august, 2020 · pungo. feature spotlight on the orvette. september 26 (saturday) - 1st annual...

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AUGUST, 2020 A U G U S T, 2 0 2 0 O F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N O F R I C H M O N D R E G I O N A N T I Q U E A U T O M O B I L E C L U B O F A M E R I C A .

A U G U S T , 2 0 2 0

ON THE INSIDE

Cover Story ............................ 2

Upcoming Events ................... 3

July Picnic .............................. 7

President’s Message ............. 6

Huge Bug ................................ 8

American Road Trip .............. 9

From Mark McAlpine............... 10

- 2 - AUGUST, 2020

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF RICHMOND REGION, AACA

Marybeth and Andy Fuhrman’s

1947 Packard Super Clipper

Custom

“Big Red” was just in the January/February Antique Automobile, but I’ll give you a few highlights on him. I’ve been part of it’s life since I was 13, and was traded for a 1935 Ford phaeton. This 148” wheel-base beast is a locomotive to drive. I enjoyed it through my teen years and college. We used the car in our wedding and it served as a playpen at car shows when the boys were little. It has a number of battle scars but I don’t plan to repaint it.

I’d left the car behind in NY when we moved to VA. The sale of a family farm, (Hopkins Dairy,) this past fall caused me to get it down here. After a frantic East Coast search for the keys with Morris Cam-

(Continued on page 4)

Luttuce come together. Remaine Calm. This may just be the tip of the iceburg.

- 3 - AUGUST, 2020

BELMONT RECREATION CENTER 1600 Hillard Rd.,

Henrico, VA 23226

SHELTER 1, Osborne Park AUGUST AUGUST 1- (Saturday) Southern Knights Car Show. AUGUST 2- (Sunday) – Ice Cream Social at the Nash’s AUGUST 6 - Club Meeting AUGUST 19- Annual Triumph Registry Show & Shine AUGUST 21-22—GRAND NATIONALS. Gettysburg, Pa. The meet location – Wyndham grounds: Located east of Gettysburg, just off Routes 15 and 30, the Wyndham is 10 minutes from Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg Battlefield Museum. Downtown Gettysburg is three miles away. Harrisburg International Airport is 45 miles from the hotel, and Hagerstown Regional Airport is 41 miles away. This change comes with all sorts of challenges as we now have to secure tents, restroom facilities, food service, etc., so we are attaching a list of activities for you to do while in Gettysburg and we will NOT have any formal activities other than judging school. Our apologies for the slimming down of the show, but it is taking all our energy to make sure the Grand Nationals happens with only 30 days to go! It WILL happen, along with the Zenith Awards!

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 3 - Club Meeting (Belmont Recreation Center) SEPTEMBER 5 & 6 (Saturday & Sunday, Labor Day weekend)–

Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance SEPTEMBER 5 & 6 (Saturday & Sunday), Labor Day Weekend -

Festival of the Wheel Concours, Charlottesville SEPTEMBER 19 – Tidewater AACA Wing & Wheels Show in

Pungo. Feature spotlight on the Corvette. September 26 (Saturday) - 1st Annual Breakthrough Car Show,

Car Club Council Event.

OCTOBER OCTOBER 1 - Club Meeting (Belmont Recreation Center) OCTOBER 7 - 10: The National AACA Fall Meet at Hershey. OCTOBER 23, 24, & 25 - The 2020 ODMA Fall Tour is being

hosted by Shenandoah Region.

Pontiac Chief, Dodge Ram, 1938 Ford

Deluxe Greyhound, Rolls Royce Spirit of

Ecstasy, Mack Truck Bull Dog, 1955 Nash

Statesman.

COVID-19 has introduced me to gardening. I plant myself in front of the TV and grow every day.

- 4 - AUGUST, 2020

eron and Clay tinkering it up it is run-ning again like Packard should.

1937 Buick Special

February, 1st, 1971 this car was purchased for $250 as a potential parts car for another Buick Special restora-tion taking place at Bennett’s. At that time it had last been registered around 1964. It’s original color was “Balmoral Green.” Fortunately it was deemed too good for parts and work on the other car continued.

In 1983 I was on the Wayland

Potato Festival car show committee. It

was the first year of this event and

Bennett Buick would be one of the

sponsors. (They entered a 1910 Pullman

Model K. Pullman, built in York, PA, has

a direct connection to the Kline Kar man-

ufactured in Richmond, VA. It was my

first experience with priming cups! That’s

a story for another day.) During a visit

to the dealership to discuss the show I

first saw the 37 ‘fastback’ in a back cor-

ner of the storage perched on an early

alignment machine. I was taken by the

bright factory color visible in spots and

the relatively rare body style. I visited

that car frequently over the years and

even added it to a “list of cars I’m go-

ing to own one day.”

