MG Motoring 2017 June 2017-opt | Page 25

June 2017 1933 L-type (although discus- sion continued about the car's all white colour scheme), and a freshly restored white MGA Deluxe. The Observation Trial was run by the Baxter family in memory of iconic Bill Baxter who died last year. Other notable events were the grass motorkhana where a major player was a Twin Cam MGA (with power steering). Christchurch's Ollie Reid in an ex Aust MGTD won the overall Lady Driver's Award. The following day's speed event morphed into a complex bent sprint / combo Giant Gym- khana course on seal which proved quite confusing to a large percentage of the en- trants. Other Aussie entrants included team Slattery, Robertson, Dunsterville, Godwin, Redhead, meaning Australia had around 14 official attendees, mostly in borrowed pre war MGs courtesy of the kiwi Mega Guru Gary Wall who often loans out his vast collection of pre war cars. Heaps of socialising, as only MG folk can do so well, prevailed throughout this Pre 56 Rally, culminating in the all- important presentation dinner with an Art Deco dress theme. The next big NZ Pre 56 MG Rally is in Cromwell 2019, not far from Queens- town. Enquire now to TD McNabb, or submit an excuse as to why you should- n't miss out on just so much MG fun! Rally HQ was set at the Cecil Kimber Room on Victoria Ave, Wanganui where most of the enjoyable functions took place. Two post-Rally observations: Don't moan about the price of fuel here in Australia. Over in NZ they're being reamed for at least $2 litre (that hurts!). And best advice is don't try falling head- first down a 20 step staircase in the dark – that also hurts and you can break bones (as McNabb found to his chagrin and dismay a few days after the MG Rally finished). To briefly summarise this well organised event of events, the Concours went as planned where entries included over 20 MGAs, 5 ZB Magnettes, 15 TFs, 8 TDs, a YA, 9 TA/TC, 18 Pre wars, the premier category – nearly 80 cars in total. [Breakdown of Pre wars: VA x 4, J2, WA x 2, SA x 2, M, NA, K1, F1, L, TA Tickford]. Overall Concours winners were a lovely 23