The
TC Motoring Guild
by Stanton
P. Belland
This Centre of the MG Car
Club is
unusual in its devotion to one single model of the MG, the TC,
manufactured between 1945 and 1950.
Indeed, to our knowledge there are only
two other centres within the MG Car Club thus limited: the Abingdon
Rough Riders of Northern California and the MG TC Owners Club
Inc. of Western Australia. Both are similarly devoted to the
TC.
Much of the history of the beginnings of
the Motoring Guild is oral. Fortunately, some of the founders
are still alive to recount it. In 1949 John Bond, the owner and
publisher of Road and Track, now one of America's leading automobile
magazines, bought a TC (one of the few EXU export models made
by MG toward the end of theTC production) for his wife, Elaine
Bond.
.The
TD replaced the TC in 1950, and in about 1950 or 1951 Bond conceived
the idea that a group should be formed to preserve the unusual
devotion that the TC had inspired.
A small group of TC owners was formed in
1952, although there is no record that Mr. or Mrs. Bond ever
actually participated in its meetings. They met in member's homes
in Southern California to swap technical tips and nurture their
shared enthusiasm, and on July 22, 1955 the group was incorporated
in California as the TC Motoring Guild.
The first directors, named in the Articles
of Incorporation were: George S. Krull, William Harps, Earl Sargent,
Les Weber and Harvey Schnaer. Krull was the first president and
Harps was secretary. Harvey Schnaer remains active in the Guild
to this day and was recently, (along with the late Earl Sargent)
elected Members Emeritus. He currently serves as the Guild's
treasurer.
Harvey & Von Schnaer,
Ensenada Run 1961
The Guild's first touring event, was a
trip to Southern California's Apple Valley, held in March 1955.
Thirteen TCs participated. Schnaer recalls that most of those
attending who had young families brought their children, a neat
trick in these little two-seaters, and impossible today with
California's current seat belt regulation.
Since then it is estimated that the Guild
has sponsored over 600 touring events, ranging from day trips
and weekend tours in Southern California to a three week tour
of New England (for which the cars were shipped across America
by motor transport).
It's most ambitious rallies were the GRABs
(Grande Rallye Around Britain).
In 1992 and 1998 twelve TCs were shipped
by Guild members to England, in ocean freight containers, for
a month of touring and joint events with the MG clubs of Great
Britain. Each was climaxed with a pilgrimage to the old factory
in Abingdon and a ceremonial visit to the "Vatican"
of the MG Car Club in Cemetery Road.
We have been graciously welcomed and assisted
by Bill and June Wallis, Phil Richer and other notables of the
home club.. . On the 1998 tour, the members presented a plaque
to Jean Kimber Cook, the daughter of the venerated Cecil Kimber,
designating her an honorary member of the TC Motoring Guild.
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Leaving for the 1961 Conclave
to Morro Bay.
The Guild has been a consistent sponsor,
supporter and participant in the GOF West held in the western
United States each year. GOF, for those who have not participated,
is the Gathering Of the Faithful, a week-long meeting of MG devotees
from all over the United States and Canada. We have caravaned
our TCs over desert and mountain to GOF venues as remote as Park
City Utah and Whistler, British Columbia.
.But
perhaps the Guild's most revered tradition is its annual Conclave,
a joint weekend celebration of the TC held with the Abingdon
Rough Riders, our sister club of Northern California, similarly
devoted to this single model of the MG. In 1957, the existence
of our new little group was noted by Al Chalmers, one of the
founders of the ARR in San Francisco and the first Conclave of
the two clubs was held that year.
A long line up at our
1966 Conclave
There have now been 51 consecutive
annual Conclaves and at some the traditional line up of TCs has
included as many as 40. One enthusiast, Duane Carlson, a member
of both clubs, has attended every one of the 43 meetings. For
each of the clubs it represents the high point of the year's
activities. The 1999 Conclave was held in Yosemite National Park
in California.
We meet monthly for a short business meeting
followed by a program and have an event or tour each month. We
are proud to have been a Centre of the MG Car Club since our
founding and to have maintained our own traditions. Our current
President, Ron Simon, an enthusiastic racer of the TC, served
as one of its first presidents in 1957.
.The
Club's publication, The Classic Chassis has been published five
times a year and sent without charge to the Club's members worldwide.
The TC Motoring Guild membership has remained
between 90 and 100 for the past several years, each member an
owner of a TC. We have had members from all over the United States
and several foreign countries: drawn perhaps by our specialization
in the TC. There have questions, and occasional criticism, regarding
our strict limitation to one specific model of the MG. But the
preservation and celebration of the TC and its beguiling idiosyncrasies
was, after all, our unique function as a club in worldwide fellowship
of the MG.
No one knows how many TCs remain around
the world or where their owners may be. We are certain that we
have not yet found and become friends with most of them. But
we would like to. We welcome contacts from those of you out there
who share our devotion to the TC. If you have one, we invite
you to join us.
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