June 2023
Photo by John Morris
Wow, and Superwow!
by Fran Zeitz
The Gold Coast British Sports Car Club was represented by a dozen members and a great selection of British cars at the Holman Motorcars “Supercars & Superwow” event on April 1st.
Holman Motorcars was a co-title sponsor at our annual All-British Car Show this past February, and they invited members of our club to join many of their customers at their Fort Lauderdale showroom for a Saturday morning cars-and-coffee event. Holman Motorcars sells luxury motor vehicles, new and pre-owned, and they are known for their commitment to customer satisfaction, as evident in the prestigious awards that they‘ve won.
We had a great time as we wandered around the showroom, where we saw outstanding vehicles in impeccable condition. Outside the showroom, the owners’ vehicles were just as impressive.
We also enjoyed a light breakfast with great coffee and another opportunity to connect with like-minded car enthusiasts. In addition to spending the morning with our old friends, we also met new ones. Thank you, Holman Motorcars, for your hospitality!
Wheels Across the Pond
The following weekend, on April 8th, many of our club members attended the 15th Annual “Wheels Across the Pond” in beautiful Carlin Park in Jupiter, directly on A1A.
This is one of the largest British and European classic car and motorcycle shows on the East Coast. It started in 2007 as an informal car show on the grounds of the Queen Mary British Pub and has undergone many changes through the years.
This year there were about 400 entries and thousands of spectators. We viewed beautiful cars and motorcycles on the show field while we listened to bagpipe music from the Palm Beach Pipes & Drums as they strolled through the Park. For the children there was an Easter Egg Hunt as well as the many Park amenities.
Proceeds from raffles went to The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, a facility in Palm Beach County that rescues, rehabilitates and releases native species, and show participants had the opportunity to interact with some of the amazing wildlife from the Sanctuary. It was great to see club member Hayes Harris of Wire Wheels among the many sponsors.
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Photo by John Morris
The highlight of the afternoon was the awards ceremony. Winners were chosen by popular vote. There were 37 classes of cars and bikes, and two awards in each class, “Excellence in Class” (1st place) and “Best in Class” (2nd place).
Congratulations to GCBSCC award winners in a great variety of classes and styles. Excellence in Class awards were presented to Joseph Lubeck and his 1997 Aston Martin DBA R1 Geoffrey Sherfield and his 1967 Austin-Healey 3000 Rick Hartwell and his 1986 Jaguar XJ-SC Christopher Karentz and his 2013 Jaguar XJL ScottArmstrong and his 1950 MG TD Sandra Aplin and her 1987 Rolls-Royce Corniche II Michael Rose and his 1968 VW Beetle and Bennett Shuldman and his 2022 Ferrari Portofino M.
Best in Class awards were presented to Warren Aplin and his 1972 Jaguar E-type III OTS Christopher Karentz and his 1993 Jaguar XJS David Massey and his 1955 MGA Eric Singer and his 1966 Morgan Plus 4 Steve Moorman and his 1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Jeff Seltzer and his 1978 Triumph Spitfire and Joseph Lubeck and his 1973 Triumph TR6.
There were also several special awards given out. The David Hobbs Award was presented to David Reeve and his 1960 Daimler SP250.
Congratulations to you all, as well as all of our club participants! Your beautiful classic, antique and exotic cars represented the diversity of the vehicles in our club. And, thank you, John Morris, for taking great photos.
Club business
Please visit our website, www.goldcoastbritcar.com, where you will find information about the club, recent news, and announcements of upcoming events. Also check out our Facebook page.If you are interested in volunteering or attending a Board meeting, please let us know. Inquiries can be directed to our e-mail, goldcoastbscc@gmail.com. Enjoy your summer and your British cars!
May 2023
Photo courtesy GCBSCC
Events Near and Far
by Fran Zeitz
Several members of the Gold Coast British Sports Car Club recently participated in events in our area, and also out of our area.
