For everyone who thought our ride today to
“Mike & Ed’s” was to see Mike Brewer and Edd China of the Velocity channel’s Wheeler Dealers television program, we apologize for the misunderstanding. It was Mike & Ed’s Bar-B-Q in Auburn. It was a beautiful day – a little cool and a bit too breezy for top-down motoring, but bright and sunny with freshly washed smooth asphalt all the way with minimal traffic.
Along for our ride today was Barney Gaylord (aka MGA Guru) formerly of Naperville IL. Barney and his son Elliot left the Chicago area last May and have logged 27,000 miles — so far, as they meet with as many British and MG car clubs as they can find while fixing or helping as many MGAs (and other MG models) as they can along the way. Barney is blogging his adventures on his extensive MGA Guru Webpage in the “Going Mobile” area. His account of our trip today is in the Jan 16 – Jan 31, 2015 page and January 24 entry.
Because three of our usual road warriors were rushing to have the Spitfire race-ready for the “24-Hours of LeMons” in two weeks, Pam was our sole MG delegate. The three Jaguar XK8s and our MINI rounded out the kinda British group as we pulled out of the BCF parking lot with Barney’s 1958 MGA. Our number grew by two in Tallassee with the addition of another Jaguar and another MINI, and we were greeted in Auburn by two BMC members who live in Auburn, adding another MGB and a race-prepared Sunbeam Alpine. The Thunderbird and Triumphus brought our car count to twelve and total folks to 23 — making a respectable showing in the restaurant.
Our food orders were filled quickly. My Brunswick stew and chipped pork sandwich hit the spot on this bracing January day. Following some visiting and car talk in the parking lot, we headed back via the back roads of Lee, Tallapoosa, and Elmore counties to Adams Hudson’s office/shop to see his high performance (mostly) European cars.
Adams is just completing his move and renovation of his shop and office from downtown Montgomery to Lake Martin. He began his presentation in the office end of the building with a welcome and an overview of his life-long passion for these cars and listed his previous examples as well as the current exhibit. He then led us back to the shop/showroom. There was a collective “jaw-drop” as we ogled his current inventory that includes:
- 1974 de Tomaso Pantera
- 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS
- 2010 Audi R8
- 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera, M491 “Factory Wide Body”
An example of American Iron in the form of a showroom fresh Corvette is enjoying a brief visit with its European cousins. Each of these examples have their own story that enhances the beautifully designed and precisely engineered works of art. The accompanying images cannot do them justice. Adams has one more space reserved for his E-type Jaguar that’s currently undergoing a complete restoration. We hope to see it at our car show in October. A huge BMC thanks to Adams for sharing his cars with us!
Russell