EXECUTIVE BOARD Thunderbird Flyer Newsletter of the Northwest Vintage Thunderbird Club

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 10 OCTOBER, 2017 Burned About Burn Outs

nother crash at a n’ Coffee away simply because some individuals vehic- event has occurred. During a mid- ular horsepower exceeds their personal IQ. September event in Boise, ID, a driv- S P E C I A L I won’t be all high and mighty by saying that er of a Porsche Spyder accelerated P O I N T S O F A having a vehicle with mega horses or gobs of too quickly as he left the venue. With an esti- INTEREST: torque should be outlawed. I will say that mated 400 and 500 vehicles and several hun- there are places that allow a person to use dred more spectators present, it is easy to see • Club newslet- and explore the capabilities of these vehicles. how this driver collided with several of them ters from The exit lane from a parking lot is not one of when he lost control of the . Eleven people previous them! years are were injured who witness reported were be- going on the tween 10 and 49 years of age. The Facebook I feel an important sentiment was made from web site. page for the event clearly states that the pro- a person that had attended this cars n’ coffee Take a look moters do not encourage or promote this kind event in Boise. He said (and I am paraphras- at past ones of “burnout” activity. Unfortunately, given the ing here) that drivers like the one that injured that you may crowds that attend these impromptu car these folks do nothing beneficial for other have missed. shows, it is easy to see owners of classic and why some would take custom vehicles. I the opportunity to show would agree. The pub- off. lic sees a car owner that has more dollars INSIDE THIS This is not the first time than sense! Pushing a ISSUE: this has happened. Nor car and the driver to its will it be the last. An in- limits is acceptable at a NWVTC Fall 2 ternet search with the track. In a parking lot or Cruise words “cars, coffee, ac- Courtesy of KIDO Talk Radio website main street, not so Feds Take a 3 cidents” produces many much. Stand On HAV’s mishaps. Typically the videos show a driver damaging their own car This gentleman went on to say that you and I Paint It “Stanky 4 but increasingly, a few of the show boaters have a responsibility to bring drivers like this Bean” careen into other cars and people. one to the attention of the hosts of the show. If drivers are excluded from events and shows The Square Bird 5 There are several cars n’ coffee events that because of reckless driving habits and show occur in the Portland/Vancouver area. These NWVTC Meet- 6 boating, it could send a signal to others that events are an opportunity to join up with some ing Minutes this behavior will not be tolerated. liked minded folks on a weekend morning to Calendar of 7 grab a cup of coffee, talk cars for an hour or so If we don’t point out this irresponsible behav- Events and then head home. No trophies or 50’s mu- ior today we may find there will be fewer Passing Lane 8 sic or pressure. It can be an enjoyable time to events to show off our cars and trucks in the get to know locals that you didn’t know were future. gearheads only because they are “Bowtie” folks while you are a “Blue Oval” person.

Unfortunately, if these accidents keep occur- Tom ring, these cars n’ coffee events will be gong