Sebring SpeedTour
The Sebring SpeedTour at Sebring International Raceway was held on the weekend of February 25th, and to start it off was the Hagerty Cars & Caffeine car show. Open to all classic, vintage, exotic and collectible cars and motorcycles, there were well over 300 participants. The GCBSCC’s David Friswell and his 2012 MINI and David and I and our 2017 Lotus Evora 400 were among them. We were not, however, the only British car owners, as there were many Triumphs, Minis, Jaguars, Mokes, MGs and Lotus cars as well.
Throughout the day, we were able to watch the racing — which included vintage racing, the Trans Am series and the International GT series — and the paddocks were open to everyone.
During the racers’ lunch break, show cars were invited to do touring laps. As Sebring is the oldest road racing track in America with over six decades of racing history, of course we were anxious to get on the track where the famous SpeedTour was being held. However, due to the large number of us and the limited time allotted, we only had time for one lap, and at times we barely hit speeds of 30mph — but we still enjoyed driving on the same track as the racers!
No car show would be complete without an awards ceremony, and there were winners in several categories. The British Car Award winner was Joe Glover and his beautiful 1958 Triumph TR3. This award was sponsored by Ken Fengler, a member of our club and General Manager and Director of Competition at International GT, a race-sanctioning company that promotes and organizes 12 events around the country. They started their 2023 season at Sebring with a sellout field.
Congratulations, Ken and International GT, and a big thank you for sponsoring the British Car Award!
Meanwhile, attendance at Hagerty’s Cars & Caffeine event at Sebring continues to grow, this year being their biggest show to date, and they will be there again at the same time next year!
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Photo courtesy GCBSCC
Scottish Festival & Highland Games
The Scottish American Society of South Florida invited the GCBSCC to exhibit our cars at their 39th Annual Southeast Florida Scottish Festival & Highland Games, which took place at Heritage Park, Plantation, Fla. The event was held on Saturday, March 4th, and there was special parking set aside for our British cars.
Club member Rev. Dr. David Massey, who brought his 1957 MGA, served as Chaplain of the Games, this being his 22nd year in that position. He gave his blessings at the welcome ceremony. One of his favorite and earliest memories, he said, is when as a young boy he accompanied his grandfather, Stewart McCutcheon, as they picked up his beloved grandmother Margaret from her Daughters of Scotia meeting.
Highlights of the day included the Highland Games and the many pipe and drumming bands that competed as well as provided great music and entertainment. We learned about Scottish history, saw clans and societies in their colorful traditional dress, watched sheepdog demonstrations, athletics competitions and Scottish dancing, listened to great music and enjoyed delicious Scottish foods from the many vendors, all at a great venue with wonderful South Florida weather!
Thank you to Rev. David Massey and the committee that invited us to participate. We look forward to next year’s Scottish Festival.
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Photo by Michael Cohen
British Car Museum in South Africa
Then, Michael Cohen, GCBSCC’s Events Coordinator, gave us this story all the way from South Africa.
“As a serious ‘car guy’ whenever and wherever I travel,” he wrote, “I make a point to Google search the city or area for automotive events and activities. What a fantastic surprise to discover, while I was researching a South African tour, the Franschheok Motor Museum, an easy 45-minute Uber drive/ride from Cape Town!
“If you are a ‘car guy/car girl’ going into South Africa for whatever reason, do not miss a visit to this unbelievable place! Yes, its location is on the estate of the Anthonij Rupert Wyne Winery & Farm, so we purchased the “Estate Package” to make our day complete. The lunch was very nice, the wine-tasting delightful, but the vintage, classic and exotic automobiles were outrageous and unbelievable!
“Represented were British brands that I never knew existed, including one of the U.K.’s oldest independent car makers, Auto Carriers, whose name later changed to AC Empire. Displayed was a 1922 Model 12, a car in production from 1918 to 1928.
