Celebrating 27 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 27 Issue 3 March 2018

Mass Cruisers Auto Club Crusin’ at the speed of fun

We’re on the Web

www.masscruisers.com

And Facebook

March 2018

INSIDE:

Did you bring your Valentine

to the Newport Car Museum

for MOVIE NIGHT?

Page 6

INSIDE: See More Volvo Heritage Museum Photos on Page 7

YOUR EYESIGHT ISN’T GOING BAD, THAT’S A FULL SIZE LEGO VOLVO XC90

MONTHLY CRUISIN

Our clubhouse is located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the

police station. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the Mass Cruisers Auto Club are welcome to

attend one of our monthly meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month at the Bass Pro Shops.

We’re on the Web!

www.masscruisers.com

Club Officers

President– Ed Beatty

Vice President—Diane Thornton

Secretary—Patrick Touhey

Asst. Secretary—OPEN

Treasurer—Wayne Lestan

Asst. Treasurer- Kevin Rushlow

At Large Board Member:

Steve Huntington

Special Assignments Webmaster—Steve Vining

Newsletter Editor— John Buchanan

Facebook – Patrick Touhey

New Member Liaison—Don Cole

SSgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor &

John Sturniolo

Charity Coord. – Frank Bryant

By-Laws – Roy Rossman

MAAC Rep — John Buchanan

Cruise Nights—Steve Huntington

Sponsors – John Buchanan &

Fred Tierney

Club Events – Rich Armando

Due to limited Newsletter

space, advertising is only

available for club member

businesses and Cruise Night

sponsors.

For details contact: newseditor@masscruisers.com

DIRECTORY Page 2

Presidential Emissions Page 3

GATHERING OF THE

CLUBS Page 4

NEW—2018 APRIL

Cruise Calendar Page 5

Newport Museum

Valentine

Page 6

SWEDEN’S VOLVO

MUSEUM

Page 7

ELIO AUTOCYCLING Page 8

Support our Advertisers Page 9

AUTO SHOWS &

EVENTS Page 10

WEEKLY CRUIZN Page 11

Page 2 Contact us by snail mail:

P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093

Or by email:

HO350@comcast.net

Page 3

Spring cleaning at the Norfolk clubhouse was completed and now a long overdue internal audit of

the club’s books is underway. The events are starting to come together as club members are stepping up to or-

ganize some new weekend cruise adventures to augment the regular ones we look forward to each spring. Notify

Rich Armando when you have pulled together an event that club members would be interested in so he can add

it to the club’s event calendar. Rich will coordinate the calendar and help you facilitate any of these club events

that you would like to sponsor. And, for those who long for one of the open-road long distance bucket list cruise

events, those are coming together too. John Buchanan and Bruce Berry are organizing a June MSRA Back to the

50’s Cruise out to St. Paul Minnesota and a Woodward Dream Cruise out to Detroit in August which is held over

the same weekend our former car show. Club Secretary Patrick Touhey will

continue to use the Wild Apricot pro-

gram to notify club members of up-

coming events so if you have not

been getting the notifications, like

the April 29 New England Air Muse-

um notice that was sent out on Feb.

12 and looks like this photo to the

left, let Patrick or me know so that

we can determine what went wrong. Although we have always enjoyed

great participation by members at

our cruise nights and car shows, I’ve

asked John Nunez to take on the

task of contacting members that

never attend meetings or events to

find out what prevents them from

joining us. We understand not every-

one can find the time to fully enjoy

the car hobby as much as they

would like. Life does get in the way, but we’d also like to get everyone out and on the road this year to enjoy this

great hobby.

We have now moved all of our 3rd Tuesday of the month general meetings to the Bass Pro Shops Conservation

Room in Foxboro. An exception date is April 17 when we will be getting a shop tour of the brand new Herb Cham-

bers Collision Center in Holliston. Also, exceptions will also be during the summer months of July & August when

we will be cruising to an area Tuesday cruise night rather than meeting indoors, depending on the weather of

course. The Conservation Room allows handicap access for members and guests who cannot negotiate the mez-

zanine stairs at the clubhouse. It also allows guest speakers to take advantage of the audio visual equipment

and with no commuter train or shop noise distractions from below to interfere with listening, all will be able to

hear. Meeting times are the same 7 pm, 6:30 pm for the pizza & roll up sandwiches ahead of the meeting start.

Business meetings will continue to be held at the clubhouse on the 2nd Tuesdays at 7 pm until further notice.

