THE MOTO METER CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA REGION, ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA WEBSITE: CEDARRAPIDSREGIONAACA.COM FACEBOOK: CEDAR RAPIDS ANTIQUE CAR CLUB LOVED BY SOME, CUSSED BY OTHERS, READ BY EVERYBODY November 2019 2019 Regional Board Members President: Jane Hawley 319-360-5599 [email protected] Vice President: The month of October held the year’s biggest event for our club. On October Larry Yoder 319-350-4339 19th, we will hold the annual Cedar Rapids AACA Swap Meet at Hawkeye Secretary: Downs. The treasurer will soon be paying bills and counting money and will Jeri Stout 319-622-3629 have the numbers to report soon. Overall, I anticipate a successful swap meet Alt: Sylvia Copler 319-377-3772 with perfect weather. A week later, we will celebrate our successful swap Treasurer: meet at Pizza Ranch for all of those members who helped with the event. Lee Sharon Schminke 319-472-4372 Votrabek did a great job as chairman as usual and he had a wonderful Flowers Joann Kiefer 319-210-5921 committee that helped him take on some of the work. Next year we may see a big change. Hawkeye Downs has been sold and our Directors: swap meet may need to find a new home. We are considering moving it to the Carl Ohrt 319-365-1895 Lee Votroubek 319-848-4634 Central City Fairgrounds, just north of Marion on Highway 13. If this Rich Mishler 319-364-8863 happens, how will we deal with this change of venue? We will be proactive in Dan Ortz 319-366-3142 Judy Ortz 319-360-1832 our approach and inform vendors as early as possible of the change. We will (At Large) first do this on Facebook and the website. We will send out our vendor sheets Editor: earlier this year to give them a heads up. But all of this may not be necessary Brenda Juby 918-231-3635 if we are still able to negotiate a contract with Hawkeye Downs. I will keep [email protected] you posted. Right now we are in the fact finding stage. Membership: Dan Ortz 319-366-3142 President: Jane Hawley Calling Tree Contact 319-366-3142 Thanksgiving History Judy Ortz The traditions of TRIVIA QUESTION Thanksgiving came from The name "Continental" has been 1621 when the Pilgrims of bandied about within the automotive Plymouth Colony gave industry for years. thanks to God for surviving their first winter in the Do you know how extensively it's actually been used? Americas. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted (Answers on page 11) three days, fed 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans, and consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, JON’S CORNER and squash. Thanksgiving expresses appreciation for the safety of family and the meeting of one of our most basic needs: food. The first European 1. What car of the 50’s featured a settlers in the Americas had a very difficult time, and we should honor their step-down Floor? courage and hard work. 2. What car company produced the “Henry J?” Brenda and I wish you a happy Thanksgiving with your families and safe 3. What does an amber light travels. We will be traveling to God’s country: Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be with indicate? our daughter. (Answers: Page 13) 1 1910 Sears Bore/Stroke 4 1/8 x 4 Coil Noxon Coil Rich Dark Carmine Red OR Color Brewster Greeen chassis and wheels with Black body. Air cooled by two Cooling fans Horsepower 10 & 14 HP C.T. Hamm Lights-Head The Sears was a high-wheeler built in both passenger and Comet utility versions, for marketing by Sears & Roebuck mail-order C.T.Ham Vigilent company. The initial production year of 1909, the Sears was Lights-Tail offered only as a $395.00, solid-tired, runabout. Cold Blast Kinsey 4-Pump Lubricator/Oiler But starting in 1910, Sears offers 5 different models of the Lubricator automobile. The truth of the matter is that they were all basically the same car with different amenities, like fenders, 36 X 1 3/8 inch lights, tops, etc. solid rubber tires Sears advertised that the Sears Motor Buggy was, "more than 38 X 2 inch just a buggy with a motor." It was designed as an automobile Tire Size Cushion rubber with an angle-iron frame, four full elliptical springs, and Timken tires and Roller bearings for each wheel. Even with the praise from satisfied customers, Sears could not 34 X 3 inch get around the fact the car cost more to produce than they Pneumatic tires were getting out of the sales. In 1912 (or maybe even late Top Speed 25 MPH 1911), Sears finished up the vehicles it had on hand, turning Transmission Friction Type over much of its machinery to the Lincoln Motor Car Works that had produced some of the components of the Sears. 72 inches (87 Lincoln continued making a runabout and light touring under its inches for the 4 own name into 1913. Wheel Base passenger Model P and the Truck models) Wt. 1000 pounds 2 The Lost Skill It has been claimed that the best deterrent to having your automobile from stolen is having a manual transmission installed on the car. I assume that for most of you, like me the first car you learned to drive had a manual transmission on the steering column or on the floor. If you grew up on a farm you learned how to shift at a rather early age while some of us learned at Driver’s Ed in high school. My school had two cars, one with a three speed on the tree, and the other one had a automatic transmission. Not only did we learn how to drive but we also learn things like skid control, power slides on the dirt football parking lot, parallel parking, emergency lane changing etc. These days most high schools don’t have Driver’s Ed.; it is now being handled by private enterprises and I am betting that none of them teach power slides on a dirt parking lot anymore. I remember how my driving mates faces lit up when they finally figured out the mysteries of the clutch and gearshift. It’s easy to see why. When you’re starting out, driving a car with an manual transmission is scary enough. All those pedals and levers you’re used to seeing someone else operate, so effortlessly are now under your control. It can be quite intimidating. But when they “got it,” then all of a sudden it was more fun to drive. And this can lead to a true appreciation for twisty back roads and the understanding of why some of their friends love cars that go really, really fast. That wonderful feeling of control is one of the reasons why I enjoy driving with a stick, even though there‘s no practical reason to do so. Automatic transmissions these days are easier, shift faster, and are more fuel efficient than manuals. Only about 18 percent of new cars even offer them. Which is roughly the same percentage of Americans who can operate them. So the question arises, “Are we in the last days of the stick shift? Is driving a stick soon to become a lost skill?” Well, lets go back in time to the age of the Model T. The Model T replaced the main means of transportation- horse drawn vehicles, yet the Model T didn’t kill our interest in horses. It just changed it. Horses today are a massive industry in America. Why? Because they’re fun and useful in the right situations. Just like our stick shifts. The truth is, if the stick shift dies, it will be because we let it; the car people I know aren’t about to let that happen. Anyone who is into old cars loves to share their passion. So take the time to teach a young driver the ways of the stick. You’ll make their lives richer and in doing so help preserve a fundamental driving skill. And just maybe they will pass it on to their kids and others someday. And that is how we preserve the car culture for the next generation and beyond. One teenager and one ground gear at a time. Which reminds me of a real life story. I first tried teaching Brenda how to manually shift my Datsun Z-280 one Sunday afternoon early in our dating life. All I got out of it was ground gears, whip lash and no making out that evening, not good. I decided right there the cost was to high and someone else would need to take on the task to teach her how to drive a manual transmission-that was 39 years ago. This summer I decided that enough time had passed by, and it was safe to try it again. This time was on the Model A. When Brenda gets behind the wheel I can see in her eyes that frozen look of “Oh, my goodness, what did I do?” When she releases the clutch too soon and the car jerks back and forth. She kills the engine or she forgets to double clutch, and grinds the gears. (Continued on the next page) 3 After several failed starts, Brenda will say to me “I can’t do this.” But I know she can and that she will finally “get it” and when she does “get it,” WOW, it’s a real accomplishment. Now all she needs to do is go out and practice.