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Page 4 of 24The Terminal PostContinued from page 3 – Car Genethe door. So I climbed intothe car with visions ofspeeding down windingroads, sunglasses on, windblowing through my hair,some young blond thingsitting next to me as Iblasted through the gears.Totally delusional, right?As my father walked up thedriveway the look on hisface betrayed somethingalmost prophetic. I wassitting behind the wheelalready, and the seller hadjust given me the keys.I was quickly trying to startthe car up but forgot to takeit out of gear. The car lurched. Thenthe sounds of the starter and ignitiongrinding screamed trouble. My fathersmiled like the cat that ate the canary.He knew something.The owner apologized and said thatthe car was working just fineyesterday, as he explained to myfather. I had no reason not to believethis middle-aged man who explainedthat his wife just didn’t want the caranymore, as he hurriedly opened upthe hood and tweaked the wires tosomething that looked like a largelawnmower engine, but nothinghappened. The dream died. I wascrushed as I walked back to our car,my father’s arm around my shoulders,saying, “not this time son.” So thesearch was still on as I drove mymom’s 98 “boat” to my senior prom.Soon after I was off to college.The two-seater sports car quest wason hold again.Saving for My Dream CarFive years later I was on Wall Streetand still looking for THAT car. Thesearch was back on. For weeksI would stop by Rallye Motors inParamus, NJ checking out the Jags,Triumphs, and MGs. Jags were greatbut out of my league. I was drawn toa green Triumph Spitfire and visitedoften. The sales people knew me byname and would leave me alone asKeeping Ernie’s 1980 vermillion TR7 polishedis a familly affair. Above Ernie at the 2012Shore Acres Yacht Club car show. BottomErnie’s youngest son, Luke, at the 2014 BrickPolice Athletic League (PAL) car show.Photos by Carol Kyle.I made my monthly visits. But oneweekend I noticed a new TR7 beingunloaded, and it caught my eye.There had always been TR7 hardtopsin the lot but today a silver rag toprolled down the transporter. I walkedout to look it over. Sure it wasdifferent from the Spitfire, but thatWedge and “the shape of things tocome” grabbed me. I left thedealership to run home and get myfather. Today was the day I thought:I had most of the money and justneeded a bit of help. Pop was cuttingthe grass, and his first comment was,“Where the hell ya been? This is yourjob!” Well, after about an hour,I finished the lawn,managed to get cleanedup, and now my dad and Iwere on our way to thedealership, my checkbookin hand. As we pulled intothe dealership my fatherkept saying, “You’remaking a big mistake!”But I didn’t hear him.I had spotted the new1980 TR7 as they weremoving it through the frontdoors to sit on theshowroom floor. There itwas—silver, the 25thAnniversary edition,whatever that meant. Thetop was down, and myfather was walking around the car justshaking his head. After a few minutesRalph, the sales manager, had pulledout a courtesy car and I was off for atest drive. I drove up Route 17 gettinginto 5th gear, hitting 85 mph, and Iwas hooked. I pulled back in the lotwith a big smile on my face and myhair all messed up, my father saying,“This is a mistake. It’s a piece of junk.Wake up Ern. You’re nuts. I’m goingto bury you and that car in the samehole. This car will give you nothingbut trouble!” “Sure pop, no problem,”was my reply.Deciding for MyselfDid I listen? Nope. In the end it wasmy decision. I can still hear myfather’s words hitting me, but hecapitulated, adding, “OK, you’re 23,so you think you’re a big Wall Streetbig shot? Go ahead, it’s your money,piss it away, and don’t say I didn’twarn you.” That was it. I negotiated adeal, my dad co-signed the note, andI wrote a check for 6328.00,cleaning out my checking account.I remember that the final purchaseprice with taxes was 9327.79.One week later I picked up the car.Six weeks later, with less than 800miles on the car, I was dropping it offfor the first set of problems. Thenanother week or so later more issuesContinued on page 5 – Car Gene

