Sept/Oct 2013
Be Seen And Heard In The Spokes
It’s Only Original Once… 1960 Bonneville Convertible-One Family Owned Around The Hub Events
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My 2 Cents
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Pontiac Pot Luck
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Pontiac Documentary
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Motor City Club News
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Advertising
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Proudly Sponsored By:
I met Maurice Randall at the Widetrackers Dust Off on June 8th, 2013 and almost over looked his 1960 Pontiac Bonneville. Then I noticed the sign in the rear quarter window that gave a brief history of the car. I could have looked and said it was a very nice car , took a few photos and moved on. Happily I was paying attention that day and found a gem on the grounds of Davisburg’s Spring Oaks. Maurice has graciously given his account to the history of the Bonneville and his families ownership since new. When and where did you acquire the car? My Mom and Dad (Don and Sally Randall) bought the car in October, 1960, from Clohecy Pontiac in Detroit, Michigan. The '61's were out by then. This car hadn't sold yet and the dealer wanted it gone, so he discounted it about $900 to make the sale. Not many wanted bucket seats in a full-size car in 1960. My Dad passed away in July 2012, but my 80 year old Mother would still be the original owner. Why was the car only used for such a short time then parked? Mom and Dad had other cars. I grew up around cars. Dad started collecting antique cars about 1957. When the Pontiac was purchased, Mom also had a 1960 Pontiac Station Wagon to drive. Dad also had a 1960 Bonneville hardtop. the convertible sat in the garage a lot. It never went outside on nasty days and never went out at all in the winter time. Continued on page 6...
Events
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Schedule of Events 11/10-Collectable & Antique toy & Hobby Show at the Hara Center. Dayton OH 11/21-Motor City POCI Monthly Meeting
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Attention! Motor City POCI is planning to have a potluck dinner after the Milford car show on September 22nd at Marge Sawruk’s home @ 115 E. Summit St. Milford, MI. Awards for the car show start at 3pm, once they are over, come to the house! Saturday October 12th, 2013 is the date for The Fireplace Monday Night Cruisers Fall Cruise. Please contact me (John) for details and to sign up for the cruise, flyer to be emailed soon!
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www.motorcitypoci.com
12/1-Super Sunday Swap & Car Sale at the Indiana State Fairgrounds
12/19-Motor City POCI Monthly Meeting & Pot Luck Dinner
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My
Cents… By: John Berzsenyi
In life we get told or taught to be mindful, polite, respectful, and many other niceties along the way. Pretty good lead in for my two cents… Car Show Etiquette. We (classic car/truck, hot rod and specialty car) owners invest time, money and plenty of heart and soul into each one of our vehicles. Needless to say we go out of our way to take special care of our prides and joy. Each weekend during the nicer months of the year we prepare and show our joys off at local cruises and car shows. We spend our hard earned dollars in many communities, bolstering the economy while attending these shows. All in hopes of that shiny award to give meaning to all the hard work and money spent on our vehicles. In many cases the hard earned dollars we spend not only bolster the economy but serve a greater purpose in helping less fortunate or ill in our communities. I’m particularly proud to be part of such a wonderful network of people. Onto the meat of my two cents… Car show etiquette is not something they teach in school. We the owners are left to this task but usually at the expense of a scratch or some other casualty to one of our vehicles. When this happens it’s very difficult to contain our emotions and politely ask or tell that person to be mindful of our prides and joy. So…How do we educate those in need of knowledge to be mindful while they are in the presence of our vehicles? Do we hand out a set of predetermined rules to each visitor attending these events? Do we need to stand guard in front of our vehicles at each event to protect our investments? How about we call the local news stations to air a story on car show etiquette. Maybe we could have the DJ at each event announce the pledge of allegiance to caring for our cars while wondering around our vehicles. You would think this is all common sense, but alas it is not. Many people come to these events and do not mind their strollers, their purses, their cameras, their pets and most of all their children. How do we politely tell these people that there are rules to adhere to while in the presence of our vehicles. Not an easy task to be sure. We have stickers that we can display saying “ Please Do Not Touch The Vehicle” unfortunately this has very little to no effect. Announcements are made to “please do not ride bikes or skateboards around the vehicles” with little or no attention paid by these visitors. There needs to be a way to educate without offending and turning away people from the events. We love to show off our vehicles and we just want others to be mindful while around them. Ask all the questions you want, point at the cool stuff, smile when it reminds you of a time gone by, but please don’t touch the paint or any other part of the car unless you have been given permission. I have on occasion while watching folks around my car, taken interest in their interest and offered for them to sit behind the wheel and photo children or themselves. I get a real kick out of sharing my pride and joy with others, I just want them to be mindful of my vehicle while around it. Is that too much to ask?
www.motorcitypoci.com
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Pontiac Pot Luck Peanut Butter S'mores Ingredients: •8 large chocolate chip cookies •4 teaspoons hot fudge ice cream topping •4 large marshmallows •4 peanut butter cups Directions •Spread the bottoms of four cookies with fudge topping. •Using a long-handled fork, grill marshmallows 6 in. from medium-hot heat until golden brown, turning occasionally. Carefully place a marshmallow and a peanut butter cup on each fudge-topped cookie; top with remaining cookies. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.
