Again, we drove Virgin from Columbus, OH and caravanned with Barb & Dave Ream to GT-4. We were really fortunate to have excellent weather and no impromptu tech sessions along  the way. Not everyone on their way to Niagara Falls were that fortunate. 

Len Renkenberger broke down on the way: snapped a rear axle. Ruth & daughter Shirl drove to Niagara in Shirl's MGA to get help. Another NAMGAR tradition was in evidence that weekend: mutual support. The Mk II's rear axle isn't the same as a 1500 or 1600. Not that rear axles are generally available in Canadian Tire stores anyway. But everyone rallied to help out any way they could. The owner of a trailered, MGA race car donated the axle, while a few others drove out to assist with the change-out.

On The Back
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All the activities centered around the Old Stone Inn, which was located ideally to all of the attractions of this world wonder. Almost all of them were within walking distance. We took our share of pictures of the Falls and also enjoyed ourselves at several watering holes along the way - hey, it was hot

Diane Ogles Al Moss' YT

The best car recollection for Diane was Al Moss' 1949 MG YA. That was a good year, and Steven took a picture of the two ladies, manufactured in 1949, together. Steven's best memory is of the EX 182 Lemans MGA. We were also thrilled that Fred Lewis from Ohio brought his original Alamo Beige MGA. (Remember that funky pink-beige color we mentioned in GT-3?) This one was the real McCoy. Fred literally found it in an Ohio barn with 1100 miles on the odometer. Everything was original, including the factory stamp on the spare tyre, which hadn't seen the light of day for over 15 years. With an original paint job, the color really wasn't that bad. It was a find that all of us wish we'd come across.

The Car Show Field

As you can almost see in the picture below, display space for the Saturday show of cars was a bit tight. NAMGAR had most of the rooms in the Inn and almost all of the parking lot. If there was a space, there was an MGA in it. We were even parked in the driving lanes, much to the chagrin of the local constabulary. The Ohio Chapter was well represented  with Dave Ream's first place coupe, Fred's third place 1600, the Kennards' second place 1600, and the Wilsons' third place twin cam.

Of course this was the Canadians' meet, and they were well represented. We enjoyed all the camaraderie with our Canadian friends: old and new.  Graham & Glenys John were there, as were Cyril & Meg Cross with whom we'd tipped many a pint more, during and after this meet (and as recently as last summer {1999} in Grand Bend, Ontario).

The Premier Class Entrants

Other than seeing the sites, we didn't do too much of the touring and rallying thing. Besides, not wanting to damage foreign relations between Canada and the US, we were predisposed to obey the signs that we saw when entering Canada: "Drink Canada Dry."

The weekend came to a close way too soon, and we left amid "See you at the Point West GT this fall and at Lake Tahoe next year!"