Mike, Morgans, Mustangs, Mr. H., and more…

A couple of weeks ago my good buddy Mike B. was in So Cal visiting his aunt, so Sue and I drove down to San Diego in the Subie for lunch with my lifelong buddy…

A low-res iPhone selfy, with Sue, Mike, and yours truly in the chili shirt

We ate at Andres, a Cuban restaurant.  I can’t tell you which was better…the camaraderie, the conversation, or the cuisine.   It was all wonderful.   We snapped that photo above with my iPhone and I immediately forwarded the photo to my kids.  One of them told me she would confiscate my chili shirt if I wore it one more time!

Yesterday morning, I received an email from Mike (now back in New Jersey) with an interesting message.  He had bumped into Mr. H., our 7th grade science teacher, at a local mall.  Or rather, Mr. H. had bumped into Mike.  Neither recognized each other immediately.  Hey, do the math:  7th grade for us was exactly 50 years ago!   It seems Mr. H. saw Mike in his Corvette and he had a question about the engine.   Our former science teacher had shoehorned an LS-2 Chevy engine into a Mazda RX-7 and he wanted some advice on it.

As Mike was telling this story, a lot of memories flooded back.   All of us have had great teachers, and Mr. H. was mine.   I will tell you up front I was a first class pain-in-the-you-know-what in junior high school (and in high school, too, for that matter), but my 7th grade science class held my interest.   Science was cool and so was my teacher.

Mr. H. is a gearhead…the real deal.   His daily driver back in those days was a 1953 Morgan, and he was bringing it back to concours condition.   I had great interest in that car and I remember it well…the classy styling, the big louvers, and a big leather belt to secure the hood.  It was originally a faded and oxidized white, and as one of the final touches Mr. H. painted it a deep burgundy.   The car was awesome.

A Morgan sports car

Mike’s message about Mr. H. was intriguing.   To make a long story less long, I Googled the name and address and a few minutes later I had Mr. H. on the phone.  How about that?  Fifty years since I’ve seen this guy, and now I’ve got him on the phone.

You know, a voice is a funny thing.   Mr. H. sounded exactly as I remembered him.  Strong, firm, and focused on gearhead stuff.  He told me that the RX-7 was a good car, but the rotary engines were only good for about 75,000 miles (he’d been through several of them).   Dropping a Corvette engine in an RX-7 was the way to go, Mr. H. said.  He spoke about it like it was changing from Firestone to Goodyear tires (a classic Mr. H. trait).  It was a great conversation.   He told me he remembered me, which I kind of doubted until he asked me a question about my father.   “Your Dad was the guy who designed and built his own swimming pool, including the filtration system, right?  He made it from an old wine vat.”  That was so long ago I had forgotten about it.   Not Mr. H.   To say I was impressed would be a great understatement.   Wow!

Okay…changing the subject:  As if the above weren’t enough, and to make a great morning even greater, I received another email from my good buddy Jimbo yesterday.   Jim told me of a link on the Mustang website to Paul V’s photos, and folks, you have to visit this site.   The Mustang Nationals just ended a few days ago, and Paul captured some great photos of the bikes at that event (Mustangs, Cushmans, and more).   The photos are awesome.  Paul, we had no idea you are such an accomplished photographer.   Thanks for posting these great images!

Oh, and one more thing.  I received my copy of Motorcycle Classics magazine in the mail yesterday.  Motorcycle Classics is unquestionably the best moto mag on the planet.  I say that not just because I occasionally write for them, but because they truly are great.    The photography and the writing in all of their stories is absolutely first class, as is the editing and story selection by Landon Hall and Richard Backus.   If you’re not reading Motorcycle Classics, the fact that you’re reading this blog means you should be.  It’s that good.  With every issue, I wonder how they are going to do better in the next one, and then they somehow do.   Clement Salvadori (one of the world’s all time great writers, a guy who I want to be like when I grow up) has a piece in the current issue about riding a 1948 Indian Chief on California 101.   It’s a must read, folks!

That’s it for now, boys and girls.  Ride safe and stay tuned!