August 2012 News Leter
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Transcript of August 2012 News Leter
the collector car hobby and a top
honored editor of A.A.C.A. newslet-
ters. It was Bill who helped me to
understand the fundamentals of
newsletter writing. This even be-
fore we met for the first time!
Congratulations to Bill for the qual-
ity of his work not only on his out-
standing cars, but also for his dedi-
cation to the hobby and the Antique
Automobile Club of America.
See You at the next car show!!!
As most of our members know, Bill
Clark is a member of Iroquois Re-
gion as well as the editor of their
excellent Antique Auto News, their
monthly newsletter. Bill is also the
proud owner of not only a renown
collection of Metropolitans, but an
outstanding 1955 Studebaker
Speedster.
The ’55 is an excellent example of
the tri-color cars of the fifties and
also one of the few remaining ex-
amples of an automobile that once
was a respected and sought after
make.
Like so many of the makes from
the past, Studebaker has become
what is now called an orphan make.
The company went out of existence
in the early 1960’s after being one
of the oldest makes up to that time.
Bill happens to own one of the best
looking and rare Speedsters I
have seen. He also Received a
Grand National Senior Award this
year at Shelbyville.
The picture of his Studebaker was
taken by me at the Northeast Auto
Museum in Norwich, New York this
spring. I am sure the car will be
back in this venue when winter
happens, but I hope also that Bill
will bring this outstanding exam-
ple of mid fifties automobile to
our car show this August 26.
Bill is an outstanding member of
Congratulations to Bill Clark
P. O. Box 607 Owego, New York 13827
Www.tiogaregion.com
Tioga Transmission The official newsletter of
Tioga Region Antique Automobile Club of America
August
2012
The July meeting was held
at the Newark Valley Rail-
road Depot on July 16,2012.
There were fourteen mem-
bers present. Several
members met first at the
ice cream shop on route
38 before the 7:00PM
meeting.
The plans for the car show
were the main subject of
the evening. Since there
were many questions about
the set up on the new loca-
tion, we decided that we
would make an effort to
have the members who
were interested meet at
the field after the get to-
gether at Castle Gardens
on August 4,2012.
We plan to attend the Fam-
ily Day at Castle Gardens
from 11:30 AM to 2:00PM on
Saturday the 4th with our
collector cars. We will then
travel to the Beds 4 Kids
location, 100 Elm Street,
Owego to survey the field
and better understand how
the show will set up.
There are many changes
that Leonard Hilldale is
planning for his location
that will be an influence to
our car show. It is our hope
that we will see the overall
plan and be able to incor-
porate them in our set up.
We were also given a pre-
view of the new Dash
plaque by Mat Vaglica and
had the choice of three
versions. The different se-
lections were discussed
and a final decision made
by the members present.
Our featured car is Mau-
rice and Ann Stoughton’s
1946 Ford 4 door. We chose
to make this car our fea-
ture car since last year
this distinction was taken
away by the flood.
The heads of each work
crew for the car show
were listed and advised to
make their plans for the
process needed to make
the show a success.
Our August meeting will
take place at the Trout
Ponds Park in Newark Val-
ley, New York on August 20,
2012 at 6:00PM. This is our
pot luck picnic dinner and
each member will bring a
dish to pass. We hope to
get together a little early
for ice cream at our stop
on route38.
July Meeting
Page 2 Tioga Transmission
A couple of months ago I
was surprised to have one
of the older female mem-
bers of my church hand me
a small envelope that con-
tained the coins you see
reproduced on this page. I
was able to recall the four
coins at the bottom of the
page as advertising give-
away tokens from the Sun-
oco gas company. These
coins were given to all cus-
tomers who came into Sun-
oco in the 1970’s. There
were at least two different
collections and the three
coins on the left were from
the second collection while
the one on the right was
from the first.
The two coins on the right
top of the page are a little
more interesting as well as
more mysterious as to
their origin.
.Although the other coins
all measure one inch in
diameter, the Dodge coin is
one and a quarter inches
across.
The Dodge coin seems to
be from 1954 and, I am
guessing, must have been
given to customers of
Dodge Dealerships in 1954.
I, of course, might be
wrong in this guess but it
seems unusual that there
would be any other expla-
nation where the year
would be so designated.
The reference to forty
years certainly fits with the
1914 beginning of Dodge as
The Dodge Brothers.
Dodge, of course, was
bought in 1928 by Walter P.
Chrysler and became their
second line car just one
step above the base Ply-
mouth that was new for
1928.