Monthly Cruisin Presidential Emissions President Ed Beatty

Page 4

GATHERING OF THE CAR CLUBS By John Buchanan

The 3rd Annual Gathering of the Car Clubs at the Stur-

bridge Host Hotel may not have been on many tradition-

al car club’s to-do list, but many New England hot rod

clubs with a vested interest in getting the word out about

their planned and scheduled 2018 car events did, and

they also did it by making it a social event worthy of hav-

ing FUN. This was the first year the Mass Cruisers had

any representatives attend and we did it mainly because

we had news about our abrupt plans to end our own 26

year run of car shows on the 3rd Sunday in August. It also

offered us the opportunity to provide everyone attending

the Gathering with our 2018 Bass Pro Shops by-weekly

cruise schedule. Our Cruise Director Steve Huntington

along with President Ed Beatty, Ralph Chadsey and

yours truly made the trek to the Sturbridge Host Hotel

joining about 20 other clubs from MA, RI, CT, NH, ME,

including the Torquers Car Club from Montreal and the

Goonz Nomads from Ireland, that’s right, all the way

from the Emerald Isle and Canada. New clubs like “The

Departed” from Wells Maine and the Highway Trash Car Club out of the Epping, N.H. area came to make their pres-

ence known. With unusual club names like those mentioned it may become obvious these are not AACA regional clubs

but those hobbyists that celebrate the Rat Rod and Rockabilly car culture. In fact Sliding Rock Productions had a strong

presence here promoting their July 20—22 Viva East Rockabilly Weekender and Custom Car Show at a new venue, the

Boxboro Regency Hotel, which they said was sold out in four days. This year’s 2018 Gathering was hosted by the Road Devils of Boston and, with a

ceremonial passing of the event’s custom piston gavel, they turned it over to next

year’s 2019 host club, the Red Devils Car Club of Norfolk County. The Red Dev-

ils inaugural Fall Throwdown car show last September, held at the Wrentham

American Legion where our original car show was held 26 years ago, was a com-

plete success due in part to their networking with the car clubs attending the 2nd

Annual Gathering of the Clubs last February. So, if your club is looking for a car

culture weekend away in February or just an opportunity to network with other

car clubs, mark the 4th Annual Gathering of the Car Clubs on your 2019 calendar.

The New England Chapter of the Luscious

Ladies was on hand to answer event booking

questions.

Ceremonial passing of the piston gavel from the 2018 host club Road Devils

to next year’s 2019 club hosts, the Red Devils of Norfolk County

This was Goonz Car Club of Ireland’s 2nd year coming from the

Emerald Isle to the Gathering of Clubs in Sturbridge

Monthly Cruisin Page 5

Our first cruise of 2018 is official. John Nunez will be leading us to the N.E. Air Museum in Connecticut on Sunday April

29. He has also made arraignments with the Skyview restaurant a few miles from the museum for lunch after our muse-

um visit. Both places will reserve a parking area for our cars. The restaurant will also give us our own room. More information will follow BUT, John will need a head count by no later than April 15. Please contact John ASAP in

order to get the ball rolling. Johnbn9852@yahoo.com

Don’t forget to coordinate your planned club event or cruise through Rich Armando so that it can be placed on the

club’s event calendar posted on the www.masscruisers.com website.

Click on the event and a drop down menu will display all the details.

Monthly Cruising Calendar By Rich Armando

Bass Pro Shops Cruise Nights

Thursday Bi-Weekly Cruise Dates APRIL 12 & 26

MAY 10 & 24

JUNE 7 & 21

JULY 5 & 19

AUGUST 2*,16* & 30

SEPTEMBER 13* & 27*

OCTOBER 11 & 25

Vice President Diane Thornton reads one of the many

upcoming event flyers at the February 20 General meet-

ing held at the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room.

Monthly Cruisin Page 6

Newport Museum Valentine By Diane Thornton

John Ricker sent out a broadcast email to club members with the Newport Car Museum schedule of

events for the upcoming week noting the museum was offering a movie night on Valentine's Day. He

was hoping some club members might take advantage of the super discount price for a movie Tucker,

the man and his dream, popcorn, soda and lots of chocolates, all for 8 bucks! By the way, the Newport

Car Museum is in Portsmouth, R.I. and is not to be confused with the Audrain Museum in Newport, R.I.

where our club visited as part of our 25 anniversary celebration back in 2016.

Dave and I arrived about 20

minutes before the scheduled

movie start time so we treated

ourselves to a leisurely stroll of

the museum's current display of

cars. The museum is beautiful

and well designed. Everything is

planned to showcase the vehi-

cles and on top of that, the staff

were wonderfully friendly, too!

John Ricker and his Valentine, Sue, ar-

rived just as the movie was starting. The

four of us had not seen the movie be-

fore and found it pretty good! I am defi-

nitely going to do this again!