The Terminal Post Page 5 of 24Continued from page 4 – Car Genesurfaced. I got it back, and a few dayslater it was back in the shop again.Each time I was mortified as myfather had to follow me for theride. Every time he would say thesame thing, “I told you not to buy thispiece of crap, Ernest. That British carcompany is run by socialists who justdon’t give a s---. Why don’t you everlisten to me?” “But dad, it’s underwarranty,” was my standard reply.And so it went for the first two yearsthat I owned the car, every few weeksin the shop. We even found out thatthe car had the clutch put in backwards, if that was even possible.Screws fell out, trim fell off, you nameit; the car had problems. But I loved it.It was shiny, it was a rag top, it was atwo seater, it purred (when it did run),no one else had one, and it wasmine.Keep or Sell?And so it went for the next six years.Then in 1986 I got the bug for something new. My Triumph had all of22,000 miles on it, primarily becauseI took a train to work everyday, andthe car found itself in the shop quite abit. I decided to buy another problemchild when I went for a 1986 Porsche944 Turbo. In negotiating the new carthe dealership offered me just 1000bucks for the Triumph. Wow,I thought, the car lost 8000 in sixyears. The dealership responded,“British Leyland is gone and you’relucky to get 1000.” I declined.But even then I wasn’t so sure Iwould have sold the car anyhow.I kept remembering how bad my pophad felt when he gave away his 1956T-Bird. For the last 30 years heseemed to regret it and talkedconstantly of getting another, butresponsibilities of middle age anda family came first. I always felt badabout that, and, besides, I didn’t evenhave a steady girl much less a familyyet! And I thought, if British Leyland isThe Caponegro family at Brits on the Beach2013. Left to right are Luke, Ernie, Ida, andMatthew. Ernest is in the driver’s seat and dida great job, as always, detailing dad’s car.Photo courtesy of Ernie Caponegro.gone, maybe this car will increase invalue, so why give away my first car?So I kept it.Starting a FamilyBy the end of the summer of 1987I was married, and the TR7 was nowparked in the garage next to my 86Porsche in our new home in Brick,NJ. My wife, Ida, couldn’t drive astick, and both cars were manuals.So the TR7 sat, waiting for me.By the time we decided on a regularcar, we needed a back seat, as myson Ernest was born in 1989. Nowthe Porsche was gone, replaced witha family Chevy Blazer, but the TR7was still here. The years rolled on, asone car came in and another wentout, but the TR7 sat there waiting. Idaand I took an apartment in JerseyCity so that Ida’s mother could watchthe kids (son Matthew came along).We both worked in NYC and spentweekends at the Brick house.Losing My DadThen I lost my dad in 1996 and anychance to build a car with him that wehad talked about so often. And stillthe Triumph sat in the garagewaiting. After 911, we decided tochange our lives, so we left JerseyCity, sold the house, and came backto Brick (by now we had three sons,Ernest, Matthew, and Luke). But theTR7 wasn’t running, so I moved it tomy office where it sat wrapped up . . .still waiting. The kids grew likeweeds, and my eldest son, Ernest,started to tinker around with the TR7as he was fast approaching driver’sage. We got it running, and helearned how to drive with a clutch.Then he was off to college.Joining the PEDCIn late 2009 PEDCer Wayne Simpsonstopped by, having spied the carwrapped up outside my office, and wewere introduced to the Positive EarthDrivers Club (PEDC). We found aworking TR7 through the PEDCnewsletter and bought it. The orangeContinued on page 6 – Car Gene

Page 6 of 24 The Terminal PostContinued from page 5 – Car GeneTR7, which some of you may haveseen, gave us the opportunity toenjoy the car, meet some great newpeople, and, on club drives, visit partsof New Jersey that we never knewexisted. My son Ernest loved littleBritish cars (LBCs), and I alwayswanted to do something with him as myfather had talked about doing with mefor 45 years—fix and restore a car.Ernest picked up an MG and, like myfather before me, I told him not to buythis particular car, but he did, and theMG was a disaster. Funny how historyrepeats itself! But, little by little, Ernesthas been restoring the MG, and wehave