Gazette - Larz Anderson Auto Museum

Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Vol. 2, No. 2 — June 2016
Season opener: Cadillac Day
by Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
Save the dates!
2016 Lawn Events
Sun., June 5 — AACA Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., June 12 — Corvette Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., June 19 — German Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., June 26 — British Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., July 10 — Microcar Classic, 10am-2pm
Sun., July 17 — Miata Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., July 24 — American Car & Truck Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., July 31 — Day of Triumph, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 7 — Tutto Italiano, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 14 — BMW Day, 9am-2pm
Sat., Aug. 20 — MG Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 21 — Ford Lincoln Mercury Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 28 — Swedish Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sat., Sept. 10 — Porsche Day, 9am-3pm
Sun., Sept. 11 — European Motorcycle Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Sept. 25 — Mercedes Day, 10am-3pm
Sun., Oct. 9 — Transporterfest, 9:30am3:30pm
Sat., Oct. 15 — Tutto Lite, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 16 — Japanese Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sat., Oct. 22 — Extinct Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 23 — Studebaker Day, 10am-3pm
Left: A glimpse of some of the cars on the field. How many model years can you identify?
Above: Everett Marabian and his ’76 Coupe de Ville.
A bright sunny day brought over 100 cars to the lawn of the Larz Anderson
Auto Museum on Cadillac Day, May 15th. However, a 50° windy day kept about
half of the owners inside their cars. The sun finally brought them out. Some
were wearing blankets.
No matter for hearty Cadillac owners like Paul Cichon from Hamden, Conn.,
who brought his 1969 Miller-Meteor hearse. And what a beauty! He bought it
20 years ago when he was a funeral director, then retired and kept the car.
(Continued on page 8)
Joe Cutler and his ’49 Club Coupe (left) and Paul Tesone and his ’57 Eldorado convertible.
Support your Museum
Please support the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. As a
member of an organization and institution that is important
to all of us — the Larz Anderson Auto Museum — please
consider making a special gift to fuel the Museum’s expanding programs and offerings.
Your gift will provide the Museum and the communities
we serve with vitally needed support to preserve “America’s
Oldest Car Collection,’’ and to sustain the educational and
cultural programming that drives our mission. The Museum
has worked to enhance existing programs, create new ones,
and strengthen community partnerships, all while continuing the grand tradition of Lawn Events and car shows for
which the Museum is famous.
The Museum’s future depends on the commitment and
generosity of its members and friends. Like other not-forprofit museums, the LAAM’s admission revenue, membership dues, and event ticket sales fund only a portion of the
Museum’s operations. Your charitable gift is important and
makes a real difference in sustaining the LAAM as a unique
cultural and educational institution.
Please make your gift today. Your charitable donation is
an investment in the Larz Anderson Auto Museum and the
communities we serve and educate.
The Larz Anderson Auto Museum is a nonprofit, 501(c)3
tax-exempt educational and cultural institution. Donations
are tax-deductible to the full limits of the tax laws.
Ways to give
Gifts of cash
Gifts of cash are the easiest and most direct way to give
to the LAAM. If you itemize on your federal income tax
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Monthly May through October
Bimonthly November through April
Contributors to this issue:
Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
Matthew DeVito
Margie Cahn
Dr. John Christoforo
Jennifer Corriveau
Karen Hasenfus
Dr. Dean Saluti
Sheldon Steele
Bruce Vild
All photos courtesy of our contributors
unless otherwise credited
2
return, cash gifts are fully deductible. You can make a cash
gift in several ways:
Online — You can make a secure online credit card
transaction or set up a recurring donation through the
“Donate” page of the Museum’s website.
By mail — Send your check or money order payable to
Larz Anderson Auto Museum to 15 Newton St., Brookline,
MA 02445.
By phone — Make a gift by credit card by calling the
Museum at (617) 522-6547.
Matching gifts
Double the impact of your contribution! Many companies offer charitable matching gift programs to encourage
employees to contribute to charitable organizations. Many
will match contributions dollar for dollar. Please check with
your company to see if it offers a matching gift program that
will match your gift to the LAAM.
Gifts of securities
Securities (i.e., stocks and bonds) are popular alternatives to gifts of cash and generate a double tax benefit. In
addition to receiving a charitable income tax deduction, the
donor can avoid any potential tax on the capital gain on the
property if owned more than one year.
