THE CHESAPEAKE BULLETIN The Official Monthly Newsletter of Chesapeake Region Antique Automobile Club of America Volume 58 Number 7 July 2018 'HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY' JULY 4TH ! Grand National 2018 Meet,'Pitt' Campus At Greensburg, Pa. By Bill Wurzell, Editor Chesapeake Region, AACA The weather forecast for the Grand Nation- al Meet, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania was not very promising for the entire three day meet. However, we lucked out! Especially, show day Saturday, June 2, just slightly overcast. In a nutshell, a Grand National meet is for ve- hicles that are twenty-five or more years old and have won previous awards in AACA sanctioned events. Only members of The Antique Automo- bile Club of America can enter cars for judging. The owner of a winning vehicle can feel that he or she, has achieved the pinnacle of success with their vehicle. Many of the vehicles award- ed are quite valuable, but there are plenty of ve- hicles that have a far more modest value. Let’s say a 1956 Mercedes-Benz gull wing coupe to a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air sedan. The award is the same. Once again, Chesapeake Region had ex- cellent representation from members, Ron King, Norm Heathcote, Owen Garland, Bill Scott and Chesapeake Region, Vice President, Chesapeake Region Member, Bill Scott poses in front of his 1966 Buick Electra 225 coupe. Bill and Al Zimmermann. Ron King won for his 1985 his '66 Buick garnered a'Repeat Senior Award' at the 2018 Eastern Grand National Meet at The Uni- Buick Rivera W-15 coupe. Norm for his 1934 versity of Pittsburgh Campus at Greensburg, Pa., May 31 to June 2, 2018. T. W. Scott photo Ford standard rumble seat convertible, Al for his pristine 1935 Ford pickup truck, Owen for Subway restaurant was clearly overwhelmed his 1955 Ford Thunderbird. Member Bill Scott and although I was famished, I didn’t want received a Repeat Senior Grand National for to wait in that line. The only restrooms I saw his 1966 Buick Electra 225 coupe. were upstairs of the same building. There were The event was held at the University of Pitts- plenty of places to sit and relax in air condi- burgh’s Satellite Greensburg Campus in West- tioning. I don’t recall seeing any portable re- moreland County. The campus accommodated strooms anywhere around the showfield. all the show cars really well. Unfortunately, the I parked at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds parking lot was not large enough to handle all facility. A shuttle bus was loading and in my the spectator parking. This necessitated a shut- haste to catch the bus I left my camera in the tle bus service to and from nearby Westmore- car, drat! Luckily, I ran into Gary, Paula and land County Fairgrounds. The shuttle bus trip Franklin. I asked them to email whatever pic- was about fifteen minutes. Parking at the fair- tures they took. Franklin made sure he identi- grounds meant parking in two-foot tall grass, fied the older and more obscure makes, a big which was hard to walk in especially for a guy help. I can easily identify the late 40s and 50s with arthritic knees. cars, not so with the teens, twenties and thir- There were signs on the showfield directing ties though. people to the dining hall and restrooms. What I think the officers of Western Pennsylva- a jaunt that was! The dining hall was on the first nia Region, AACA that sponsored the Grand floor of a campus administrative building and National meet will be very pleased with their at 1:30 in the afternoon, patrons were lined up accomplishment. The meet was lots of fun, and out through the double door entrance. A lone I’m glad I attended. THE CHESAPEAKE BULLETIN PAGE 2 JULY 2018 Above, left, Norm Heathcote’s 1934 Ford Standard five-window coupe. Right, Nancy Mattheu and Vice President of Chesapeake Region, Al Zimmer- mann stand beside Al’s immaculate 1935 Ford Pickup truck. Both owners took home a Grand National Trophy. Gary Ruby photos Ron King stands proudly next to his venerable 1985 Buick W-15 Rivera coupe. The pris- tine 'Riv' grabbed a Grand National award for its dedicated owner. Two popular vehicles from back in the day that we don’t see enough of. Top: 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk. hardtop coupe. Below: 1953 Oldsmobile '98' two door hardtop. We don’t know if they were award winners, but they deserved to be. Gary Ruby photos. The 1935 Buick 46-C Roadster convertible above belongs to Jack and Cher Gallagher. The gorgeous, 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz be- of Bethesda. The Gallaghers are members