(Continued from page 2)

This Buick belonged to dear

friends Roger and Maryanna Mor-

row of Clifton Springs, NY. They

had a wonderful collection of nicely

restored Buicks, 1955, 1956, 1966

and 1976. This car was their “driver.”

The Morrow’s were very active in

the Buick Club of America and our

local Finger Lakes Chapter. Maryan-

na served as Director in 2004 and

chaired a 2004 National Meet in Bata-

via, NY. The Roadmaster was entered

and won a BCA Silver Award.

After Roger’s passing, Maryanna

traded it in at the Bennett dealership

on a Buick Lucerne with the stipula-

tion that it went to a good home. At

Hershey in 2014, Guy Bennett Jr.

mentioned that “he had something for

me.” We worked a deal and with Mary

-anna’s approval, I became that “good

home.”

I’ve driven it to AACA National

Meets at both Hershey and Gettys-

burg where it won 2nd place trophies.

It’s also an ODMA Senior car. Not bad

for 108,000 mile driver!

Coincidently – these Roadmasters

(Continued on page 5)

I transported the “Green Ma-chine” from Wayland, NY to Glen Allen, VA this past spring. My son Clay has taken a particular interest in this car and has already completed some small projects on it. With access

to a historical Buick dealership we are fortunate to have many of the neces-sary parts required to restore the car to new condition. (This story has a few

chapters to come!)

1992 Buick Roadmaster Limited Sedan

1937Bruck Special

1992 Buick Roadmaster

It may take a village to raise a kid, but it takes a winery to homeschool one.

- 5 - AUGUST, 2020

were new when I worked at Bennetts,

we featured a white one at the Buick

National Meet in 1989 also in Batavia.

NY. I graduated from college in 1992,

the same year as my car. I call it “Roger

the Roadmaster.”

“Oscar the Opel” belonged to long

time Richmond Region AACA Mem-

bers, Bob and Kitty Smith.

Opel tagged the car “The Mini-

Brute” with an elephant mascot. I’ve

had it about a year. It was my intention

to give it to Bennett’s as they sold the

German GM from 1958-1975. Over the

years they always had wonderful show-

room displays. One of the more memo-

rable had a Boy Scout theme, complete

with tent, campfire and a 1965 Opel

Kadett Wagon. ‘A Scout is thrifty, and

trustworthy.”

(Continued from page 4)

Some have heard my story be-

fore, but when Clif asked to come

visit I was so pleased and wanted to

share a couple vehicles that few of

our Virginia friends had seen or

heard about.

My maternal grandpar-

ents operated a GM deal-

er ship in my hometown,

Dansville, NY for

several decades. I

r a c e d H o t

Wheels cars on

the showroom

floor. I can

clearly remem-

ber the first an-

tique I saw, Un-

cle Walt’s 1924

Ford in his barn.

My father had a 1931

Chevrolet coupe when I

was a kid and my parents and I went

thousands of miles to shows and on

tours with it. I was fortunate to cross

paths with many family and friends

who were also ‘into cars.” So yes I was

born into it.

Marybeth and I met in college

at Rochester Institute of

Technology. We grad-

uated in 1992 and

were married in

1996. Fortunately

for me Mary’s

late father, had

been a collector

of antiques, loved

Mustangs and

grew up with a

Pierce Arrow. So

she had some insight.

The McCarthy’s are

from Syracuse, home of

the Franklin automobile.

Two places that were spe-

cial to me were Hopkins’ Farms in

Bath, NY and Bennett’s Buick in Way-

land, NY. I have a deep connection to

both places and this past year both

would move on to new caretakers. I’ve

brought cars and stuff from down from

there now and in this article we’ll be

sharing some about those. They are

my “Extended Family.”

1969 Opel Kadett Wagon

EXTENDED FAMILY

(l to r) Marybeth, Bentley, Andy

1969 Opel Kadett Wagon

NO! You have not gained that much during quarantine. Chins up!

- 6 - AUGUST, 2020

Clif Edwards Editor

W ith the Picnic on July 5, the Fun Run on July 18, and our first regularly

scheduled meeting on August 6 at Belmont Recreation Center, maybe we are

returning to some form of normalcy. I have the pleasure of serving on the board to

read the national newsletters from across the country. Every club is having the same

problems of cancelling meetings and shows. It is a challenge throughout the clubs to

keep the newsletters filled this year. The Gaslight is grateful for the members that

have come forward with ideas and articles. “This was the first time that I have had

a printed copy, I read the whole thing and enjoyed it!” Debbie Guckert. We always

mail a hard copy to the cover story participants. Printed copies are available upon

request.

