ClassicistTheColorado Published by the Colorado Region Spring 2017 Volume 64 Issue 1 Classic Car Club of America Here are a couple of snaps John Milliken sent of his 1941 Cadillac Series 61 Coachcraft woodie. The top one is at the Coachcraft plant in Hollywood just after it was finished and the bottom is as it is today. This is the only Series 61 to attain Full Classic status. John is the Director of the SoCal Region of the CCCA. Photos are from an article in The Sidemount Mirror, Issue 1, 2016 Front Cover The hood emblem of a 1930 Back Cover Cadillac V-16 is shown There must be against the background of a “car-guy” a pasque flower heralding gene. the advent of spring in the Colorado mountains. 2 The Colorado Classicist The Established 1954 Colorado Classicist Published by the Colorado Region of the Classic Car Club of America The Colorado Classicist is published by the Colorado Region, Inc., of the Classic Car Club of America as an informative Table of Contents publication for its membership. Message from the Director Page 4 The Colorado Region was chartered as a Message from the Editor Page 5 Region Member of the Classic Car Club of America in 1954. The Colorado Re- Colorado Regional Events Page 6 gion, Inc., of the Classic Car Club of CCCA National Events Page 6 America was incorporated under Colora- do State law and granted a charter by the Letters & Regional News Page 6 Classic Car Club of America in 1990. Joe Pirrone’s 1932 Cadillac Page 8 The Classic Car Club of America is a Cadillac’s Golden Age Page 9 non-profit organization incorporated in the State of New York. The Club seeks to Detroit Goes to Sea Page 14 further the restoration and preservation of distinctive motor cars manufactured from Terry Johnson’s 1941 Cadillac Coupe Page 16 1915 through 1948, to provide a channel of communication for those interested in Don Braden’s 1941 Cadillac 60 Special Page 20 such cars, and to bring together in good Rod Brewer’s 1941 Cadillac Convertible Sedan Page 22 fellowship all who own or admire these finest examples of automotive craftsman- Arizona Concours d’Elegance Page 26 ship. The sole requirement for member- ship is a demonstrable interest in Classic Tech Tips Page 29 cars. National Club membership is re- Mystery Photos Page 31 quired to become a Regional member. It should be noted that this publication is about the events and correspondence for 2017 Board of Managers Colorado Region CCCA the membership of the Colorado Region, Director Joe Pirrone 970 686-9291 [email protected] Inc., and may include some technical ar- ticles and other articles of automotive in- Assistant Director Davis McCann 303 841-9265 [email protected] terest. The correctness and applicability Secretary Frank Keller 303 972-6420 [email protected] of the information contained in the arti- Treasurer Phil Doty 303 798-1707 [email protected] cles is the sole responsibility of the au- thor of the article. The Colorado Region, Membership Chairman Davis McCann 303 841-9265 [email protected] Inc. is not responsible for the content of Other Board Members such articles or problems that may arise Ron Damiana 303 985-4149 [email protected] from following the information in the ar- Lonnie Fallin 303 904-8080 [email protected] ticles. Tony Ficco 303 431-6492 [email protected] Full Classic® is a registered trademark of Tom Goyne 303 478-0068 [email protected] the Classic Car Club of America. In this publication a car named as Classic or Full Terry Johnson 303 761-2444 [email protected] Classic is a Full Classic® as recognized Web Site Master Shiela Koppenheffer 303 457-3821 [email protected] by the Classic Car Club of America, how- Classicist Editor Tom Goyne 303 478-0068 [email protected] ever, some cars depicted herein may be non-Classic. Collector Car Council of Colo Rep Bill Hunter 303 986-1458 [email protected] Colorado Region Classic Car Club of America 3 Message from the DIRECTOR Joe Pirrone s I am sitting down to write the 2Q 2017 Director’s mes- sage I have realized that spring is but a short few weeks Aaway. How could have this happened? The last time we met was at our annual year-end celebration and I hope everyone and their family and friends enjoyed a safe and pleasant holiday season and that all continues to go well for everyone. Our board met in early February and has established an initial activity agenda for the 2017 season. Please remember that while driving a Full Classic is encouraged and is super great, it is not a requirement for participation (with the exception of the Mini CAR- avan) and every member is welcome to attend with or without a Classic. Notices of upcoming