Chrysler also introduced
the DeSoto in 1928 giving
them a car for all price
ranges with the Chrysler
Imperial being the answer
to the top of the line luxury
cars of that era.
The copper coin is a mys-
tery to me as it just does
not seem possible that it
could have come from
Stutz! Any Ideas?
A Surprise Gift
Page 3 Tioga Transmission
I believe it was the spring
of 1961 that a specially
modified tractor trailer
arrived at The Miracle Mile
Shopping Center in Mon-
roeville, Pennsylvania. This
truck had a paint job that
would make a modern Car-
nival truck proud. The bold
lettering proclaimed “See
Hitler’s Car!!!”
Who knows how much
money was made by the
owner of this truck as it
toured the United States,
but I was one of the eager
throng who paid a dollar to
enter the tight space to
see this wonder. The tight
passage in the trailer and
the long line of spectators
prevented one from taking
more than a brief look, but
it was soon evident that the
heavily mutilated car inside
would not soon be driven
on the highway.
Someone had taken a saw
and a torch to the whole
car. Holes cut into the body
revealed a heavy armor
plate inside the smooth
Mercedes body, and this
plating had been cut to
show the thickness of the
armor. Even the tires had
been cut to show that there
had been extra steel belts
added to make the tires
impervious to most bullets.
A hole also had been cut
into the floor level to show
that the car was protected
from mines placed on the
road.
The Black Body had been
treated to a hasty and hand
painted swastika in white
paint. Had this actually
been the car that Hitler
traveled in? It could have
been, but one has to ask
was there only one car
used by this leader of Ger-
many during his reign of
terror?
I know by now you are ask-
ing why has Bob included
this story in our newslet-
ter? Today as I logged on to
the “Net” I was treated to
an article about a New Jer-
sey man who in trying to
have his Mercedes re-
stored and found that his
car also had ties to the
monster who caused World
War 2.
As the story went, The
man’s grandfather some-
how managed to bring the
car home when he re-
turned to the States from
the war. The car suppos-
edly came here aboard a
U.S. Navy ship after being
painted black. I’m not sure
why the color made any
difference in this story.
A while back the man
bought the car from his
grandfather for
$100,000.00 and wanted to
restore it, so he took it to a
shop where the restorer
began to order parts from
Mercedes in Germany.
When the manufacturer
asked for a serial number
for the car it came back as
belonging to Hitler.
Since the car was a special
manufactured during the
reign of the Nazi party, it
seems that the pedigree is
probable. As a result of the
history the owner has
turned down an offer of
one million dollars!
Looking Back
Page 4 Newsletter Title
The car in the story on the
last page is a cabriolet
while the car I saw back in
1961 was a four door sedan.
The car from 1961 definitely
would have been a typical
staff car from the Third
Reich, however the car
from the modern story
would have been more of a
parade car.
The main question now is
how many other cars will
be found that have a con-
nection to Hitler? By the
way, the story of today’s
car finalized that the car
actually was not that of
Hitler, but one of his top
Generals.
Isn’t it interesting that we
can have so much interest
in a car from over seventy
years ago that has been
suggested to have be-
longed to such a despicable
man?
I wonder if we could find a
car that could be traced
back to Franklin D. Roose-
velt?
on route 6 to look over the
Susquehanna Valley where
French Azilum is located.
Lunch was at the Wyalusing
Hotel, then on to the his-
toric site of French Azilum.
Our guide, Danielle, not only
was knowledgeable but also
had a great sense of humor
that made the tour even
more interesting.
A brief stop for fuel in Wy-
sox, Pennsylvania was fol-
lowed by a quick stop at
Pickering Winery also in
Wysox.
Ice Cream finished the day!
Our French Azilum Tour
Saturday July 14, 2012 was
a perfect day to tour. We
met at The Big Dipper in
Apalachin and proceeded
south on Pennsylvania Ave-
nue to our first stop, Cabin
Country Gift Shop, where
the picture on the right
was taken. As you can see
we numbered fourteen with
eight cars represented.
The members from right to
left are Howard and Emily,
Bob and Lois, Jerry and
Barb, Ralph and Gloria,
Charlie, George, Ken and
Vera, and Cheryl and I.
From the gift shop we trav-
eled to the scenic overlook
Looking Back (Continued)
Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1
With such a beautiful day we all envied
Jerry and Barb i n their convertible!
Most of us didn’t even have air condition-
ing in our cars and the slow speed did not
bring much of a breeze.
Thirteen members of the
club brought seven cars to
the senior center. These
cars were joined by two
that had connections to the
residents of the center.