of the DeSoto Club of Maryland and Sugarloaf longs to Reggie Nash of Richmond, Virginia. First Grand Mountain Region, AACA. The Buick copped a Grand National award at the meet. National & Zenith award. Franklin Gage photo THE CHESAPEAKE BULLETIN PAGE 3 JULY 2018 June 20th Tour To Classic Auto Mall In Morgantown, Pa., Informative, And Even Better Than Members Expected! By Bill Wurzell, Editor Flea Market.' Vendors could drive their vehicles by Chesapeake Region? Wouldn’t that be great! Chesapeake Region, AACA to their rented spot and forget about the weath- I could write another galley, but I’ve already On March 28, 2018, a group of members er! There is a huge dining room twice the size of written more than I should, and I must save did some scouting of the 'Classic Auto Mall' in the one at Howard County Fairgrounds. Vicky room for PICTURES! I didn’t even get to tell Morgantown, Pennsylvania, yes, PENNSYL- Wilmer would be in her glory. Of course, I’m you about the tram ride through the Mall, or VANIA, not to be confused with West Virginia. not suggesting we consider doing this because the nice dinner we had at Gus' Family Restau- Our brave scouting group came back with of distance, but what if there was a facility near- rant in Ephrata, Pa., well, maybe next time. grandiose explanations of what they saw, much of it infused with being confronted by a rela- tively new concept. The concept being, taking a huge, dormant, unused shopping mall and turning it into an Antique Automotive Palace! The 'Classic Auto Mall' that approximately 20 members visited on June 20th, is owned by a wealthy, very involved family that owns sev- eral large venue sites, primarily in the Mid-At- lantic States. The family and their patriarch take a 'hands on' approach to all their hold- ings, understandable as they are real estate developers. This 1954 Hudson Hornet convertible, six I don’t recall seeing a sales sheet on this '46 We don’t want to repeat much of the aspects cylinder, automatic was very nice and was for or '47 Packard sedan. It sure was nice though! that we reported in the May Chesapeake Bul- sale at $54,500. Bill Wurzell photos letin. We do want to report what it was like visiting the 'Mall' for a first time visitor. Our tour group met at 12:45 pm at the Mt. Carmel Road, park & ride, exit 27 off of I-83 Northbound. There was extensive, heavy con- struction right in front of the park & ride lot. Geez, gigantic three axle dump trucks whiz- zing around, huge earth movers, excavators, bulldozers and front-end loaders everywhere you looked. It didn’t appear to me like they will be done anytime soon. This 1947 DeSoto DeLuxe four-door sedan Above, a 1939 Packard Six convertible, very Of course we had more people than cars was decent, with a shoddy paint job, $13,500. nicely restored car for $54,500. and people soon hooked up with a car and drivers. Chief Judge, Gene Sauter and I usu- ally ride together to club meetings and other functions. I guess we thought we would take a break from driving and invited ourselves to ride along with long-time member Bob Len- io in his new 2017 Subaru. Bob is an excellent driver and our ride up and back was filled with good conversation, mostly about old cars. We never got lost unless you count the bum steer from Bob’s Garmin GPS. It seems that Mor- gantown Road is separated by a main road, the GPS directed us down the wrong side of The 1954 Kaiser Darrin, fiberglass body and This 1951 Buick Super, was 'Super Nice.' Ex- Morgantown Road. Bob quickly recovered ‘pocket’ doors. They only made them one year. cellent chrome in the era of 'Korean chrome.' and in no time we were at the entrance to 'The Classic Auto Mall'...reports of it being huge are not exaggerated! Space for a thousand vehicles for sale along with four hundred barn finds on display-total capacity of 1,400 vehicles IN- SIDE! The owners of this facility also own a similar facility in King-Of-Prussia, Pa. We mentioned 'barn finds', the owner of the Mall displays most of his barn finds in the condition that they were found. So, they are not restored other than for safety reasons. I couldn’t resist speculating that even with all the vehicles in the building there would still The ever popular 1953 Mercury Monterey 1955 Buick Roadmaster convertible with 236 be enough room for our 'Collector Car Parts hardtop, last year for the flathead V8. horsepoower and 'Variable-Pitch' Dynaflow, a beast! THE CHESAPEAKE BULLETIN PAGE 4 JULY 2018 The President’s Message From Paula Ruby Hello Everyone! As you are reading this newsletter, we are just days away from the AACA Spring Meet in Gettysburg, PA.