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My name is Dean and I suffer from Mad Car Disease.

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DeanMcKay

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Hi there-

I just discovered this forum so I thought I should introduce myself. I'm Dean from Sacramento,CA. I've had British cars since my early 20's and through most of the 1990's I was pretty rabid about it. I worked as a parts guy at a place downtown that stocked a lot of British car stuff, was part of a club and hit a lot of the shows, vintage races and swap meets surrounding British cars. I've owned a 1963 TR4, a 1962 Triumph Herald, a 1963 MGB, a 1965 Sprite and a 1965 Midget.

I currently have the Midget, although last May someone smacked into it and wiped out all the front sheetmetal, so it's tucked in the back of my driveway with a car cover on it waiting for secondhand parts and hours of work that will probably take place next summer.

What caused me to seek this forum out though is like a lot of folks, once marriage and a kid came along, the obsessive part of the hobby pretty much faded into the background. Long story short, the marriage didn't work out (which is a-okay) and my awesome son is now old enough to start cultivating his own interest in cars. A family friend is no longer able to drive his TR4 so this coming spring he's selling it to me. As fun as the midget has been, my TR4 is "the one that got away" so I am excited at the prospect of becoming a TR4 owner once again - and being able to take longer journeys at 70 MPH without the frayed nerves that 3 hours at a steady 4000 RPM tends to cause in a Midget. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

I also find those slightly obsessive tendencies creeping in again. A lot has changed in the 10 or so years that I have been away from the hobby end of things, so I'm trying to get back up to speed. I've ordered the Moss catalogs once again and have just been surfing the web to see what's out there nowadays.

I know that I won't be able to be as active as I was in my 20's, but I hope to be able to be involved more than I have been.

In case anyone is interested, here are a couple of old web pages with the story of a couple of my cars.

https://www.geocities.com/deandecibel/sportscar2.html

Thanks for your time!

All the best,
Dean
 
In the Twelve-Step spirit, "Hi, Dean!"

Welcome to the fray. You've found nirvana, at least as far as LBC's are concerned. Glad to have you aboard!

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
Mickey
 
Well if you have Mad Car Disease then you have come to correct ZOO.

Welcome back.

Cheers

Mark
 
"My name is Dean (Judy)and I suffer from Mad Car Disease."

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif Welcome to the forum! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

This from the proud owner of Agatha A Healey, a 100-M Austin Healey.
 
Hi Dean. My name is Kerry and I too have the L.B.C. affliction! Incurable addiction!
Welcome to our humble abode.
 
Welcome Dean, from one more nut on the tree.
 
Hi There Dean;

I was just driving thru /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif & would like to Welcome Yourself to the "BCF" from the Pocono Mtns of PA (The New Gaming Capitol in the East)!

I recently had a `66 TR4A-IRS, Sold on ebay: Now the proud owner of a `64 E-Type Rdsrt: Best wishes with your New/Old TR4 Toy:

This is the "Definitive" place for info, just chatting, having a Brewski /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thirsty.gif or whatever your pleasure may be!

I`m guessing you must know about the "Triumph" forum section by now: Its one of the most Hottest /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/computer.gif forums here: Check it out & Introduce yourself to the Gang There: They`ll (You`ll) Love it!!

See Ya;

Regards, Russ /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
Hi Dean, seems like you fit right in.

One questions, what ever became of Motorhead?

Pat
 
Pat-

Thanks! I haven't even visited Washington D.C. since, geez 1992 or something like that. They were still around then, but I think had moved from their cool, funky but over-crowded digs in downtown Arlington. I love that they used to give away matchbooks that said "World Peace through British Sportscars"

Russ- wow- an E-type! enjoy!

Thanks PC!

Dean
 
From one California LBC guy to another:

Welcome, dude....

How old is your son and how did you get him hooked? I have a 14 year old son who just doesn't get it. (Maybe he's the sane one?)

Adam
 
Hey Adam!

My son's name is Adam, so perhaps that has something to do with it! ;-) He's actually 9, but I'm a non-denominational gearhead- I like old sports cars, road racing, drag racing, traditional rods, motorcycles, etc. If it runs on asphalt, chances are I'm into it. So he's just been exposed as far as he can remember. He's always liked riding in the Midget- kids love Spridgets because you can see the gears turn in their heads if they have that kind of bent- they're thinking "Hey, that's just about my size!"

But I think a big key is one of the hobbies that he's been involved in with me is restoring and running vintage racing karts. For his 7th birthday I restored a 1961 McCulloch kart and just put a little 2 1/2 horse 4 stroke on it to run around the parking lots as a start. That gave way to a 2 1/2 horse 2 stroke and an opportunity to run on the track at the end of practice days. Then last year he stepped up to the correct vintage McCulloch motor and he's fast enough to be on the track with other karts of the same era, so I'll dig out my 1962 Bug Stinger with the smaller engine and we'll run together and it's just a great time. So the act of driving and controlling machinery with a degree of performance has just captured his imagination. It also helps that at the vintage kart meets there are some kids involved, so it's not just old geezers. He's the youngest, but there are a small handful of 12-13 year olds that go out with their Dads and they've always been real good to Adam and hung out with him doing kid stuff between track sessions.

