Hershey is family event but chocolate odor is missing Monthly Newsletter of the Early Ford V8 Club of America East Tennessee Regional Group Hershey this fall was a family November 10, 2014 event for members of the regional group this year. Those who attend- ed were Freddie and Connie King, Earl and Louise Blankenbeckler, Tom Collins, George and Helen Helms, Mark and Genia Helm and Members working on two restoration projects their two little boys, Don and Polly Two restoration proj- Wirt and Loywell Green. ects are currently under- They report that things have way in the club garage. changed since the days when navi- John Seneker is restor- gating the offerings of Hershey ing a 1957 Chevrolet Field meant wading through ar- two-door coach and Ron eas of mud. The mud is not missed, Harkleroad is restoring but the pleasant odor of chocolate a 1951 GMC pickup that that formerly pervaded the area he says he is going to turn is no longer in the air. All choco- into a Chevrolet. His late processing has been moved to decision is based on the Mexico. fact that the badge-engi- neered GMC is identical Christmas party date to a Chevy pickup except for trim, and since radiator support and grille set for December 7 accessories for the Chevy are available but not for the GMC, when he Members present at the meeting finishes, the pickup will be a Chevy. Thursday, Nov. 6, agreed the club Both projects have reached the body phase chassis and mechanicals should hold its traditional Christ- have been completed with many later model year improvements. Har- mas party on Sunday, December 7. kleroad has the cab and bed installed and ready for finishing. Seneker The Christmas party has been has the body still on a rotisserie in primer while finishing it for painting. a family event for more than 20 years, with the club providing meat, bread and drinks and mem- bers families bringing vegetables, salads and desserts for a sumptu- ous potluck holiday feast to be fol- lowed by a round of bingo games for useful door prizes. Treasurer accepting dues Members are reminded that dues for 2015 must be paid by the second meeting in January. Trea- surer John Seneker says he has be- gun receiving dues for the coming year and will be accepting them at meetings between now and the January deadline except during the Christmas party. Regional Group cars in Veterans Day parade Local dues are $30. Na- (Top left) T Brown with his ‘32 pickup, (right)Warren and Robin Earles tional dues are $15. Members may with their Thunderbird modified to look like a ‘50 Ford and dedicated to pay both local and national dues to Warren’s father who was killed in World War II before Warren was born. John. All members must pay na- (Bottom left) Dave Shmidt with his Chevy panel delivery and (right) for- tional dues to be eligible for local mer member Harvey Knoll and Annette with his ‘36 pickup. membership. Page 2 Ford Words, November10, 2014 Old clipping reveals Kingsport had Vintage Flathead 309 cars in 1922 speedster offered in Hemmings The headline on Vince Staten’s column in the Kingsport Times- Indicative of the flathead V8’s News on Sunday, Oct. 12 attracted once dominance in the car hobby is my attention. this ‘41 Ford speedster advertised It read that the traffic jams on in Hemmings for $8,900. Kingsport’s streets in 1922 were all Ford events. The reason was simple, there were only 309 cars li- censed in Kingsport in 1922, 199 of them were Fords. Quoting from a newspaper story of the day Staten said there were 131 Ford touring cars and roadsters, 34 Ford coupes and sedans and 34 Ford trucks. The Assembled from an extended Ford dealer, Kingsport Motor Company, advertised a Ford Tudor sedan 1941 Ford frame, 1939 Ford run- for $590 and First National Bank advertised an easy payment plan that ning gear, a 1950 Mercury 255 Cu- promised “$5 will start you on your way to Ford ownership!” The bank bic inch Flathead V8 with a mild added, “Recognizing the universal desire for motor car ownership, we Iskederian cam, 1950′s reversed have given our co-operation to the Ford weekly purchase plan. Here is exhaust headers, 1939 Ford three your opportunity to become the owner of an automobile in a simple yet speed manual transmission cou- practical way which will enable you to pay for your car out of your earn- pled to a very rare 3.51 ratio Ford ings. Your weekly payments deposited with us will draw interest.” differential, Studebaker steering Again the reason was simple. Fords were cheaper. The Overland wheel and box, 1937 Chevy truck Champion was advertised in the same paper for $695. The third most head and tail lamps, late 1940′s popular car in Kingsport was the Dodge which priced their roadster at speedboat windshield with period $980 and their top of the line Business Sedan at $1,370. Nash offered its correct seats, and gauges, it is Advanced Six Tour car at $2,375. without question a one of a kind Lincoln got 337 truck flathead V8 in 1949 Speedster. Its main body and fenders are The largest displacement version of the steel, with a hand-laid fiberglass Ford flathead V8 engine was the 337 cubic nose. Flush rivet hinges suggest inch