I know it’s a day AFTER Christmas, but Happy Holidays to you and yours! I hope you all had a great year, and wish you all the best for 2015!
I actually did manage to stay out of the shop and off the computer for the past 2 days, and it was a good holiday break. On Monday and Tuesday, we gave the shop the annual “surgical cleaning” before Christmas – which dates back to my youth when my parents would have a big Christmas party in my high school and college years, and everyone would always want to go downstairs into the shop and see the “old cars”… So we had to have the shop REALLY clean before the Christmas party, and it just seems “right” now for the shop to be spotless for the Holidays!
Monocoque Metalworks itself even had a good Christmas this year – we were featured in an article in the latest issue of the E-Type club’s monthly magazine!
I’ll admit that I was not really aware of the E-Type club and it’s magazine, and all it has to offer – and that’s what this post is about! In the US, most people who ARE aware of it seem to view it as “a UK thing…” and it kind of is I guess – most of the members of the club are from the UK, and most of the events featured in the magazine take place there. But DO NOT let that scare you away – it’s GREAT! – and I HIGHLY recommend it!
I am alot more familiar with it now, after being contacted about a month ago by one of the editors, Malcolm McKay. He was doing an article in their monthly publication on E-Type body shell restoration and the resources available to do so, and asked if I would be interested in contributing to the article. Hmmmm, let me think… – OH YEAH, BABY!!!
We worked on the content and shared some photos, etc., and I also took the opportunity to place an advertisement in the issue as well. It was an enjoyable experience, and I had high hopes for the article exposing us to other E-Type owners. We went back and forth with several emails, and even had a lengthy discussion over the phone, which I guess I’m now realizing was actually more of an “interview”… In the process of setting up the article and advertisement, I also became a member of the club – which just seemed like the right thing to do, but I must also admit that I was VERY impressed with their sample magazine that can be seen online.
Things got busy after that (as usual…), and while I didn’t forget about it, it was not the first thing on my mind… Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon – Brent and I finished cleaning the shop around 4:30 in the afternoon, and I wished him a Merry Christmas, then came in from the shop and announced that I was DONE for the Holidays, and went upstairs and took a shower. When I came down all freshened up, my mother-in-law (who’s here for Christmas), handed me a large envelope and said, “Here, looks like you got some type of BIG card for the holidays from someone overseas!” I actually had no idea what it was, but it turned out to be my first copy of “The E-Type” – including the metalworking article.
Well, if the digital version of the publication is “Quite Good”, then having it in your hands can only be described as FABULOUS! Right away, I was transported back to the way I felt when I would receive “Vintage Motorsport” in college! It had the same glossy, brightly colored pages, and here for the first time in a quarter century, was a magazine where I just DEVOURED every word of every page – including every advertisement, photo, and even the editorial comments. You have GOT to start getting this – it’s GREAT!
So I thought I’d share the article itself below, and the magazine’s cover and our advertisement. But do yourself a BIG favor – check out their website and sample digital edition of the magazine, and then sign up to be a member – it’s one of the few things like this out there for guys like us, and it’s VERY well done!
Enjoy! – and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a VERY Happy New Year! – Chuck
Here is a link to The E-Type Club’s website: www.e–typeclub.com
NOTE: If you click on the photos of the magazine pages below, they will be enlarged and it will be easier to view them and read the article.
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- This is the cover of the January 2015 edition. This E-Type is Jackie Stewart’s original E-Type – factory prepared for racing, and driven by him in many local races in the UK, as well as on his honeymoon! Just one of the many interesting E-Type articles inside, with GREAT vintage photos!
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- This is the first page of the metalworking article – jumping right in with a photo of one of our earlier shell restorations being shown at a local show in bare steel. What I also noticed is that the little blue box at the top of the page promising “extra digital content” takes the reader to a folder of nearly every shell photograph I sent in for use in the article – Thanks, Malcolm!
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- Hopefully cutting and pasting these pages into my blog won’t cause a fuss… And even though doing so essentially gives free advertising to our “competition”, I think it’s only fair to show the article in its entirety… The truth is, that E-Types are rusty enough to make space for all of us – this car needs all of the restoration support it can get!
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- The third page of the article is where our segment comes in. I just can’t tell you what it was like to hold this in my hands. It’s a small mention in a relatively small magazine, but going from a “reader” in my dorm room, to “ON THE PAGE” and featured as “THE SOURCE” for several pieces of the E-Type body, has truly been a dream come true! THANK YOU to all of you – for your patronage AND your support – I couldn’t do it without you – AND your E-Type! – Chuck
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- Finally, this is the advertisement for Monocoque Metalworks. You’ll recoqnize the banner photo from the top of our website, which – although it is GREAT (and was ALOT of workto set up!) – I did realize was getting a bit stale up there… So you may have noticed that the website banner is now a rotating series of photos from the past few years – spend a few minutes watching them roll by – there are some GREAT shots there!
