July 2014 - Fallbrook Vintage Car Club

The
Talepipe
July 2014
Fallbrook Vintage
Car Club
Region of the AACA
The Talepipe
Materials
for the
Talepipe
can be sent to:
[email protected]
The TALEPIPE
is the newsletter of the
FALLBROOK VINTAGE CAR CLUB REGION
of the AACA
Incorporated as a California Nonprofit
Mutual Benefit Corporation
P.O. Box 714
Fallbrook, CA 92088
www.fallbrookvintagecarclub.org
(special thanks to Jennifer Moosa for research and layout and
to Chuck Tillotson for article submissions)
Vintage Car Club donates to the
Bonsall Education Foundation
The
Fallbrook
Vintage
Car Club recently made a
donation to the
Bonsall Education Foundation
targeted to fund
their
district’s
music program.
The
Bonsall
Education Foundation
is
a
501c3
organizaStacey Laurance, (L) representing the Fallbrook
Vintage Car Club presents a donation check from tion established
the Club to Desiree Burkhart, (R ) President of the t o
support
Bonsall Education Foundation.
schools and students within the Bonsall Unified School District. One of the
primary missions of the foundation is to privately fund music programs in the absence of State funding. The program is provided as in-school music instruction. The Foundation also makes grants to teachers, technology, arts and
offers a wide variety of other after-school enrichment programs.
The Bonsall Unified School District consists of 5
schools: Bonsall Elementary School; Bonsall West Elementary School; Vivian Banks Charter School; Sullivan
Middle School; and Bonsall High School, a New Tech
Academy opening in 8/2014. The student population consists largely of students from Bonsall, Oceanside, Fallbrook and the Pala Indian Reservation.
Page 2
Fallbrook Summer Nights
This year’s Fallbrook Summer Nights kicked off with
the theme, “Lost in the 50’s”, a period that some of the
younger car club members can remember.
The remaining car club members are looking forward
to the theme they most identify with: “ Those Roaring
20’s”.
Mopars that were featured in 2014 Vintage Car Show
’59 Dodge convertible
The Chrysler products of the 50’s,60’s & 70’s known as the
Mopars are back in vogue for vintage car collectors. The recent focus on the various Chrysler models manufactured during these years has caused the Fallbrook Vintage Car Club to
select a segment of them for their upcoming show on May
25th. The cars made from 1955 through 1961, known as the
‘finned’ vehicles, are destined to rein as the Club’s featured
vehicles in this year’s 49th annual Fallbrook Vintage Car
Show.
The Club has focused on the ‘finned’ Mopars manufactured during those years because they represent the expansion in the creative design of automobiles that occurred after WWII when the country began to settle back into a
more extravagant mode. The finned cars were founded under a design theme initiated by famed car designer, Virgil
Exner who joined Chrysler in the early 50’s. After gaining control over the design process he developed a new design
era called the ‘Forward Look’ which began with the 1955 models.
Up until that time the vehicles had been designed by engineers
and were considered unstylish by the prevailing Chrysler management.
’60 Plymouth Fury convertible
Exner began utilizing the wind tunnel and aerodynamic effects
to influence his designs and the benefits of these tools enabled
him to create autos with lower roof lines, sleeker, smoother and
more aggressive looking vehicles. The ‘Forward Look’ design
soon spread throughout the entire Chrysler stable with Plymouths,
Dodges, DeSoto’s and Chryslers eventually all having ‘fins’. The
last year these models used ‘fins’ was 1961 after which time
auto design themes reverted back to a more ‘affordable look’.
Pop Warner Program receives a donation
from the Vintage Car Club
Close up of a ’60 Plymouth Fury tail fin
Ed Pedersen (R ), representing the Fallbrook
Vintage Car Club presents a donation to Fallbrook Pop Warner President J. C. Calloway and
some of the team members in attendance at the
presentation. Far left is Pop Warner Vice President Eric Benitz.
’57 Crown Imperial
Registration
for the fall season of Fallbrook
Pop Warner
Football is currently underway
which prompted
the Fallbrook
Vintage Car
Club to provide
a donation to
their organization.
The donation will help
offset some of
the organization’s costs for ball field lighting usage,
scholarships and protective equipment/clothing for
the ball players and the cheer leaders.