introduced in 1948. It was designed the hood, was manufactured in an for Ford’s heavy duty two-and-one-half aircraft manufacturing plant. The and three-ton trucks. It features a 3.5 inch front fenders were created from bore and a 4.375 inch stroke, When Lin- Model A Ford steel spare wheel coln could not produce the V12 engine it covers. The floors are purloined wanted for the 1949 model year, the 337 aluminum speed limit signs from motor was adapted for passenger car use. It was produced through the 1951 model year. In 1952 it was replaced the period. in the Lincoln passenger cars and Ford three ton trucks with the Lin- The nose bears a “Hoover” badge coln Y-block 317 cubic inch overhead -valve V8. The two and a half ton which a friend of the former owner Ford trucks got a 279 cubic inch version of the 317 motor. supplied after assisting the owner, who had acquired the car as a bas- What if it would be possible to print your next car? ket case, with assembling the ve- How about printing your next hicle, because the nose resembles car? Don’t laugh. It may well be a vintage Hoover canister vacuum possible. Local Motors of Phoenix, cleaner. Included in the sale will AZ, has teamed with Oak Ridge be two Edelbrock finned aluminum Laboratories to fit a large laser racing heads, and a twin 97 carbu- printer with a 3-D extruder to reted Offenhauser intake mani- print the body of the “Strati” sports fold. The carburetors will probably car shown in the picture, and with Thermwood Corp that provided a five require rebuild. A leather racing axis routing machine to smooth the finished product. cap and goggles will be included. Printing took 44 hours and the smoothing took another full day. It is located in Belchertown, (Continued on Page 4, Column 1.) Massachusetts. Ford Words, November10, 2014 Page 3 Great Race spots rapidly filling Gurney presented More than 80 teams are already registered for the 2015 Hemmings Edison-Ford medal Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty which is scheduled from Saturday, June 20, to Sunday, June 28 according to Jeff Stumb, race for enterpreneurship D a n director. Gurney, The nine day race will race driv- trace Route 66 from Kirk- er who wood, MO to Santa Monica, r e t i r e d CA. Because participating in 1970, cars will be started at one was pre- minute intervals, the race s e n t e d will be limited to 100 cars in the Edi- the championship cup divi- son-Ford sion. Additional entries will medal by the Henry Ford museum be permitted in the X-Cup at a special ceremony at the Henry class for college and high Ford in Dearborn on October 29. school teams. The medal, which bears the like- First prize in the champi- nesses of both Henry Ford and onship division will be $50,000. Total purse will be $150,000. Thomas Edison, honors individu- The schedule of three day regional rallies such as the Coker Tire Chal- als who “fully leverage the cre- lenge is not yet completed. ative, innovative and entrepre- Stops along the way are scheduled for Rolla, Missouri; Springfield, neurial spirit . . .,” according to The Missouri; Claremore, Oklahoma; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Elk City, Henry Ford’s Curator of Transpor- Oklahoma; Amarillo, Texas; Tucumcari, New Mexico; Santa Fe, New tation, Matt Anderson. It has only Mexico; Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Gallup, been presented once before in its New Mexico; Holbrook, Arizona; Flagstaff, Arizona; Kingman, Arizona; 25 year history. Oatman, Arizona; San Bernardino, California; and Santa Monica, Cali- It was awarded in 1989 to W. fornia. Edwards Deming, whose work in The Great American Race, a classic rally for street-legal vintage au- Statistical Product Quality Ad- tomobiles at least 45 years old, is a precision race not a speed race. Ve- ministration laid the groundwork hicles must use original factory parts, and modern navigational aids like for Japan’s economic rebirth in the GPS are prohibited. postwar years. The course has usually run from east-to-west or west-to-east on Out of 312 races started during a 4000-mile journey across the continental United States It typically his career, Gurney posted wins in avoids large cities, instead winds along secondary highways and back 51 of them, while achieving a po- roads through small towns in America’s heartland. While the towns that dium finish in another 47 events. the course will run through are publicized in advance, the actual route Although other racers have since itself is kept secret from the drivers and navigators. posted wins in Formula One, Indy The Great Race was initiated in 1983 by Tom McRae and Norman Car and NASCAR competition (in- Miller, CEO of Interstate Batteries, who purchased the name and rights cluding Mario Andretti and Juan from Howard Williams, an aging promoter who had advertised a race in Pablo Montoya), Gurney is the 1982 that had attracted only McRae and his friend Curtis Graf. only American to win a Formula Their first race from Knotts Berry Farm near Los Angeles to the Brick- One race (the 1967 Belgian Grand yard speedway at Indianapolis attracted 69 cars and got the venture off