Gazette - Larz Anderson Auto Museum

Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Vol. 1, No. 4 — August 2015
Clockwise, from above: Carter Willey (straw hat) answers questions about his Messerschmitt; Tom Fetterman in his Speed King Autoracer, built for the 1939 World’s Fair; the
Speed King’s steering wheel, complete with the World’s Fair logo on its boss.
2015 Lawn Events
Sun., Aug. 2 — Tutto Italiano, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 9 — BMW CCA Day, 9am-2pm
Sat., Aug. 15 — MG Day/British Car Day, 10am2pm
Sun., Aug. 16 — American Car & Truck Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 23 — Swedish Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 30 — Ford Lincoln Mercury Day,
10am-2pm
Sat., Sept. 12 — Porsche Day, 9am-3pm
Sun., Sept. 13 — European Motorcycle Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Sept. 27 — Mercedes Day, 10am-3pm
Sat., Oct. 10 — German Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 11 — Transporterfest, 9:30am3:30pm
Sat., Oct. 17 — Tutto Lite, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 18 — Japanese Car Day, 10am2pm
Sat., Oct. 24 — Extinct Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 25 — Studebaker Day, 10am-3pm
Micro car, macro fun!
by Bruce Vild
Charles and Nancy Gould and an entourage of merry microcar and minicar
enthusiasts returned to Larz Anderson for the annual Microcar Classic show on
Sunday, July 12th. The lush LAAM lawn had over 50 minimalist motors on
display, ranging in size from an amusement park auto specially designed for the
1939 New York World’s Fair to a modern Fiat 500.
Several cars were from the Goulds’ personal collection, but one couple came
from as far as the Chicago area to show their pride and joy, a 1960 Polish-built
Mikrus. Another couple, hailing from Coldwater, Ontario, brought a 1955 German-built Messerschmitt they had restored with dazzling results. Someone even
brought a Japanese fire engine based on a small Subaru delivery truck not sold in
the USA.
The Microcar Classic is always a delight because the owners of these cars
love to drive them, not just to show them. They gave rides around the Museum
grounds as part of the event, allowing spectators and enthusiasts alike to experience the tiny vehicles that were once so popular in Europe and Japan.
While names such as Bantam, Metropolitan, Isetta and Messerschmitt may
have vanished from the collective consciousness, particularly in the States, their
memory lives on every year in the Microcar Classic. More photos inside.
Meet the members of LAAM
Tom Tate
by Phil Velez
Tom and his Porsches, at rest (left) and at play.
The subject of this month’s Member Spotlight is an aircooled fanatic.
Tom Tate started as a delivery boy, and after moving from a
bike to a Lambretta motor scooter, he eventually needed a car,
so he bought a VW Beetle. The Bug turned him on to air-cooled
motors, and as a VW owner he was “exposed to Porsches back
in the day when [I] went to the VW dealer for parts and service.
356 ownership became the goal for anyone driving a VW.”
Tom loves how simple and easy to work on the 356 is, and
how the 356s he owns never fail to put a smile on his face every time he leaves the driveway. He currently has twins — a
Speedster and a matching numbers sunroof Coupe. Both have
been driven to Georgia and back in the past several years and
have never missed a beat.
As Tom puts it, Porsche 356s are “great road cars that put
the fun back in driving.”
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Monthly May through October
Bimonthly November through April
Contributors to this issue:
Richard A. De Vito, Sr.
Jennifer Arone
Margie Cahn
John Christoforo
Jon Gardner
John Romano
Sheldon Steele
Phil Velez
Bruce Vild
All photos courtesy of our contributors
unless otherwise credited
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More Larz microcars...
Mark Padgett (right) gives a lucky spectator a “lusso” ride in his 1970 Fiat 500L,
while Bill Fox (below, on left) stands by as
his 1991 Subaru Sanbar fire truck gets a
thorough inspection.
July Lawn Events
Miata Day: miles and miles of Miatas!
by Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
Over 150 Miatas graced the Larz
Anderson Auto Museum lawn on their
day.
