British Car show at Millwood provides lesson on post-war sportscar invasion

“That’s a great car,” said a 20-something spectator as he checked out one car in a line of Austin Healey roadsters at the 16th annual British Car show Saturday in the Millwood City Park.

“They’re all great cars. Of course they’re British, so they have their little spells, but they’re all great cars,” an older visitor remarked.

The small park, tucked along the railroad tracks north of the paper mill in the Spokane Valley, was again the scene of a collection of sports cars and specialty cars. Although most still look sleek and sporty many are marking their 50th birthday and most have been around longer than the average age of Saturday’s viewers.

The show totaled 94 paid entrants.

The lineup of nine Austin Healey roadsters was part of a show which included three models of Jaguar roadsters from the 1950s, a Morgan Plus 4, Bentleys, MGs, Triumphs, Sunbeams, a beautiful Rolls Royce and a Morris Motor woodie. That’s not a complete roster.

“The first thing you have to do is go down to a bank and borrow $50,000,” one of the owners explained to a casual spectator who must have expressed interest in getting possession of one of the vintage machines.

Most of the companies who made the sports cars on display Saturday at Millwood have vanished or transformed to a different mode so the pool of available machines gradually shrinks. One exception was the lineup of recent model Coopers which have found a place in the modern market. Cooper is also a name which has a history in British motor sports.

Wyatt and Terri Luce of Post Falls anchored the lineup of the early MG series with their red MGTC model which they call Miss Rose.

A poster note on the windshield informed car fans that Luce had taken the 1948 sportscar out on the track at the vintage sportscar races in June at the Spokane County’s Raceway Park in Airway Heights.

Luce noted his MG was the oldest car to make the loop during the June races. He took a spin during a parade time break when sportscar owners are allowed try out their equipment on the race course.

“That’s as fast as I’ve ever driven it,” Luce explained. The TC, which has a 1250 cc engine, topped out at 65 mph on the race complex track.

The MGTC was sold with 19-inch wire spoke wheels on narrow tires. That feature results in a very flexible ride which became a concern when the machine got up to speed on the closed course.

Luce made the track tour in tandem with another MGTC which is actually raced on the vintage sportscar circuit by Jim Buell of Blanchard. Like most of the racers, Buell has converted his vintage car into a competition mode which includes 16 inch wheels to reduce some the flex.

The MGTC was the first sportscar to make the scene in the US market after World War II. The Luce car has the British right hand drive.

Luce, who figures he has put 300 hours into bringing the car back to an active mode, uses support rods salvaged from a television antenna to hold up the folding panels of the “bonnet” so motor fans can see the inner workings of the small engine compartment.

The TC model was followed by the MGTD and then the MGTF. All had the same vintage sportscar look which evolved from the pre-war models.

Saturday’s show at the Millwood Park included a lineup of five MGA models. The MGAs, now also sought by collectors, revolutionized the look of the MGs to meet the competition of the new models, like the Healeys, which were out to get a share of the U.S. growing market.

Clyde Cutter’s Austin Healey was the lone four-cylinder 100 model in the lineup of nine at the show. He purchased the car new in 1956 and it has never been restored.

Other entrants in the lineup of Healeys included Austin Healey 3000s, the six cylinder models which were introduced as the British manufacturers tried to compete for a slice of the U.S. market. The 3000 models featured a back seat space which auto writers at the time scorned because it detracted from the concept of a sports roadster.

The company, however, attracted young family buyers who could offer a small space in the back for the youngsters who were capable of confining themselves in the space for a short duration trip.

For some of the casual show attendees, the green and black Morgan Plus 4 displayed by Walt and Jane Kirby of Bonners Ferry was an unknown. Morgans, which are still being produced, are a legend on the sportscar race circuits, but their production techniques and standards meant they were never marketed on the scale of the MGs, Triumphs, Jaguars and Austin Healeys.

Kirby noted the Morgan’s relative rarity makes them a challenge for any resoration effort. They never show up on the parts listing of a local wrecking yards.

The left front fender of his beautifully restored car was fashioned out of the remains of two fenders. Eleven different pieces were cut and assembled to create a survivor fender which shined Saturday under the black paint, a signature color for the strictly-business Morgans.