THE NOR’EASTER Newsletter of the New England Region – Classic Car Club of America Number 27 August , 2013 Heidi Ann Charlton, Editor Director’s Message: After such a rainy start, summer has finally arrived and I have been busy attending several car shows in New England. I joined a few club members at Misselwood Concours and I had a great time judging. I also attended the Cadillac LaSalle Grand National Meet that was held in Boston, MA earlier this month. I am sharing some of the photos from the shows in this newsletter. There are still plenty of shows on the calendar and don’t forget our own Bershires Tour hosted by Garth and Karen Story, The registration forms are in this newsletter. I hope to see you and your classic car. Jack Editor’s Notes: I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying all the delights of summer time. Especially driving your Classics. I was very surprised at the response that was received on our last club magazine and I have taken the opportunity to share in this newsletter some of the comments that were received. Heidi A DAY AT THE BOOTHBAY RAILROAD VILLAGE BOOTHBAY, MAINE BY JERRY MABEN Antique Auto Day(s) at Boothbay Railway Village has been held on the third weekend in July since 1965. Although I am admiring a wide variety of automobiles arriving on the show field, I wanted to write just a few lines about some of the Classic Cars in the museum collection. Most CCCA New England Region members have been to the Village by caravan, mini-tour, or visited while vacationing in the Boothbay region. The Boothbay region offers so many delightful distractions like whale watching, sailing & motor boating, golf or just meeting with friends that sometimes it’s hard to stop and study all of the Full Classics ™ at the museum grounds. Our newsletter allows us to take full advantage of the arm chair car show as we can focus on a few Full ClassicsTM . The following are three Full Classics TM, among the many, are housed at the museum that are near to NER member’s happy memories, but will not tell the whole story of the marvelous cars and their equally marvelous owners. 1935 SWALLOW SS-1 TOURER The Swallow SS-1 is a British sports car and produced from 1932 to 1936. It is 15 feet 6 inches long, 5 feet 5 ½ inches wide, and weighs approximately 2300 pounds. Original price was L335. Swallow Sidecar Company of Coventry, England began building automobiles in 1927 and introduced the Swallow SS-1 in 1931 at the London Motor Show. Engines, transmissions and chassis were built for Swallow by Standard of England to designs by Swallow. Special low-slung frames and swoopy bodies were the hallmark of these special sporty English cars. The cars were remarkable for their styling and low cost rather than performance, with 75 mph the top speed. The Tourer was launched in 1934 and the chassis was modified to give a wider track and better footwells. This 1935 SS-1 features a 2668 cc 6 cylinder flathead, 7 main bearing engine, dual carbs, and a 4-speed transmission. Only 78 of these cars were built and only 7 are known to exist today. The next year of production, in 1936, this model received a new name – JAGUAR. 1937 PACKARD ROLLSTON PHAETON, Model 1502 Six body styles of Model 1502 were offered in 1937, but only three Phaetons were produced. There are just two of them left, and the Boothbay Railway Village is honored to have one of them. This significant classic Phaeton has a custom body by Rollston Coach Builders of New York – seats seven passengers with two auxiliary seats riding forward. The interior leather seats were made to match the Ditzler’s Ardsley Green of the body, it is appointed with two folding arm rests, and side pockets on all of the doors. A Fifteenth Series Super Eight, it has: 130 bhp, 320 cu. In., L-head main bearing inline eight-cylinder engine with three speed synchromesh transmission, coil spring independent front suspension and leaf spring live hypoid rear axle with four-wheel hydraulic brakes with centrifuge drums. There is a 30 degree slant to the radiator and the wheelbase is 139”. Many consider the Packard’s Super Eight and Twelve cars from the mid to late thirties to be the finest automobiles ever produced by Packard Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan. Certainly it is true that the senior cars represented the end of an era – never again would Packard offer the exceptional quality of a hand built senior car. The museum will always be grateful to