Prix) in a car of his own design and on a run of success that lasted until 2002. construction. The 2002 race was announced as being the final race, and the event’s Gurney retired as an active driv- future appeared in doubt, but the race was acquired by Rally Partners, er in 1970 and focused his energy Inc., a group consisting of past Great Race competitors. With the new on All American Racers, which ownership, the event continued to run annually until 2007. built and prepared cars for sports In 2010, the name and assets were acquired by Corky Coker of Chatta- car and open-wheel racing. nooga, TN, former competitor and member of Rally Partners, Inc., and in With Gurney as a driving force, conjunction with the Vintage Car Rally Association the event continued the company achieved an impres- in the summer of 2011 with a race from Chattanooga, TN to Bennington, sive 83 pole positions and 78 vic- VT, the headquarters of Hemmings Motor News publishing corp. Coker tories at events ranging from the and Hemmings are continuing to participate in parts of the 2015 race Indy 500 to the 24 Hours of Day- which will be sponsored by Hagerty, insurer of collector cars. tona. Page 4 Ford Words, November10, 2014 EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICA EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICA East Tennessee Regional Group East Tennessee Regional Group Minutes of meeting held October 9, 2014 Minutes of meeting held November 6, 2014 President Phil Vinson called the meeting to or- The meeting was convened at 7:00 p.m. by der at 7:05 p.m. President Phil Vinson. Minutes of the meeting of October 2 were read Minutes of the meeting of October 9 were read by Secretary Murv Perry and approved as read by Secretary Murv Perry. They were approved on motion by Ron Freeman, seconded by Fred with two corrections on motion by T Brown, sec- Lord. onded by Ron Harkleroad. Treasurer’s report by John Seneker was ac- The Treasurer’s reported balance was correct- cepted on motion by T Brown, seconded by Ron ed and it was AUTO ZONE that suggested the Harkleroad. club conduct a cruise-in event from 10:00 a.m. Phil reported that Pop Tart had assisted Bob to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, once a month during Scales and Gary Williams with preparation of the winter. the meal and a motion of appreciation to them Treasurer’s report, presented by John Seneker was approved by applause. was accepted on motion by Fred Lord, seconded Dale Kelsey was introduced as a guest. by Ron Harkleroad. A motion to authorize $200 to complete instal- Phil announced that the Meal for Wheels next lation of lights in the paint bay of the garage week would be served by Fred Lord, John Senek- was made by Fred Lord. It was seconded by er, and Deward Reed. Ron Harkleroad and approved on voice vote, but He also explained that the election of officers John Seneker asked that it be delayed until he for next week would be held at the first meeting could paint the walls white to help brighten the in December and that he would appoint a nomi- area. nating committee next week to prepare a list of Members of the Cruise-in Committee indi- candidates. cated that the manager of Lowe’s had suggested A motion by Tom Collins that the traditional the club continue events on Saturday from 10:00 Christmas party be held on Sunday, December 7, a.m. to 2:00 p.m. once a month during the winter was seconded by Ron Harkleroad and approved season. by voice vote. The Ford Fund drawing for $19 was won by Gerald Tart’s number was drawn for the Ford Jim Gose. Fund, but since he was not present, $12 was de- The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. posited in the Building Maintenance Fund. Minutes submitted by Murv Perry The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Minutes submitted by Murv Perry

Printed--Continued from Page 2 . Meals for Wheels -- Meals for wheels will be served on Thursday, The Strati uses the power train November 13, by Fred Lord, John Seneker, and Deward Reed. of Renault’s electric “Twizy.” Other manufacturers supplied the bat- Flathead Fords are still on the streets tery, motor, wiring and suspension. The company says it has a 110 mile range at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. Design for the body was se- lected from more than 200 submit- ted in a contest conducted by Local Motors. Company officials say the car ex- hibits the possibilities of 3-D print- ing for the auto industry. With sufficient testing, the company ex- My son Mark shot pictures of two flathead Fords on the street in traffic pects to be able to offer cars to the recently with his smart camera. public in 2015 priced from $18,000 The picture on the left, of a 1949 Tudor that showed up in his rear view to $34,000, more expensive than mirrow, was taken as he was returning from lunch during a swimming the company had hoped, but as the meet in Kinsport last weekend. The one on the right, of a ‘‘35 three technology is developed the costs window coupe, he shot while coming from work on Franklin between are expected to decrease. Nashville and Franklin recently. Long live Flathead Fords!