If you are interested to read what happened during my first year with Maggie, here is a link:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... 68p=381363
My last report ended when Maggie was prepared for the 2011 season. After one or two short trips on weekends and a few journeys to and from my office, the first visit to a vintage car meeting took place on 1st May 2011.
There is a big meeting at Römerberg near the beautiful town of Speyer each year on 1st May, and Maggie and I were wondering what to expect. Cars, Lorries and tractors were directed to different parts of a large sports ground, and we were given a space on the football field. Shortly after us, a VW 1303 was positioned next to us. The beetle was towing an unusual trailer.
In fact the trailer was half another beetle which the owner had converted into a caravan. He uncoupled the trailer and quickly set up a picnic site for his family. Maggie was happy to rest next to a similar companion: the British peoples’ car beside the German Volkswagen.
When most of the spaces were filled with interesting cars, we also noticed some well-kept British cars, like this TR 3 on the other side of the alley.
During the afternoon some cars left the show, while new arrivals were positioned in their places. So Maggie could rub shoulders with another Brit in the form of this TR 4.
A fortnight later we started for the longest ride of the year, vintage car day at Boppard. This is one of the prettiest towns on the River Rhine. I used to spend my childhood not far from Boppard, so when we learned about the event, it was a must, and we booked a bed & breakfast for the whole weekend.
The 110 mile-journey went without any problems, and the following morning Maggie was allocated a space on the market place in the old town, next to a beautiful Borgward. There were 50 cars on show, and the tourist office had taken great care to assemble a great variety of cars.
When the show was officially opened the presenter and a man from the tourist office had owners a British, a French, an American and a German car driving to the front of the stage and explaining their cars to the audience in a little interview. Maggie and I were very proud indeed that we had been chosen to represent the British cars.
The man on the left on the stage, who made the interviews and who had assisted the tourist office in the preparation of the event had come with his latest acquisition, an Austin 7 Ruby, which he had driven from Essex only a fortnight before. Unfortunately he found out that the car is too small for his height of 1,92 metres, so he had to sell it a few months later.
However my favorite car in the show (apart from Maggie, of course) was this Riley.
After lunch there was an outing of most of the cars on a lovely course which lead us over the hills into the Moselle valley and back. On our return we had a very nice encounter with a group of three elderly couples from Nottingham who were on a coach trip along the Rhine and stopped at Boppard for their afternoon tea. As it happened, two of the ladies had been nurses, and both had driven Morris Minors (long live the prejudices…) They were overwhelmed to see the car of their younger days, and one even had tears in her eyes, when the show ended and we had to go.
After the event we drove to a former monastery in the hills above Boppard, which has been rebuilt as a hotel and restaurant. It brought back wonderful memories, as this was the place my parents took me for a dinner after I had passed my A-levels at school. In 1977 we were arriving in a VW beetle, this time in a Morris Minor.
Before we went home on the Sunday we took the chance to visit some relations who live on the other side of the Rhine. As there are no bridges nearby Maggie had to go on the water again, but this time with a much smaller ferry than the year before when she crossed the Channel. As the Rhine was extremely low at that time, the ramps to and from the ferry were quite steep, as you can see in the picture. Maggie didn’t have any problems, but a brand new Ferrari had to be left on the shore as it was too low to get on the ramp. The beautiful river front of Boppard can be seen in the background.
On the return journey Maggie started coughing when I accelerated after bends or junctions. She had this disease before, and it could be cured by the replacement of the burnt points. This again was the reason for her being unwell, but the points had only been in the distributor for 400 miles. The garage which sold me the points gave a comment: “The box used to be labeled ‘Bosch – made in Germany’. Now it’s only ‘Bosch’, and you can guess where they are manufactured.” The following week Maggie received an electronic ignition and this problems has not reappeared again.
In June, a model shop in the city of Ludwigshafen had invited us to a vintage car show in his street and some neighboring squares. Maggie was astonished to meet a very rare British car, a Standard Vanguard. This was the first time I saw one of them, and the owner explained that this one is the only registered Vanguard in Germany. It is an LHD model which he bought from Denmark and restored the year before.
As usual Maggie and I kept our eyes open for British cars, and one of the first we noticed was this pre-war Morris Minor Tourer.
And we were both happy to see our first Morris Minor since we left the UK in April 2010, a dove grey two door saloon. Talking to the owner, who had owned his car since the late 1960s when he was a student in Eton and brought her over to Germany afterwards, we found out that we are members of the same society, the Morris Minor Register Deutschland (MMRD). We had a very nice chat and have been on the phone a few times since.
When Maggie’s neighbors had left he put his Moggie next to her for a few photographs.
A week later there was another show at Dannstadt, a little town in our area. As the emphasis is on tractors and agricultural vehicles, I first didn’t want to go, but my assistant at work persuaded me to come, as some members of her family were displaying their tractors and she was in the organizing team. Due to family commitments I was only able to arrive late, and the only free space available was between some tractors. Well, apart from that and the dust from the sports ground which covered Maggie after the show it was a rather nice day.