Richmond.gaslight@gmail.com or cliftonedwards@outlook.com

If you see my kids crying outside and picking weeks just keep driving. They're on a field trip.

Happy summer everyone!

My message today is short and sweet! First, what a great turnout for the July 5th Independence day picnic! 40 members and friends gathered at the James River on a beautiful afternoon and enjoyed

socializing socially distanced style! Great day!

Unfortunately we had to cancel a "explore the counties" fun run on

July 18th due to heat. Perhaps we'll try again in a cooler month.

BIG NEWS!!! Thursday, August 6th is our first club meeting at 7:30 pm at Belmont Recreation Center. How exciting! The room will be much larger of distancing and we will not be sharing refreshments at the moment. Expect to have to wear a mask and have your temperature checked when entering

the building. Sorry but it is protocol for all County facilities.

I think it will be a mild inconvenience to be able to share time together and get an update on the status of Richmond

Region and upcoming car activities!

Looking forward to seeing you all then! Stay safe and

enjoy the sun!!!

Debbie

Debbie Nolen

- 7 - AUGUST, 2020

It was a great time for everyone at the July 5, 2020 picnic. The weather was perfect for about 40 picnickers. A variety of cars turned out, from old to modern. The scarf, above right, is an antique that Cindi Nash was wearing, very appropriate for the day.

Having a large supply of toilet paper does not necessarily prevent, COVID-19, you just feel better about it.

- 8 - AUGUST, 2020

The license plate says it all: HUGE BUG. The formula sounds fairly simple: Take a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle and find a way to make it 40 per cent larger. Basical-

ly, it's a custom-built Bug riding atop the chassis of a 2010 Dodge Ram full-size pickup truck with a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 en-gine in front.

It's unabashedly outrageous, and that's one of the reasons to admire it so much. The credit - or blame - goes to Richard Tupper of Gardena, California, who took on the project that required creating

3514 unique parts in the metal fabrication shop that he owns. It was such an incredible undertaking that even the screws created from scratch because there were none that existed in their size, Tupper says.

The inside of the car is as perfect in detail as the outside. One fun feature: The dashboard instruments, by design, don't work. Instead, a digital dashboard drops down when Tupper starts the engine.

After all the work, you'd think Tupper would be a VW fanatic. He's not. "I don't know a lot about VW's," he says. "I know about the big ones." Driving around town, Tupper says other drivers are startled when they see the Huge Bug. At an intersection, "If you

don't move, nobody moves." Other drivers, he says, are simply staring in disbelief.

1959 Beetle

(right) Richard Tupper from Gardena, California with his 1959 VW Beetle

built on a 2010 Ram truck chassis. (below) Comparison of standard Beetle

on left, giant on right.

Going back to the other room after spending a long day in the other room.

- 9 - AUGUST, 2020

In the early afternoon of May 23, 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker slid into the front seat of a gleaming, cherry-red Winton touring car and chugged down San Francisco’s Market Street amid a sea of horse-drawn carriages. The sleeping bags, cooking gear and supplies packed inside the automobile tes-tified to a long journey ahead, but the road trip on which the men were embarking was truly epic—an unprecedented cross-country drive to New York City.

And it all started with a $50 wager.

Just four days before, a bar de-bate about the newfangled horse-less carriages ignited inside San Francisco’s exclusive University Club. While most of the tipplers dismissed the automobile as a passing novelty too unreliable to survive a trip across America, Jackson disagreed. Then, in a sce-ne straight out of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days,” someone bet Jackson $50 that he couldn’t make it to New York City by car in less than 90 days. The real-life Phileas Fogg—a 31-

year-old automobile en-thusiast from Burling-

ton, Vermont, who had given up his medical practice after a bout of tuberculosis—heartily accept-ed.

Jackson recruited Crocker, a 22-year-old former bicycle racer and a gasoline engine mechanic, to be his Passepartout. Based on Crocker’s recommendation, the former physician purchased a used 20-horsepower Winton touring car for the treacherous journey. Jackson named his new wheels the “Vermont.”

Previous cross-country auto-mobile trips had all ended in fail-ure, and Jackson’s hastily ar-ranged drive was likely to suffer a similar fate. Jackson had little driving experience and less me-chanical knowledge, but at least he had his wife’s inherited for-tune to fuel his impulsive voyage. Still, American roads were ex-tremely primitive—fewer than 150 miles nationwide were even paved. There were no road signs, road numbers or gas stations, and automobiles were extremely prone to breakdowns.