events will be sent out to everyone in advance so that you can add them to your calendar. [The list of events is shown on page 6 so you can get them on your calendar now. -ed.] During my initial address at Cherry Hills I talked about what we could do collectively to obtain greater participation from the membership and to make the club’s functions have broad-based appeal. For those members who were not able to attend I encouraged everyone to submit their ideas for club functions whether or not they would be able to organize and lead the event. Good ideas are always welcome and the board will do its best to make the event happen. While the initial agenda has been established which includes some long standing favorites, please feel free to call me at 970.686.9291, or email me at [email protected] with your suggestions. Members are also encouraged to attend our club meetings to share their thoughts on any subject that affects our club. The next meeting will be held on Thursday April 27th at 3965 S. Lipan St., Englewood, CO 80110. I hope to see or at least hear from everyone in the near future. Joe Pirrone, Director At the Annual Meeting of the Antique Automobile Club in Philadelphia this winter it was announced that Joe won the Joseph Parkin Award for his 1931 Packard Waterhouse convertible victoria shown at right. Congratulations, Joe! -ed. 4 The Colorado Classicist Message from the EDITOR Tom Goyne ouring season is coming up quickly. Our first one is the pe- rennial favorite, Terry Johnson’s Spring Garage tour, being Theld this year on April 22nd. Terry will undoubtedly have a great group of collections for us to see. We just hope the weather is the usual Colorado perfection rather than the cold and rain of last year. But that didn’t keep anyone away, as I remember. The other big tour we have this year is the Mini-CARavan to Tel- luride to see the Colorado Festival of Cars and Colors. It is only in the planning stages right now, but it looks like we will be able to participate in a good portion of the parades, shows and the con- cours d’elegance. It will be September 22 - 24, a prime time for Colorado’s golden aspens. There is a good web site describing the Festival at carsandcolors.com. Other tours for the year are listed on the next page. Note partic- ularly the June 11th and August 26th concours. The first is the Ability Connection Colorado charity concours at Arapahoe Com- munity College and the other, the Morgan Adams charity event at Centennial Airport. Both are well attended and worthy of your attendance. Quite a number of us are planning to enter our Classics in these shows. If you are interested in entering yours in the ACC concours, call Stim Kennedy at 303 478-9494. They are having a nice Full Classic group this year. Also note the June 4th Boettcher Mansion tour. This is a one-day drive up Lookout Mountain to the recently restored Boettcher mansion. It will include a lunch stop. About the time you are reading this issue of the Classicist, I will be at the CCCA Annual National Meeting in Reno, which this year is being held from March 29 through April 2. I have heard through the rumor mill that your Colorado Region may take some awards. I will report on them in the next issue. This issue of the Classicist continues the series on Cadillac from the last issue. There are three 1941 cars featured: Terry Johnson’s 1941 all-original coupe, Don Braden’s 60 Special, Rod Brewer’s convertible-sedan. Then I continue the history of Cadillac leading up to the 1941 model year with an article entitled “Cadillac’s Golden Age,” which is a discussion of the extraordinary engineers and powerful managers who built Cadillac after its founder, Henry Leland, left in 1917. And finally, I included an offbeat article on “Detroit Goes To Sea,” which gives a glimpse into the lifestyle of these powerful men and their families. We begin with Joe Pirrone’s 1932 Cadillac. I hope you enjoy! Tom Goyne, Editor Proofreader: Joe Malaney Colorado Region Classic Car Club of America 5 Colorado and Regional Events The Board of Managers generally meets on the third Thursday of each month. If you are interested in attending please call one of the Board members for exact time and location. April 22 Spring Garage Tour June 4 Day tour to Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain with lunch June 11 Ability Connection Colorado Concours d’Elegance at Arapahoe Community College August 26 Morgan Adams Concours d’Elegance at Centennial Airport September 22-24 Mini-CARavan to Telluride for the Colorado Festival of Cars and Colors November 16 Annual meeting at Romano’s Italian Restaurant.