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 speedster offered 309 cars in 1922 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.