worked on it together, even pullingout the engine and completing a topend engine overhaul. It’s been alearning process and something I haveenjoyed with him.Restoring My Original TR7Now Ernest is working full time pilotingships, and when he gets home we wantto drive with the club every chance weget, so we decided to restore theoriginal silver 1980 TR7. We looked at afew restoration shops and foundAuto Tech out of Long Valley, NJ,www.fixbrit.com. I had contacted a fewplaces and wanted to find a shop wherethe owner had done TR7s before, andcould cater to our particular needs.John, the owner, and I have spokenmany times in the last two years, andfrom our conversations I felt his shopwas the best place for this particularcar, thus arrangements were made.In June, John arranged for a flat bed topick up the silver TR7. Throughout therestoration process John plans to takephotos and show us the progress of thecar’s rebirth.We look forward to spring 2016 when,I hope, we’ll see my first brand new carreborn at the ripe old middle age of 36.It will rejoin our other TR7 and MG, andmy family will get together to enjoy theopen road in our LBCs at the sametime. On that day, I hope my father willbe watching, but I’ll bet we’ll hear himsay something like, “Hey Ern, how thehell did you get them to work?’’ Below: Joe Lippi’s Midget, “Lesney,” and MarkWintjen’s Spitfire, “Rosie,” at Cars and Coffee inMillstone. Photo courtesy of Mark Wintjen.Millstone Cars & CoffeeSUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015

The Terminal Post Page 7 of 24The Riley—“As old as the industry, as modern as the hour.”DUANE ADAMSConnecticut MG Club LibrarianThis article appears with permission of the author. It originally appeared in a publication for his club'sJune 2014 "British by the Sea" gathering, at which Riley was the featured marque. A big thank you tonew PEDC member and Riley owner Gary Watson for bringing the article to our attention.THE RILEY CYCLE COMPANY,Ltd. was founded on May 23,1896. The company was definitelya family business. William Riley,the founder, was joined by hisbrothers Basil and Herbert and hisfive sons. As was true with manyof the early automobilecompanies, Riley started withbicycles and progressed tomotorcycles and thenautomobiles. The earliestmotorcycles, the Royal Rileys,were little more than bicycles witha gasoline engine attached. Asthese vehicles developed, theybegan to look less and less likemotorcycles and more and morelike automobiles.William Riley at first had no desireto enter the automobile industry,and it was his son Percy whosecretly built a four-wheeledquadricycle in 1899. It wasn’t until1905 that the first proper Riley,the Vee-Twin Tourer, wasproduced. The most unusualfeature was the Riley designedengine. The Vee-Twin was thefirst automobile engine to makeuse of mechanically operatedintake valves. Several years laterBenz patented this feature butcould not collect royalties fromBritish automobile companies asthey claimed they were usingRiley’s technology.Riley introduced anotherinnovation that had otherautomobile companies beating apath to Riley’s door.high in the engine block, has beendescribed as the most significantengine development of the 1920s.The “9” would continue to bedeveloped and improved uponwell into the 1950s.The “detachable wheel”,something we perhaps wouldrefer to as a spare tire, waspatented by Riley and producedwindfall profits for the company.At one time over 180 manufacturers were being supplied byRiley. Riley was also the firstcompany to equip theirautomobiles with tool kits.The success of the Vee-Twinconvinced William Riley that thecompany should concentrate onproduction of automobiles,so bicycle production ended in1911. After World War I the Rileycompanies were restructured.It was also at this time that theRiley “Blue Diamond” badge wasintroduced. During the 1920s and1930s Riley grew rapidly. Theyproduced saloons, coupes,tourers, sports cars, and limousines. Riley at one point wasproducing more than a dozendifferent models. It was alsoduring this period that the Riley 9engine was introduced. The “9”,with its hemispherical combustionchambers and twin camshafts setRiley, along with other automobilecompanies, was impacted