P A G E 2 NWVTC Fall Cruise

n important clue in the success of a car Left: NWVTC members club event may have been found. Asking receive a history lesson folks to show up around 9:30 in the morn- about the hangar that ing definitely increases the attendance! A houses the museum. With the later start for the NWVTC Fall Cruise, about thirty members, spouses and guest turned out Christian Gurling, a cura- to cruise to Tillamook for a museum tour and lunch. tor at the museum. Christian gave a short history lesson about the con- Meeting at a Starbucks in Hillsboro allowed those struction of the hangars during WWII and the use by that were still not quite awake to get a caffeine boost the military, city and industry. Afterwards, the club for their body battery. Meanwhile the customers members were able to wander through the exhibits, coming and going from the store were given an im- aircraft, vehicles and displays. Members even had promptu car show with the ten Thunderbirds, one the opportunity to Mustang and two ’s that were parked in the stage their cars lot. With coffee in hand, our cruise coordinator Joe around the Mini Engert assisted by Tom Przedwojewski passed out Guppy cargo air- driving directions and some trivia sheets about the plane sitting out- areas and sites to be seen later and also some side the hangar. ground rules for the drivers. After working up The weather could not have been an appetite walk- better with temps in the 60’s ing through the Above: The scale of the building through most of the day and clear huge hangar, the can be seen beside Eric and Ana blue skies. The thirteen cars ma- club drove over to Johansson’s 1966 . neuvered onto the Hwy 26, Sunset Blue Heron French Highway, on the way to Oregon Cheese Company for lunch. Blue Heron makes your Hwy 6 which would take the group salad and sandwiches while you peruse there gift through the Tillamook State For- shop, sample their cheeses, scratch a llama behind est. It was a good thing that the their ears in the petting zoo or wander among the group kept a few car lengths be- old farm tools and machinery. If none of that suits tween each other, otherwise there On the road to you, grab a seat at the wine bar and sample some may have been a few accidents of the Northwest’s great wines. from the glare off of all that Tillamook chrome! Tom conducted a meeting after most It is always easy to tell, er, I mean smell, when you everyone ate. The get to Tillamook. The town is known for its dairies plan after lunch so where there are dairies there must be dairy cows! was to head out to Surprisingly, the odor didn’t last long or maybe the the coast but the onshore breeze was moving the smell past us. majority of folks had to head back It was only a few minutes after turning onto Hwy 101 Top: Tom’s 1964 next to home so the coast that the huge hangar that houses the Tillamook Air the double decker bus at Blue was a pass. Maybe Museum comes into view. The group parked line Heron French Cheese Company. another cruise. abreast in the lot and of course another round As members finished lunch they headed home on of picture taking en- their own. Unfortunately, Joe Engert experienced a sued. coolant leak but was able to pull off in a safe loca- tion before any overheating problems started. He The group gathered was in the middle of the departures so there were a inside the hangar and few members that were able to stop and see that he were welcomed by was all right. Several hours later than he expected, Top Right: Lined up in Joe got his T-bird home. the museum parking lot. This year the club was able to put together two en- Right: The gang’s all joyable cruises. Look for two more times in 2018 here! and plan to join the fun!

THUNDERBIRD FLYER

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 10 P A G E 3 Feds Take a Stand on HAV’s

epartment of Transportation Secretary powered and to contain steering wheels and brake Elaine L. Chao announced at a mid- pedals. September meeting in Michigan voluntary The House measure allows manufacturers of driverless guidelines for the deployment of Highly Au- D cars to obtain exemptions for up to 25,000 vehicles tonomous Vehicles (HAV). Earlier in the month the from safety regulations in the first year after the legisla- U.S. House passed bipartisan tion takes effect. This cap rises legislation that would put Feder- to 100,000 vehicles within four al regulators in the “driver seat” years. The carmakers would still when developing HAV regula- have to meet certain safety tions. Until now, there has been standards being developed by a patchwork of regulations de- NHTSA. Automakers would veloped by twenty-two states have to submit safety assess- with another nineteen states ment reports to regulators, but considering legislation. the bill would not require pre- and Gen- market approval of advanced eral Motors have found it difficult to develop and test vehicle technologies. The measure now goes to the new technology under these varied state laws and Senate but may be sidelined to handle debt ceiling, have pressed regulators at the National Highway Traf- budget and hurricane relief legislation. fic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to clarify guidelines The measure only prevents states from creating laws covering self-driving technology. The companies have related to the design and operations of driverless cars. fought proposals in California, Michigan and New York States would still set rules on registration, licensing, that would require driverless cars to be electric- liability, insurance and safety inspections.

Cyclones like the ones that have recently trounced Texas and Florida are a rare experience for us on the West Coast. But these kinds of storms are not unknown to the area. Storms like “Great Gale” in Janu- ary of 1880 brought wave surge seven feet higher than Newport, OR locals had ever known. And then there was “The Big Blow” that hap- pened on Columbus Day, October 12th, 1962. Local forecasters witnessed atmospheric pressure was dropping faster than they had ever recorded in their locale, but without the advanced technology they have today, could not see how fast things were moving. Most became aware that things were not normal when the sky turned to shades of green and the wind started to increase. The next day, under clear skies, 46 fatalities were blamed on the storm along with $230 million in damage ($1.8 billion in todays dollar). Estimates that over 11 billion board feet of timber had blown down in Califor- nia, Oregon and Washington; equal to the amount of timber that Oregon and Washington harvested each year.

