From the SVW Exchange newsletter:

Let me tell you about my friend, Ron Williams and our VA Tourer. I was at the Biggan Hill Air Show last May when I spied a large old 4 seat convertible M.G. My note was placed on the dash asking if the owner would consider selling the car to a Yankee T Register member. The next evening I received a call in London, we agreed on a figure and the following Wednesday Ron met me at the train station, after a stop to cash some travelers checks and a short trip to his home to show me his garage; we had a good meal at the local pub. We agreed that he should use the car for his vacation 2 weeks hence for an MG CC 1977 European Tour prior to delivery at the shipping docks. With a hearty handshake I was off to spend the rest of the afternoon visiting the sight of my old Air Force Base in Sudburg.

Back home in Ohio the following week, I was getting some flack about paying cash to a stranger half way around the world and then permitting him to use the car for an European Road Race [as one misguided soul put it), all with nothing more to show for it than a handwritten receipt on a scrap of paper. But Ron was something else; he was the spares chairman for the SVW Register and that was good enough for me.

Around the first of July a letter arrived, stating that the car had been delivered to the docks and Ron included several photos of the VA at the '76 Hausach Rally (7 countries) and some photos of it's refurbishing prior to same rally. Ron also included some small details like the crack in the engine block that had been there for some 17 odd years that he knew of, with no problems, but just so I wouldn't think that I had bought a car with a “dud” engine, he had placed another engine block in the trunk for a spare. - Another VA engine block...incredible!!

Even more unbelievable was the fact that he also included a brand new set of pistons, rings and wrist pins which sat on the back seat, undisturbed for the whole trip. The car arrived about 4 weeks after the letter and was in perfect condition. It was a hot summer day and a 100 mile trip home and the engine heated badly on the way. I had to stop and cool off several times, but otherwise I was satisfied with the new addition to my TC, TF & London Taxi.

My workload increased over the summer and the cars remained un-touched until time for anti-freeze. I barely got the VA running. There is just enough difference between the TPBG and the XPAG that I wasn’t sure of the plug and point settings, etc. So I called England..(at $1.20 per min. it’s a bargain as it costs me $.95 to call home from work, 20 miles away! ) . Ron agreed to loan me THE MG Clubs shop manual for a month. I intended to make copies, but found that it would have cost $500 for 20, so managed one copy for myself. The only known original (1939 edition) has pages 24, 63, 64 missing, so if anyone has a complete manual, I would appreciate copies of the missing pages. (I have those pages, but as with the rest of my stuff it’s packed! ed.) Members of the SVW Register should breathe a 1itt1e easier with Ron Williams as spares chairman. We all should be glad to have such a man in that position. (I agree, and the same goes for all of the people of the English SVW Register. I have found them helpful, kind and very cooperative…..ed.)

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