by theGreat Depression. Their sportscars: the Imp, using a Riley 9engine; the MPH, which waspowered by a six cylinder engine;and the Sprite all enjoyed racingsuccess. At the 1934 LeMans,Rileys finished 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th,and 12th and won the team prize.The Depression, racing costs, anda very extensive model line-up inwhich very few parts were shared,forced Riley to seek a partnershipwith another company.While discussions with TriumphMotor Company were in progress,the Riley Company went intovoluntary receivership in February1938. On September 9, 1938it was announced that LordNuffield (William Morris) hadpurchased Riley Motors Limited.Lord Nuffield sold his ownershipof Riley to Morris Motors Limitedand the company joined MG andWolseley as part of the NuffieldOrganization.Riley was one of the fewautomobile companies tointroduce new model designs afterWorld War II. The RM series wasContinued on page 8 – Riley

Page 8 of 24 The Terminal PostRiley Saloons and CoupesAbove, left to right:1939 12, the first Nuffield model.1950 RMD 2.5-liter drophead coupe.1935 12/4 Falcon.Left: 1937 12/4 Lynx Sports Tourer.Photos and descriptions courtesy ofwikipedia.com.Riley Sports and Racing CarsRight: 1930 Brooklands.Far right: 1936 12/4Sprite 2-Seater Sports.Photos and descriptionscourtesy of wikipedia.com.Continued from page 7 – Rileyintroduced in 1945 under the“Magnificent Motoring” advertisingtheme. The RM series were lettered RMA-RMH and were produceduntil May 1959. The RMH iscommonly referred to as “the lastreal Riley”. Riley’s role in theNuffield Organization had been tocompete against “sporty cars” aswell as “luxurious cars”. Thismeant they were in competitionwith MG and Wolseley.Starting in 1952 with the formationof the British Motor Corporationmany models became little morethan badge-engineered versionsof Austin/Morris designs. Rileyand Wolseley continued to be incompetition with each other in thesmall car market. In 1957 BMCintroduced the Riley One-PointFive, and Wolseley the 1500. Bothwere based on the unused designthat Morris had planned to use toreplace the Morris Minor. Whilesharing their exteriors, the Rileywas marketed as the moreperformance-based option.The Riley was given an upratedengine, twin S.U. carburetors, anda close ratio gearbox. The OnePoint-Five handled well withsports saloon styling and a wellappointed interior and wassuccessful at mirroring thecharacter of the earlier Rileysaloons.Continued on page 9 – Riley

The Terminal Post Page 9 of 24Continued from page 8 – RileyCORRECTION: On page 21of the August 2015newsletter (PrincetonPuzzler Rally ad) twophotos were inadvertentlymisidentified. The photoon left was PresidentWoodrow Wilson’s homeon the PrincetonUniversity campus, andthe middle photo was ofthe current governor’shome, Drumthwacket. Ed.In the early 1960s the Mini-basedRiley Elf was introduced, followedby the Riley Kestrel 1100/1300which was based on the Austin/Morris 1100/1300.The Riley brand was endedabruptly on July 9, 1969, a victimof British Leyland Motor Corporation’s rationalization program.When BMW purchased the RoverGroup in 1994, it acquired therights to the Riley marque. Remembering “Olive” the Riley ElfWho could forget our little Olive? She stole our hearts andbrought home quite a few trophies in the short time Mike &Linda Browne owned her from 2012 to 2014. Recently Mikeheard from some folks in New Zealand, out of the blue, whohad seen his ad for a fully restored Olive and well rememberthe car in its early years. Mike writes, “Somehow, an articleon Olive must have surfaced in New Zealand lately becauseI have received three e-mails from New Zealand in the pasttwo days concerning Olive. Each person knew of the carintimately.” So piecing together Olive’s history continues,even after Mike sold her. Incidentally, Olive is back with theperson from whom Mike bought the car.Brits on the Beach 2013New member Gary Watson’s 1959 Riley One Point Five at TK’sduring our ice cream run June 24th, above. Gary also owns a RileyRMD. He wears his “British by the Sea” shirt, below, from the 2014gathering in Connecticut and is shown at the Greenbriar Oceanaireshow in August, organized by Mike Browne in background.

