Moss Motors Announces Results of 2014 Motoring Challenge

[Moderator]

(in case you didn't receive the e-mail)

This is going to be a hard (but fun) email to write. I won't be able to say all I want, or would like to, or need to say. There's too much to be said!

2014 is now behind us and I can honestly say I miss it for a lot of reasons, the Motoring Challenge being one of them. A big one. It's silly that talk of desperate searching for Duck Crossing signs can make a person sentimental, but there you have it. I laughed a lot during this year of the Challenge and I hope you did too.

I'm still waiting on a few stories from last year, and I'll include those in a more official Moss emailer that will go out to our full list of customers in the next week or so. But here's a link to the stories I have from 2014's Challengers... enjoy!

http://www.mossmotoring.com/tag/2014-motoring-challenge/




And now...THE WINNERS AND PRIZES!!!

3 little points separated our top two grand prize winners. Both Ed Yates and Scott Swope were less than 10 points from getting EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE POINT. Both Challengers took pictures in all 48 lower states, and Ed saw nine of the possible 13 Canadian Provinces (and will you take a look at the car he used to do it with?!?!)

Stunning Ed, simply stunning! We all congratulate you! Not only did he win the overall $1,000 prize, he's also taken home the $500 Moss Gift Certificate for covering the most ground in North America. Bravo for representing sports cars everywhere!

I had the pleasure of meeting Scott Swope, and his wife Angie, our second place winner—talk about young enthusiasm! Scott owns a auto repair shop, "Swope Automotive" in St. Louis, MO, and you better believe he's passionate about his work and the cars he works on.

And then there is our first Miata, and 3rd place $250 winner, driven by Mr. Matthew McGuire—or as we call him here at Moss... "The Gentleman Challenger." Matthew added so much to the Challenge through encouragement and wit in his posts on the Motoring Challenge Facebook Group.

For 2014 since the Miata group was brand new to the Challenge we upped the ante a little to see if the top five Miatas could outscore the top five British cars. Despite their vaunted reliability and comfort the Miatas couldn't beat the Brits. However... the most active car club represented in the Challenge was a group out of Boise Idaho—the Les Bois Miata Club—lead by club president and 5th place winner Richard St. Clair. Great job Miata folks!

The following is the list of winners. The grand prize winners also have their photos shown down below. The second list of 50 participants ALL EARNED $50 MOSS Gift Certificates! Not too shabby!




<table border="3">
<tr> <td>Name</td> <td>Score</td> <td>Car</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>................................</td> <td>..........</td> <td>...........................................</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>1. Ed Yates</td> <td>200</td> <td>Triumph TR3A (1961)</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>2. Scott Swope</td> <td>197</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>3. Matthew McGuire</td> <td>181</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>................................</td> <td>..........</td> <td>...........................................</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Name</td> <td>Score</td> <td>Car</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>1. Bryan Hutchinson</td> <td>180</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>2. Richard St Clair</td> <td>178</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>2. Curtis Jacobson</td> <td>178</td> <td>MGB GT V8</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>4. Douglas Vargo</td> <td>158</td> <td>MGB GT</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>5. Tim Holsapple</td> <td>156</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>6. David McCann</td> <td>153</td> <td>MGB, MGA</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>7. Steven Kaufman</td> <td>149</td> <td>MGA</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>8. David Reeves</td> <td>145</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>9. Steven Ritter</td> <td>143</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>10. John Wells</td> <td>142</td> <td>Austin Healey Sprite</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>11. Darren Dyk</td> <td>140</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>12. Dan Berglund</td> <td>139</td> <td>Mini Pickup</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>13. Ken Mohlman</td> <td>138</td> <td>Austin Healey Sprite</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>14. John Fraioli</td> <td>133</td> <td>MGB GT</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>14. Paul Rolig</td> <td>133</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>16. Tim Gaffney</td> <td>131</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>17. Bob Ledesma</td> <td>129</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>17. Michael Goodwin</td> <td>129</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>17. Robert Rushing</td> <td>129</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>20. Doug Kiser</td> <td>128</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>20. Brian Bogardus</td> <td>128</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>20. Simon Dix</td> <td>128</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>23. E. Ann Moran</td> <td>127</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>23. Jerry Gruss</td> <td>127</td> <td>Triumph TR3</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>25. Ron and Pat Wharton</td> <td>124</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>25. Sarah Johnson</td> <td>124</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>27. Gary Weidman</td> <td>123</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>28. Bob & Donna McNabb</td> <td>115</td> <td>MGA</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>29. Dennis McDonald</td> <td>113</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>30. Marjorie King</td> <td>110</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>31. Cecil and Mia Wise</td> <td>108</td> <td>Triumph Spitfire</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>32. Don Reynolds</td> <td>107</td> <td>Triumph Spitfire</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>33. Tad Carter</td> <td>106</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>34. Edgar Moss</td> <td>103</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>34.Rick Jaillet</td> <td>103</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>36. Jeff Chappell</td> <td>97</td> <td>TR6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>37. Mike Hoinowski</td> <td>96</td> <td>Mini</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>38. Neil Nebeker</td> <td>95</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>39. George deWalder</td> <td>87</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>40. Joe Handy</td> <td>85</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>41. Bob Puttbach</td> <td>82</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>42. PJ Lenihan</td> <td>81</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>43. Scott Gilbert</td> <td>78</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>44. Donna Rich</td> <td>76</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>45. Robert Reed</td> <td>74</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>46. Charles Hill</td> <td>72</td> <td>Morgan</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>46. Cathy Pilcher</td> <td>72</td> <td>Triumph TR6</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>48. Leon Dawkins</td> <td>71</td> <td>MGB</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>49. Robert Pennington</td> <td>70</td> <td>Triumph TR4</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>50. Pam Mackie</td> <td>67</td> <td>Miata</td> </tr>
</table>



Ed Yates (1st place)


Scott Swope (2nd place)


Matthew McGuire (3rd place)

[Scott Costanzo]

Great job Curtis!! I enjoyed following your travels.

Hope to see you in July if not before.

Scott

[tbo]

Way to go Curtiss .Very close to the Top. Good job  and I know you had a great time,,, I can tell by the big smile on your face in the pictures.

[Moderator]

Thanks guys.

I've been reflecting on the guy who drove through 48 states and nine provinces in a TR3. That's just heroic, fantastic, and amazing. It never occurred to me that someone might choose a TR3 for such a campaign. I'm so impressed.

I also want to say something about Scott Swope's and Matthew McGuire's entries because IMHO they both showed a lot of class. They both took the time to set up nice photo compositions, to pose with their cars, and to post their photos online. IMHO, that sort of thing helps to get more people interested in the Challenge and generally to get more people interested in sports cars.

On the Moss website, when it was announced that Mazda Miata drivers would be welcomed to compete in 2014, some LBC drivers thought the "modern cars" would have an unfair advantage. I never agreed. My MG may not have all the modern safety advantages of a Miata, but it's plenty reliable! I never worried at all about breakdowns. Miatas are relatively smooth and quiet, but they seem so much smaller than MGB GT on the inside.

Part of my motivation was to make sure a V8/V6 conversion finished near the top of the field.  Some people still hold prejudices against our little hot-rods, and I want to keep breaking through those. Actually, we have a few unfair advantages over stock LBCs. For example we typically have overdrive five-speeds and lower rear axle ratios, so we can lope along more comfortably at highway speeds.

Now, who will carry the BritishV8 baton in 2015?

[MGBV8]

Wow, great job! 3rd place among MGs.