Planned giving
Through a bequest or other estate gift, you can help provide for the future of the LAAM. Your contribution makes a
difference and reflects your commitment to the Museum and
its mission. Planned giving can be as simple as including a
gift in your will or naming the Museum as beneficiary of an
IRA.
To discuss a gift of securities or a planned gift, please
call (617) 522-6547.
The Larz Anderson Auto Museum:
Get to know us
President: John Carberry
Executive Committee Members: Joseph Freeman, Richard A. DeVito,
Sr., John Darack, Susana Weber, Denis Bustin, William Keeney, Northrup
“Norty” Knox, Thomas Frisardi
Museum Staff: Museum phone number - (617) 522-6547
Executive Director - Sheldon Steele, [email protected], Ext. 19
Member Services Manager/Operations Manager - Karen Hasenfus, events
@larzanderson.org, Ext. 18
Marketing & Lawn Event Manager - Jennifer Corriveau, lawnevents@
larzanderson.org, Ext. 13
Education Manager - Joseph Price, [email protected], Ext. 21 
Our new exhibit
A most festive evening!
Once again, members gathered around the main exhibit areas of the Museum for food,
drink and conversation. And cars. And motorcycles!
An overflow crowd was on hand to herald the opening of the Larz Anderson
Auto Museum’s latest exhibits, “Marque of Excellence” and “Jesse Alexander:
Photographs from the Golden Age of Motorsports.”
As we admired the examples of fine German engineering from Porsche
(Continued on page 4)
Neal Heffron brought his 1980 BMW M1 for us to enjoy.
3
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’ve 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!
Our next Cars and Coffee is Saturday, June 11, 8-11am.
Pictured above is one of the cars that came to Cars and Coffee last
year. Was it yours?
Photos by John Scullin & AC Photography
Festive Evening (Continued from page 5)
and BMW on display, many of which were on loan
from LAAM members, and the incredible images of
legendary cars and drivers captured by Mr. Alexander, we enjoyed an excellent assortment of European
beers and wines and food supplied by Tastings Caterers. And, of course, this was an excellent way to
reconnect with our Larz Anderson friends and usher
in the new Museum season.
It all happened on Thursday, May 5th, and if you
couldn’t make it, be sure you take the time to visit the
Museum during the next Lawn Event or at your earliest opportunity.
The word “iconic” may be overused nowadays,
but how else can you describe what you’ll see?
Porsches from 356 to 962. BMWs from Isetta to i8,
not to mention the motorcycles. And those marvelous
photographs from the Alexander collection!
And say, how did they hang the i8 on the back
wall? —Bruce Vild
4
Not to be missed are the photographs in the Jesse Alexander exhibit.
Upcoming Lawn Events
Sunday, June 5: AACA DAY
AACA Day was a new addition to the Lawn Event Schedule
in 2013. The Bean Pot Region of the Antique Automobile Club
of America sponsors the show. This show is not just for cars but
also for trucks, racecars, hot rods and motorcycles. All vehicles
must be at least 25 years old.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration
is $10 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. Please
register at the tent the day of the show.
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, June 12: CORVETTE DAY
The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS), New
England Chapter, sponsors Corvette Day. All Corvette owners
are invited to attend.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger.
Please register at the tent the day of the show.
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, June 19: GERMAN CAR DAY
German Car Day is the first Museum-sponsored show of the
season. It’s on Father’s Day, so bring your dads, because what
dad doesn’t like a little German engineering? All proceeds benefit
the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. Any automobile is accepted
regardless of make, model or year, as long as it’s German.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration
is $25 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. If you
pre-register, the fee is only $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.
Photos courtesy of SFD & LAAM
5
Upcoming Lawn Events (Continued from page 5)
Sunday, June 26: BRITISH CAR DAY
British Car Day is a Museum show and all proceeds
benefit the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. Bring any British
automobile regardless of make, model, age or condition.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car
registration is $25 per car and includes the driver and one
passenger. If you pre-register, the fee is only $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, July 10: MICROCAR CLASSIC
The Microcar Classic, a family-friendly show that everyone will enjoy, is one of the most unusual and memorable
Lawn Events on our calendar. Hosted by the Museum and
sponsored by the Gould Family, it will feature rides for the
kids (with parents’ approval, of course) in classic Fiats,
Isettas, Messerschmitts, Minis, Citroëns and more!