“And then, a 1914 Humberette Model 8 by apparently U.K.’s second biggest auto manufacturer.
“My personal favorite was a ‘one-of-only-three-built’ 1956 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mk2 Spyder!
“Most importantly, the presentation of each vehicle along with a brief story card is superb, as was our museum tour guide Kyle. I believe the Franschheok Motor Museum to be one of the top three I have ever had the pleasure to visit, along with the Revs Institute/Motor Museum in Naples, Fla., and the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif. I give it an overall 5-star-plus-plus-plus rating!
“Vintage British cars in South Africa — who knew?”
Thank you, Michael, for taking time from your trip to provide us with a car lover’s destination and a fascinating story!
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Photo by Allan Tavss
Cars on the Mile
On Sunday, March 5th, Allan Tavss, GCBSCC member and Regalia Chairman, attended the annual AACA “Cars on the Mile” Car Show in Coral Gables, Fla.
Allan entered his 1974 MGB Roadster that he has owned for 4-1/2 years. He was amazed by the attention it received, including the many questions about MGs from show attendees. He even got offers to purchase his car, as well as requests for assistance in finding similar cars that were available to purchase.
Allan reported that Cars on the Mile was a wonderful event for car owners and spectators. There were over 120 show cars, and the weather and the crowd attendance were great. Thanks, Allan, for your story!
Club info
Please visit our website, www.goldcoastbritcar.com, where you will find information about our club, updates on our club events, British cars and parts for sale, membership information and more. And, also check out our Facebook page. Inquiries can be directed to our e-mail, goldcoastbscc@gmail.com.
April 2023
Photo by John Morris
28th Annual All-British Car Show
by Fran Zeitz
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — The Gold Coast British Sports Car Club held our Annual All-British Car Show on Sunday, February 19th, at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek.
Bill Gearhart, our Car Show Chairman, and our many volunteers took great care with every detail. Our location at Tradewinds Park was easily accessible. This is one of Broward County’s largest parks with many attractions, but most importantly for our group was the large events area. We were located in the first large shelter in the park and very visible from the road, which brought in a lot of spectators who most certainly enjoyed the show cars as much as the participants!
DJ Scott the Musicman provided music and announcements for the entire day. Our four food trucks on site — Mr. Meatball, Mr. B’s Caribbean Streetfood, Giovanni’s Gourmet Italian Ice and JC Beans — provided great meals and snacks to hungry spectators and participants. Our regalia table, headed by Allan Tavss, was busy all day selling club logo items.
The GCBSCC this year welcomed some very generous sponsors. Vista Mini and Hollman Motors, our title sponsors, were on the field with display cars. Wire Wheels’ Hayes Harris also brought a great Lotus Evora GT. Hagerty, O’Reilly and Moss Motors provided great items for our goody bags. Our other sponsors included Ceramic Pro, Scratch Car, Chemical Guys and British Marque Car Club News. (Thank you to all of you for your support.)
Our 50/50 raffle was a great success. (Thank you, Donna Gearhart, for selling all of those tickets.) Other raffle prizes included two great gift baskets donated by The Collection and two car blankets donated by Moss Motors.
Our car show participants came from the tri-county area (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach), and we had many out-ot-towners as well. We had 32 British car classes, including our special marques, Aston Martin and Austin-Healey.
Our day culminated in our awards ceremony, and voting was by people’s choice. To assist in the presentation of awards were Ken Fengler and Neil Saffer, long-time members and supporters of our car show Bill Gearhart, Car Show Chairman Michael Cohen, Special Events Coordinator and David Zeitz, Club President. We presented many awards, and we were happy to announce our winners in each class (see the accompanying list).
