Club members enjoyed a Saturday morning breakfast and a trip to Malcolm Branch’s garage in Prattville on June 23. Malcolm and his father, Bill, joined David Price, Russell Whigham, Mike McKitrick, and Amanda and Blitz Welch for a quick breakfast at Chappy’s. Bill Berg and I showed up just in time for the drive to Malcolm’s garage. Bill Branch was incredibly brave and rode in the passenger seat of my GT. We lost Malcolm, David and Blitz along the way so Bill’s directions were much appreciated on the back roads to Prattville. Don Drasheff, Larry Miller, Bill Summerlin, Doc Peden, and Dan Byrne met us at the garage. After Malcolm’s tech session on the restoration of his XJ6 with 5-speed conversion in Garage One (which has two bathrooms and an upstairs apartment), Malcolm opened up Garage Two which was even larger. There was a 53 TD, a 59 Healey 100/6, a 69 XKE, a 1951 MKVII and a Series 2A Land Rover with the spare on the hood. Two of the cars belonged to former members (now deceased). The TD belonged to Maultsby Waller and the MKVII belonged to Jim Rutledge. It is nice to think that the cars are still in our club and will be restored. Malcolm admitted that the cars in Garage Two are on the one-day restoration plan i.e. after his daughters get out of college and he retires. We also enjoyed catching up with Janet Branch. She said Malcolm’s most pressing project is the construction of a boat out of cardboard and duct tape for the cardboard boat races at Prattville’s Fourth of July celebration. Thanks to Malcolm for hosting and showing us his many diamonds in the rough. It was a nice summer outing and we made it home before the temperature hit 90.
Our next monthly meeting will be at Jan’s Beach House Grill Tuesday, February 7th, 2023 at 1900, or 7PM for you out there without a 24-hour clock.
Remember, if you haven’t had your COVID and flu vaccines, please show consideration to your fellow club members and consider not attending the monthly meetings. This virus remains highly contagious along with its companions the flu and RSV, and our membership is at the riskier end of the spectrum.