The show starts at 12 noon and runs until 4pm. If you
would like to register a car, visit the Microcar Classic website www.bubbledrome.com or telephone Charles at (617)
965-4848.
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.
Photos courtesy of LAAM
If you are planning to trailer a vehicle to a Lawn Event this season...
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 e-mail [email protected].
6
The Andersons
Isabel and Larz: their estates
and collections
by John Christoforo
I’ve written quite a bit about the Andersons, their families, their levels of education,
their involvement in government, their travels
and their auto collection. Their lives were a
bit more involved, with donations to people
and organizations that might benefit from the
Anderson and the Weld-Perkins good fortunes.
With all of this in mind, I am going to focus on
their estates and collections this time around.
Anderson House
Between 1902 and 1905, Larz and Isabel
The Anderson House, now headquarters to the Society of the Cincinnati, located at
built a state-of-the-art mansion in one of the
2118 Massachusetts Ave., NW, in Washington. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
best neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., Dupont Circle. They gave it the title of Anderson House and The Weld Estate
it was to be their winter residence for the capital’s social
season, which began on New Year’s Day and ended with the The Andersons inherited a 64-acre estate in Brookline
that had been part of Isabel’s family for generations. On this
Easter holidays.
On April 13, 1937, Larz passed away. Isabel felt it estate they added a 25-room mansion that would become
was time to remove herself from Washington society, and their summer house and location for the Christmas holidays.
by 1938, she donated Anderson House to the Society of the The design resembled Lulworth Castle, the ancestral home
Cincinnati, an historic organization to which they both be- of the Welds in the U.K. They named the mansion “Weld
Manor” in honor of Isabel’s grandfather. Back in the day,
longed.
To this day, the mansion serves as the national head- there was a beautiful view of the Boston skyline that both
quarters for the Society. Membership is usually restricted to Isabel and Larz enjoyed, especially at sunset.
Americans and French nationals whose ancestors fought as Isabel willed the property to the Town of Brookline after
her death in 1948. For whatever financial or political reaofficers for the American cause in the Revolution.
sons that are still vague, the mansion was torn down in the
1950s.
Perkins Manor
The Larz Anderson Museum we cherish today was actu Isabel inherited quite a bit from her mother’s family, the ally the carriage house that was saved with the surrounding
Welds, but there was a home in New Hampshire that had been grounds that became Larz Anderson Park.
part of the other side of the family for a generation or two. It
was loved by Isabel due to the fact that she summered there The automobile collection
many times as a young girl. As a result, her father, Com- modore Perkins, left the estate to his daughter. While in her I have written about the collection and singled out sevcare, it was opened to the general public for a few summers eral of the cars in the past. With your permission, readers,
under the name “the Larz Anderson Estate.” Since her pass- because of spatial considerations, I will move on and write
ing, the home has been divided into eight apartments and is about their cars at a later date.
(Continued on page 8)
known as the Perkins Manor.
7
Cadillac Day (Continued from page 1)
Mark Richards and his ’91 Allante, a model designed for
Cadillac by Enzo Ferrari’s son.
He stripped and painted the car and refurbed the threeway electrically operated bed in back… yes, it comes out left
or right or out the back.
Paul told me there is a group called the Professional Car
Society for owners of hearses, ambulances, limos and flower
cars. Never knew.
Next, Paul Tesone brought his 1957 Eldorado convertible. He bought it 25 years ago in New Jersey. He redid
everything on the car except for the interior, which is all
original.
Mark Richards from Quincy, Mass., brought his ’91 Allante. He told us Enzo Ferrari’s son designed this car for
Cadillac.
It is always great to see a young guy involved with Cadillacs. A 20-year-old named Phil Bucciero, who’s from
Waltham, bought his ’66 Fleetwood a year ago in New Jersey. It turns out his grandfather, an electrician, always had
Cadillacs. Phil’s car has 73K miles.
Phil found the ’66 in a gas station. Its owner was getting
older and this was the last of his collection of 13 Cads. He
wanted to be sure it went to a good home. I can tell you from
what I saw, Phil was the right guy. He’s a contractor and he’s
kept the car in impeccable shape.