Gil Steward for his exceptional gift. 1940 EDISON CADILLAC LIMOUSINE, Series 75 This storied Cadillac, now part of the Museum’s permanent antiQue vehicle exhibit, is a Model 7533 Imperial seven-passenger limousine, and was originally purchased from Wells Cadillac Dealership in West Orange, NJ. Purchased for the use of Thomas A. Edison’s second wife and widow, Mina Miller Edison, this car is one of 338 built of that year and model. Weighing 4,790 pounds and costing $3,360, this elegant car contains the original upholstery and interior furnishings, outfitted with two rear jump seats, a division window and of course an audio microphone for giving the chauffeur instructions, “Home, Jeeves”. UniQue to this particular vehicle is the chauffeur’s lamp or opera light, a small light fixture attached to the roof to facilitate the location of the car for the owners. For instance, after a night at the theater, the family leaves the auditorium looking for where their chauffeur parked the limo when….pop….the light is lit by the chauffeur and there it is the light with the uniQue color and shape. Specifications: 141 inch wheelbase, 140 HP V-8 L head engine, 346 cubic inches, 4-wheel hydraulic brakes, three-speed manual transmission, privacy divider window, AM radio, rear heat, inlaid wood trim around windows and windshield, interior color is mohair tan. When ordering, new owners had a choice of 15 solid colors and multiple two-tone combinations. Thomas A. Edison’s first wife died at the age of 29 in 1884, leaving three children under the age of 12. His second marriage in 1886 was to Mina Miller, daughter of Akron, Ohio inventor Lewis Miller. Mina raised those three children and her and Thomas had three more. She was 20 and he was 39 when they wed, and when he died in 1931 they had been married for 45 years. The Village is eQually thankful to receive this Full Classic TM from the Orris Stark. I hope you found the details of a sampling of the vehicles on display of interest. Your author/plagiarist is pictured next to his 1939 Junior Packard 1700 “Six” (non- classic) currently on display next to the “Steward” Packard. Members are encouraged to visit Boothbay Railway Village, and perhaps consider exhibiting one of your own favorites in the future. 1940 Edison Cadillac Limosine Series 75 1935 Swallow SS 1 Tourer 1937 Packard Rollston Phaeton, Model 1502 - Gift of Gil Steward Jerry Maben at Boothbay Railroad Village, Boothbay, Maine OLD CARS & FAST DRIVERS By Christopher DeMarey July 13th, 2013 There was so many great cars there I don’t know where to start! I guess I will have to flip the coin and get started with the 1931 three wheeled Morgan Super Aero. This car really caught my eye because it had three wheels! I also liked it because it was the sixth fastest car there with a crazy time of 52.07 seconds! Don’t even get me started about all the rubber it left on the road! It did a crazy burnout that was 200+ feet long! The 1939 Ford Dryer Special was really cool too. It was also really fast, even faster than the Morgan! That speed earned him a time of 52.02 seconds and a spot in 5th place! It looked like a salmon swimming up a stream because it swayed back and forth as it climbed the treacherous hill. My good friend Jon Lee was the announcer most of the time, but when it was his time to shine in his 1940 Lloyd Rockey Special, shine he did! He placed second with an amazing time of 50.34 seconds! This car was interesting because it had a dark blue body and bright orange wheels and suspension. The Holman brothers seemed to have a rivalry going on with their father’s cars. It was funny watching them trade on and off between the 1929 Safety Stutz, 1928 Stutz Black Hawk, and the 1932 Plymouth Sprinter. You couldn’t keep track of which Holman was driving what car! After the last couple of cars went in the morning run, we all walked (or drove) to George W. Holman’s house for a cookout! They had hamburgers, hot dogs and pretty much anything else you would want on a hot summer day! After lunch we headed back to the hill, but this time my father and I caught a ride in a two seated Gator that we stuffed 5 people in! The women sat in the regular seats in the front of the gator and the men sat in the bed of it. I met with Evan Ide; he drove a red Frazer Nash. Keith Korbit was like our own personal taxi driver for the day in a six wheeled gator! After the races, I met up with my good friend Manny Souza and his friend Arthur.