All of the usual suspects were in attendance: MG, Jaguar, Triumph, Mini, Austin-Healey and Sunbeam.
Market patrons enjoyed walking among the cars, enjoying their morning coffee and talking with the owners. “This is just amazing,” were the words from Myra Strauchen, in town visiting her brother.
“I’m from Utah, and we had no idea we would be seeing these cars when we came down here this morning. I own a 1958 Bugeye Sprite and I belong to the Bonneville Austin-Healey Club, so this is a great bonus for my trip to Dayton. This is a great show and a great market,” Strauchen added.
“I just told my brother to get comfortable, because I’m going to be here another hour or so looking at the cars,” she said.
While the stunning black MGA owned by Dar Planeaux took the Best of Show honors, the most unique car at the show was likely the 1954 Arnolt MG, recently acquired by local enthusiast Rick Grant.
“I’ve always been intrigued by these cars, built by Stanley ‘Wacky’ Arnolt, a Chicago industrialist and auto importer in the ’50s,” Grant said.
“The way I understand the story, Arnolt saw these bodies by Bertone when he was in Italy, and thought they were so beautiful, he made arrangements with Bertone to build 200 of them, to fit on an MG TD chassis. He ordered 200 chassis from MG to be delivered to Italy where Bertone would mount the bodies to the chassis. The cars were then shipped to the U.S. to be sold by Arnolt,” Grant added.
“The cars didn’t sell quite as well as Arnolt hoped, so it turns out that only 100 were built — 65 coupes and 35 convertibles, like mine.” Grant added that he doesn’t know how many exist, “but there can’t be very many.”
Grant’s car is also equipped with twin Solex carburetors, not the original SU’s that came on the engine.
“Again, the story goes that these carbs sat on Wacky’s desk for many years and he decided to put them on the car. We think this is the only one built like this,” he said.
The day culminated with the drawing for a 1974 MGB GT, for which only 1,000 raffle tickets were sold, “Tim Gillespie of Orange, Calif., won the car,” said Dick Smith. “It’s interesting that we got the car from Orange County, Fla., and now it’s going to Orange County, Calif.”
The profits from the raffle, more than $12,000, go toward the British Transportation Museum building fund. For more information about the British Transportation Museum, go online to www.britishcarmuseum.org.
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