The Vermont was no differ-ent. Just 15 miles outside of San

Francisco, a rear tire blew, and the duo replaced it with their on-ly spare. It wouldn’t be their last pit stop.

In the Sierra Nevadas, the Winton waded through streams and weaved along narrow moun-tain roads never before traversed by automobile. Jackson and Crocker were forced to move boulders by hand. The rocky roads rattled the men like bobble-head dolls and continually sent Jackson’s personal effects—his coats, his fountain pens and even his spectacles—overboard. Wrong turns and breakdowns, such as a broken clutch and a clogged oil line, slowed their pro-gress.

Although Jackson and Crock-er were aboard a machine that would help shape the 20th centu-ry, they were essentially stuck in the 19th. They relied on stage-coaches to bring new parts and on blacksmiths to make repairs. After they found themselves stranded for eight hours in the Oregon desert, a cowpoke lassoed the disabled Winton and had his horse give it a tow—an equine

(Continued on page 12)

The First Great

American Road Trip

By Christopher Klein The History Channel partners@kenburnsunum.com

(left) Bud (above) Jackson and Crocker

I will be glad when hand washing is over and I can go back to showering.

- 10 - AUGUST, 2020

I t’s hard to believe how much and how quickly life has

changed in our country and how long it has been since the last AACA na-tional activity. The AACA started off 2020 with a bang: first with our Annu-al Convention in Philadelphia, PA, followed two weeks later by the Win-ter Nationals in Miami, FL. (I still have some tan left from our time in Miami and a little ringing in my ears from the pounding of the flamenco dancer’s shoes.) Then our activities calendar rapidly fell apart as our coun-try (and the world) was ravaged by the COVID-19 “coronavirus.”

The first AACA national activity to fall was the Southeastern Spring Nationals in Concord, NC. Fortunate-ly, this show was only postponed to 12-13 June (and I have my fingers crossed that it doesn’t need to be re-scheduled again). Days later, as social distancing and stay -at-home orders were issued across the country, the dominoes continued to fall: the West-ern Spring Nationals and Founders Tour in Show Low, AZ, were can-celled, followed by the Central Spring Nationals in Auburn, IN, then the Sen-timental Tour in Davis, WV; and now the Reliability Tour in Lock Haven/Wellsboro, PA. Add in the cancellation of AACA region/chapter meetings and local, regional, and national car shows, tours, and cruise-ins, plus the closure of car museums, and I’m dis-playing symptoms of old car with-drawal.

(Fortunately, the cravings are eased a bit by people being creative on the Internet and AACA Forum, allow-ing us to still vicariously experience antique vehicle activities “virtually” from the safety of our home.) I know all the safety measures we’re practicing are necessary and are in place to pro-

tect us. And the postponement or cancellation of national and regional AACA activities pales in comparison to the devastation COVID-19 is wreaking on our country and fellow citizens.

I never imagined I would live through a pandemic like I read about in history books as a child, yet here we are. (As I write this article, over 60,000 people in our country have died from the coronavirus, another 1,000,000 have contracted the virus, millions are out of work, and millions are struggling to make ends meet.) My observations about the cancella-tion of car shows and tours also pale in comparison and possibly come across as insensitive, but I miss par-ticipating in AACA activities. More importantly, I miss seeing AACA friends from around the country who we only get to see a few times a year at AACA activities and being able to make new additional friends.

Our country will get back to normal. I can’t tell you when (but hope it’s soon), but we will get through this. Just like every cataclys-mic event in our nation’s history, things will change and “normal” may not look the same as it did be-fore this crisis. (Remember what air travel was like before 9/11?) Howev-er, we will adapt and come back stronger than ever. We’re Ameri-cans—that’s what we do. The AACA is adapting and will come back stronger, too—we’ve resched-uled some of our cancelled activities for later this year and next year, and are working to add some additional activities both years to help you make up for lost time, overcome “old car withdrawal syndrome,” get back to normal, and have the opportunity to participate in fun activities again

with your fellow AACA members. Best wishes to every-one—be safe and stay healthy! And I look forward to seeing you at the next AACA national activi-ty—whenever it is. (Want to know what activity is coming up next? Check the AACA website—www.aaca.org—for the most current calendar of upcoming AACA national activities.)