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Photo by John Morris
In addition, we had two special awards that were voted on by show participants. Our Best of Show was awarded to Larry Kopp and his elegant 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. Larry’s trusted and very knowledgeable mechanic, Ram, provided us with this information:
“The Silver Wraith became Rolls-Royce’s debut post-war offering, holding the distinction of being the first model built in the now-legendary Crewe factory. The Wraith used the 4.25-liter inline six-cylinder engine, featuring an F-head design with overhead inlet valves and side-mounted exhaust valves. This new engine design produced 126hp.
“Another first for Rolls-Royce was the application of hydraulic brakes on the Silver Wraith, greatly improving stopping the 127” wheelbase Limo.
“With its elegant coachwork by H. J. Mulliner, chassis number WAB20 is a marvelous example of the stately and imposing Silver Wraith. This stunning Rolls-Royce comes with a large history file spanning its more than seven decades of ownership. Build records provided by the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club document the car’s history from the chassis’ completion in March of 1948 to its shipment to H. J. Mulliner coachbuilders.
“The paintwork is superb, with gorgeous black wings and upper panels contrasting the cream-colored body sides and wheels. Panel fit is exemplary, with doors that operate with the quality expected of a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce.”
Thank you, Larry, for bringing this beautiful automobile to our car show!
Our other special award was for the Best Restoration, named in honor of the late Brian Jenkins. Brian sadly passed away last August. He was Car Show Chairman for ten years, a very early member of the Gold Coast British Sports Car Club, a trusted mechanic who worked on many of our British cars, owner of three Lotus cars, a dedicated and hard-working member, and an overall great guy!
This special award was won by Steve Regester and his 1954 Austin-Healey 100. Steve told us that he is the third owner, having purchased the car about two and a half years ago from a friend of Paul Wolkovich, who was the original owner.
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Photo by Steve Regester
Paul was a MAGG, part of the Military Assistant Advisory Group from the U.S. stationed in England. Paul kept every invoice and correspondence including the original invoice where he purchased the car from the Donald Healey Motor Company in Warwick, England, in August, 1954. (The meticulous documentation drew Steve to the car that is why he purchased it, and he’s kept all of the documentation.)
In 1955, Paul had the new Le Mans racing modifications added to the car upon the suggestion of Bic Healey. Thereafter the car was shipped to the States. Steve has a newspaper copy dated October 30, 1955, showing the car being driven by Mrs. Charles Millhouse, Chairman of the YWCA Automobile Show where it was shown with other Austin-Healey models.
Paul started to restore the car in 1995. It was completed but not driven until Steve became owner. At that point, he had the car taken apart and painted and all parts put back together perfectly. In 2020, he was in the process of entering it in the 1,000-mile run through Italy, the Mille Miglia. However, COVID hit and he had to cancel, but he is hoping to run it in 2024.
Thank you, Steve, for showing your special Austin-Healey at our car show. Brian would be very happy to see it and hear of its history!
And congratulations to all of our other winners. Your cars are all special! Thank you to John Morris for taking fantastic photos. And thank you to Bill Gearhart, Car Show Chairman, and his many dedicated volunteers who worked very hard to make our show a success. Even the weather cooperated — it was a beautiful day. We enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful classic as well as modern British cars and meeting their enthusiastic owners.
Thank you, all, for attending the GCBSCC’s 28th Annual All-British Car Show! We look forward to seeing you next year!
Please watch for more upcoming events. Visit our website, www.goldcoastbritcar.com, where you will find updates on our club events and information about the club. And, also check out our Facebook page. Inquiries can be directed to our e-mail, goldcoastbscc@gmail.com.
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Photo by John Morris
Class winners
Austin-Healey 3000: 1st, Geoff Sherfield, 1968 BJ8 2nd, George Martin, 1965 BJ8 3rd, Steve Cosgrove, 1966 MkIII.
Austin-Healey 100: 1st, Steve Regester, 1954.
Mini Early: 1st, David Barrow, 1965 Austin Mini.
Mini Late: 1st, Felix Hagley, 2022 JCW 2nd, Michael Rose, 2015 Cooper S.
