rcollum

I had a last-minute invitation this week to participate in the Middleburg, VA Christmas Parade. I have heard good things about this event from friends in the Jaguar and the Triumph clubs, so I joined in. It's a huge event - there were thousands of people lining maybe 8 blocks of downtown. The parade is in segments, with several separate parades all morning and early afternoon. Various segments of the parade has small floats, bagpipers, equestrians and horse-drawn carriages. There are breaks in between each event. I got to our staging area around 1:00PM, and did some minor 'decoration' of the Seven. The cars - probably hundreds of us - were called to start around 2:00PM. We were staged on a side road for about 10 minutes, and then drove very slowly down the main street, through crowds behind barriers on each side. The parade itself lasted maybe 15 minutes for our group. We were the first car group - I'm sure the whole automobile portion of the parade was at least an hour. I was behind a drag-racing-prepped Camaro, complete with massive tires and a blower. His car died two blocks before the end of the parade. Luckily, the route was downhill from there, and some volunteers pushed him though the end of the parade route. --Bob Collum

While this first Saturday in December was chilly, it was well worth getting up so early. On the way to Katie's I saw the amazing near-full moon, and I pulled over and took a crappy picture of it. --Bob Collum

A really mild Sunday morning, for late November - 40 degrees and clear. This is a fairly small get-together, but a really nice group of people, with a good variety of cars. A couple of families came by, with 5 kids. Several of us invited the kids to sit in our cars, which they appreciated. --Bob Collum

A busy Thanksgiving weekend at Katie's. --Bob Collum

A cold Sunday at Fairfax Circle - 29F, but overcast and no wind - not too bad for mid-November in Northern Virginia. A small but enthusiastic gathering, with a good variety of cars. --Bob Collum

I guess it's supposed to be cold in mid-November in Northern Virginia, but this morning, the clear skies and lack of wind could only make the 24F temperature tolerable, at best. While there were fewer people and cars than usual, you couldn't call the gathering ordinary. Alan Schulman and I had our Lotus parked up front. (Yes, the plural of Lotus is Lotus...) --Bob Collum

The last Saturday at Katie's before Daylight Savings ends this year. It's REALLY DARK until almost 8:00AM, this time of year. --Bob Collum P.S.: Anybody up for a drive Sunday, 11/5/17? Our local Lotus club is doing a drive to a late lunch. We will meet at the Blue Iguana parking lot by 1:30PM, (12727 Shoppes Ln, Fairfax, VA ) or meet us at Quattro Goombah’s. You can buy pizza at Quattro Goombah’s, or bring your own food. You can get beer or wine at the winery. Let us know if you are coming, or just show up... Here is the winery address: 22860 James Monroe Highway Aldie, VA, 20105

The last Katie's of October, and it was a good one. I spent the morning yesterday doing my Fall Detailing. (I do a full detail on the Elise twice a year - it's normally the only reason I put the hard top on the car.) In addition to my Elise, Alan Schulman drove his Evora, and a nice Elise in what might be a non-standard color was there. Looked like Bordeaux Red Pearl, but I didn't think that was available outside of 2005 - this was a 2006 or later car. I nice combo with the gold wheels. I don't know whose car this Elise is... The local Model A club brought out several old Fords. Michael D. showed up. He has sold his Seven, but misses it. My Seven is still in the shop, getting (another) new fuel pump. Bruce Beachman is sending me an R500 pump, which he says is more robust - I'm hoping this solves the problem. This will be the second fuel pump we've replaced in just over two years. Based on a search I did, I think the OE fuel pump in Zetec cars is a weak point. I'm using the opportunity to replace the fuel gauge sending unit, as the fuel gauge reads randomly, but never reads full. --Bob Collum

I've been away for a couple of weeks, but it's good to get back to Fairfax Circle (Cameron's) this Sunday. It's not a huge gathering, but the people are great, and the cars are gorgeous! The black car that looks like a Ferrari 308 is actually a Fiero-based kit car, including real Campagnolo wheels. --Bob Collum

I was back at Katie's today, after two weeks away. A good turnout of interesting vehicles! --Bob Collum