Page 3
HUNDREDS OF VINTAGE CARS CRUISE INTO FALLBROOK
(for the 49th Annual Fallbrook Vintage Car Show)
From far and wide across the country, hundreds of vehicles
cruised into Fallbrook to enter its 49 th Annual Vintage Car Show
last Sunday. This year’s Car Show committee, headed up by
Chairman Mike McGuire and a crew of 16 members, began planning for the event back in October of last year with the goal of producing Fallbrook’s ‘best ever’ vintage car show. The results of their
planning provided a spectacular show with a large array of over
300 vehicles, abundant food
vendor booths, swap meet
galleries and merchandise
sales outlets.
FVCC Club President, Roy Moosa (R ), presents
the “Presidents Award” to Leigh Johnson for his
entry of he and his wife’s (Mary Lou) 1941 Packard
180 Le Baron Limo. The Johnson’s are from Idyllwild.
Record crowds turned
out to attend the show, the
weather cooperated, public
parking was ample and the
Potter Junior High School provided a perfect ‘on the lawn’ setting for
the 23 separate classifications of vintage vehicles displayed on the
field. Vehicles officially become rated as ‘vintage’ when they turn 25
years old and this year’s entries ranged from the brass era, Model
A’s/T’s, to domestic stock cars, woodies, trucks, motorcycles and
even unrestored models that gave those attending the opportunity to
see at least one or two of “their favorites” from the past.
Arnold Cohen (far right), FVCC member in
charge of obtaining Featured Car entrants, presents the ‘Best Featured Car Award’ to (L to R)
Ken Zander and Tim Taylor of Escondido for their
1960 Chrysler New Yorker Station Wagon.
The featured cars for the
2014 show, models which the Car Club serves up to highlight each
year, were the Chrysler cars that focused on the ‘finned Mopars’ of
the 1955 through the 1961 period. The term ‘Mopar’ started out as
a brand name for Chrysler manufactured original parts but eventually became a car world term for any Chrysler built engine. Twenty
‘featured cars’ were entered in this class. They came from all over
the country including a ‘56 Chrysler New Yorker four door sedan
from Pasadena and a ‘60 Dodge Pioneer, two door hardtop from
Arcadia.
The merchandise and
poster sales, the variety of
food, the swap-meet booths,
the raffle sales and the
sound of the DJ’s music
floating over airways all combined as a terrific backdrop for the show
vehicles.
Car show Chairman Mike McGuire (L )presents the
‘Best of Show – Stock Award’ to Michael Porto of
Pasadena for his 1956 Chrysler New Yorker four
door Sedan.
As the afternoon drew to a close and the car award ceremonies
were completed, the show cars began their exit cruise back home
feeling good about having participated in the ‘Best Ever” Fallbrook
Vintage Car Show. That feat will hold until next year, the 50 th annual, when once again the Club will attempt to beat its own record.
Page 4
Car Show Chairman Mike McGuire (L ) presents
the ‘Best of Show-Modified Award’ to Ted Carli of
Temecula for his 1955 Chevrolet 210 Sedan.
Page 5
A one of a kind 1967 Corvette
In the fall of 1966, 30-year-old Don McNamara of Colorado Springs, Colorado, celebrated his retirement from the United States Marine Corps with a trip to Las Vegas. It
was the one and only time he would visit Sin City, and it proved fortuitous when Lady
Luck intervened and a slot machine Don was playing paid out the massive sum of
$5,000. By the time
he returned to his
parents’ home where
he lived, he knew
what he would do with
his winnings. He
asked his father, a car
salesman, to take the
money and buy a new
Corvette.
At first glance, Don’s dream car appeared to be just out of reach; the features he specified pushed the price tag more than $500 past the $5,000 mark, but his
father’s persistence paid off when he found a dealership in Lamar, Colorado, about 125
miles away, that agreed to sell a 427 coupe for under $5,000. Built on May 10, 1967,
and delivered to McNamara on May 20 by Ray Motor Co. in Lamar, the Corvette coupe
was exactly as Don had ordered, with the L36 427/390 HP engine, M20 4-speed manual transmission and 3.36 Positraction rear end; tinted glass, telescopic steering wheel,
AM/FM radio, side exhaust and bolt-on aluminum wheels. Don’s innate patriotism influenced his choice of colors: Ermine White paint, Red Stinger stripe and Red interior – a matchup he completed by replacing the factory Black wall rubber with a set of double White-and-Blue stripe tires.