While much of the story is told
in the photos and captions, the overall theme is that these cars have lots
of miles on them. Lowest mileage I
saw was 47,000 on Miata Club President Pat Tarentino’s car. Highest was
174,000. In fact, the only other car
category that can boast such durability
is the Mercedes-Benz diesels! Some
reach 1,000,000 miles, although 200500,000 is more common.
While most of the cars were stock,
it was amazing to see so many varieties, modifications and colors, and hear
the individual stories. It was fun and
a pleasure to talk to the owners, who
included:
Al Meola, who has driven his ’92
Miata from New Hampshire enough
times to put on 136,000 miles. He’s
been to LAAM a number of times, but
to rack up that kind of mileage he must
have gone to the store to get bread and
milk a few times, too!
Paul Franchi, of Natick, Mass.,
who has put 115,000 miles on his British, uh, sorry, Japanese Racing Green
’91 Miata.
Pat Tarentino of Norton, Mass., as
mentioned the current President of the
Miata Club, who drives a “new” ’09
Clockwise, from above left: Pat Tarentino’s ’09; Keith Archer’s drifter, note spoiler; Stuart
Lach’s ’92 driver.
Miata on weekends from April to November.
Keith Archer, from Canton, Mass.,
who has customized his ’90 Miata,
which he has owned for four years, as a
drift car so he could go drifting around
New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, N.H.
Doug and Janice Markey (not related to our Senator), from New Haven,
Conn., who have owned their ’97 Miata since 2002. This daily driver with
103,000 miles on the clock comes with
an MP62 Supercharger with 12 lbs.
boost and a long list of upgrades that
looks like a menu from a fancy restaurant, except no choices — they are all
on the car!
Stuart Lachs from Pleasantville,
N.Y., one of three New York entrants.
His ’92 has 156,000 on the odometer
and is on its second engine and third
differential, but is reliable transport
daily.
(Continued on page 4)
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July Lawn Events
(Continued from page 3)
Harold Hewes and his ’91 Miata, both
of which hail from North Attleboro,
Mass. The Japanese Racing Green car
has a removable top with a convertible
underneath. Harold’s daily driver has
been to Lime Rock’s vintage racing.
Its mileage is 70,166.
Rebecca Harvey, who with her husband have 13 or so cars. One, the Miata she drives, er, races everywhere, has
raced at Loudon, Thompson, Watkins
Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
(Mosport) and Palmer, Mass., the first
paved road race track in Massachusetts.
Her Miata has 110,000 miles on it and
has minor mods.
And last but not least, Jim
McGuiness and son Ian. No, they are
not in the beer business. But they did
take an early Mazda Miata and removed the NB body. They replaced it
with an open roadster “Exocet” kit, and
dropped in a 6.2 litre, 556hp Cadillac
engine.
The open wheel Miata weighs
2,000 lbs. I’m sure they could do
wheelies with that rig and I wouldn’t
be surprised if they added a wing they
could fly it anywhere.
Ian said they would qualify to attend Miata, Cadillac, British, and Japanese Car Days. We’ll be happy to have
them all four times.
Left: Rebecca Harvey with her well-traveled racecar, which has
seen action at five tracks. Below: Jim and Ian McGuiness and the
fierce-looking, Cadillac-powered Exocet.
Inside the Museum
LAAM’s current exhibit, “Beauty of the Beast,” celebrates the motorcycle and traces its development from the earliest
motorized bicycles to the latest café racers. Come see this magnificent collection. It runs through May 2016.
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July Lawn Events
Triumphant Triumphs
by Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
Clockwise, from above: Karen Hakala and Tim Hutchinson and their 1960 TR3; Mark Karas
and his all-original ’76 TR6; rare Mayflower, owned by John Bowe.
Almost 50 Triumphs of all
makes, mods, and miles attended
their day on the lawn on 26 July under cloudy skies.
The owners had many stories to
tell about their rides and some came
from as far away as upper Maine.
