August 2019 Mass Cruisers Auto Club Newsletter

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

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Mass Cruisers Auto Club August 2019

July 11 Cruise Winner 1955 American LaFrance Series 700 Pumper

July 18 Cruise Winner Ford built F Code Thunderbird

July 11 Cruise Winner 1940 Studebaker Commander Coupe

D.J. Bruce Palmer photographing the Bay State Corvair Club Members

INSIDE: PRESIDENT’S TAILPIPE CRUZIN RIDING SHOTGUN / AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS

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Celebrating 28 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 28 Issue 8

www.masscruisers.com And Facebook

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

Monthly Crusin Contact us by snail mail: P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093 Or by email: HO350@comcast.net

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We have moved all monthly meetings to the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room at 1 Bass Pro Place in Foxboro, MA beginning in May. Monthly meetings will still be held the third Tuesday of the month starting at 7 PM, guests and visitors are welcome to attend. Business meetings will be held an hour earlier, club members are encouraged to attend.

DIRECTORY

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PRESIDENT’S TAILPIPE

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JULY 11TH CRUISE WINNER

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JULY 11TH CRUISE WINNER

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JULY 18TH CRUISE WINNER

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BASS PRO CRUISE HAPPENINGS

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RIDING SHOTGUN

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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

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CRUZIN

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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS

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Club Officers President: Mark Crichton Vice President: Larry Nyborn

Secretary: Lesley Corda-Majeski Asst. Secretary: John Guravage Treasurer: Kevin Rushlow Asst. Treasurer: Rich Armando At Large Board Member: Steve Huntington

Special Assignments Webmaster: Steve Vining

Managing Editor: John Buchanan Newsletter Editor: John Guravage Digital Graphics Editor: Diane Thorton Facebook: Patrick Touhey New Members: Zeke Sawayer Sgts. at Arms: Rick Lawlor John Sturniolo Charity Coord.: Frank Bryant Food Pantry: Steve Fernald Bob Okerholm By-Laws: Wayne Lestan MAAC Rep: John Buchanan Cruise Nights: Steve Huntington Sponsors: John Buchanan Fred Tierney

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President’s Tailpipe

By Mark Crichton

Another exciting month at the Bass Pro Shops cruise comes to a close with back-to-back cruises on July 11 & 18 due to the July 4 date conflict. All proceeds from the July 11 Cruise, Food Pantry collection and 50/50, went to the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, Southeastern Division, in Whitman, MA who were on site with their club trailer.

All proceeds will directly benefit the families of the 5 clubmembers and two guests that were tragically killed in that horrific accident in Randolph, NH on June 21. Despite the conflict our July 11 date had with the alternating Thursday Wheels of Time cruise in Raynham, we had a respectable turnout of about 900 cruise vehicles. The Rhode Island Antique Fire Apparatus Club, New England Region Pontiac Oakland, and Bay State Corvair clubs also made their annual appearance at the cruise. The 2019 revamped Valve Cover Race Track made its debut as well as the new Capriotti’s & Midici Neapolitan collaborative trailered wood fired pizza oven which proved to be a delicious success with everyone.

The July 18 cruise however faced a very dark and iffy weather forecast but we took a chance and it went off O.K.. No rain, but overcast and participation was down quite considerably with many cruise regulars and club members heading out to Syracuse, NY for the 20th Annual Right Coast Nationals. The KC’s Burger Bar gals dressed in their 1940’s & 50’s finery made their annual photo op visit with Lisa of Haase Imaging Photography Services posting 130 pics on the Mass Cruisers Facebook page. The featured guest club was the Classic Thunderbird Club of New England, favorite cars of the KC’s Burger Bar gals. Until our next cruise on August 1, enjoy the summer at other area events.

Photo credit: Haase Imaging Photography Services

Jarhead MC members & club President Mark Crichton during National Anthem ceremony

Vice President Larry Nyborn poses with the KC’s Burger Bar gals

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July 11th Vintage Motorsports Cruise Winner

By John Buchanan

The Rhode Island Antique Fire Apparatus Society makes an annual cruise up at one of our cruise nights to put on a display of their club’s antique fire engines which the kids of all ages always enjoy. They typically arrive around 3 PM and gather in parking Lot 20 across from the Renaissance Hotel then around 3:30 or so parade into the cruise with their sirens wailing and emergency lights flashing.

We usually have at least five show up but this year there was one that broke down and couldn’t make it and another had to cancel. In appreciation for their participation we also pick a cruise winner from the trucks that attend and this time it was Stephen Nunes from Lincoln, R.I. who is also the Quinnville Village Fire Chief and a Captain on the Providence Fire Department, for his 1955 American LaFrance 700 series pumper.

When Stephen’s Pumper pulled into Lot 16 where they were going to extend the ladder truck’s ladder from which a huge American Flag would be unfurled, the most noticeable feature was how quite the LaFrance V12 engine ran. It purred like a kitten. The truck’s home base was originally in Learned, KS, a small community about 130 miles west of Wichita, and Stephen purchased it in 2011 and has kept it in original condition, only replacing the usual worn parts and bring it up to current road safety standards. This survivor was worthy of being recognized to receive a Vintage Motorsports sponsored cruise award.

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July 11th Vintage Motorsports Cruise Winner

By John Buchanan

Every once and a while you see a beautiful car that triggers a memory, “I’ve seen that car before, but where?” That happened when our judging team selected Vinny Walsh’s 1940 Studebaker Commander Coupe Restomod for the July 11 Vintage Motorsports cruise award. After looking over the many internal upgrades to this unusually rare Studebaker it came to me that this car was our Host Club pick at the 2013 Goodguys Northeast Nationals in Springfield. Unfortunately at that time, Vinny wasn’t interested in coming back for the Sunday awards presentation so we had to select another car. It’s 6 years later and the 1940 Stude Restomod finally gets the recognition it deserves at our cruise.