Mark McAlpine

Vice President

National Actvities

Large aluminum looking casting with hole on each end, some on the side, ap-parently hoses of some kind fit in them, have 2. Hoses, many widths and lengths, some already taped up, some need a little taping and end shaping. Lots of tools, screw drivers, some straight across, some like X shapes. Few have handles missing, some slightly bent but could easily be straightened. Chrome pieces for multiple of cars, most could be scraped off, sanded and bent back into shape. Miles of wires, if straightened out. Some with ends, some frayed, all colors and some thick, some thin. Many uses. Gallons of used motor oil, could be strained and used again for short periods of time. Pipes galore, appear to be tail pipes, various lengths and widths. All could be cleaned up and used. Very good hydraulic jack, replacement wheel should be easy to locate. Headlights, many sizes, few slight cracks, none have been tested to see if they work. Take your chances at these prices. Body parts, fenders, doors, hoods, you will have to identify the year and model. The rust is just a protective covering until restora-tion time. Many bumpers, some left sides, some right sides, all recoverable with a little work. If interested: 555-1212.

USED PARTS FOR SALE

I miss people, places & things. So nouns. Essentially I miss nouns.

- 11 - AUGUST, 2020

Debbie Nolen President

804-839-5405

Joe Guckert Vice President

804-530-0461

Bruce Woodson Ex-Officio

Alice Cameron Secretary

804-798-8125

Mert Fowlkes Treasurer

804-288-4439

Reggie Nash Legislative Representative

804-320-2636

KENNY BAKER Director 804-240-7839 Term expires end of 2021

DAVE DICKEY Director 804-730-1450 Term expires end of 2020

JOHN SMITH Director 804-339-3065 Term expires end of 2020

ANDY & MARY BETH FUHRMAN Youth Coordinators 804-833-1576

WARREN MALONE Historian 804-356-7400

CLIFTON EDWARDS Gaslight Editor 804-337-5815 Richmond.gaslight@gmail.com

MIKE JONES Website 804-338-1404

BRIAN & LISA MUNSEY Fun Runs 804-680-2079

CINDI NASH Sunshine Lady 804-320-2636

RICHMOND REGION ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA

info@richmondaaca.com

In a reversal of roles, I am now yelling at my parents for going out.

- 12 - AUGUST, 2020

version of AAA roadside service. Luck did not seem to be on the

motorists’ side. After a leak left their gas tank nearly empty, Crocker set off on a 26-mile bicy-cle ride to the nearest town. A bike tire punctured, however, and forced Crocker to walk most of the way back with the fuel. It took 19 days for the duo to reach Idaho, where they picked up a traveling companion—a bull terrier named Bud whom Jackson purchased for $15. Jackson and Crocker fitted Bud with motoring goggles to protect his eyes from dust, and throughout the journey the canine proudly wore them from his front-seat perch.

Jackson hoped their new mas-cot might be a good-luck charm. He wasn’t. Bad directions in Napa sent them on a 76-mile detour, a team of horses had to extricate the Vermont from a quagmire that had swallowed it up to the floor-boards, and Bud got sick drinking alkali water. When the men went 36 hours without eating after get-ting lost in the Wyoming badlands, Jackson joked that they “were stealing speculative glances at Bud as we tightened our belts.”

As they pulled into Rawlins, Wyoming, a connecting rod to the crankshaft snapped. They waited five days for replacement parts to arrive by railroad from the Win-ton factory in Cleveland before getting back on the road. On July 1, Jackson wrote to his wife from Cheyenne, Wyoming, “Well the worst of our trip is over.” Not quite. Just hours later, history re-peated. The stud bolts on the car’s

other connecting rod broke this time, and again they lost five days waiting for parts. By the time they got back on the road, it was July 7 and day 46 of the drive, and more than half the country still lay

(Continued from page 9) ahead of them. Through it all,

Jackson somehow maintained his opti-mism, perhaps thanks to the tre-mendous reception he received along the journey. In many towns, curi-ous onlookers crowded around to see an automobile in person for the first time. By the time Jackson ar-rived to a cheering throng in Omaha on July 12, his bar bet was start-ing to captivate the nation.

Finally, the travelers started to make good time, averaging 150 miles a day. On July 17, they arrived in Chicago and were treated to receptions by city offi-cials and automobile dealers. Three days later, a convoy greet-ed them outside Cleveland and escorted the Winton triumphant-ly back to its birthplace. Outside of Buffalo, the road trippers sur-vived a scary accident that tossed them out of the car but caused minimal damage to man, car and

beast. In spite of the fanfare it gener-

ated, the epic road trip ended as quietly as it started. The Vermont, its cherry-red finish caked with dried mud, crawled down Manhat-tan’s deserted Fifth Avenue at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 26. The approximately 4,500-mile journey had taken 63 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. Incredibly, given all the problems, Jackson had won his wager with nearly a month to spare, although it cost him $8,000 in the process.

1903 Winton touring Car.

I never thought I would approach a bank teller wearing a mask.

Can a sheep dog really work from home?