BritishV8 Trivia Contest

[Moderator]

You nailed it! (Another "connection": Eric Clapton selected Booker T and the M.G.'s to be the house band for his "Crossroads Guitar Festival" in 2004, and Jeff Beck was one of the headliners Clapton had there. Much of Jeff Beck's fame, after his time in the Yardbirds, came from instrumental music. Booker T and the M.G.'s was an instrumental act too.)

If M.G. stood for "Memphis Group", the covers of all those old records should have said "Booker T and the M.G." (singular). In my opinion, it's a lot like the Chinese company that currently owns the M.G. trademark... they've somehow decided that M.G. stands for "Modern Gentleman". No kidding - that's what some of their literature says. It's ridiculous.

Next trivia question?

[MGBV8]

Who wants a Chinese MG, anyway?

One of my first albums, still have it, was Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow.

[Dan B]

Triumph is a Canadian band, so technically American.  I can't believe they haven't crossed paths with Jeff Beck at some point as well.

[MGBV8]

Somebody jump in for me. I've got baseball practice.

[Moderator]

Okay, Carl, I've got it covered.

One of my favorite British rockers, sadly, died far too young in a car accident. He was a passenger - his American girlfriend, who was also a musician of some note, with at least one hit single of her own, was driving - but interestingly, this favorite British rock singer/songwriter/guitarist never learned to drive and reportedly was always afraid of riding in cars. He preferred his horse, or public transportation. (I don't know if this had anything to do with his childhood, but I do know that his father was a professional truck driver.)

Another big clue: this British rocker mentioned cars or car parts in several of his songs! For example, in one song (which reached #2 on the UK charts) he referred to himself repeatedly as a specific model of car. In another song (a #1 hit record in UK) the lyrics lovingly told his girlfriend that she's "built like a car". What a romantic!

So here's the question, in two parts:
WHO was the British rocker and WHAT MODEL British car was he riding in at the time of his death?

[BlownMGB-V8]

Something about a Hub-cap Diamond-star halo maybe?

[Moderator]

Yep.

Although, I like these lines even better:

Just like a car,
You're pleasing to behold.
I would call you Jaguar,
If I may be so bold...

[Moderator]

Well, I admit I'm disappointed that this question didn't get answered. I'm pretty sure several people must have known the answer, so I wonder if they're weary of having to come up with the next trivia question.

For the record: the singer/songwriter/guitarist was Marc Bolan, who fronted the band "T. Rex". (Early on, they were known as "Tyrannosaurus Rex".) At the time of his death, at approximately 4am on Sept 16 1977, Marc Bolan was riding in an Austin Mini. Specifically, it was a purple "1275GT", license plate number "FOX661L". Bolan died within a mile of his house in SW London. He and his girlfriend Gloria Jones were returning from a restaurant/club. While working as a Motown songwriter, Gloria Jones wrote "Tainted Love" (which became a #1 worldwide hit later, when performed by Soft Cell) and "If I Were Your Woman" (performed by Gladys Night). She was a background singer on a wide range of songs and albums too; including a Neil Young album and also Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken".

So, I guess I'll ask a more-mainstream British-automotive question:

Q: What land speed record breaking car first drove over 200mph?  
Please include the make, and the year of its record breaking demonstration drive.

Hint: the car in question had two very large engines.

[mowog1]

http://jalopnik.com/348053/1927-land-speed-record-setter-sunbeam-1000

[Moderator]

Yep. (Sunbeam/1927)

Your turn to ask a trivia question, Rick!

[mowog1]

Name the three proprietors of the (now closed) MG Centre in St.Louis.

One lived in the UK.

One was from the UK.

One was from the USA.

[Bill Young]

Darn it Rick, I'm pretty sure I know two of the three, but can't think of the last one. Don't want to give anything away so I'll keep mute for now.

Did a little research and I'm ready for a guess.  

Robin Weatherall, Ken Costello, and John Mangles.

[mowog1]

Two out of three, Bill.

[Moderator]

John Mangles was a good guess - and he's a great guy - but I'm 99% sure he wasn't a proprietor of MG Centre.

[mowog1]

Here's a clue....the initials were J.J.

[mowog1]

BTW...I'm currently in Michigan attending the BMTA conference...

I'll be home on Monday....to declare a winner.....as I doubt anyone remembers the third proprietor..(but I could be worng, and there are FABULOUS prizes up for grabs....so PLEASE surprise me!).

OT....spent a great evening with Burt Levy tonight....he will soon have the fourth installment of his Buddy Palumbo (Last Open Road) series available....The 200 MPG Steamroller.

[mowog1]

Bill Young now has the floor as he (quickly) got two out of three of the proprietors.

The third owner was Jack Jenkins.

[Bill Young]

Rick, I can't think of anything to ask, didn't figure I'd be the winner on this one. I'll have to ask my friends from St. Louis about Jack, that's a name I've never heard before. If anyone else has a question please go ahead and take the floor. I'll try to come up with something soon if not.

[mowog1]

OK then....name the year and make that this British V8 powerplant came out of!

[Moderator]

hmmm... looks kinda like this:

[MGBV8]

Nice factory exhaust manifolds.

[mowog1]

Yup.....1973 vintage, found in a Bentley dealership's workshop during a "mantrip" to Indianapolis last week.

[ex-tyke]

Attended a small British Car show today and took some photos of a vehicle which I had never seen before - so, I'll share a couple of shots and make it a trivia question.........name the car & year of mfr.       No clues to start with.........

.........and a shot of the engine bay

[alana]

You should have blanked out the text on the front. That would have made it a bit harder. It's a Ford Capri. Clearly it has a bodykit added. Since that says "Tickford", and the car has a turbocharger in it, it's not hard to say that it's a "Tickford Capri". Probably has Turbo in there somewhere too. iirc, Tickford were owned by AM - not sure if that's what you were looking for here...


Year is a guess, but it's going have to be early 80's, so let's try 83.

[ex-tyke]

Alan - I was hoping the fascia text was suitably undiscernible, but apparently I wuz wrong!  
It is indeed a 1986 (titled in 1988)  Aston Martin Capri Tickford w/ a turbocharged 2.8L Ford - this is the last one of only 100 made.
I'm sure Wikipedia et al will have more detailed information on this collaboration between AM and Ford.