We finished the ABRR here in the DC area this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun! A lot of interesting British cars, and their friendly & knowledgeable owners. My wife and I drove the Seven. We had a wonderful time on the ~200-mile route on Friday. I dropped my wife off at the hotel, and went down the street to fill up with gas for the Saturday route. After filling up -- the Seven would not start. It turned out to be the fuel pump. Bad luck? Well, it was Friday the 13th, but I was happy we did not get stranded out on the road. My mechanic came over, and managed to get the car running, but we really didn't know if it would last the planned 350-mile route on Saturday, so I drove the Seven to his shop, and left it. I considered myself lucky, but was sad that I'd miss two days of the event we signed up for. I went and told the event organizer, and he told me they had planned for breakdowns, and had a Top Gear-style 'Car of Shame' available for us to use -- a Miata... automatic! (Gasp!) We happily accepted, and drove the Miata the next two days. It was not the 'hair shirt' we had imagined - we enjoyed the car, despite driving mountain roads with the leisurely drivetrain. The Car of Shame even contributed to the event - we used it to jump-start the event organizer's XKE on Sunday! If you hear about one of these events occurring near you, take a good look at it. It's a charity event, and always supports some children's charity. The DC event even had a dedicated flatbed tow vehicle, and mechanics available during the event. There are currently 4 ABRRs - Pennsylvania, DC, New England and Colorado. All the 2017 events have been completed. If you are interested, either in an existing event, or starting your own, you can contact the organization - http://www.britishreliability.org/ Some of my Lotus friends from the Philadelphia area did their area's ABRR last year, and convinced me to check this out. We will do this again! --Bob Collum

It's less than 2 weeks until the DC chapter of the America's British Reliability Run begins. Debbie and I will be driving our Caterham 7 on the ABRR route - 750 miles in 3 days, beginning Friday, October 13th. This is a charity event. We are still seeking donations for the charity - Our Military Kids. We very much appreciate anything you can give. Here's the link to our donations page - https://www.razoo.com/story/Classicteamlost Here is the link to the ABRR website, with details of the teams (some are pretty funny), and info about the charity. https://www.dcbritishreliability.org/teams Thanks! Bob Collum & Debbie German

The first day of October, and it was 44F when I left the house. No Lotus there (besides mine), but we had a guy show up with what he said was a McLaren MP12C. After an accident, he had it severely customized, with a McLaren P1 nose, and some other-model McLaren parts. Note the exhausts exiting from above the rear bumper. Nicely done! --Bob Collum

Some interesting cars there today! --Bob Collum

You're welcome - it's the weekly surprises (and friends I have made there) that keep me coming back! Having my camera gives me an excuse to be there every Saturday. --Bob Collum

The turnout was a bit short of the normal today, mostly because of a car show at NRA headquarters, about 3 miles away. Still, we had several regulars show up. --Bob Collum

Interesting stuff at Katie's today: 1.) A 5-ton surplus Army truck. (The owner just got the truck home at 11PM Friday, and brought it to Katie's very early Saturday!) 2.) A Callaway 'Aerowagen' - a Corvette Z06-based shooting brake. 3.) A Stanley Steamer. 4.) An Indycar. --Bob Collum

GYLO 14 is in the books, and we had a great day! Good weather, a great gathering of cars, and cookout food - PERFECT! Gavin Slade's Seven and Tim Glahn's Elan tied as winners in our Favorite Lotus contest. --Bob Collum

Happy to do it, Mike - thanks!

A pretty good day at Katie's cars & coffee... --Bob Collum

The weather forecast looks tailor-made for our event: clear and low-eighties. You won't get a better opportunity to drive your Seven... Feel free to post here if you want to organize a group drive, before or after the event! So far, the RSVPs I have are - Bob Collum + Debbie Mark Franke + Brenda Caleb Yow + Jessica -- ?? Annie Dalter Jeffrey Hammer Kevin McKracken Kevin McGovern + Denise Bill Orr + Bobette Greg Smoak + Thuy Victor Montes + Kathy Ivan Katz Gavin Slade Jenn Glann + Tim Ed Ellison + Bev Bryan Guziak + Nadine Ex-Londoner (Mick) Bob Bratti Alan Schulman Please let me know, via email or reply to this post, if you are coming, AND what the head count is for you & your entourage. Looking forward to a great get-together - it's been a long, boring summer! As always, we will have a popular-vote contest for favorite Lotus, with prizes. --Bob Collum

A cool morning at Fairfax Circle, with the quality and variety we're coming to expect. Greg Smoak drove his Elise, joining my Seven for another 2-Lotus Sunday at Fairfax Circle. The 1946 Plymouth is owned by the son of the woman who owned it back in the 70's. --Bob Collum P.S.: Please RSVP for GYLO, being held Sunday, 9/17/17: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11671-Gylo-14

I didn't see MichaelD or his car today... His For Sale post does not show it sold. Selfishly, I hope it at least stays in the area! --Bob Collum

A very cool morning - in more ways than one. It was 53F when I drove to Katie's this morning in the Seven. Jacket and gloves needed! Here are a few of the interesting cars there this morning... Not many people will even know what any of these cars are. (Though I think one is so easy, I'd be surprised if anybody doesn't know it...) I expect this group to know the toughest one, the third one. --Bob Collum P.S.: Please RSVP to GYLO 14, which takes place Sunday, 9/17/17, 11:00AM. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?11671-Gylo-14

A pretty good & varied turnout today, including (again) two Lotus - Jim Hurd showed up with his Evora. A really nicely-restored MGA (with an MGB engine in it) showed up. --Bob Collum http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=13229&stc=1http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=13230&stc=1http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=13231&stc=1http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=13232&stc=1