John & Sue Dave & Diane

Monthly Cruisin Page 7

Not everyone gets a chance to visit Sweden but Maria and I do every December and I am always using these an-

nual family reunion trips to visit public and private auto collections. In addition to the Huskvarna Museum that I

reported on in our December Newsletter, I also visited the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, located on the western

or North Sea side of Sweden. The museum’s Volvo collection is quite vast with display areas devoted to every-

thing Volvo including Ocean Racing, Trucks, Buses, Construction Equipment, the Environment in addition to Con-

cept Cars and cars from their beginning in the 1920’s to today’s latest models. Below are a few of the pictures I

took during our annual December trip. I know club Volo enthusiast and P1800 owner Don Cole will want to put

this one on his bucket list to visit if and when he and Ann are thinking of trying a European vacation.

Prototype P1800

King of Sweden’s

1946 Volvo PV60

First Volvo 1920 V4

SWEDEN’S VOLVO MUSEUM By Ed Beatty

Volvo ECC Turbine Car

1928 Volvo Series 1 Truck

ELIO AUTOCYCLE 3 WHEELING—MAYBE John Buchanan

Monthly Cruisin Page 8

2018 was when Elio Motors promised to start delivery to the more than 65,000 customers that queued up to pur-

chase their unique 3 wheeled enclosed autocycles for two, driver and a passenger, or possibly a tool box. The con-

verted former GM Hummer H3 plant in Shreveport, LA was rebuilt to start producing these 90% American content,

84 MPG gas-station-passing thrifty environmentally–friendly marvels of American ingenuity. Not since the late

1950’s and early 1960’s will America, once again, experience thousands of 3 wheeled autocycles tooling around

urban streets and byways. I signed up for one after sitting in their prototype displayed at the inaugural Mohegan

Sun Barrett-Jackson auction in 2016. Not only did it feel like it could be a fun vehicle to own and drive, Elio also

offered a unique pay-as-you-save credit card program when you fill up at the gas pump. You would pay a premium

charge above the pump price that will be used to pay for your $7,450 Elio. Theoretically it should be no more pain-

ful financially than filling up the tank of your daily driver, only without the usual monthly finance or lease payments

incurred when buying or leasing a new car.

One of the registration hurdles for some states was a lack of a vehicle classification for “Autocycles”. Although it

sits and controls like an automobile, many states classified them as motorcycles with some states like Massachu-

setts requiring motorcycle licensing and helmet protection to be worn by both driver and passenger. Elio believes

there is an out for MA drivers in that the M.G.L. Chapter 90 definition for motorcycles excludes 3-wheeled enclosed

cab vehicles on which an operator

and passenger ride. On the other

hand, one of the promoted cost

savings was enjoying lower cost

motorcycle insurance coverage.

We’ll see if it all comes true when

the time comes for the rubber to hit

the road here in the Bay State.

Monthly Cruisin Page 9

Support Our Advertisers

Monthly Cruisin Page 10

AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS By John Buchanan

March 2018 Area Auto Shows & Events Page

Always verify before attending Events of interest that MASS CRUISERS Club members regularly support and attend are asterisked *

SEE M.A.A.C. WEBSITE http://clubs.hemmings.com/maynardaac/events.html for additional up-to-date listings