Motor City Chapter Executive Board & Chairpersons President : Gains McDonald - gains.m.mcdonald@gm.com
Vice President: Ken Godfrey – godfreys5@comcast.net
Secretary: Kendra Klein - k.s.klein2009@gmail.com
Treasurer: Lori Woods - snowbaby48356@yahoo.com
Director: Jeff Denison - transamgto@aol.com
Director: John Berzsenyi - wyldgoat65@aol.com
Webmaster: Mike Erickson - merickson29@wowway.com
Activity Coordinator Chair: Dan Aldrich -(248) 681-9025
Please submit stories, ideas and recipes to the Editor: John Berzsenyi - wyldgoat65@aol.com or call (248) 467-9476
This newsletter is ours, the Motor City Chapter of the POCI. Lets make this the best newsletter we can by all of us contributing to its content.
www.motorcitypoci.com
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California artist’s love for Pontiac’s leads him to Michigan to film documentary Larry Keehn was driving by a closed Waterford Pontiac dealership on Elizabeth Lake Road recently when he noticed several cars and new banners on the lot. What he saw was California artist and college art professor Jesse Sugarmann setting up the lot as a stage for a documentary he is making on the now-defunct Pontiac car brand.
The new Pontiac car brand sign, Keehn said, was “like a magnet that really attracted my attention.” “I’ve always wanted to see Pontiacs come back.” What Keehn found was one segment of Sugarmann’s video project, “We Build Excitement.” Sugarmann, who teaches at California State University Bakersfield, explained his multiphase project — videotaped in the past months in Flint and Waterford Township — as a “monument to the Pontiac corporation.” “I’m upset Pontiac was shut down and feel it disappeared without much fanfare,” he said. “This project is to make noise about Pontiac and how I wish it hadn’t disappeared.” Sugarmann applied for a grant focused on examining the history of the Pontiac division and assessing its loss. “When it shut down, (we lost) culturally,” he said. In May, Sugarmann filmed first at Chevy in the Hole, a former 130-acre Chevrolet assembly site in Flint. At the end of June, he began to set up his “movie set” at the former Quality Pontiac dealership lot in Waterford Township. He bought nonrunning 1990s Pontiac cars from Craigslist to place in the lot. Sugarmann, assisted by graduate students Kate LaPier, a Cranbrook student from Rochester, N.Y., and Emily Wobb, a Carnegie Mellon University student, planned to scrap the dozen cars in the lot, and remove some parts for his own future sculptures. Sugarmann said people in Flint asked him questions about his work. In Waterford, people such as Keehn stopped to tell him stories of their Pontiacs. “The brand is such a part of the local identity here,” he said. “It’s like if the Green Bay Packers folded. This entity really belongs to the community.” He said when a corporation leaves, it has an effect on a community. His movie, no longer than 45 minutes, should be ready in a year and will premiere in Detroit. He also will show it in Flint. Keehn, who worked for General Motors Corp. before retiring and now owns five Pontiac cars, drove his 1949 pale gray Pontiac to the lot last week to show Sugarmann — and it wound up in his film. “I hope GM will rethink this and have two or three (models) come out,” Keehn said. “Pontiacs were a step above and I’ve always supported them.”
Yes, three Pontiacs that year. Plus, Dad had his 55 GMC pickup. He also had a 1950 Pontiac Streamliner that he had bought brand new. That was the car he had when he met my Mom. We still have the car today. My Dad always said he still had the same car and the same girl all these years. The 50 has about 48,000 miles on it. Over the next few years, there were other cars available to drive, so The Pontiac had just under 10,000 miles on it in 1963. It has sat a lot since then. There was a period of time when it probably wasn't moved for nearly 20 years. Now it has 11,300 miles as I write this. Who drove the car for the most part? Mom would use the car mostly, but Dad would drive it whenever we all went somewhere together and it was nice out. You hauled an antique car to shows with this vehicle, what was the vehicle and where did you go? I was almost 7 when this car was bought, so I remember a lot about it. We had a 1908 Reo Touring car. Dad would borrow an open trailer from a friend and we would haul the Reo to a few antique car meets with the Pontiac. That is the only reason the car has a trailer hitch. Dad belonged to the Capitol City Old Car Club and the AACA. We met a lot of nice people through the CCOCC. I always looked forward to going to the car meets when I was a kid. You talked about how fussy your dad was about keeping the car looking new, could you expand on this? Whenever we got into the back seat of the '36 Cord or even this brand new Pontiac, we had to take our shoes off. And no feet on the backs of the front seats! I understand why now, especially with the painted backs on the Pontiac's bucket seats. It's amazing that you have less than 12 thousand miles on the car, could you talk about the condition of everything on the car? It's an unrestored original that is in fairly decent condition for its age. The worst part of the whole car is the back window. The plastic window is yellowed real bad, hardened and cracked. But the rest of the top looks better than some 15 year old tops. There are a few minor flaws here and there, but from as close as 10 feet away, the car looks like it was restored. Most people don't believe it is all original. Continued on the next page...
