Joyce had decided to go to the all-British car show in Oxnard. We planned to stay over Saturday night so we left Glendale around 1:30 in the afternoon and headed west on the 101 Freeway. Joyce was in her VW Passat: 1) because it was supposed to be HOT, and 2) she could take her time coming to the show on Sunday. So, just before we started up the grade before dropping down to the Camarillo plain the temperature in the Passat’s display was 109. Once we got to the flatlands it dropped to 82 degrees.
We pulled into the parking lot of the Oxnard Marriott Courtyard and I went in to check-in. When I came back out and attempted to start the Healey – nothing. Remember the bad omen thing on July 1st at Super Car Sunday? Well I had put the car on the charger, added some ‘Battery Water’, and had driven the car a couple of time in the ensuing two weeks. The heat didn’t help! Sunday morning I put the jumper cables from the Passat to the Healey and let it run for about 20 minutes. But the minute I turned the Healey off it wouldn’t restart.
Luckily a couple of strong young men walked by and I got a push start and was on my way to the show. When I arrived at the Marina the lawn area was already covered with English cars. There had been a couple of caravans to the show. The San Fernando Valley contingent of Jon Doherty, Russ Thompson and Joyce Maeda, and past member Fred Cohen made up one group.
The Orange County/South Bay group consisting of Chuck and Dawn Lakowski, George McHarris, Corkey and Lupe Holt, Greg Aden, Tom Spangler, Dex Kaytis, and Phil Caliva made up the other. This group made an early start stopping in at the Malibu Channel Islands Harbor British Car Show - 7/1 by Tim McNiff VOL 43 NO. 08 AUGUST 2018 8 car show of Fireball Tim before heading up the coast to Oxnard. Other members making singular trips to the show were Emil Joseph, Bill Wilkman, Bill Hoyt, and new member and old friend of Phil’s, Dave DeLorie of Goleta and his wife.
During the show hours we had a number of club members who dropped in to visit.
Smitty of ages past was on hand. Larry Bryant and Charlie Hart also put in an appearance. Charlie was talking up his fuse block and checking out the installation in some of our cars. Peter Roses and Lou Fisher drove over in Lou’s BMW Touring Saloon, their Healey’s still sitting on the dock in Rotterdam.
As in past years the Central Coast British Car Council had raffles and opportunity drawings, a DJ spinning all the old British Invasion music of the 60’s, and a pipe and drum band with young dancers who performed for the crowd.
Austin Healey’s were well represented; 100’s, 3000’s, and Bugeyes since the show was honoring the anniversaries of the 100 (65 years) and the Bugeye (60 years). But there were some notable absences. No Rolls or Bentleys, only a few Minis, four Lotuses, two Morrises, and a smattering of Sunbeams. In large numbers were the Triumphs, MG’s and Jaguars. And our two Jensen Healey owners ended up in the “Special” car category. At the award ceremony our club swept the Austin Healey prizes. Jon Doherty won Best 100 with his grandfather Mal’s car. Bill Wilkman won Best Bugeye Sprite and Dave DeLorie won Best 3000 with his BJ8. And last year’s Healey winner Bill Hoyt took the Premiere class. A good day for the AHASC! Back to my battery problem. After trying an Channel Islands Harbor British Car Show (cont.) by Tim McNiff VOL 43 NO. 08 AUGUST 2018 9 electronic booster jump and then some old guys pushing the BJ7 I remembered to turn the battery cutoff back on and a quick jump from Dex had me on my way. Joyce and I took the Pacific Coast Highway to Sunset Blvd and then sped north on the 405 and east on the 101/134 back to Glendale. It was cooler and my left knee appreciated not having a lot of stop-and-go traffic. I also traded in the bad battery for new under warranty!