Center and Bottom: Older trees in the city along with chimneys and TV and radio towers were toppled.

Top: The Hawthorne Bridge was damaged when a ship broke free from the mooring and crashed into the bridge.

P A G E 4

Paint It “Stanky Bean” Thunderbird sales brochure Though they are all described just three colors that the new valid colors the neu- Thunderbird came in: Raven Black, Torch ral network was a A Red and Thunderbird Blue. Each was easi- “little farther behind ly visualized and a potential buyer probably didn’t the curve on the need to much imagination to visualize what each names” Janelle color looked like. Later models could be ordered in a says. She used a training process that allowed the variety of colors such as Lime Gold and Burnt Or- network to fine tune its parameters and figure out ange Glow to suit the individual buyers taste. Some that a white was a white or a grey was grey and learn model years had up to 25 different colors to choose what a more appropriate name for it would be. from and each had a unique name given to it. Even after several attempts it became apparent that The Thunderbird is not the only example in the art of the network would need much more time to learn naming a color of paint. Thousands of people over how to name colors. Looking at its last results, hu- the years have spent countless hours concocting a mans that create the names for paint need not fear perfect name to describe the feeling or attitude or losing their jobs any time soon! emotion of a certain paint color.

The key here is that it has always been a person

describing the color. What would happen if this job was given to a computer? Janelle Shane, a research scientist, decided to give her neural network the task of naming paint colors. Just what is a neural net-

work? Here is Janelle’s explanation;

Unlike traditional computer programming Imagine where a human programmer makes up rules ordering a that the program has to follow, when I train a new car neural network, I only have to give it the da- with an taset - and the neural network makes its own exterior rules. color like The neural network always tries its best, but “Sindis sometimes it has trouble figuring out what’s Poop” or going on. One frequent problem: insufficient “Turdly”! data.

When I train a neural network, it needs to see lots of examples before it can form a general

rule about it. Otherwise, the best it can do is to memorize each individual example. This is why neural network researchers like really big datasets - and many of the neural network’s

most realistic results have happened when I had tens or hundreds of thousands of exam- ples in my dataset. Janelle gave her neural network over 7,700 Sherwin- Williams paint colors RGB value (red, green and blue values) and the paint’s name to see if the network

could invent new paint colors and give them attrac- tive names. The first run through produced these Written by Tom Przedwojewski. Paint colors and associated names courtesy of Janelle Shane’s tumblr site results.

THUNDERBIRD FLYER

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 10 P A G E 5 The Square Bird

