The Mellotron Group

I grew up around cars. We only had Packards (three 1941's and 2 1956's, 
an Executive and a Patrician) until my older brother bought a Pontiac GTO.
One of the many interesting car-nut customers at my dad's service 
station garage (where I worked off-and-on for many years) included Bob 
Dunlap who was the founding Secretary of the Ameican Bugatti Club - what 
a great character. I got to ride in his Type 37A open wheel GP car 
around the streets of Glendale, Cal. Nothing quite like that experience. 
[Bob's passed - Jay Leno owns it now and you can see it (and a picture 
of Bob) on his website.]
1961 Facel Vega Facellia F2, 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1967 Pontiac GTO, 1968 
Olds 442 conv, 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge, 1973 Pontiac Judge, 1960 
Studebaker Champ pickup, 1972 Honda Z600.
Gary - what years 442 did you have?
My uncle had a Lotus Cortina - in the US, that was a major plain-jane 
sleeper.
Ah....cars.
Vance

On 2/21/2012 7:26 PM, Gary Brumm wrote:
>
> MGA, 63\u2019 XKE, Fiat 124, 66 Corvette convertible, 63 Corvette \u201csplit 
> window\u201d, 65\u2019 Mustang convertible, 66 Mustang, Olds 442, 83\u2019 Toyota 
> Supra, old Mercedes,,several\u2026.several new Lexus LS\u2026and a bunch 
> in-between I forget\u2026..now my daily driver is an 07\u2019 Toyota FJ 4X4\u2026\u2026..
>
> BTW: I always wanted a Lotus Europa!!  \u2026and a Lamborghini Mura!!
>
> Gary
>
> *From:*newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com 
> [mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Jim Blair
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:16 PM
> *To:* newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> *Subject:* [newmellotrongroup] Mellotrons and old cars. (Was "lighted 
> switch" thread.)
>
> I wonder how many of us Tron guys are also into vintage cars.
>
> I'm a Lotus fan. I've had a couple of Europas. Love em. The 67 S1 that 
> I drive at the moment is powered by a fuel injected Toyota 4AGE, and 
> has NO original electrical. lol
>
> It is scary powerful, weighs nothing, and is totally reliable. Really 
> fun car.
>
> http://www.circleofwingsband.com/europa363/Europa1-800.jpg
>
> http://www.circleofwingsband.com/europa363/Interior2-800.jpg
>
>
> Jim
>
>
>
>
> At 03:03 PM 2/21/2012, you wrote:
>
>
>
>     It was a 1964 model as I recall. I didn't own that one; it
>     belonged to a friend. We complete rebuilt that car from the frame
>     up as I  did with the XK-150, which I did own. I forgot that I
>     (briefly) owned a Triumph TR-3 back around 1971 or so, but it was
>     stolen not long after I replaced the drop-down top, reupholstered
>     it and repainted it. Never got it back. A year later I bought a
>     '59 MGA and we put a narrowed Pontiac rear end in it and a 302
>     Chevrolet Z-28 motor. There wasn't much Lucas left when I was
>     finished with it. It was a bit too much motor for the car. Often,
>     under vigorous acceleration from a rolling or standing start, or
>     when banging through the gears, the doors would open from the
>     excessive torque. Scary! So I welded the doors closed and put a
>     roll bar in it. That was an improvement, but the frame was still
>     not up to the task, so off came the body and out came the welding
>     torch. I tried everything I could think of to stiffen that frame,
>     but I could never completely solve the torque issue and handling
>     could be a tad unpredictable at times. The thing was a rocket and
>     just plain scared the shit out of everyone but me. It was a cool
>     looking car with  flared fenders and huge tires (at the time) and
>     I called it the "poor man's Cobra," which, except for brute power,
>     it was most certainly not. Finally, after a year or so of trying
>     to get it right, I got rid of it.
>
>     There was a guy who lived just a few houses down the street named
>     Bill Pickford. My dad was his attorney and he had two Shelby 427
>     side-oiler Cobras. I got to drive one of them a few times and it
>     was always in my mind that I could build something like it. Wrong.
>
>     Pickford died in 1973 of brain cancer. His wife offered one of the
>     Cobra's to my dad for $7,000.00. He bought a Porsche instead. I
>     never forgave him for that, although I had a long-running affair
>     with Porsches (I've had 9 of them and sold the last shortly after
>     I got married.)
>
>
>     In a message dated 2/21/2012 2:30:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>     gabru@comsec.net <mailto:gabru@comsec.net> writes:
>
>     Having owned a MGA, XKE and a few other British �\u20ac\u0153Lucas based�\u20ac�
>     forms of transportation I agree\u2026.absolutely horrible
>
>     electrical system\u2026yet another reason a British car will ~always~
>     let youu down.  But they are so damn much fun to drive!!
>
>     What year was your E Type Frank?
>
>     g
>
>     From: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
>     <mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com>
>     [mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
>     lsf5275@aol.com <mailto:lsf5275@aol.com>
>
>     Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11:12 AM
>
>     To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
>     <mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com>
>
>     Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellotron M400 Lighted Power
>     Switch WANTED.
>
>     I also have rewired a (59 XK-150 and an XKE) and probably two
>     dozen or even more, British motorcycles. Lucas Electronics... "The
>     name goes on before the trouble begins..." Always fun.
>
>     In a message dated 2/21/2012 1:55:04 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>     wonggster@gmail.com <mailto:wonggster@gmail.com> writes:
>
>     When I think of UK and electric I always think of the time I spent
>     pulling solid core Lucas wire out of a friends Jaguar and rewiring
>     the car with lamp cord (speaker wire).
>
>
>
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>