Frequently Asked Questions 
  (but, most have a nifty story buried within)

theAutoist
Anthony L. "Tony" Barnhill
108 Sycamore Road - Gurley, Alabama 35748 

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      Jerri, my better half, told me way back in 1969 when we were first married that I could buy all the cars I wanted so long as they didn't cost her anything. What a bride!  She recognized my addiction (at the time, I owned a '65 MGB, a '56 Studebaker truck, and '67 Ford Galaxie 2-door hardtop; she had a VW 'Bug'!), and had figured out a way to co-exist with it.

      But, wow, was that ever a challenge.  How would I buy every car I wanted without spending any money?  I mean, there are sooo many cars and so little time...

      Then I hit on an idea. Why not sell any extra parts & cars that I didn't want to keep, and use that money to buy cars & parts I wanted to keep!  Wow, now I could keep my bride happy AND feed my addiction.  The best of both worlds!

      Now, there are lots of companies out there making big bucks off car nuts like us who are trying to keep little orphaned cars on the road.  And, there's a place for them.  But, I figure, there's also a place for a guy who doesn't want to make any money but just wants to own a lot of cars; a fellow car nut who's in it for the love of the car. (When I had this flash of brilliance, I was an Army officer, and Jerri was a school teacher; so, opening an automobile dealership wasn't my goal.  Even after retiring from the Army in 1993, that's still not my goal; owning lots of little British cars, however, is.)

      For a long time, I traveled to car shows ("auto jumbles" I believe are what the Brits call them) selling or swapping the used MG parts I found and collected to support my 'habit'.  I advertised any of my extra little British cars for sale in local newspapers or through friends in our local club.  And, my permanent car collection slowly grew.

      Then, back when our daughter was just moving beyond Judy Blume books, one of her friends said to her, "Shannon, your dad is weird.  He has all those old cars everywhere."  

      Shannon's answer was simple, "Oh, he's not weird, he's just an autoist." 

      Without knowing it, she had coined a new phrase, to me at least. Being a father to whom education was important, I gave her an assignment: define "autoist".  Her results definitely describe me (and possibly you):

        "auto-ist (ô 'tó-iste)n. 1. A specialist in automobiles. 2. One who produces, makes, operates, plays with, or is connected to automobiles. 3. A car nut."

        So, in 1984, when Shannon coined the term, we adopted theAutoist as the name of my little MG rescue venture and museum.  And, in 1998, when we finally gave in and purchased a computer, theAutoist also became my computer identity.

        Finally, in 2000, we succeeded in getting our web site up and running so everybody else could enjoy our collection (I know a lot about cars, MG's in particular, but this computer-thing is driving me crazy!), and theAutoist.com became our web site address.

        Our parts and car prices are still as low as they were in 1984--after all: this is a hobby; we're not in it for a profit; we're just trying to support my car collection.  And I am retired, after all!

        Besides, I just can't walk away from an abused or abandoned little orphan British car ("Jerri, look what followed me home today!").

 
       No!

      Remember this IS just one-man's hobby! 

       Yes, we ship anywhere.  theAutoist is International!

PARTS:

        In addition to shipping parts to most of the states of the United States, we have repeat customers in England, Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and Japan to name just a few countries.  Yep, we've even shipped parts back to England "from whence they came."  Oh, one day when we're sitting around doing nothing (ha!), ask me about the small container shipment to Sri Lanka!  Yep. there's at least one MG there.

        For smaller International orders, I've found the US Post Office surface shipping very accommodating.  Roadway Freight is my second choice, with UPS the most expensive.

        My primary advisor for large International orders is my daughter, Shannon.  After graduating from law school here in the US, she earned her LLM at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, and is pretty knowledgeable when it comes to container shipments.  (Plus, she plans one day to fill a container with English antiques and ship it home for her loft--so, she has incentives to continue helping me out!)  

        You'll just need to tell me what paperwork you need for import or other taxes--each country is different.  For example:  Canada is best served using the US Post Office with a declaration from me stating the parts are "used parts for an antique automobile at least 'x' years old." 

CARS:

        Our little orphan cars aren't just adopted locally either.  We've placed our orphan cars with families all over Alabama; and, they've gone to Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Wisconsin.  

        We've even adopted a couple of cars to new homes in Canada.  So, our car adoptions are also international!

        You're better off, however, picking your car up here.  My lot is pretty flat and easy to maneuver about on with a truck/trailer combination.  With advance notification of your arrival, I'll move the car to the front of the lot where you can easily load it on your trailer.

      My personal collection and parts buildings/MG Graveyard are located on the outskirts of Gurley, Alabama..  

      About Gurley:

        Gurley is a small bedroom community on US 72E just outside of and on the eastern edge of Huntsville.  If you're familiar with Alabama, you know that Huntsville, the Rocket City, is "up north" near the Tennessee state line.  You get to Huntsville via either I-65 from Nashville, TN or Birmingham, AL or via I-24 from Nashville, TN or Chattanooga, TN.

        And, we're about half way between I-24 and I-65 just 3 miles off US 72E, 11 miles east of Huntsville and 22 miles west of Scottsboro.

Coming from the east...

        Traveling east from Huntsville on US 72E, turn left onto Brock Road (at the new Madison County High School); go about 2 miles & turn right onto Kelly Hill Road; go about 1 mile to a stop sign.

        At that point, you've entered Big M Farms, our subdivision. Sycamore Road is the second street on the right after the stop sign.  We're on the southwest corner of Sycamore & Nolan.

        Turn right onto Nolan & then left into our drive (has decorative 6' wooden fence around drive & parking area).

 Coming from the west...       

        Traveling from Scottsboro on US 72E, go through the small village of Gurley until you come to the new Madison County High School on your right.  Turn right onto Brock Road immediately in front of the high school...Then, follow the directions above under "coming from the east" to reach us.

     
        You've already found my website, so you can e-mail me.

        Or, just drop by on any Saturday morning...there's usually a group of us hanging around theAutoist garage kicking tires, swapping parts, turning wrenches on my personal projects, or telling stories about our cars (or the ones that got away!). 

OH, I just remembered....   

        You might, however, want to call before making the trip as lots of times I'm out and about scouring the countryside for new additions to my collection.

256.776.9885