Don drove his new Corvette only sparingly for the first several months, until it inexplicably disappeared. When asked of its whereabouts, he would
always answer that he no longer owned it. And yet, rumors that it was parked in his heated single-car garage persisted for years afterward, even after
Don McNamara passed away in July of 2011. Only then was the truth revealed: the Corvette had been there the entire time, a fu ll 45 years, discovered
by the neighboring couple McNamara had befriended in his later years and to whom he had willed his entire estate.
Recorded interviews with the couple uncovered the story not only of the Corvette but of its enigmatic owner as well. Don McNamara was a unique
man, one who loved his country and surrounded himself with its symbols of freedom and individuality while maintaining an intensely private life. He
never married or had a family, never had a checking account or a credit card and
always presented himself as barely getting by. He had decided to put the Corvette under wraps when after the first year the time came to pay license and
insurance renewal fees, and began driving it only late at night, away from prying
eyes and ever faithful to the pursuit of happiness. When the Corvette’s odometer
approached the 3,000-mile mark in the mid-eighties, he retired it from the road
for the rest of his life.
When the Corvette was removed from the garage in 2012, the late McNamara’s next-door neighbor of 22 years saw it for the very first time. It had been
discovered wrapped in a car cover, over which was draped a shipping blanket
decorated with large Stars and Stripes and Marine Corps flags. It was in a virtually flawless state of preservation, entirely original except for a few personal
touches under the hood comprising polished Edelbrock aluminum valve covers
and four Corvette emblems mounted on the air cleaner. McNamara’s Team USA
Olympic jacket was draped over the back of the passenger seat, another reminder of his love
of country.
The Don
McNamara Corvette coupe was
purchased from the executors of the estate in 2012 by Dr. Mark Davis, who arranged for
it to be unveiled and displayed in the entrance to the Bloomington Gold Great Hall in
June of that year. At that time, as now, its odometer showed 2,996 miles. Until its unveiling there, it had been seen by only 12 people. It had only ever been driven by Don
McNamara. Only two other people were ever known to have sat in the driver’s seat, and
no one had ever occupied the passenger seat. It had never seen the rain or been
washed with water and since its discovery had never been cleaned, sat in or touched.
The car instantly caused a sensation in the Corvette community. Numerous high
profile Corvette experts including John Rettick have thoroughly documented the car with
over 4,000 detail photographs, which along with the car itself serve as in-depth educational resources for Corvette restorers.
The Don McNamara Corvette is not only quite likely one of the most wellpreserved, lowest-mileage and exceptionally original 1967 Corvettes in existence, it is
also accompanied by exquisitely unspoiled documentation. The paperwork was kept by McNamara in a bank safe deposit box and remains in crisp asnew condition. It includes the original window sticker, showroom sales brochure, Chevrolet warranty book with Protect-O-Plate, the original keys and
fob and a duplicate set of keys; the original owner’s manual and plastic pouch, dealer record book issued by Ray Motor Co., a cashier’s check for a
deposit and a receipt for the balance of the purchase price, the original State of Colorado license registration and title is sued to McNamara dated May
22, 1967 and the NCRS Shipping Data Report confirming delivery at Ray Motor Company in Lamar, Colorado.
Page 6
Also included are McNamara’s last driver’s license, a photograph
of the car he always carried with him in his wallet and video and photos
documenting the car’s discovery, its removal from the garage and its unveiling and display at Bloomington Gold 2012. Documentation is contained in
two 4-inch binders that also include CDs containing copies of all documents
and
ph ot os
of
D on
Mc N am ar a’s
dream
C or vet t e.
Yep, 2,996 original miles...
