars.
Colin Fitzgerald basically won Best of Show with his 1938 MG VA Tickford Drop Head Coupé by taking best restoration over $100,000 CAD.
Other notable cars included a 1934 Aston Martin Ulster from John Fairclough, a 1912 Rolls-Royce boattail from David Cohen and the 1934 Aston Martin 1½-Litre Mark II Bertelli Sport Sedan from Robert Follows.
There are those moments. Opportunities to take stewardship of classic pieces, to learn, to preserve and maintain. Today was one such day.
To the best of our ability we brought in a 1953 Rumag REVG-s vertical milling machine that, at least, will become the ultimate drill-press in the shop.
It came from the collection of a great customer and machinist who had purchased it out of Ontario. He says that the 4-speed motor and 3360 rpm likely indicated that this was special-order machine to do fine drilling.
There’s lots to admire, the German precision, the original fit and finishes, the off-white table, the orange controls.
Hopefully through this post we can find someone that might have a manual, probably in German, although the intuitiveness of this design makes it fairly straight forward.
An unplanned meeting of three red TRAs at the shop!
Hottest day so far in 2014 and a nice couple of Healeys out front: Green: 1956 Austin Healey 100-Six BN4 / White: 1959 Austin Healey 100-Six BN4.