All made it to Brookline and hopefully back without incident. Here
are all the tales and the tellers:
Joe Patneaude of Wellesley
drove his ’73 all-stock, West Coast
(Seattle) TR6 with a new interior.
The car sported 26,000 miles.
Jeff Gooding showed his ’76
TR6 with 70,000 miles on the clock.
It has a Borg Warner transmission,
stock engine, ZX300 drivetrain and
differential. He drives it a lot.
All the way from Topsfield,
Mass., Mark Karas brought his
all-original ’76 TR6. The car has
114,000 miles and the paint job
looks as if it just came out of the
spray booth. Karas is the second
owner and the engine has been rebuilt.
John Bowe brought this 1952
right-hand-drive Triumph Mayflower. It is one of 20 in the U.S.
Colin Davis from Lexington
showed his ’70 GT6+ with a few
mods. He’s owned it for 22 years
and autocrosses it at Fort Devens
with the Miata Club.
Rob Cataldo volunteered to work
at the Museum in 1980. He helped
prepare the Museum’s Renault to
show at the Chestnut Hill Mall for
Christmas. He remembers the car
loaded with decorative presents.
He’s also been a ’67 GT6 owner for
30 years. Hopefully we’ve signed
him up to renew his efforts to help
with our collection.
A 1960 TR3A brought husbandand-wife team Tim Hutchinson and
Karen Hakala from Norway, Maine,
home of a former member of my
company’s board of directors, who
is now deceased. Tim said some of
my friend’s children are driving his
other car. How’s that for a small
world!
Tim found this car through a
friend. It belonged to James Smart
and Tim restored it to the way Smart
would have wanted it. In fact, apparently Smart got mad at the car
and shot it with a 30-caliber rifle
in the right front fender. Must have
done some heavy leading. Pun intended!
In another interesting story,
Bruce Pierce’s cousin saved a 1960
(Continued on page 6)
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July Lawn Events
(Continued from page 5)
TR3A eight years for him. Bruce is Norway. The car is a driver with
from Newry, Maine, 20 miles from overdrive transmission and burns
Left: Colin Davies and his ’70 GT6+. Right: John Chapman and his ’75 Stag, sporting an
Essex V6 conversion.
no oil. What, an English car that
doesn’t like the taste of oil? Amazing.
Rolando Amorin owns a 1969
GT6+. Both are 46 years old.
And finally, John Chapman. He
owns a 1975 Triumph Stag and he is
most proud of it. The original Stag
V8 engine blew and was replaced
in Essex, England, with an ’81 Ford
Capri 3 litre, Stage II ported V6.
The V6 was a direct replacement,
and a common conversion in the
UK for the failure-prone original.
Cars and Coffee
Cars and Coffee was created for car enthusiasts to meet up early
on a Saturday morning. They’d grab coffee, talk cars and by 11am
they’d be gone.
We have started our own tradition here at the Larz Anderson Auto
Museum. The Museum opens early at 8am on designated Saturdays
for your viewing. Grab a coffee and a snack and check out some of
the Boston area’s best cars.
Cars and Coffee is sponsored by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth
Management – The Keeney Group and Yuppieracing.net. This event is
free, but we encourage attendees to become Museum members!
The next Cars and Coffee is Saturday, August 22, 2015, 8-11am.
Here are some of the cars owned by the attendees of LAAM’s
Cars and Coffee. Maybe yours...?
Photo by AC Photography
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Upcoming Lawn Events
Sunday, August 2: TUTTO ITALIANO
Tutto Italiano is coming! Bring your Italian car, motorcycle or just your love for Italian design.
Tutto Italiano is a family-friendly event, featuring activities
such as face painting for the kids. In addition to all the beautiful
automobiles and motorcycles, there will be music, food and
various vendors on site.
