T Register News
A TC in the Monte Carlo Classique rally – update
John Lomas, the owner of Blue Diamond Riley Services and its sister company the MG Automobile company, and his navigator Dan Hunter should be on their way back home now after their Monte Carlo Rally adventure in a TC.
They set off OK from Bicester Heritage on Tuesday 30 January and appeared at the Banbury Control Point at lunchtime on Friday 1 February. Banbury Council made a bit of a splash of the event and John and his TC team had a servicing centre there.
They had snow in Scotland and a small electrical fire caused by a short in the nearside side light, which put all their lights out – and that was during a snow white-out! The light was repaired at the Banbury Passage Control and off they went again heading for the Channel Tunnel.
They had fog and rain in France near Calais and then snow again in Dijon and nearly got written off by a boy racer in Lyon! However by the time they reached Valence, the weather had improved and they had sunshine all the way to Monaco. And the TC seems to have not missed a beat except for the earlier lighting problem.
You can see the tracking blog of their daily travels, and there are two videos, one of them setting off from Bicester Heritage and another of the Passage Control at Banbury, and an album of more photographs on the T Register’s Facebook Page.
The company are pre-war Riley and MG specialists located at Bicester Heritage and the TC was prepared in their workshop.
T Register summer 2018 events
We normally have one main event in the summer in addition to MG Live, but this year the T Register will be attending three –
- Flywheel Festival at Bicester Heritage, now renamed the Classic and Sports Car Show in association with Flywheel (yes, you’ve guessed it, sponsorship is involved). Date is 23-24 June.
- Chateau Impney Hill Climb (where we had our T Party last year). Date is 7-8 July
- The T Register T Party at the MG Car Club Donington Park race meeting. Date is 15 July.
We are arranging ticket discounts for entry for these events and we will publish them in the T Register’s email Newsletter as they will be available only to MG Car Club members. So keep looking at these events on the 2018 Events page and keep an eye on the News items in the email Newsletter.
Monte Carlo Historique and Classique Rally at Banbury
We now have some more information about this event at Banbury. Just to recap, Banbury Town Council and the Cherwell District Council are making a bit of splash of the start of the second day (Thursday 1 February) of the Monte Carlo Historique and Classique Rally in Banbury Town Centre, and there is a map of where it’s taking place and where to park, especially if you arrive in your MG.
We now know that they have closed enough roads to enable parking for 50 classic cars, but can close more to make more space available. This of course takes bureaucratic time so they would really like to know in advance if you plan on going so email Tom Duckham or ring him on 01295 221704 to let him know. It would be a pity to turn up only to be turned away …
Don’t forget that John Lomas’s TC team will also have a servicing centre at Banbury which T Register members will be most welcome to visit.
T Register email newsletter for January – and Captain Castor issue 21
The January T Register email Newsletter has now been sent out and the latest edition of Captain Castor has been published.
If you are a subscriber and haven’t yet got the Newsletter, let us know by contacting David Wardell.
If you are an UK MG Car Club member and wish to receive the Newsletter, go to
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/newsletter/
and fill the form in at the bottom of the page.
You can see the latest issue of Captain Castor at http://www.mgcc.co.uk/tregister/captain-castor-issue-no21/. Captain Castor has decided to overcome the effects of Christmas pudding and start the New Year in the manner he intends to carry on. Wind, cold, and especially rain, are all nothing to a seasoned open top motoring aficianado like him as he attends a New Year’s Day meeting.
A TC in the Monte Carlo Classique rally
The TC in the Bicester Heritage workshop
Blue Diamond Riley Services and their sister company, The MG Automobile Company have entered a TC in the Monte Carlo Classique rally starting from Paisley Abbey in Scotland on 31 January, finishing in Monte Carlo on 7 February.
They are pre-war Riley and MG specialists located at Bicester Heritage and the TC is presently in their workshop being prepared for the event.
John Lomas and Dan Hunter with the TC
John Lomas completed the event in 2016 in a 1931 Riley 9 WD Tourer and this time has a young Dan Hunter as his navigator.
You can see information on the Paisley Abbey Start of the rally, and on UK leg of the rally in general on the Monte Carlo Classique UK Facebook Page.
The second day (1 February) starts from Banbury in Oxfordshire and the Town Council are making a bit of a splash of the event from 10.30am onwards, and they have published a map of where to see the cars. The TC team will also have a servicing centre there which T Register members will be most welcome to visit.
John and Dan will be setting off from Bicester Heritage for the Glasgow start on Tuesday 30 January and you will also be most welcome there to see them off.
They have a live tracker enabling you to see their progress, including their shakedown runs, and you can also keep up-to-date with the TC’s adventures on their blog on the Blue Diamond Riley Services and The MG Automobile company’s website and on their Facebook page.
There will be an update in the February email Newsletter and in this News section of the website.
In the meantime, here’s a few photos of the cars at the Blue Diamond and MG Automobile Company workshop at Bicester Heritage.
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An F Type Magna 4 seater. Rebodied from a Salonette in the 1960s
An MGA 1600
Installing that all-important component of a USB port in the TC ready for the Rally
An L Type Magna parked outside
David Johns has reminded us that this is not the first time a TC has been (reasonably) recently entered for the Monte Carlo rally.
He entered his TC TSK 558 Molly in the Monte Challenge in 2000 and won a class award.
Government publishes Guidance on Substantial Change to Vehicles of Historical Interest
The Government has now defined what are ‘substantial changes’ to Vehicles of Historic Interest. If a vehicle has been substantially changed within the previous 30 years it will have to be submitted for annual MoT testing.
A commentary by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs is on their website, and here’s the link to the Government’s published document.
T Register email newsletter for December – and Captain Castor issue 20
The December T Register email Newsletter has now been sent out and the latest edition of Captain Castor has been published.
If you are a subscriber and haven’t yet got the Newsletter, let us know by contacting David Wardell.
If you are an UK MG Car Club member and wish to receive the Newsletter, go to
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/newsletter/
and fill the form in at the bottom of the page.
You can see the latest issue of Captain Castor at http://www.mgcc.co.uk/tregister/captain-castor-issue-no20/. Captain Castor has lots of advice for this Christmas on what to put on your list to Santa for your favourite MG, particularly if you’re not of a member of the originality police …
T Register shop
The T Register shop is up and running and hosted on the MG Car Club’s shop.
There is a complete listing of our items on the T Register’s web site –
There is a clickable link for each item which will take you directly to that item on the MGCC shop site. Payment and delivery completion is handled by the MG Car Club.
T Register email newsletter for November – and Captain Castor issue 19
The November T Register email Newsletter has now been sent out and the latest edition of Captain Castor has been published.
If you are a subscriber and haven’t yet got the Newsletter, let us know by contacting David Wardell.
If you are an UK MG Car Club member and wish to receive the Newsletter, go to
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/newsletter/
and fill the form in at the bottom of the page.
You can see the latest issue of Captain Castor at http://www.mgcc.co.uk/tregister/captain-castor-issue-no19/. Captain Castor was invited to the MGCC Council and of course has the inside track on what goes on there. Read on and find out what really goes on in this inner sanctum …
A new facility for selling your car and spares
A new facility has been added to the T Register’s website for selling your car.
The adverts placed on here will be promoted through our email Newsletter and on our Facebook Page; the Newsletter is sent to more than 800 people and our Facebook page posts regularly get over 600 hits, so there’s a potential very large audience out there for your sale.
The adverts page is http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/for-sale/.
There is a Form page for your car for sale advert
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/cars-for-sale/car-for-sale-form/
and separate Form page for your spares for sale advert
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/t-register/for-sale/spares-for-sale/