Let’s start with the power plant upgrades which includes a Corvette LS-3 V8 coupled to a GM 4L60-E overdrive tranny and 9 inch Ford rear end. An Art Morrison IFS provides the modern ride and handling at highway speeds. The interior is another story with a one-off custom-made sheet metal dash with its faux wood grain & burl finish that holds the instrument cluster and Vintage a/c controls and ports is a work of art. Although the seats look like custom molded bucket seats, it is actually a Buick Lacrosse bench seat reworked to look like bucket seats. The two-tone tan & brown leather interior compliments the Cadillac Medium Flax color finish outside and the interior faux wood paint finish. From the outside, it looks classic 1940 Studebaker with the stamped military wheels and stock wheel covers, however the two chrome tailpipes and additional taillights give it away; there is more to this car than meets the eye.

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July 18th Vintage Motorsports Cruise Winner

By Diane Thornton

Although the Classic Thunderbird Club of New England was the guest club at our July 18 cruise, and Al Robinson is the President, his rare 1 of 211 Ford built F Code Thunderbird was selected for the coveted Vintage Motorsports sponsored cruise award plaque on its own merit. Al is the T-Bird’s 3rd owner, he has owned it for 12 years. He undertook a complete body-off restoration on his own, doing everything except the Raven Black paint. It won Gold Medallion Awards at Classic Thunderbird Club International Convention in Knoxville, TN and CTCI Region 1 Meet in Whippany, NJ. These are the highest awards made for authenticity and workmanship using concourse judging and touring rules.

The major difference between the 21,380 T-Birds built by Ford in 1957 is the high performance end of the engine options offered with a 312ci/300hp V8 fitted with a Holley 4bbl carburetor topped off with a Paxton built McCulloch supercharger. Special heads were also used to keep the compression ratio at 8:5:1 to run on regular pump gas. This allowed performance in the 6 second 0 -60 range with a top speed of 130 mph. The original 1957 list price of $4,815 now commands anywhere from $175,000 to $225,000 at Barrett-Jackson, Mecum and RM Sotheby auctions. Thank you, Al, for bringing your rare Bird and fellow 1955, 1956 & 1957 Classic T-Bird club members to our cruise.

Photo credit: Wayne Lestan

Image credit: Newport Car Museum

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Bass Pro Cruise Happenings

By John Buchanan

Some new additions to our 2019 Bass Pro Shops cruises worth noting. One is the custom Mass Cruisers Corn Hole Game giveaway you can play at the cruise and possibly win to bring home for your own back yard fun. Another, the popular valve cover race track has new electronics added to the Christmas Tree starting lights when it was noticed by track master builder Zeke Sawayer that competitive Dads were coaching their kids to mentally countdown to beat the GREEN start light which lacked false start sensing. Sensing relays and electronics were added over the winter by Zeke so the kids are now using their own natural reaction times to compete fair-and-square at the starting line.

The other addition to the cruise is the new Midici Neapolitan Pizza Company’s wood fired pizza trailer. Everyone was asking at the beginning of the cruise season what happened the Capriotti’s Food Truck and those great subs. Well, you now have the best of both world’s with Capriotti’s popular subs joining forces with their partner Midici’s Neapolitan Pizza wood fired oven for delicious fresh hand made pizzas on site. Also, Red Robin has continued to set up a burger grill along with the Bass Pro Shops Uncle Buck’s grill.

The July 11 Cruise was also participating in the SEMA Action Network sponsored “10th Annual “Collector Car Appreciation Day”. Also, all the proceeds, reported to be over $2,500, from the July 11 Food Pantry and 50/50 were donated to the Marine Jarheads Motorcycle Club campaign to support the 7 accident victims and families of that horrific wrong-way driver motorcycle accident in Randolph, N.H. on June 21. And finally our Cruise Director Steve Huntington continues the tradition of setting aside reserved parking areas for clubs that want to hold a special gatherings at our Bass Pro Shops cruise. All you have to do is contact Steve with the date and how many spaces will be needed and he will take care of setting aside reserved parking for your club.

Midici/Capriotti’s trailered wood fired pizza oven is a hit.

Mass Cruiser Steve Fernald & Jarhead MC members collect food & monetary donations for 7 accident victims.

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Riding Shotgun

By Larry Nyborn

As the Bob Dylan song says 'the times they are a changin' certainly applies to the current antique/classic car market. Many old car owners do not have the time or do not want to make the time to deal with the higher maintenance required to keep these vehicles on the road. Plus, some of the newer enthusiasts are used to the superior performance & handling of today's newer cars and so want/expect the same in their classics. Hence the proliferation of resto-mods, especially at the major car auctions such as BarrettJackson and Mecum.

The resto-mod owner can have an updated suspension, drive-train and engine while enjoying the classic style body and interior. If you are looking for a deal because the car is not original, think again because the price tags are hefty.

Guess things look pretty good for those of us that held onto their old cars. A couple of examples that crossed the block at the Mohegan Sun Barrett-Jackson Northeast Auction that I attended was the 1955 Thunderbird Custom Convertible Resto-Mod sitting on a 1999 Buick Park Avenue chassis and powered with its 3.8L V6 engine that was sold for $19,250, a relative bargain, all the way up to the Rad Rods

by Troy custom built 1954 Buick Special Custom Coupe “G54” Resto-Mod built with Mercedes Benz donor parts and powered with its 5.4L V8 and 5speed Automatic that was sold for a record $220,000; PHEW!

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August 2019 Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093

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