Page 10 of 24 The Terminal Postfrom the driver’s seatMARK BERKOWSKY, PRESIDENTIT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THATsummer is almost over. We were afraidthat summer would go quickly this yearsince we had such a tough winter, and ithas. The beginning of September bringsthe final planning for Brits on the Beach,which is coming up Saturday, the 19thof September. Bob Canfield, our showchairman, will share the details with youin his column (see page 11) and at ournext meeting. As we have reached outto you in previous years, we are askingfor your help again this year to make ourBrits on the Beach show another greatsuccess. It’s a showplace forspectators, who see our little British cars(LBCs) and typically say, “I had one ofthose,” or “a friend of mine had one,” or“I always wanted one.” Our PEDCmembers agree that it’s a lot of funtalking with people who appreciate andenjoy seeing our cars displayedtogether.Ocean Grove will close Main Avenue,fromCentral Avenue to New York.Avenue, to traffic so that we can displayour LBCs and promote the club. Pleasetake advantage of their downtown venueand enjoy the shops and restaurantssurrounding our show. We already havea complete sellout, and a waiting list hasbeen started. As usual though, severalregistrants will cancel, whether due tolast-minute conflicts or mechanicalproblems with their cars. If you haven’tregistered for the show, let Bob know,and he’ll put you on the waiting list.We are hoping to do a few thingsdifferently this year to make the showmore memorable. As always, if youhave any suggestions, be sure to tell us.We find that we always get a few newmembers at the show or immediatelythereafter, so we appreciate your ideas.The club year will be coming to an endin a few months and so will the term ofyour current officers. We have proudlyserved for four years—two 2-yearterms—and in accordance with our bylaws we cannot serve again. We havebeen looking for volunteers to fill theopen positions. Soon we will beannouncing the candidates for eachoffice, but we can let you know now thatthe offices of president, vice president,and treasurer have been filled, as hasthe newsletter editor position. We arestill looking for a club secretary,however. Please think seriously abouthelping the club continue to prosper andgrow. Let any of the officers know ifyou’d like to serve as secretary. Yourduties will include taking monthlymeeting minutes, as well as quarterlyboard meeting minutes, and keeping anupdated member e-mail list tocorrespond with members. You don'thave to be a seasoned club member, asmost of the current and proposedofficers were “newbies” at the time theybecame officers. Serving the club as anofficer is a great way to get to knowother club members and make newfriends. Speaking of which, we hope tosee you at Woody's for our next meetingon September 2nd, which is still in thesummer . . . so let's get out there anddrive ‘em! Mark & Nadine during an ice cream run to TK’s.

The Terminal Post Page 11 of 24from the navigator’s seatBOB CANFIELD, VICE PRESIDENTABRRIn January, Wayne Simpson, RussSharples, and I signed on to thecommittee planning the 2015 America’sBritish Reliability Run (ABRR). This iskind of like a 5K charity run, except inlittle British cars (LBCs) and coveringabout 600 miles over a weekend.Although it may sound a bit intimidatingto some, there have rarely been any carproblemsover the years it has been run.in the northeast U.S. This charity run isnormally done every two years, and Ihave participated in two of these so far.Not only did everyone who participatedhave a great time, but we also managedto raise a good sum for the children’scharities we chose each time. Runningthe event in October also means nicetemperatures and some great foliage toenjoy.This year, instead of trying to run theroute in two days, we are starting onFriday, October 16, at noon, and endingSunday, October 18, at noon. Thisshould make the event seem less hecticand give everyone a chance to get backhome on Sunday at a reasonable time.The route will have us mostly on countyand local roads through lower NY State,around the Finger Lakes, throughNorwich and Chester, and ending onSunday at The Ship Inn in Milford, NJ.Along that path we will spend time atWatkins Glen, the Northeast Classic CarMuseum in Norwich, and The LotusShack in Chester, NY. More details areshown at the ABRR website:http://www.britishreliability.org.We have arranged good rates at hotelsalong the way, but in order to get thenegotiated rate it is best to reserve byearly September if you are interested inparticipating. We also have arrangedsome meals at a good price if participants choose to sign on to the plan.So far there are nine teams confirmed:three are PEDC members. It is stillearly, but we expect to have more than20 teams this year. I really encourageyou to consider si

DJ Rich Canfield will provide live music from all eras for all ages, so bring the family for a fun day. . In a teenager’s to celebrate Jim Spring’s 90th birthday and the PEDC’s 26th birthday, Saturday. Jim’s been a . poor dad had to say goodbye to the T-Bird and hello