y the late 1950s, the U.S. Auto Industry was Thunderbird certainly did. The Thunderbird was Ford’s flagship car. It on a high. Styling was reaching a new apex was a car of distinction and of class. Those that owned one couldn’t where cars were no longer were just cars, but imagine owning another car, those that didn’t, wanted to own one. B works of art. Chrome wasn’t just something Though a large majority of 1958 Thunderbirds were hardtop , that was added to a car but it was showered onto cars there was a convertible model also available. with no restraint. Ford was also caught in the moment. The Thunderbird was also sporty with it being only available with 2- There was a rising star at Ford whose name was Robert doors and a hood scoop which is something that many muscle cars McNamara. In November 1960 he became the President would later have. There was decent muscle under the of Ford Motor Company, but a few weeks Thunderbird’s hood, it came standard with a 300 horse- later he would make history when he be- power 352 cubic inch V8 which had a 4-barrel carbure- came JFK’s Secretary of Defense. It was tor and was standard with dual exhausts. Two transmis- this job that McNamara will forever be re- sions were available, a column shift 3-speed manual member for, he would step down from the which could be equipped with overdrive as an option position in early 1968 during the height of and a column shift 3-speed automatic transmission. the infamous Vietnam War which he boar Unlike the previous year Thunderbird, the 1958 had some of the blame for escalating. Most gained a lot of weight, the hardtop weighed in at people are unaware that McNamara’s leg- a hefty 3,708 lbs. and the convertible was 3,903 lbs. acy at Ford lives on today. McNamara was which was 1,000 lbs. heavier than the 1957 Thunder- one of the first automobile executives who bird. studied trends and released cars to fuel these trends. McNamara understood what The 1958 Thunderbird had state-of-the-art unibody con- buyers wanted before they did. For in- struction and had a sophisticated suspension which had stance, the 1961 , 1960 coil springs in all four corners. The Thunderbird was , and 1958 were all revolu- assembled in the brand-new Wixom, Michigan assembly plant along- tionary and very successful cars. All made it to produc- side Lincoln models. tion due to McNamara’s insistence and his great ability The interior of the 1958 Thunderbird was far ahead of its time. Most at predicting future trends. cars of its era had flat front and rear bench seats. Not the Thunder- When the 2-seater 1955 Ford Thunderbird became an bird, it had comfortable front bucket seats and stylish rear seats. Both overnight success, Ford continued the streak through the were contoured to provide occupants the ultimate in comfort and gave 1957 model year. Sales steady increased to 21,380 units the Thunderbird’s interior a futuristic look. The overall look of the inte- for 1957. For McNamara this wasn’t enough, after care- rior was that of a sporty . The stylish dash and center con- ful study he realized that adding a backseat to the Thun- sole would have pleased even the fussiest socialite back in the day. derbird would broaden its appeal thereby substantially The dashboard littered with round gauges was well ahead of it time. increase sales. This move would forever make Additionally, even the power windows switches were in the center “McNamara” a dirty word among 2-seater Thunderbird console which is something many sports cars would later copy. purists, but it caused sales to nearly double overnight. The 1959 Thunderbird would be a virtual carryover from 1958, only Production for the 1958 Thunderbird was 37,892 units. the front grille and a few very slight ornamentation The 1958 Thunderbird had beautiful new changes were made. It proved to be a smart move, squarish styling which was a foreshadow of since sales went through the roof, 67,456 Thunderbirds the cars to come in the 1960s. Yet it still were produced for 1959. The 352 V8 and all transmis- had the rear fins and other styling cues that sion choices carried over from 1958. The big news for customers wanted in the late 1950s but 1959 was the addition of Lincoln’s 430 cubic inch V8 to they were understated compared to many the Thunderbird’s option list. The 430 V8 turned the other cars of this era. The 1958 Thunder- heavy Thunderbird into a quick accelerating car for its bird was spared no luxury or convenience day. The 430 V8 was only available with the 3-speed option, so many of these beautiful cars automatic transmission and dual exhausts. It was rated were loaded with options. The Thunderbird at 350 horsepower which back in 1959 was a lot of was more luxurious than the other Fords of horsepower. this era. The Thunderbird would have been Ford not wanting to mess with a good thing left the a better fit in the Lincoln car lineup. Howev- Thunderbird alone for 1960, everything from the previ- er, that would have detracted from the master plan of ous year including transmission choices, engine bringing customers into Ford dealerships which the Continued on page 6

P A G E 6

NWVTC Meeting Minutes

Attendance: Tom Przedwojewski, Eric and Ana Johansson, Dave and Barbara Coles, Gary and Donna Bryant, Kevin Seigrist, Blake and Stephanie Boyles, Ron and Julie Escano, Joe and Pauline Engert, Shelley Roberts, Matt Truax, Griff Truax, Mike and Nancy Hinsch, Lowell Weiss

Old Business: No old business to report

New Business: The Canby Swap Meet will occur on October 1st, 2017. This is the last meet of the year in the area. Pass along to the other members if you are going. There will be one more regular meeting for the club in October. Looking to have a hands on demonstration of head light adjustment so your Thunderbird is ready for any wintertime driving. The club Christmas party is being planned for December 3rd at Huber’s. More in formation will be passed to members along with RSVP’s. A letter to the North Plains City Council will be delivered by Blake Boyles request- ing that the club host a car show in North Plains on June 30th. A reply should be received by the next club meeting. Planning will start the beginning of 2018.