At first, a lot of it stemmed from him just being Dad's boy and to hang out with me as much as he wanted meant spending a lot of time in the garage, or doing car/motorcycle stuff (I also have an old Triumph motorcycle). I was careful to expose him to it, but not beat him over the head with it or to do things for too long. But in the last 6 months it seems that he's taken on a genuine interest of his own. He's asked to be taught and learned to do some engine maintenance on the kart and has taken an interest in checking and setting the air pressures in the tires at the track.

The project we've worked on this summer and that he has a lot of sweat equity in for the first time though was rebuilding a late 60's Taco mini bike. He's seen first hand that the effort you put in determines what you get out in terms of enjoyment and a sense of something being yours and knowing a machine at that innate level. He's really enjoyed being a part of every step of taking it from a rusty bent frame to something nice and period correct. That and he's been bugging me to take him to the races - we just got back last weekend driving 4 hours each way to Bakersfield to go to the hot rod reunion for a day. We were on the road for nearly as long as we were at the track, and he wasn't bored for a moment.

We'll see if it sticks, at 14 he could forget all about this and be obsessed with video games skateboarding and girls, but I've been both surprised and obviously pleased at the latest developments.

Does your son have any remote gearhead or tinkering tendencies or he just can't be bothered with any of it? I would say if he likes cars at all, try to cozy up to a vintage racing team and see if you can help out or at least hang out for the weekend. Or see if you can get him a ride in a racecar when they do the lunch time "give a corner worker a ride" sessions. Or maybe a session or two at one of those indoor kart tracks that has karts that go faster than 15 MPH. Anything to put the bait out there so the whole driving thing can capture his imagination.

That's the first part, getting him hooked on driving- or at least the beauty and concept of driving as performance art. Then hopefully you can sell the idea that old sports cars (particularly British ones) make you feel more connected with the road than a modern car and it's more like having a pet instead of an appliance. That might do the trick. But I think until a kid can picture themselves driving or owning or being involved on a real meaningful level, I think it's just too abstract. Cars caught my imagination as a little kid, so I was obsessed from as far back as I can remember and it was natural. Some folks (like my son) just need to have it cultivated, and they come to it at some point (for how long, I have no idea) and then some folks just can't be bothered with any of that stuff... hard to believe, I know! ;-)

Sorry for the rambling diatribe- good luck with your son!

Dean
 
Dean,
Welcome to the greatest forum on the net. Sounds like you and Adam will both enjoy the camaraderie here as we all try to keep our LBC's on the road. Be sure to post lots of photos, and dive on in at the MG and Triumph forums, and stop by the Pub when you have a free moment.

You will find lots of parts resources out there as well.

Enjoy the Ride!
 
Thanks Dave!

Wow- a fellow slot head! I only have a couple Thunderjets and the Tyco track I've had since I was a kid, but I still have all my 1/32 scale stuff... now if I only had the room to set it up!

Dean
 
Hey Dean,

I think I was just like you. My parents tell me that I knew the makes and models of nearly everything on the road when I was 4. My dad is a gearhead so I got that gene from him. He started taking me to car shows when I was pretty young and I'm sure that helped!

We've had Justin (our son) at car shows, club events and the drag races (we're about an hour from Pomona Speedway.) and he usually enjoys it but really doesn't really engage.

I'll keep trying different things.

Adam
 
Welcome, Dean, from a fellow '65 owner. Coincidentally, I also have a '69 Spitwad!
My '65 Sprite lives just west of you, in Winters. The next time I'm there, we'll hook up for some spirited driving around the area.
Jeff
 
Adam-

I grew up around drag racing, so that was my first love, but I've always been cursed with liking stuff that was before my time (that's always my definition of vintage: anything that's older than I am!) so by the mid-80's I drifted away from the drags because I just liked all the 60's stuff. So I was ripe for the vintage British sportscar thing. But yeah, I was totally obsessed with all things automotive as far back as I can remember. Of course nowadays the disease has just broadend and I pretty much like cars of all stripes and countries from the 1920's-60's.

Anyway, it sounds like once Justin gets his first taste of driving the clouds might open up and the hook will set then.
I know there are wide open parking lots at the Pomona Fairgrounds, perhaps it's time to give Justin a teaser in the British car? ;-)

Jeff-

Winters! Wow! My '65 is immobile at the moment because of an over-zealous driver and a UPS truck that was blocking his view, but hopefully I'll own the TR4 by the time you get out here. The road to Sears Point via Lake Berryessa was always a fund drive, although I haven't done it in years.

Thanks for the notes!
Dean
 
Dean, that's the <u>only</u> way to get to Sears Point! Lots of good drives in the area. I used to spend a month or two every year out there, and spent most of the time driving.
Jeff
 
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