You might say that Paul Healy, who came with his ’76
Sedan de Ville, was bringing it back home. Seems he discovered the car at a previous Cadillac Day, chatted with the
owner, and ended up buying it!
Joe Croce, a plumber, and Kevin Cloherty, an HVAC
guy, both from Quincy, brought Kevin’s 1980 De Ville
d’Elegance. The two-door coupe has 92K miles and was
bought sight unseen from Pennsylvania. You see, Kevin
hired a mechanic to inspect the car and, based on his recommendation, Kevin bought the car without ever seeing it.
Looks like a good buy. Wish I had the mechanic look at
a ’72 Mercedes 450SL before I bought it sight unseen. But
that’s another story. You bring the bottle of wine and I’ll tell
you a long, sad story.
Joe Cutler, from Douglas, Mass., brought his ’49
Cadillac fastback named Duchess. Joe’s the head of the 49
Cadillac Club, of which I am a member, but I don’t name
my cars. I may talk to my cars, but I would never call them
names! Joe’s Club Coupe is one of 7,515 built.
Joe Hartwell from Hopedale, Mass., brought his allblack-everything 2015 CTSV Sport. This car has a twin
turbo with over 425 HP and everything is black — even the
windshield.
Bill Silk from Andover, Mass., brought his 2010 CTS4.
It is very shiny and black.
Last but not least, Everett Marabian brought his ’76
Coupe de Ville to show us the car he drives on the frozen
lakes in New Hampshire. It weighs 5,025 lbs.!
A final note: some of the reporting on this event was
done by my 17-year-old grandson, Matt, who just made
Eagle Scout. We’re now teaching him to be a cub reporter.
See more photos on page 9.
Estates and Collections (Continued from page 5)
The bonsai collection
The Boston College eagle
Having traveled to Japan, Larz fell in love with
bonsai plants, put together a collection of 39 of them, and
brought them back home. After his death, Isabel donated a
major portion of them (30) to the Arnold Arboretum, along
with the funds to build a shade house so the collection could
be displayed.
Following Isabel’s demise, the last nine bonsais were
donated to the Arboretum, along with a cypress tree that had
been given to the Andersons by the Japanese emperor just
before they returned home.
When the Andersons lived in Tokyo, the front of their
home was decorated with a gilded bronze eagle sculpture.
When they returned to the U.S. for the last time, the statue
returned with them and was put on display at the Brookline
estate.
In 1954, after both Larz and Isabel were gone, the sculpture was donated to Boston College and placed on the lawn
in front of Alumni House. It was later moved to the front of
Gasson Tower where it sits today, synonymous with everything that is Boston College.
8
The rear view mirror
More scenes from Cadillac Day
Clockwise, from above: Phil Bucciero and his ’66 Fleetwood; inside and outside
of Paul Cichon’s ’69 hearse; Joe Croce (left) and Kevin Cloherty beside Kevin’s ’80
De Ville d’Elegance; Joe Hartwell’s ’15 CTSV Sport, a truly modern Cadillac.
Win a Willys!
Willys-Overland produced over 350,000 Willys MBs, better known as “Jeeps,” for the U.S. war
effort during World War II. As the war drew to a close, the company started thinking about a way to
develop a civilian version to market to the public. In 1945, with some modifications, Willys began to
mass-produce the CJ-2A, one of the first civilian vehicles to be equipped with four-wheel drive.
Classic car collector and Museum trustee Tom Larsen owns one of these rugged vehicles, a
1948 CJ-2A. He had originally purchased it because he thought it would be perfect to use at his
Cape house. Over the course of ownership, he put a lot of work into it, including regular maintenance as well as repairs to the clutch, steering rack and exhaust. He then sold it to a gentleman in
Nantucket, and the Jeep eventually came to reside in Atlanta, Ga. Tom then repurchased the Jeep
and has now decided to donate it to the LAAM with the intention of having it raffled off to support the
Museum. He knew that it would be an exciting vehicle for people to see at the Museum and to have
a chance to own as our 2016 raffle car.
Tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100, and are on sale now until the date of the drawing, July 23,
2017, at next year’s American Car & Truck Day. All proceeds will benefit the LAAM. Please visit
larzanderson.org/events/winawillys/ to buy your tickets now!
9
Membership matters.
Member Benefits
Payment Information
10