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 Cars 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 car. 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 Mercury’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 Convertible. 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 Hardtop 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- Ford Motor Company 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.