British Other Pre-1970: 1st, David Reeve, 1960 Daimler SP250 2nd, Eric Scoblionko, 1956 Austin A30 3rd, Gerard Pantin, 1967 Ford Cortina.
British Other Post-1970: 1st, George Radelat, 1972 TVR 2500 2nd, Neil Saffer, 1973 Jensen-Healey 3rd, Mark Shader, 2004 Noble M12GTO3R.
Jaguar E-type: 1st, George Hervert, 1961 2nd, Scott Mohrland, 1963 3rd, Mark Adelman, 1971.
Jaguar XJ: 1st, Richard Hartwell, 1996 XJ6 2nd, Bob Godin, 2008 XJ8L 3rd, Philip Parisi, 1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas.
Jaguar XJS: 1st, Christoper Karentz, 1993.
Jaguar XJSC: 1st, Richard Hartwell. 1986.
Jaguar XK: 1st, Skip Waldman, 2007 2nd, Jim Proia, 2003 3rd, Kal Blake, 2007.
Jaguar XKR: 1st, Robert Dyminski, 2001 2nd, Warren Marmorstein, 2002.
Jaguar XK120-150: 1st, Michael Moseson, 1959 XK150 Saloon.
Jaguar Other: 1st, George Cole, 1947 Mark IV.
Lotus Pre-1980: 1st, Joe Petty, 1962 Super 7 2nd, Patrick Dennis, 1954 Mark IV, 3rd, John Layzell, 1968 Lotus 7.
Lotus Post-1980: 1st, David Zeitz, 2017 Evora 400 2nd, Philip Menis, 2005 Elise 3rd, Christopher Kaczmarek, 2012 Evora.
MGA: 1st, David Friswell, 1960 2nd, David Massey, 1955 3rd, Gregory Atria, 1959.
MGB Pre-1974 1/2: 1st, Barry Nathanson, 1970 2nd, Peter Lacau, 1967 3rd, Steve Morris, 1971.
MGB Post-1974 1/2: 1st, Melissa Korman, 1980 2nd, Thomas Vagasy, V8 GT.
MGB GT: 1st, Tony Flamino, 1967 2nd, Gerard Pantin, 1971.
MG TC Series: 1st, Howard Rock, 1948 2nd, Robert Gallagher, 1948.
MG TD Series: 1st, Scott Armstrong, 1950 2nd, John Korman, 1952 3rd, Robert Weiss, 1952.
MG Other: 1st, Pat Uribasterra, 1973 Midget 2nd, Fred Balgobin, 1978 Midget 3rd, Jim Horsman, 1968 MGC GT.
MG TF Series: 1st, Stephen Bamdas, 1955 2nd, David Markowitz, 1955.
Morgan: 1st, Eric Singer, 1966 Plus 4 2nd, Jonathan Hoyes, 2005 Roadster 3rd, Geoff Parkins, 1967 Plus 4.
Rolls, Bentley Pre-1970: 1st, Larry Kopp, 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith 2nd, Steve Moorman, 1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
Rolls, Bentley Post-1970: 1st, Raymond Scott Henning, 1999 Bentley Azure 2nd, Kevin Newman, 2001 Bentley Azure 3rd, Paul Picus, 2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Triumph Spitfire: 1st, Rick Zink, 1973 2nd, Jeff Seltzer, 1978.
Triumph TR2 to TR4: 1st, Tom Willhite, 1961 TR3A 2nd, Jeff Liroff, 1960 TR3A 3rd, Hank Liebman, 1965 TR4A.
Triumph TR6 Pre-1974: 1st, Nivardo Mora, 1974 2nd, Richard Flah, 1974 3rd, Tom Heller, 1974.
Triumph TR6 Post-1974: 1st, David Muenzer, 1976 2nd, John Cookish, 1976 3rd, Fred Brandner, 1975.
Triumph Other: 1st, Joseph Lubeck, 1971 Triumph Stag.