This is a judged event. If you wish to have your car judged,
just follow instructions inside your car registration packet on the
event day.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. There is a preregistration discount of $5 if you pre-register online. Day of show,
registration is $35 for cars and $10 for motorcycles.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
Photo by Stephen Masiello
Sunday, August 9: BMW CCA DAY
At BMW CCA Day, come witness the history and evolution of
one of Germany’s most celebrated marques: BMW. Any vehicle
from the Bavarian carmaker’s long and storied past is welcome
at this increasingly popular show. From classic 2002s to modern
M-cars, all manner of Bimmers will fill up the lawn, providing the
sights and sounds of German engineering.
The show starts at 9am and runs until 2pm. It is sponsored
by the Boston Chapter BMW CCA. Judged Car registration is
$30 per car, and Display Only (not judged) is $20. This includes
the driver and one passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
If you are trailering a vehicle to a Lawn Event...
Please be advised there is absolutely NO trailer parking within the grounds of
Larz Anderson Park. There is also no overnight parking available. You MUST park your trailer
outside of the park grounds. Parking spots within the park are limited to Park Visitors and
Museum Guests. Unauthorized trailers will be asked via PA or DJ to move or be towed.
For more information or questions about lawn events, please call the
Lawn Event Manager at 617-522-6547 x13 or email
[email protected].
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Upcoming Lawn Events
Saturday, August 15: MG DAY/BRITISH CAR DAY
The cars from Morris Garages have been instrumental in
making the British sports car popular. With rain having canceled
British Car Day, why not take the opportunity to combine that
event with MG Day in a car show devoted to all things British?
MG Day/British Car Day starts at 10am and runs until 2pm.
It is sponsored by the Bay State MGA Club and the Museum.
Car registration is $20 per car.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
Sunday, August 16: AMERICAN CAR & TRUCK DAY
American Car & Truck Day is a patriotic-themed car show
dedicated to the American automobile. It is the third Museum
show of the season and all proceeds benefit the Museum. Show
entrants and spectators are encouraged to wear red, white and
blue. All military are FREE!
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. If
you pre-register, the fee is reduced to $15 per car.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
Saturday, August 23: SWEDISH CAR DAY
Swedish cars have rightfully earned a stellar reputation for
ruggedness, quality and dependability. That means there are
plenty of classic Swedish cars still out there and, luckily for us,
many of these neat old Saabs and Volvos will fill up the Great
Lawn for this Scandinavian sensation.
Swedish Car Day, sponsored by Boston Volvo, starts at
10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration is $20 per car and
includes the driver and one passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
No pre-registration available for this show. Please register at the tent day of show.
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Upcoming Lawn Events
Sunday, August 30: FORD-LINCOLN-MERCURY DAY
Ford Motor Company has been an indispensable facet of
the automotive world almost since the beginning. Any car from
this most famous of carmakers, from Model T to Mustang or from
Continental to Cougar, is welcome at this year’s Ford-LincolnMercury Day.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration
is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. If you
pre-register, the fee is reduced to $15 per car.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will
be available on site for purchase.
Saturday, September 12: PORSCHE DAY
Porsche has been synonymous with high quality, clever
engineering, and impressive performance for over sixty years. In
that time, the German company has produced some of the most
amazing sports and racing cars the world has ever seen.
Air-cooled or water-cooled, front-engine or rear-engine,
all kinds of Porsches will be on the lawn for your enjoyment at
Porsche Day, which is being sponsored by the PCA Northeast
Chapter.
The show starts at 9am and runs until 2pm. Car registration
is $10 in advance and $30 day of show and will include one driver
and one passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will be
available on site for purchase.
Sunday, September 13: EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLE DAY
For many, nothing beats the feeling of freedom that only a bike
can provide. One of the Museum’s most popular shows, European
Motorcycle Day showcases the best on two wheels from the Old
World. Join us as hundreds of classic superbikes, choppers, racers
and cruisers are on display on the Great Lawn.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 4pm. Motorcycle
registration is $10 per bike. For more information about being a
vendor or sponsor of the show, e-mail [email protected].
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors, students
and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free. Museum
members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch will be
available on site for purchase.
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The Anderson Cars
Larz and Isabel Anderson:
A short biography
by John Christoforo
Isabel and Larz Anderson.
