TCMG History Part Two: Pulling It All Together
by Steve Simmons
It was August 1954, and the newly formed TC group had a plan. The meeting held two months prior at the Glendale offices of Road & Track Magazine had gone well, with much accomplished by the time they adjourned. The group had agreed to locate a permanent meeting hall and meet there on one Friday night each month. The location they found was East Glenoaks Manor, located at 2534 Hollister Terrace in Glendale, just a few miles up the hill from R&T.
The second meeting was held there on August 27th with 12 members and several guests present. Several topics of discussion were planned including various TC technical matters. It was hoped this could be a permanent meeting location but the slow growth of the club presented financial issues and only one meeting was held there that year. Once they could increase the number of regular attendees, or if guest speakers were invited, the Manor could again be rented. The idea of incorporation was also put on hold until the treasury was more stable.
The third meeting was planned to be held in September at the La Crescenta home of Bill and Wilma McGuire (3813 Pennsylvania Ave), but for one reason or another that meeting didn’t happen until October. Held on Thursday the 7th, the most important order of business was establishing a working council. George Krull had been instrumental in arranging the two previous meetings, and he was appointed as the first president of the club. Whether this was an election or a volunteer process is not clear. The full list of officers for 1954 was as follows:
President: George Krull
Vice President: Bill McGuire
Secretary: Inez Whitney
Treasurer: Les Weber
Programmer: Earl Sargent
There was plenty of tech talk, with mention in the minutes of Howard Lyon’s “ingenious method for preventing rear wheels from throwing out grease”.
The gatherings would remain at the McGuire home for some time. A 4th club meeting was held there on November 23rd with 14 members present. This meeting is the first known use of a sign-in register, which still exists in our archives. The sheet is titled “TCOC” which is undoubtedly short for TC Owner’s Club.
Most importantly, it is also believed that this was the meeting where the name TC Motoring Guild was adopted, as the first known use of the name was on the mailer announcing the next meeting scheduled for January 27th, 1955.
At that meeting, discussions were held regarding club badges and artwork design. Members were encouraged to bring their artwork samples to the next meeting. One idea was sketched on the sign-in roster by an unknown person, but it was not chosen.
Clarke Whitney led a discussion on SU carburetors, and Gaynor Peet showed slides from his travels. Bill Harps gave the club new stationary with a letterhead designed around a TC (artist unknown). This artwork was re-discovered a few years ago and has since been featured on some of our club T-shirts.
Still at the McGuire home, a discussion on Rally Navigation was held at the meeting on February 24th with the hopes of putting together some TCMG team entries in upcoming events. Subsequent topics of discussion included how to install the new 1500cc blocks in your TC as well as further discussion on club badges. Three badge designs were chosen to get costs for. One new member of note at this meeting was famed automotive photographer and journalist Bobbie’dine Rodda.
More importantly, it was at this meeting that the first official TCMG group tour was planned. It was held on Sunday, March 20, 1955 starting at the McGuire home with a destination of Apple Valley for breakfast (and possibly a picnic lunch), then home again. 13 TCs were present, as was Harvey Schnaer who recalled that most of those attending who had young families brought their children in the TCs!
At the March 24th meeting it was agreed to finally proceed with writing articles of incorporation, with the help of one Arthur T Jones who also notarized the application. Interestingly, a couple planned topic of conversation were “Tach Conversions” and “Steering Conversions” which included Bob Howlett offering ways to improve TC steering. Apparently some people weren’t happy with the TC’s steering even when they were new!
A Treasurer’s report, now considered standard agenda, was given and the night would conclude with “A Solex Monologue by Four Cylinder John”, meaning John Macnamera of Four Cylinder Service who would discuss the merits of the Solex carburetor (and would be happy to sell you one).
The club also voted to help the Glendale Jr. Chamber of Commerce put on their annual gymkhana on Oct. 23 (Les Weber competed and won the TC division), and a petition was made to join the Southern California Council of Sports Car Clubs (SCCSCC). Further discussion was also held on badge production.
At the next meeting on April 28th, a badge design was selected and approved for production, with a cost of $3 each to members. Von Schnaer drew the final image for the badge maker, and one detail misunderstood by them proved to be problematic leading to a very strange badge indeed! This was corrected on the next batch.
More council chairs were assigned, including Harvey Schnaer as “Membership” and Jim Bradeson as “Technical Historian and Parts Chairman”. A second official TCMG group tour was also formalized – A TC parade in the Corona Road Race Celebration set for May 28th. No minutes exist for the next meeting on May 19th.
As our meeting on June 23rd approached it was discovered that Bill McGuire, whose home had served as our meeting place for the past ten months, had traded in his TC for a VW Kombi Bus! His home would remain available to us for the meeting, but a new place would need to be found. At this meeting, Earl Sargent presented some films, likely of his TC racing exploits, and Bill had the audacity to sign the attendance sheet as “Bill ‘Kombi’ McGuire”.
The meeting held on July 28, now back at Glenoaks Manor, was an important moment for the club. It was announced that just a few days before, on July 22, 1955, TC Motoring Guild was incorporated. The application had been submitted on the 17th with George Krull
and Bill Harps signing. We received our official certificate on the 27th, the day before the meeting.
The last surviving minutes for 1955 were from the meeting of October 27. Having trouble wrestling enough money from the Treasurer to pay the Glenoaks Manor rental fee, our old friend Bill McGuire once again offered his home. The club bylaws were mentioned as being “still in their rough state” and were to be addressed. Earl Sargent showed LeMans movies and photos of John Cobb racing there. Nominations for 1956 officers were also held, possibly beginning the first actual elections for a TCMG council.
We had a name, we had a council, we had a regular (sort of) meeting schedule, we had a badge, we were incorporated and we had a successful driving event behind us. And to think this all started because a few years earlier, Mr. Bond bought his wife a 1949 MG TC. What an effect these cars have on our lives!