www.motorcitypoci.com
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Even the tires are the originals. The only things replaced over the years are the master cylinder, battery, 3 of the headlight bulbs, and ignition coil. One of these days, I'm going to rebuild the original master cylinder and put it back on the car. It still has the original radiator hoses, heater hoses, spark plugs and wires, etc. Have Pontiacs been the car of choice in your family? Not really, but it seems like they were in 1960. My Dad loved the styling of the 60 Pontiacs, much more so than the 59's. And he hated the 61's after owning 3 of the 60 models. Where do you plan on taking the car for shows? We are taking it to a car show that will be held on the lawn of the State Capitol in Lansing on Saturday, July 27th. And then it will be going to the "Red Barn Spectacular" at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan on the following Saturday. Both of these shows have an unrestored original class. A few weeks ago, we took it to the "Cruise at the Fountain" show in Marshall, Michigan. There were over 600 cars there and we were entered in the unrestored original class and won. The car also won the "Fire Chief's Choice" award that day. If there is anything else you would like to talk about please feel free to enlighten us on whatever I have missed. For me, it's hard to imagine this car drawing so much attention since I was there when it was bought new and grew up with it. It's just a used car now that we've had in the family ever since it was new. But what I've enjoyed most about showing the car is when someone sees it and it triggers a memory of another '60 Bonneville Convertible that they enjoyed a long time ago. -Maurice
Motor City Club News
July, 2013 Monthly Meeting Highlights July’s monthly meeting took a dive...a dive into a pool that is. Lori Woods graciously opened her home to the club for our monthly meeting. We were asked to bring a desert to pass and swim in the pool if you wished. The weather cooperated and a nice time was had by all. I must pass along a two thumbs up to Marge’s Lemonade pie, it was a good as it sounded in the Pontiac Potluck Last issue. There was some discussion surrounding the flyer for next years car show at Bakers of Milford. I hope there will be a more finalized flyer available at the August meeting down on Woodward. Anyone with ideas weather it’s sponsors, goodies for the goody bags, trophies or any subject concerning the car show please contact one of the club officers ( contact info can be found on page 4 of this issue).
August, 2013 Monthly Meeting Highlights Once again our August monthly meeting was held on our lot down on famed Woodward Ave. The Woodward Dream Cruise, though not officially until Saturday. It never stops thousands from enjoying some pre-Dream Cruise activities. We were some of those car lovers that were down to enjoy a pleasant evening on the avenue. Oh... and to have our monthly meeting. After some discussion of our updated flyer for the new car show, out from our trunks came the chairs. We all sat and enjoyed some pleasant conversation and the sights and sounds of Woodward. It was a very good meeting!
It’s coming...Motor City POCI’s All Pontiac GMC and Oakland Show! Look for more details in the coming months. Saturday, July 19th, 2014 at Bakers of Milford, you’ve been to their Sunday cruise nights, now be there for the next must attend Pontiac event! www.motorcitypoci.com Page 8
MOTOR CITY POCI Dedicated to the Preservation, Restoration, and Enjoyment of Oakland, Pontiac & GMC Vehicles Today’s Date:________________________ Primary Member:__________________________________ Spouse or Associate Member:_______________________________ Birth Date:______________ Address:_______________________________________ Phone #_________________________ City & State__________________________________ Zip Code__________ E-Mail:_________________________@___________________________ POCI# (optional)____________________________ Signature:_______________________________________________
Children:____________________________________________________________ Birth Date:_______________ Birth Date: ______________Birth Date:_______________ Classic Cars Owned: Year, Make, *Style#, # of Cylinders ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ *Located on firewall Body Tag. If unavailable give description of model. Membership dues due for The Motor City Chapter are $20.00 per year. Dues are to be paid the first day of each May. If joining for the first time, dues will be pro rated at $1.70 per month. Please pay by cash or check made out to: THE MOTOR CITY CHAPTER Return This Application and Dues to: MOTOR CITY POCI C/O Kendra Klein
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