Considering that the show was held in a little village they had some very interesting cars on display, like this pre-war Alvis. I will never forget the sound of the engine – very impressive!
A few days later my mother died at the age of 84, and that stopped most of my activities with Maggie for quite some time. Maggie was only taken out of the garage for weddings, just to keep the promises I had given to the young couples.
In July the daughter of a fellow member of our local vintage vehicle club was going to get married. The weather was brilliant, and the official photographer asked to take some shots with our village pond in the background.
This shot was later used for the “thanks to all” advert in the local paper. It looks as if the groom loves Maggie more than the bride, the way he hugs her wing.
The other wedding was the one of one of my wife’s friends. Although the weather was fine she insisted on Maggie’s soft top being left closed. She was so terribly worried the wind might damage her hair style. Well.
Really the only other activity in 2011 was a visit at a steam railway event at Ettlingen, near Karlsruhe in September. There is a private railway which is host to a preservation society that was celebrating their 40th anniversary. This gave me the chance to take my favorite pictures of steam and vintage cars together, like this one of 1939 built 2-10-0 No. 50 2740 with the 30 years younger Morris Minor.
The smallest of the engines was this 0-4-0T, having come over from a nearby private railway. The line is rather steeply inclined in some parts, so she was only able to pull one single coach.
Another big one was No. 52 7596, an austerity 2-10-0, built 1942. No need to mention that Maggie attracted as much attention as the steam locos!
In the autumn and early winter most of our free time was needed to vacate my mother’s rented flat and return it to the owners. So Maggie had to wait for her next call of duty for a rather long time, but she did that very patiently.
After an article about Maggie had appeared in the January edition of Minor Matters, I received a call from a Moggie owner from a town just 30 miles away. He asked me whether I could come with Maggie for the wedding of his daughter on 4th February 2012. Of course I agreed, but I wanted to give Maggie a full service before, as I felt the engine could do with some tuning, especially the valves. I tried a garage at Heidelberg which has specialized on British vintage cars, and the results are excellent. However it all started with a shock, when they rang me up to tell me that three of the four brake cylinders on the front wheels were leaking and he didn’t have the spare parts for a Moggie in stock. Thank goodness Charles Ware’s Morris Minor centre was able to supply the necessary parts within four working days, and Maggie was fit again just three days before the wedding.
The bride’s father also owns a Morrris Minor, a brg Pick Up (Gertie), which some of you might know as they have taken part in several Minors on Tour outings. Here Gertie and Maggie are waiting for the young couple next to Germersheim church.
Having worked for the council before, Gertie’s owner had the necessary connections to get permission to take some photographs of the married couple inside the fortress. The whole town of Germersheim used to be a fortress, and in the background is one of the still existing gates to it. The temperature at that time was – 8° C, and my wife and I will never forget the job we had to give Maggie a wash after her stay in the dusty garage. We could only wash very small areas and had to dry them immediately. We had to change the water several times, despite using hot water there was a layer of ice on top after a very short time. When we had finished the whole area around the car was an ice rank, where we had to spread a lot of salt to prevent pedestrians from slipping. Nevertheless it was well worth the efforts, and a wonderful day.
Well that brings me to the biggest event, Maggie and I were able to take part so far, the Retro Classics vintage car fair at Stuttgart, which took place on five days in March this year. This is the biggest show of this kind in the south of Germany, with 9 big exhibition halls and 105,000 sqm of space. There is always an “English Corner” with a combined stall of several societies which look after British cars. One of them is the MMRD, and they have chosen Maggie for this year’s stall. Maggie was in the front row, flying the flag of the MMRD, next to A Rover, a Triumph TR6, a Spitfire and an MGB GT.
The 50th anniversary of the MG B and the Triumph Spitfire was commemorated with a special display.
Our society had a corner for itself with another convertible and a 1956 four door saloon on display.
The show saw over 40,000 visitors over the long weekend, and we were able to meet lots of lovely people and make new friends.
On the journey home on the Sunday evening we had our first real breakdown. 25 miles after Stuttgart, Maggie’s engine suddenly stalled when I was accelerating after a delay due to road works. I quickly found out that the petrol pump was the reason, as no fuel was delivered to the carburetor. While I was wondering whether to try and start a repair or call the assistance immediately, one of our society members in his VW van stopped. As he is by far more experienced than I it took him less than ten minutes to dismantle the pump and clean the contacts. The engine started, and soon I was on the road again with no further problems for the next 55 miles till home. Now Maggie displays a brand new petrol pump in her engine bay and I have learned what the interior of a SU pump does look like. And I was able to see how helpful other Morris Minor owners are, thank you very much, Rainer.
For the year ahead we have planned several trips with Maggie, as well as visits to vintage car shows. We are looking forward to many more nice trips.
I hope I didn’t bore you too much, and if you want, there might be a third part of this story next year.
Best regards
Hubert
