Where are you from and what do you do?

[frenchblatter]

Be nice to know where you all live and what you do to earn a crust.

I was born in London, moved to Sheffield in 1990 and retired to France in 2005. I started as a car mechanic in 1961 at University Motors in London's West End. Ended my dealership career as a director in a medium size dealer group.

I now spend my time playing with cars and have the next year tied up rebuilding the TC

ed to add, are any members living in France?

[dirk w dondorp]

for those not familiar:
Gites are small cottages for holiday purposes:-)
Dirk

[frenchblatter]

Thanks Dirk, I am trying to remember that most on here are American. I'll update the signature (if I have enough words left )

[Robert Brennan]

Yes, thanks Dirk. For a moment there, I thought a gite might be something French - say no more!

Bob Brennan
S. Freeport, ME
TC 7794 EXU

[Robert Brennan]

Verona's corrected website:

http://www.frenchblat.com/

[frenchblatter]

Thanks Robert, big fat fingers on small thin keyboard

So, where are you and what do you do, apart from noticing my typing errors

OOps, just seen your address in the post before. Sorry.

[Robert Brennan]

Hi Lynne & Norman Verona,
Super website of your lovely old farm. You've made some very good restoration decisions during the rebuild. To answer your question, I am retired now but was a carpenter/builder specializing in early American architecture. My wife Sandy and I have been married 45 years and have 2 sons - one an architect in Manhattan, and the other a compositor in L.A.
I look forward to viewing your progress on the newly acquired TC. I hope the leather is as good as it looks in your photos. My TC 7794 was restored by it's second owner who replaced the original interior with Moss, which lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. 7794 is currently in pieces at the paint shop and I eagerly await reunion. I have had to satisfy my gearhead cravings by detailing my '57 TR3A which really amounts to nothing more than cleaning up all the excess oil on the undercarriage. Oh and I did build a nifty armrest for the TC using Jim Shade's plans on the Tech Page and a green leather hide supplied by the previous owner.
Since you're new to the list, be sure to check out the Member List. There are some remarkable stories of TC reincarnation. Good luck and best wishes on your TC.
Bob Brennan
S. Freeport, ME

[frenchblatter]

Bob, thanks for your good wishes. I seem to be surrounded by architects lately. The chap who gave me to tip-off about the TC was a professor of architecture at Nottingham University. I have a very good friend who is an architect and his wife is the first female head of city planning for Sheffield City Council.

I haven't had a really good look at the car yet, the garage was dark and I didn't have my torch with me. I hope to restore her to the condition she was in when she left the factory plus the wear and tear of the first 15 years life before the prison sentence. I don't want it cleaned until I get it here as I want some "before" photos.

The finding and purchase of the TC is surrounded by good omens. The Old British Cars club on facebook posted 12 or 13 pictures of P, J and T's two days before we went to Sheffield. Then my daughter gives me my birthday present (from December) which is a few books, one of which is a book called Me and my MG. Lots of touching restoration stories in that.

[Steve Simmons]

I'm from Southern California, where our driving season is 365 days per year. I work as a camera operator for television and film, but the best part of my job is driving to and from the work site because my daily driver is an M.G. I do occasionally combine my passions by renting classic cars to film productions, but mostly I just enjoy driving them.

[frenchblatter]

Steve, Nice to "meet" another TC owner. However isn't that an MGA in the picture?

Ah, I've now enlarged the picture and can see it's on a dolly and being filmed. Fantastic job who have there fella. (is that American enough?)

I have cousins in the States, Barry is a retired air traffic controller and live in Florida (where else do retired Jewish people live?) and Steve, his brother lives in Santa Fe and works for the local authority housing children in foster homes. Their father was my father's brother. His name was Issy and he went to NY in the 1930s. Changed his name from Verona to Warner as he didn't want to be thought an Italian. He came up with the name Warner when he saw the Warner cinema.

[Jim Ellis]

I'm from Southern California as well, but am a bit North of Steve in the High Desert. I am an Embedded Software Engineer at a large Aerospace company for the last 28 years. My TC5238 was originally purchased by my Pop in 1955 and was his daily commuter through Topanga Canyon along Pacific Coast Highway to his work as an Engineer until an engine fire sidelined it to the garage for 25+ years. We had it restored in 2000 so my Pop could enjoy it before Parkinson's got the best of him. I have been blessed to have been the caretaker of my Pop's TC for the last 10 years and will pass it down to my children. Only question is which of my 5 daughters will catch the car bug!

[frenchblatter]

Jim, careful, they may all want it

[Steve Simmons]

Lets hope so!

[mgraziano1975]

Mike Graziano here.

Originally from NYC, but have lived in Austin TX for the last 12 years. I work in finance for a prosthetics company. I've wanted a TC since I was a child, because who wouldn't want a car that had the same initials as you. My first MG was a '78 Midget which I did quite a bit of work on (everything except the body work). I owned it for 12 years. It was a fun challenge. and a pure joy to drive.

Now that I've grown up, I decided to follow my dream and find the TC I always wanted. Now all I need is '66 442 in the garage next to it and all of my childhood car fantasies will be fulfilled.

-Mike

[Max Irvine]

Hi, I live in Sunbury, a small town to the north of Melbourne Australia. I stopped working (as a project engineering manager) nearly three years ago due to ill health of my wife. I keep busy playing in the garage with TC 9375. I also enjoy another hobby which is bronze sculpture. You can check it out at :- maxirvine.com