The Talepipe December 2018 Fallbrook Vintage Car Club A Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America About This Month’s Cover – by Don McCormick Prior to the Nash merger, Hudson had a great A DASH OF HASH reputation, and was early into new models The last year Hudsons were produced, 1957, they following WWII with their famous “step down” were commonly called “Hashs” because they were frame design, launched in 1948. The passenger really a Nash underneath, with Hudson badging compartment was down inside the perimeter of and name plates. So here’s the DASH of a 1957 the frame. The result was a safer car, and more Hudson. You importantly, lowered the center of gravity might re- providing member that in extremely 1954 Hudson good merged with handling. the Nash-Kel- The dash vinator Corp, was also the parent of well done the Nash auto and ahead manufacturer. As with several smaller auto man- of the competition at that time. Hudson’s strong, ufacturers, it was difficult to compete with Big 3’s light weight body and styling departments and cash reserves in the 50’s. engine design made So the 1957’s were built on the Nash platform and these Hornets of ’50- body in the Kenosha WI AMC factory. The ’57 was ’54 champions on the really quite good looking, and starting in ’55 a race circuit. Here’s Packard built V-8 some more of these with Ultramatic step down models. was offered as This is a 1951 model, a favorite of many. well as the standard Hudson 5.0 L Six, although the dual carb Twin-H power option was dropped by 1956. In 1954, Hudson developed a special concept car called the “Italia”, a really good looking coupe, of which 26 Here is a 1953 Club Coupe. were made in Italy. The fender scoops were to cool brakes, and it was built on the Jet platform. The 1954’s were quite different, and the last made at the Hudson factory. Hudson’s pre-war history was also stellar, and its demise was one of those sad stories of the 50’s automobile history. Talepipe Committee Editor: Ron Mintle Contributors: Don McCormick, Jeanne Cusimano, Steve Shapiro What’s in this Issue About the Cover R.O.M.E.O. at Dennys Girl Scout Pinewood Derby Two “Barn” Raisings Christmas Party The Jensen-Healey Roadster Enjoy Life Classifieds New Members Upcoming Club Activities Board Officers, Members, and Committee Chairs R.O.M.E.O. Retired Old Men Eating Out This month the ROMEO luncheon was held at Dennys in Fallbrook. They have a little known “back room” that we had all to ourselves. We had multiple servers and got more than adequate service. Arnold brought his newly acquired Nash for us to see. Arnold has always had an affinity for Nash cars and had told everybody that he would like to buy a “bath- tub” Nash. One day he got an email from Mike Simpson with a link to a offered them considerably less, and to his ’50 Nash being auctioned by Moto- surprise they were willing to sell it to him. eXotica near St. Louis. He immedi- ately phoned MotoeXotica but they The car has a Hydra-Matic transmission, wanted too much for the car. and the seats fold into a bed. The car came with lots of documentation, a Nash mat- The Nash kept gnawing away at his tress, and window screens. They are the better judgment. And after about a fourth owners. The second owner, John week, he phoned the dealer, Nash, had the car for decades. Girl Scout Pinewood Derby The annual Girl Scout Pinewood Derby was held October 26 & 27 at St. Peter’s Hall. As has been our tradition for the past several years, FVCC members pitched in on both dates. On Friday night, members Louise and Glen Patterson and John and Connie Waugh handled the check in and weigh in process. Over 40 cars were entered. After the weigh in, cars were “impounded” overnight to await the big races on Saturday. Helping out on Saturday were Jim Binford, Wayne King and Joe Cusimano. Also, assisting were volunteers recruited by Joe for the second year: John Siefert, Lloyd Voorhees and Gary Steres. FVCC helpers selected their favorite car to win a special award. By Jeanne Cusimano Two “Barn” Raisings - One Day! Saturday, November 17th was a very productive day for a team of car club members. It started out with an e-mail call for help by Shoe to see if he could get some guys to help him assemble and raise a cover for his boat. At that same time, Ron realized that help would be needed that same day to raise the newly made walls for the