TheThe Opel Opel Association Association of of America America TheThe Opel Opel Exchange Exchange TheThe Official Official Newsletter Newsletter of of the the OANA OANA VolumeVolume 6 6 No No.. 4 4 - - July/Aug July/Aug 1998 1998 Photo courtesy of Don Fox (Thanks Don) Bob Legere on Intakes (Many thanks to Bob for this great article) OANA CLUB INFORMATION The Opel Association of North America has been in existence as a local club since 1985. From 1994-1996 the club saw many transformations and in 1996 the O.A.N.A. was formed in its current form for the purpose of providing a source for locating parts, service, tech-help and a forum to exchange information with other owners of all Opel models from the 1957 Olympia to any gray market imports that are in North America; with a special emphasis on the Opel GT, Manta and Kadett models. Our ultimate goal being to keep the Opel marque a presence in North America, improving the collectiblity of all Opels in North America and most of all have fun doing it. The North American Bitter Registry was formed for the same reasons as The Opel Association, but with the small number of Bitter SC coupes imported into the U.S. and the non-existence of any club to help the owners of these rare and exotic cars, it was determined that our club would be the right place to give assistance to our sister make and help their owners have a place to become interconnected. · Club membership dues: Regular Newsletter membership for U.S. and Canadian members are $30 for a 1 yr ($60 for 3 yrs) Net Only Membership (Members do not get a mailed newsletter, but download it from the net) is $20 for 2 years. · Mail all membership dues and advertising to: The Opel Association of North America - c/o Membership 394 Mystic Ln. Wirtz, VA 24184 Our Email address is : [email protected] Our web site and links to our chapters web sites: http://www.opel-na.com/ Site Login: oana PW: 64kapi Join the Opel mailing list : Send email to [email protected] and request to be subscribed. OANA CHAPTER INFORMATION Mid-Atlantic Opel Association New England Opel Club Northeast (DC, DE, MD, NC, VA, WV) (CT, MA, NH, RI, VT, ME) (PA, NJ, NY) President - Charles Goin President - Gary Farias President - Kevin Podzebka Address: Address: Address: 630 Watch Hill Rd. 24 Columbia Rd. 6852 Fremont Rd. Midlothian, VA 23113 Swansea, MA 02777 Syracuse, NY 13057 Phone - 1-(804)-379-9737 Phone - 1-(508)-679-2740 Phone - 1-(315)-656-8238 Email - [email protected] Email - [email protected] Email - [email protected] Southern Great Lakes – *NEW* Lone Star (AL, FL, GA, MS, SC, TN) (IL, IN, KY, MI, OH, WS) (AK, LA, OK and TX) President - Mark Elias President – Bill Hoffman President - Martin Reimer Address: Address: Address: 6462 Paula Ct. 30725 114th St. 5910 Hidden Mist Rex, GA 30273 Wilmot, WI 53192-0457 San Antonio, TX 78250 Phone - 1-(770)-968-7895 Email - [email protected] Phone - 1-(210)-520-6213 Vice President - Ken Litke Phone - 1-803-279-5796 Email - [email protected] Mid-West Rocky Mountain Opels Pacific Northwest (IA, KA, MN, MO, NB, ND, SD) (AZ, CO, MT, NM, UT, WY) (ID, OR, WA and AK) President - Chad Fellmer President - Branston DiBrell President - Ed Thomas Address: Address: Address: 4915 S.Main St. 5245 Wainwright Dr. 1233 Firpack Dr. SE Cedar Falls, Ia 50613 Security, CO 80911 Lacey, WA 98503 Phone - 1-(319)-266-0940 Phone - 1-(719)-391-9421 Phone - 1-(360)-491-0865 Email - [email protected] Email - [email protected] Email - [email protected] California Canadian Opel Club The Bitter SC Registry (CA, NV and HI) President - Marisa Giancarla President - Senen Racki President - Richard J. Anderson Address: Address: Address: 104 Esplanade Ave. #134 45 Memorial Ave. 26 Brandywine Pacifica, CA 94044 Stoney Creek, ON L8G 4C5 South Barrington, IL 60010 Phone - Phone - 1-(847)-836-5006 (415) 359-0385 (home) Email - [email protected] (415) 278-0727 (work) Email - [email protected] OANA TREASURER’S REPORT - 16 MAR - 15 JULY 98 We are continuing to improve our financial status because members are paying their dues - and we have been dropping non-paying “former” members from our records. I have tried to notify members when their dues are due. Please make a special effort to keep your membership “paid-up”. Our current status is as follows: Receipts: Expenses: Dues received (renewals): $ 510 US Postal Service: $ 119.68 Dues received (new members): $ 110 Carriage House Press: $ 133.98 Dues received (net-only): $ 100 M/A picnic & trophy: $ 176.00 Picnic/entry fees received: $ 139 Total receipts: $ 859.00 Total Expenses: ($ 429.66) Monthly Total: $ 429.34 Balance brought forward: $ 574.52 Current Balance: $ 1,003.86 Membership renewals Net-only Memberships New Memberships George Gordon Bill Shea Jr. Jerry & Roberta Otis Dave Shelmire Jack Rauch Brian Little Richard Uhlman Jr. Edwin Moren Jr. William & Angela Vienot Toby Thevenin Jak Jones Jack Dalton (Net-only) Bill Daley Allen Goodwin Norman Belt Donna Dobbs Joe & Sandy Olthafer Danielle Degman Don Trelstad David Komar Philip Naut Richard Barringer Respectfully submitted: Erik Larsen - OANA Treasurer UPCOMING EVENTS · 18th Annual OMC Picnic and Show Los Angeles, CA August 8th-9th, 1998 · Estes Park Run Boulder, CO August 15th, 1998 · Southern Chapter Meet at Road Atlanta Atlanta, GA September 26th, 1998 · Spanish Peaks/Highway of Legends Run Pueblo, CO October 3rd, 1998 OANA SOUTHERN CHAPTER EVENT Last year we had a great time! The Southern chapter will return again in September 1998. The event is a classic car-racing event, with races in many classes scheduled throughout the weekend. If you have a racing Opel, please call Road Atlanta and see about getting your car into one of the group races. Major work has been done on the track - come and see what they have done. Last year, our Opels were running with the 911's on the course HSR Atlanta Historic at Road Atlanta September 26th 1998 Cost is $25 for the day - ROAD ATLANTA 5300 Winder Highway, Braselton GA 30517 PH: 1-(770)-967-6143 Directions from Atlanta: Take I-85 North to Exit 49 The exit sign says: "Hwy. 53 - Braselton/Hoschton" Turn left and drive 5.5 miles Road Atlanta is on the left. If you have any other questions: Call Mark Elias at 1-(770)-968-7895 or e-mail Ken Litke at [email protected] LETTER FROM THE PREZ & MID–ATLANTIC OPEL ASSOCIATION PICNIC NEWS Despite the heat, the MOA picnic was held once again on the last Saturday in June. It seems like two things will always be guaranteed: we will get rained on at Carlisle (it’s only a matter of how much) and we will always be baked at the MOA picnic. This of course settles the debate between those that would prefer cool and drizzly over hot and sweaty, or vice-versa. Speaking of which, I am always getting questions as to when these two events will occur. Its simple: Carlisle Productions hates the Import Show so they will ALWAYS schedule it on Mothers’ Day weekend in May. We, on the other hand, have tried to make ours as convenient as possible so it is ALWAYS scheduled for the last Saturday in June. Well anyway, this year’s attendance was surprisingly low. I am not sure why. But I think it had something to do with the fact that Gary Farias had a great turnout for the NEOC Picnic in Boston, and it was the same weekend. Because I am sure it didn’t have anything to do with the turnout at Carlisle this year, which was a bit disappointing. Despite the heat and the low turnout (10 cars and about 25 people) we still had a great time. I was a bit annoyed, however, with my own GT. It has never given me a moment’s trouble since I got it on the road, but that changed on the way to the picnic this year. Some rust in the gas tank decided to make its way to the fuel line, and halfway to the show the car decided that it really would have preferred to have fuel instead of a blockage in the lines and stopped. To make things worse, I wasn’t even the one driving it, Jeremy and Brenda Storch were. Brenda came up from Texas for the show and to see Jeremy, who was in the area for military training, I was helping them get around while they were here, and of course I let him drive my GT. The side story to all this is, they were 5 minutes behind me on the phone to Kentucky for this same GT, so it could have easily been his GT instead of mine. Anyway, while Jeremy and I were fiddling with the GT trying to get it back on the road, my wonderful daughter Ann and Jeremy’s wife Brenda where doing what women do best, nagging us! (Just kidding… please, all wives and female Opel owners don’t take this literally; I’m going somewhere with that comment). They kept saying, “Why don’t we all get into the Acura and get to the picnic? Someone is sure to have a trailer there and you can come back and get the GT”. Well, I was being hardheaded and refusing to give up. I was also getting very annoyed with all the nagging and after the third trip to the gas station for a fuel filter and gas, blew my cool.