*MAR 4,,,,NORFOLK: MODEL A CLUB MARCOM FLEA MKT,,7:30-11,,HOLMES TRANSP CO,,MYRTLE ST,,,,,,,,DEAN,,508 285-3211 MAR 4,,,,,,ENFIELD CT: AUTO FLEA MARKET,,POWDER MILL BARN,,32 SOUTH MAPLE ST,,,1st SUNDAY,,,,,,,,,, 413 786-6318 MAR 11,,,,,EVERYWHERE,,DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS AT 2AM,,,TURN THE CLOCKS FORWARD,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,978 555-1212 *MAR 18,,TAUNTON: RTS EXPO CLUB ANNUAL MODEL CAR KIT AND DIE CAST EXHIBITION, HOLIDAY INN,,9-3 pm ,STUART,,603 382-9724 MAR 18,,MILFORD NH: 30TH ANN MILITARY FLEA MKT,,NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY,,9-3PM,,www.mvmvc.org,,TONY2,,603 239-7225 *MAR 23-25,,BOSTON: 2018 WORLD OF WHEELS,,SEAPORT WORLD TRADE CTR,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,www.autorama.com,,248 373-1700 *MAR 25,,,,MAYNARD: WINTER BLAHS AUTO PARTS SWAP'N SELL,,MAYNARD ELKS ON RT 62,,7:30-11:30,,CRAIG,,978 562-2390 MAR 31,,,BEVERLY: 7TH N SHORE WINTER SLIDE SHOW,,AM-VETS LOWER HALL,,143 BRIMBLE AVE,,1-5PM,,RICH,,781 715-5653 APR 5-8,,,,THOMPSON CT: OPENER,,SPEEDWAY ICEBREAKER RACES,,NASCAR & MORE,,www.thompsonspeedway.com,,860 923-2280 APR 7,,,EPPING NH: OPENING DAY/TEST/TUNE AT THE FAMOUS NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY,,,newenglanddragway.com,,800 322-1263 APR 8,,,SEEKONK: FLEA MARKET SEASON OPENER AT THE SPEEDWAY, CHECK IT OUT AT,,,seekonkspeedway.com,,508 336-9959 APR 16,,LEXINGTON: MILITARY4 VEHICLES/ANNUAL PATRIOTS DAY/CELEBRATION PARADE,,3rd monday April,,,,,,,,,google it *APR 15,,STAFFORD CT: TY-RODS ANNUAL SPRING SWAP MEET @ SPEEDWAY,,RAIN/SHINE,,,staffordspeedway.com,,860 684-2783 APR 21,,,WINCHESTER NH: MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY SEASON OPENER,,840 KEENE RD,,,www.monadnockspeedway.com,,603 239-4067 APR 22,,AMHERST: MOTORSPORT CAR SHOW, U-MASS CAMPUS SWEST LOT 33, FRI 8AM-SAT 5 PM *APR 22,,FITCHBURG: FORD V-8 CLUB-46TH ANNUAL FLEA MKT/CAR SHOW,,,,FITCHBURG AIRPORT,,8-1,,,,BRIAN,,978 263-7256 APR 22,,,,,BRISTOL CT.: 49TH CSRA SHOW/SWAP MEET-LAKE COMPOUNCE PARK-EX 31 OFF 84,,,,,,www.csra.org,,203 697-9113 APR 27-29,,NANTUCKET: DAFFODIL FESTIVAL & ANTIQUE CAR PARADE,,,,,,,,,,,,,www.daffodilfestival.com,,508 228-1700 APR 28,BARRE: GREGS RESTORATIONS SWAP MEET/CAR SHOW,FELTON FIELD,,7-3PM,gregsrestorations.com,508 886-6400 APR 28,,,WARWICK, RI.: 6TH ANNUAL CAR & BIKE DUST-OFF,,ROCKY POINT CLAM SHACK,,1869 POST RD. (US RTE 1) 9:30—1 PM APR 29,,,E HAMPTON CT.: ANNUAL GAS/STEAM ENGINE/TRACTOR SHOW,,SALMON RIVER ST PARK,,,,,last sun apr,,860 267-8394 MAY 4-6,,BREWSTER: BREWSTER IN BLOOM FESTIVAL,,PARADE SUNDAY,,1PM,,SET UP NOON ON SWAMP RD,,,MIKE,,800 399-2967 MAY 4-6,RHINEBECK,NY: 48TH ANNUAL,CAR SHOW/FLEA MKT,DUCHESS CTY FAIRGROUNDS,RT 9,,1ST WKND MAY,,845 876-3554 *MAY 5,,SEEKONK: ANNUAL CUSTOM SHOW & GO AT THE SPEEDWAY,,8am US RTE.6,,www.seekonkspeedway.com,,508 336-9959 MAY 6,,,SEEKONK: SEASON OPENER AT THE SPEEDWAY, CHECK IT OUT AT,,,,,,,,,www.seekonkspeedway.com,,508 336-9959 *MAY 6,,HINGHAM: HERB CHAMBERS CARS & COFFEE, LEXUS OF HINGHAM,,141 DERBY ST. 7-10 AM (Rain Date MAY 13)

MASS CRUISERS Club Events

MAR 18,,TAUNTON,,,RTS EXPO CLUB ANNUAL MODEL CAR KIT AND DIE CAST EXHIBITION, HOLIDAY INN, 9am—3pm

APR 12 & 26: FOXBORO;,,BASS PRO SHOPS CRUISE SEASON BEGINS,,3:30 PM.

MAY 5: SEEKONK; 7TH ANNUAL CUSTOM CAR SHOW & GO,,SET UP FOR 8 AM—1 PM CAR SHOW

MEET at 6:30 AM to CRUISE from the I-95S Parking Area after mile marker 9.6 or meet us at the track on U.S. Route 6

MAY 12 NORWOOD; 27TH ANNUAL ANNIVERSARY PARTY AT THE OLD COLONIAL CAFÉ 4 PM & NORWOOD THEATER 7:30 PM

Page 11 Monthly Cruisin

March 2018 Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

P.O. Box 217

Wrentham, MA 02093

Monthly Cruisin Last Page