new garage the Mintles are building. So Ron responded that he would help Shoe and at the same time asked if the volun- teers could please first come to his house to help raise the walls. Jeff “Shoe” Schumacher, Chuck Pedigo, Michael McGuire, and Fred Ragland all came to help. As you can see, it was a big job, but we got the walls up in less than an hour, and then we all headed over to Shoe’s with his promise of beer and pizza. (See next page) Two “Barn” Raisings - One Day! Shoe had ordered a cover for his boat, but with his flying bridge, the cover was not high enough. As a result, he had to make additional poles so that it could be raised to cover the boat. And to complicate things, whereas one side of the canopy supports would be on level ground, the other side would be at a higher elevation and on the slope of a hill! With the help of a neighbor and four gardeners, we had a man for each of the 10 poles as we raised and assembled each supporting post. This too was a lot of work and took a bit longer than anticipated, but we got it done! And Shoe made good on his promise of not only beer and pizza, but he also had tri-tip and chicken. Make your reservations for our annual Car Club Christmas Party Saturday December 8, 2018 At: Pala Mesa Resort 2001 Old Highway 395 Fallbrook A no host bar will be open at 5:45 pm and dinner served around 7:15 A short business meeting will be conducted Cost for the dinner is the same as in the past $35 per person. The club is underwriting the balance including the tax and gratuity. Please fill in the attached form with your check and mail so we receive it before December 3 Put your dancing shoes on as there will be music and dancing! Jensen-Healey Roadster The Jensen-Healey Roadster, an ill-fated attempt to bring back the glory of the Austin Healey sports car, is most notable today as the first production car powered by the advanced Lotus 907 twin-cam aluminum inline-4 engine, even before it was installed in a showroom Lotus. Launched in 1972 as a fast, luxurious and competent convertible sports car, it was positioned in the market between the Triumph TR6 and the Jaguar E-Type. The 50/50 weight balance achieved by the use of the all alloy Lotus 907 engine led to universal praise as having excellent handling. The new 2.0-liter engine was strong and high-revving, but the source of trouble, was with reliability and maintenance issues that doomed the Jensen-Healey to a short existence: 1972- 1976. But there are those survivors that, with proper care and patience, have succeeded in living on as enjoyable and distinctive two-seat convertibles. The oil crisis hit Jensen Motors hard, greatly damaging the sales of its very large V8 Interceptor model and thus degrading its financial condition as a whole. The Jensen GT was then hurriedly brought to market, requiring massive labor expense and taxing the firm’s budget even further. By 1974 Lotus was able to supply the required number of engines and production reached 86 cars a week but despite this, the overall situation proved to be too much for the company, which, amid strike action, component shortages and inflation, proceeded to liquidate in 1975 and then close in May 1976. I went to the liquor store Tuesday afternoon on my bicycle, bought a bottle of Scotch and put it in the bicycle basket. My friend celebrated his birthday As I was about to leave, I thought to myself that if I fell off the bicycle, the bottle would this year by buying an all-terrain break. So I drank all the Scotch before I 4-wheeler. This is a picture of him cycled home. playing with it in his back yard. It turned out to be a very good decision, because I fell off my bicycle seven times on the way home. FVCC Classifieds 2016 Ford Pickup Truck 250sd with the Long Bed: 7 feet Color: Oxford White - Interior: Steel/Cloth - Engine 6.7 V8 DI OHC TDsi - Transmission 6 Speed Automatic Current Mileage 6,850, License #50552E1 - Purchased 5/27/2016; Sale Price: $50,000 2016 was the last year Ford Trucks were made with a steel exterior. Extras: 7 Year Warranty (or 125,000 Miles) Cost $200. Roadside Assist 5 Years - Diesel with 4X4 -Back up camera - Truck cover - Heavy duty trailer Hitch with trailer brakes Last Service: Oil & filter last change: 5/9/2018 - Smog was required for 2018 registration; completed on: 6/20/2018 This pickup truck is offered with the following Travel Trailer see next page.