Treasurer’s Report: No Treasurer report

Next meeting will occur October 17th, 2017.

choices, and overall design carried over. The only changes Continued from page 5 were a new front grille and very slight ornamentation changes. Just like 1958 and 1959, a convertible option was available. The big change for 1960 was the addition of a retractable sun roof option. A sun roof was a new idea back in 1960, today it’s a very popular option. 1960 would prove to be a banner year for Thun- derbird production, 92,843 units were produced. This production figure would not be surpassed until the Thunderbird’s 1977 model year. The big advantage of the 1958-1960 Thunderbird was that it had no competitors. It had created and was the only occupant in the personal luxury car segment. The Thunder- bird with a backseat wouldn’t get a competitor until 1962 when released the 2- door Grand Prix. Ironically the person luxury car segment that the Thunderbird had cre- ated became one of the most popular car segments in the 1970s. For 1961, Ford would go with a space-age sleek aerodynamic design for the Thunder- Look at the grille to quickly tell the differ- bird. This solidified the 1958-1960 Thunderbird’s nickname of being the “Square Bird” ence between 1958 (top), 1959 (middle) because it’s squarish shape would forever define this second-generation Thunderbird. and 1960 (bottom) Thunderbirds. Though Ford lost its 2-seater in 1958, McNamara did make a wise move with the addi- tion of a backseat to the Thunderbird. The 1958-1960 Thunderbird is the perfect time piece of its era, it offered true luxury, beau- tiful styling, and a lot of class to middle America. It’s a true American success story. Pete Dunton writes for Old Car Memories website. This article can be read in its unedited version at oldcarmemories.com/1958-1960-ford-thunderbird-square-bird/

THUNDERBIRD FLYER

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 10 P A G E 7 Calendar of Events

Club Meetings

• October 17th (Tue) Regular Club Meeting, details on page 8 of the newsletter

VTCI Events

http://vintagethunderbirdclub.net/events.htm • June 7th-10th (Thur-Sun) VTCI North Central Regional, Shoreview, MN ITC Events

http://www.iintl-thunderbirdclub.com/index.html • No events scheduled

Car Shows and Events • October 1st (Sun) Canby Swap Meet, Canby, OR Further information at (503) 557-7884 • October 22nd (Sun) Collector Car Auction, Salem, OR Further information at petersoncollectorcars.com • November 4th (Sat) LeMay Annual Benefit Dinner and Dance, Tacoma, WA Further information at lemaymarymount.org • November 18th (Sat) Albany Indoor Swap Meet, Albany, OR Further information at (541) 928-1218

These are not all the events in the area. If I have missed any that you think the club members would like to know about send in the information and I’ll put it in the list! If you attend an event snap a picture or two and write up something for the newsletter. Each event has a certain flavor and we all like to find a fun and interesting event.

Many cars like this abandoned 1966 Ford Thunderbird found its final rest- ing place in the spaces around partial- ly completed apartments in Breezy Point, Queens, in June 1973.

Magnetic screwdrivers are useful when you can’t hold the screw because of space or ac- cessibility. Though inexpensive, you don’t need to have these in your tool box collecting all sorts of metal shavings. Instead magnet- ize the screwdrivers you already have when ever you need to.

2017 Executive Board To do this take a strong magnet and run it from base to tip while President Tom Przedwojewski rotating the driver. This aligns the magnetic domains or material in the screwdriver which [email protected] in turn makes the screwdriver magnetic. VP Eric Johansson If you don’t want the driver to remain mag- [email protected] netized simply wipe the magnet in an oppo- Secretary Open site direction than you did earlier or give the screwdriver a few good whacks with a hammer. Either way the mag- Treasurer Vicky Wimsatt netic domains are disturbed enough to cease any magnetic activity.

Web site/ Tom Przedwojewski For your entire club apparel needs; hats, shirts, jackets or even back- Newsletter packs, go to Stitch-n-Embroidery. Order on-line, over the phone or in person. Delivery to the next club meeting is available. Tell them you want the NW Vintage Thunderbird Club logo! Find us on the web at

www.nwtbirds.org stitchnembroidery.com/index.html

Club Meeting Times

A regular club meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 17th at 7:00 pm at Bird Nest. Come out earlier for some snacks and Thunderbird talk. Along with club business, there will be a hands on demonstration of head light adjustment on 60’s era Thunderbirds.

Passing Lane fun and funny stuff from the road