The pictures on page two
are the cars that attended
with the exception of
Cheryl and my 78 Monte
Carlo. It was a real thrill to
see Ray’s 1929 Reo back on
the road!
Castle Gardens provided an
excellent picnic for the
residents, their families
and we members of Tioga
Region. There was also a
three piece band that pro-
vided not only background
music but also proof that
once an instrument is
learned the musician can
continue to make pleasant
music all his or her life.
Several residents of the
facility came over to the
cars to admire and remi-
nisce about their cars they
had owned in their lifetime.
The 1957 Chevrolet that
came was owned by the
son and daughter of one of
the residents. This car was
an example of a slightly
modified car with loud du-
els and tuned engine. The
owner was a fifty some-
thing couple.
The real surprise came in
the form of the 1939 De-
soto that arrived without
our knowing. Several of us
then spent a significant
time trying to determine
who brought this beautiful
example of a pre-war auto-
mobile. The real surprise
was revealed almost too
late as the driver had al-
ready gotten the car run-
ning and in gear before we
were able to get to him.
The car actually belonged
to one of the residents and
was being driven by his
teenaged grandson! We
hope this vehicle will be at
our car show as both How-
ard and I gave a personal
invitation for that occur-
rence.
two daughters.
The family asks that a re-
membrance might be made
to the American Cancer
Society in Susan’s name or
to an educational fund for
her girls at Visions Federal
Credit Union, 24 McKinley
We were saddened to learn
of the passing of Russ and
Margaret Edwards Daugh-
ter, Susan M. Kemp.
The young woman was the
victim of cancer and left
behind a family that con-
sisted of her husband and
Ave., Endicott, New York
13760 in loving memory of
Susan M. Kemp.
We send our regrets to
Russ and Margaret.
A Sad Note
The Castle Gardens Family Day.
Page 6 Newsletter Title
Lois Holmes has found a
need that she requests our
help to fill. There is a need
for old useable suitcases
within the homeless veter-
ans community of the area.
These suitcases are being
collected by a veteran and
taken to a local veteran
home for distribution to
those in need. They also
are looking for used bicy-
cles in good working condi-
tion.
If you can help with either
of these items give Lois a
call at 607-748-9657 and
she will help co-ordinate
the delivery to those in
need.
I am not sure how the suit-
cases will be used, but
there is no doubt that we
need to help those who
have done so much for
their country. This might
just be the way to clear out
some of the clutter in your
attic or basement while
helping those who made
our country strong.
come see who. Soon we
saw Helen coming through
the hall with a walker. She
had just had the boot re-
moved from her leg after
breaking it this spring.
In their usual good humor,
they both sat for a friendly
visit in the kitchen of their
lovely home. Of course,
they offered refreshments
and were a bit reluctant to
have the picture taken that
is here reproduced.
Both asked that they be
remembered to all their
friends at TRAACA.
A Visit With Old Friends
Jim and Helen McCloe were
home the day that Cheryl
and I happened to be trying
to sell ads for the car show
book. Since we were that
close it was just natural for
us to make the stop to see
these great people.
As we drove up the drive
Jim was outside close to
his Chevy but had his usual
big grin of welcome on his
face. In typical form he
greeted us both with an
invitation to “come on in”.
Inside the door Jim called
to Helen that they had
company and she needed to
A Request For Help
Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 1
Musings
I have been thinking about the changes in the collector car world over the
years. The very first car show I attended that I believe was sponsored by an
AACA club was in the late 1950’s. The cars were all from no later than the
early 1930’s. Each car had to be driven not only onto the field but also to the
field. If there were trailer queens then the trailers were parked somewhere
out of sight of the show field. The owners of these early automobiles also
dressed in period clothing for their cars. I even heard a story of the best of
show car being determined by the period correct union suit worn under
other vintage clothes by the car owner! True or not that happily is not done
today!
Today we try to make the car the star of the show while we remain comfort-
able in our modern clothing. The cars now strive to represent themselves as
they came from the factory or at least from the showroom. Not only that but
most of the cars on our show field were not even in the design stage during
those early car shows. What then will the car show of the future be like?
I hate to think of it but surely we will see a time when the cars shown will be
those from Japanese, Korean, and Chinese controlled builders rather than
ones that wear a bowtie, or blue oval. In less than twenty years the tuners of
today will be the pampered collectors. But the main thing is to remember
that the collector car hobby, though evolving, is and will be alive and well as
long as we have roads to travel and places to go.
The car show and the collector hobby lives!