People
Shelly Artur
Mon May 06 2013 17:40:18 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
MG Discovered in Car-Sized Coffin! Jim Snider’s outstanding Austin-Healey 3000 started a dialogue that twenty years later yielded him an entombed MG. “I owned a bolt and screw business,” said Snider, of Louisville, Kentucky. “One day a customer of mine came into my office to compliment me on my 3000 that I had parked in my warehouse.”
“As I showed him the car up close, he told me of an elderly gentleman out in the country who also owned an old Healey.” Snider always enjoyed meeting fellow Healey owners, so he eventually contacted the gentleman, a gesture that led to a lasting friendship.
The gentleman, Hugh Grundy, and his wife, Frankie, were a fascinating couple. Initially, Snider was intrigued in learning about the Healey 100. The Grundys bought the car new and had modified it with an altimeter and other equipment with the intention of competing in the Mille Miglia sometime in the 1950s. But Snider was equally intrigued to hear about the career that led the Grundys to live for decades in places like Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Hugh Grundy had worked for Air America, a covert airlines operated by the CIA. Air America hauled supplies, but mainly fought the Communist threat in the 1940s and 1950s. (Interestingly, Grundy’s wife Frankie never knew he worked for the CIA.)
Before the Healey 100, there was an MGTC. This was a yellow 1947 model that the young couple used while living in Hong Kong. They traded the yellow MG for a new 1949 black MG. They drove their new sports car around China for a couple of years before having it shipped to the family farm in Kentucky. The farm had been in the Grundy family since the 1700s.
“It was shipped to the farm because Hugh and Frankie thought they were going to stay in Kentucky,” Snider said. “Frankie drove it about five hundred miles around Kentucky before the couple moved back overseas in 1964.” But before Frankie left, her dad helped her construct a box—a car-sized coffin—just big enough for the MG. She rubbed Vaseline over all the chrome to protect it for what would be a lengthy storage. But nobody knew just how lengthy it would be.
After Grundy retired to Kentucky, he and Frankie continued their sports car activities, but now in the United States. The Austin-Healeys brought the Sniders and the Grundys together as friends who would occasionally participate in sports car tours. “My wife Sharon and I went to dinner three or four times a year with the Grundys, and we became great friends,” Snider said.
“I had known Hugh for about ten years before I asked him one day while we were out in his barn, ‘Hey Hugh, what’s in the box?’ He told me it was Frankie’s old MG, and that someday he’d show it to me.”
“It was another five or six years before he actually opened the box and let me look inside.”
What Snider saw in that box was a time capsule: an original MGTC right down to its paint. The car was in needy condition: The paint was old, the tires were flat, and the interior had seen better days. Despite this, the car had been well-preserved for more than four decades, and the Vaseline-covered chrome was still like new.
“I expressed my interest in the MG, but it was Hugh’s intention to restore the car,” Snider said. “Then, one day, Hugh called me and said, ‘You know, I’m ninety years old. I don’t think I’ll have time to restore it. Frankie and I would like you and Sharon to own the car.’”
Snider was excited, and after promising not to sell the car while the Grundys were alive, he took ownership of the 1949 TC in 2004. Snider decided that the car was going to be his wife Sharon’s, since she was born the year the car was manufactured.
Sharon’s MG is completely restored now, and it takes a place proudly next to Jim’s Austin-Healey. As a tribute to the Grundys—Hugh is now ninety-three and Frankie is eighty-seven—the Sniders kept the original Hong Kong license plate on the car.
Read more at http://www.barnfinds.com/the-mg-in-the-coffin/#OyeJEY4mhWLMerBX.99
Shelly Artur
Mon Apr 01 2013 18:25:06 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
"The Princesses'Rally gives all women who love classic or prestigious cars an unusual opportunity to discover a passion for driving, during six straight days of stress-free, fun-filled and friendship-building moments. So ladies, climb into your favorite cars and treat yourself to this incredible journey." http://www.zaniroli.com/welcome/princess-rally
Shelly Artur
Tue Mar 05 2013 18:55:48 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
For all my friends still on the East Coast
New England winter got you down? Check out indoor kart racing at F1 Boston. And hey, a free pass for the birthday boy and gal! http://www.f1boston.com/
Shelly Artur
Tue Mar 05 2013 19:00:47 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
You probably have seen the video of Amy picking up her Lamborghini Gallardo from her last trip to the states. Although she loves that, her dream car has always been the Audi R8! A week after getting back to the states she tracked down the perfect car and started making plans for a very unique look. We picked the car up from Lamborghini Carolinas and dropped it off the next day at Carbon Wraps (http://on.fb.me/YzQzbs) in Orlando, FL. Steve put in many 3AM nights over the course of a few weeks to get the car looking like a factory job! Every panel was removed and done completely right - HIGHLY recommend them if you're thinking of a wrap. She then finished it off with satin black 20" B18 Modulare Wheels. Amy couldn't be happier with how the car came out! Congrats on buying yourself your 2nd supercar by 22 babe :-) Super proud!
What does Amy do? Check out her company http://Infinite-Prosperity.com/?y