- Unrestored with 2,996 original miles
- One owner until July 2011
- Original 427/390 HP V-8, M20 4-speed and 3.36 Positraction rear
end
- Original paint, interior and chrome
- Documented with practically every original document including the
window sticker, Protect-O-Plate, purchase receipt, title, registration,
photos and owner's manual
- The original owner, Don McNamara is the only person to have
driven the car
- 3 people are known to have sat in the car
- No one has sat in the passenger seat
- Factory original side exhaust
- Telescopic steering wheel
- Tinted glass, AM/FM radio
- Original Kelsey Hayes bolt-on wheels
- Double whitewall and Blue stripe tires
- Last driven regularly in October 1967 and not driven since the mid 1980s
- Stored in a dry Colorado Springs garage for over 40 years under a car cover
- Displayed in the entrance to the Bloomington Gold Great Hall in 2012
- Mr. McNamara's belongings remain in the car
- Discovery photos from McNamara's garage
- Unveiling video from 2012 Bloomington Gold
- One of the best preserved, lowest mile, original 1967 big block Corvettes in
existence
Page 7
Calendar of Car Club Events
June 22, 2014
Car Club Fiesta
At the home of Ron and Bev Mintle
July 8, 2014
Board Meeting: 7pm
Hosts: Lloyd and Darla Voorhees, 1047 Tesla Lane, Fallbrook,
CA. 760-451-9049
July 22, 2014
General Meeting : 7pm
Community Baptist Church 731 South Stage Coach Lane
Fallbrook, Ca. 92028
Hospitality: Helen and Chuck Tillotson
August 12, 2014:
Board Meeting: 7pm
Hosts: Joe and Jeanne Cusimano, 144 Amigos Way,
Fallbrook, Ca. 92028, 760-723-4085
August 26, 2014:
General Meeting: 7pm
Community Baptist Church 731 South Stage Coach Lane
Fallbrook, Ca. 92028
Hospitality: Elaine and Chuck Pedigo
General Meetings
Monthly membership meetings at the Community Baptist Church 731
South Stage Coach Lane Fallbrook, Ca. 92028 (right on the corner of
Stagecoach and Reche), on the 4th Tuesday of each month unless
otherwise scheduled in advance. Meetings begin at 7:00 PM.
Board Meetings
Board Meetings are normally held at a member's home the 2nd
Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM, unless otherwise scheduled.
All FVCC Board Meetings are open to all members. There is
more to the Fallbrook Vintage Car Club than just a Car Show. Come
and join us at the Board Meetings to get more involved with your club
or just to socialize.
If you need more information please contact one of the club
officers or committee chairs.
Membership Information
Membership information may be obtained by mail or from any FVCC
officer or chairperson. Membership Applications are also available on
our
website at Fallbrookvintagecarclub.org.
Our email address is:
[email protected]
2013-2014
Car Show Committees
Board of Directors
Car Show Chair
President... Roy Moosa 760-723-1181
Mike McGuire 760-728-6430
Vice President... Mike McGuire 760-728-6430
Secretary…Wayne King 760-451-2006
Treasurer…Lee Johnson 760-723-8286
Car Show Feature Car Committee
Arnold Cohen 951-325-2199 , Steve Shapiro 760-390-1423.
Member at Large: …John Waugh 760-723-0705
Car Show Poster and Major Sponsors
Committee Chairs
Norm Hoskins 760-990-4702
Membership
Car Show Program
Louise Patterson 760-723-2818
Whit Whittinghill 760-889-8077
Programming
Roy Moosa 760-723-1181
Public Relations
Chuck Tillotson 760-805-1281
Outside Activities
Glen Patterson 760-723-2818
John Waugh 760-723-0705
Donations
Frank Hainey 760-451-3041
Car Show Registration
Mike Simpson 760-728-8807
Car Show Field Parking
Ed Pedersen 760-728-4076
Car Show Swap Meet
Doug Allen 714-742-2305
Car Show Public Parking
Special Events Set Up
Wayne King 760-519-1409, Larry Cooke 760– 728-5596
Fred Ragland 760-723-5324,
Car Show Judging
Merchandise Sales
Tom Long 760-723-9833
Lee Johnson 760-723-8286
Car Show Sale Items
Communications
Jeanne Cusimano 760-723-4085
Website
Lee Johnson 760-723-8286
Car Show Signs
Bill Muno 760-723-7200
Ron Mintle...760-728-2947
Newsletter Editor
Car Show Raffle
Roy Moosa 760-723-1181
Leo Romero 760-638-1732
R.O.M.E.O. Men’s Social group
Car Show Sound and Set Up
Tom Conley 760-723-8596
J.U.L.I.E.T. Women’s Social group
Fred Ragland 760-723-5324
Connie Waugh 760-723-0705