You’re likely to see plenty of vintage vehicles driving around Traverse City in June. Two national groups will be visiting later this month: the Tin Can Tourists are celebrating their centennial with a trip to Michigan June 17-24, while the MGB Register National Convention is taking place in town June 23-26.
 
The former is an all make and model vintage trailer and motor coach club. The group will gather in Mason June 17 before heading north to Manistee June 19, then on to Interlochen June 21, where it will stay at Interlochen State Park. Its host groups are the Traverse City, Leelanau and Empire Historical Societies.
 
The Tin Can Tourists is America’s oldest trailer and motor coach club, first organized in Tampa in 1919. Summer reunions were held at various midwest locations, with Traverse City serving as a primary host city.Though it continued throughout World War II with only one year on hiatus due to gas rationing and a lack of tires, the group’s popularity declined over the years. By the mid-80s it had completely dissipated.
 
In 1998, Forrest and Jeri Bone revived the club as an all make and model vintage trailer and motor coach club. “We were charter members of the vintage Airstream club (the Wally Byum Caravan Club International),” says Forrest Bone from his summer home in Gregory, Michigan.
 
He and his wife enjoyed the group and camaraderie, but they found the idea of limiting membership to only Airstream owners too restrictive. “We had no idea how many other brands might be out there. In 1998 we had our first rally at Camp Dearborn (in Milford).”
 
Since its rebirth, Tin Can Tourists has seen steady growth; the first gathering in 1998 included 21 trailers; its most recent saw 164. The club now boasts more than 2,000 club members.
 
Anyone interested in seeing the vintage trailers can do so at an open house at Interlochen on Saturday, June 22 from 11am to 3pm. A recreation passport is required for vehicle entry into Michigan state parks. 
 
The MGB Register cruises into town June 23 for its four-day convention at the Great Wolf Lodge. Larry Norton, secretary of the North American MGB Register, says the group’s annual convention moves around the country. “It’s been in the southeast, in Indianapolis, in 2017 in San Diego, in 2018 Gettysburg (Pennsylvania).”
 
The group was seeking a site in the midwest for this year’s convention when it decided on Traverse City. “It’s a big draw. There are a lot of nice drives,” Norton notes, pointing to M-22 and Sleeping Bear Dunes, as well as other attractions within driving distance, such as the Mackinac Bridge.
 
Norton says a number of MG models will be on site for visitors to check out, including some never commercially available in the U.S. “MGBs, Midget 1100 and 1300s, MG sedans. Modern MGs from the mid-90s were not (sold) in the U.S. but were in Canada. The MGB GT V-8 was only made for the English market.”
 
Norton expects upwards of 250 cars all told.
 
The convention culminates in a car show open to the public at the Grand Traverse Commons Wed., June 26, from 9am to 2pm.
 
The host group for the event is the Twin Bay British Car Club, one of four such organizations in Michigan. Club President Alan Ashworth says he’s excited about the opportunity to show off the area to fellow roadster enthusiasts. “We’ve got three loops set up, one on Old Mission Peninsula, one to Sleeping Bear and around Fishtown, and one up to Torch Lake and Lake Bellaire.”
 
While the show is on Wednesday, the cars will be parked around the Great Wolf Lodge – that is, when they are not out touring the countryside. “Some of them are really magnificent and gorgeous. It’s going to be awesome,” says Ashworth.
 
The MGB was the most popular two-seat roadster in the world, with more than 500,000 made, until the Mazda Miata.