I thought that, for this edition, I
would tell you something about the
Andersons other than the fact that they
were lovers of a new invention, the automobile.
Beginning with Larz: he was the
son of Major General Nicholas Longworth Anderson and Elizabeth Coles
Kilgour Anderson. His parents had
married in March of 1865 and headed
to Paris for an 18-month honeymoon.
Larz was born 15 months later, on August 15, 1866.
The family originally came from
Cincinnati, Ohio, and had migrated
there in colonial days. Larz’s great
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Photo courtesy LAAM
grandfather served as a young lieutenant under George Washington in the
American Revolution. His great uncle, Brigadier General Robert Anderson, defended Fort Sumter against the
Confederate attack that kicked off the
American Civil War.
Larz attended Phillips Exeter
Academy in New Hampshire and Harvard, where he was a member of many
of the college’s clubs, including the
Hasty Pudding Club. After graduating
in 1888, he began an 18-month tour of
the world that included a visit to Japan.
When he returned to Massachusetts,
he attended Harvard Law School for
a short time, but was asked to become
part of the diplomatic service in 1891.
One of his fraternity brothers was
another young and ambitious man,
Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the late
President, Abraham Lincoln, who at
that point in his life was serving as
the U.S. minister to the Court of St.
James in London. As a result of their
friendship and mutual trust, Larz was
appointed as our second secretary in
London.
After a three-year indoctrination, he
became the first secretary of the American embassy in Rome, Italy, where he
met a young Boston debutante, Isabel
Weld Perkins, in 1896. I don’t know if
the term “love at first sight” had been
invented yet, but they were married
in Boston’s Arlington Street Church a
year later.
Isabel’s family, like Larz’s, were
here before the American Revolution.
When Isabel was only 5, she inherited
$17 million from her grandfather, William Fletcher Weld. This event made
her the wealthiest woman in America at
that time.
In 1898, Larz joined the Army just
after the Spanish American War began.
When he returned to the diplomatic
corps in 1911, he was appointed U.S.
Minister to Belgium, and a year later
Ambassador to Japan. He retired in
1913 from diplomatic service when
President Taft was replaced by Woodrow Wilson, who brought with him an
almost complete Democratic administration.
Larz and Isabel spent the next 25
years traveling, collecting automobiles
and supporting various charities. They
(Continued on page 11)
Miscellany
The field at Day of Triumph included Wedges, Stags, Spitfires and Sixes. Not
shown are the earlier TRs that also came out. Right: Owner Gregory Grden was
so proud of his Mikrus (top photo) at the Microcar Classic that he wanted everyone to go home with one!
(Continued from page 10)
traveled across the world, visiting
five continents, and are considered
the first Americans to have visited
Tibet and Nepal.
Isabel wrote several books
and letters describing their travels. Some of these documents are
located at the Museum and others
might be found by contacting the
Brookline Historical Society directly.
I’ve mentioned that the Ander-
sons were childless. This unfortunate situation allowed them to become involved with collections of
horse-drawn carriages, sleighs, and
for our edification, automobiles.
Fourteen of their original 32 vehicles are on display in the Museum,
along with other vehicles that are
on loan for the same purpose.
The Anderson collection remains the oldest in the United
States.
The Larz Anderson Auto Museum:
Get to know us
President: John Carberry
Directors/Executive Committee: Joseph Freeman, Richard A.
DeVito, Sr., John Darack, Michael Gaetano, Robert Lawrence, Susana
Weber, Les Cavicchi, Denis Bustin
Museum Staff: Museum phone number - (617) 522-6547
Executive Director - Sheldon Steele, [email protected],
Ext. 19
Member Services Manager/Operations Manager - Karen Hasenfus,
[email protected], Ext. 18
Marketing Manager - Jennifer Arone, lawnevents@larzanderson.
org, Ext. 13
Education Manager - Joseph Price, [email protected],
Ext. 21
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Membership matters.
Member Benefits
Payment Information
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