OLDSMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA EASTERN MA. GMO CHAPTER

OLDSMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA EASTERN MA. GMO CHAPTER

Issue #103 September 2014

ROCKET POWER NEWSLETTER!!

Elm Bank 2014 Show

The 2014 Elm Bank Auto Show lived up to its name. Classic cars, Antiques, Street Rods and Customs filled the show fields which made for a great event. The weather cooperated and there was a “Good” and “Happy” feeling throughout the participants and spectators alike. The music of “Four on the Floor” was nothing short of perfection. They played all the right songs to keep the listeners happy. DJ Doc who has been spinning tunes at car shows for over twenty nine years knew what to do and just how to play it. He kept things rolling and filled the air with excellent music as well as keeping the folks aware of hour by hour happenings. Big thanks to those guys for a great performance. The Oldsmobiles were again located in the Herb Garden, a spot we like to right of the education building, after some confusion. Charlie Harris had originally said we would be along the fence in front of the mansion but he changed his mind on show day. We will lobby to make sure we keep this spot in the future. GTO and Mustang displays were crowd pleasers. Starting with the first year of production for both

vehicles at 1964 and moving forward to present let onlookers see the transformation throughout the decades. Corvettes from every generation rolled up to “Corvette Hill” and filled the area complimented by NCRS members. From completely stock antiques to mild and wild Street Rods, they were sprawled out along the lawns for all to look at and photograph. The quality and quantity was there and the onlookers were pleased at what they saw. The staff did a good job parking cars on the show field and a large contingent of judges set out at 7:00 AM and worked effortlessly until the final car was judged. A huge thank you goes out to these guys that put many hours of their own time to show their passion for the hobby. The music came to a stop around 3:00 and the awarding of trophies took place. Corcoran & Havlin who have been the major sponsor for the run of the show, awarded a Seven Foot Trophy for “Best of Show” along with several other four footers and a large percentage of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies. Jarvis Appliance was right up there with several of the larger trophies as well as a very special Concours Elite trophy that was handed out in honor of Antonio Jarvis. The Concours on the Charles had some of the finest classic cars to grace the show field to date. The Concours d’Elegance was completely sponsored and made possible for the second straight year by The Dover Group who are headquartered on the Elm Bank property. The Concours ended with the awarding of beautiful crystal trophies to the top winners in each class, and the focus then moved to the stage to award over one hundred trophies to the Elm Bank Show. Exiting the show was more orderly than in previous years but there still was a wait to allow traffic to merge.

Endicott 2014 Show

The Bay State Antique Auto Club Show is one of the largest single day shows in the Northeast and the GMO club again had its preferred location (at least to us) in the shade along the fence in the right rear corner of the Endicott Estate grounds.

without. You never know what treasure you will encounter in the flea market section.

Oldsmobile Class Winners First Place • Ray Therrien – 1966 442 • Ralph Perone – 1956 98 Holiday • Bob Mahoney – 1972 Hurst Olds Second Place • Timothy Ward – 1953 Super 88 • George Sarofeen – 1972 442 • Dimidis Family – 1971 Delta 88 Cvt Third Place • Steve & Laura Rollins – 1970 442 • Jim & Nancy Rozanski – 1968 Toronado • Brian Mathews – 1970 Cutlass S

From the GMO Head Judge Attendance was down this year from previous years but there were still about 30 Oldsmobiles that brought their owners for display (maybe it was the other way around.

We were again next door to the vendor field where you could find various automotive items. It might be that rare part for which you have been looking or that unique collector’s item you just can’t live

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate the winners of the awards at the Endicott show. Although the turnout was very low (less than 30 cars), there wasn't a shortage of high quality cars that deserved to be recognized with an award. All of the cars deserved an award in my eyes, even though Endicott only has 9 awards reserved for us. Thank you to all who came to the show and to those who helped with the judging. It certainly makes things easier when there are plenty of volunteers. I believe this is our last judged show of the season, though other venues such as the NEOC show on Sunday September 21st is a judged event. This was a great season and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Phil Cafarella GMO Head Judge

GMO Oldsmobile Calendars We still have vacancies in the Olds Club Calendar for 2015. So far we have the following reserved: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cover – Chad Falcone – Hurst Olds Group January – Rich & Karen Santucci – 1971 442 W-30 February – Available March – Gary Woloski – 1966 Starfire April – Available May – Available June – Chad Falcone – 1969 Hurts Olds July – Paul Iantosca – 1970 442 W-30 Cvt August – Ricky Zanco – 1970 442 W-30 Vista Cruiser September - Andrea Desjardins – 1972 Delta 88 October – Ted Loranz – 1965 442 Cvt November – Available December – Dave Johnson – 1971 442 W30 Coupe

Massachusetts S.B. 1637: Legislation to provide for the issuance of a single registration plate died when the legislature adjourned. No action on the bill was taken by the Joint Transportation Committee. The bill, favored by state hobbyists, required that the single registration plate be attached on the rear of applicable motor vehicles. Massachusetts H.B. 3142: Legislation to establish a pilot program to impose a vehicle miles travelled tax died when the legislature adjourned. The bill was intended to supplement the gas tax and implement an alternative method to raise revenue for the state. Bills like these seek to penalize national efforts to create a more fuel efficient vehicle fleet. As gas tax revenues decrease due to hybrid and electric vehicle ownership, states are looking for new sources of funding for pet projects.

OCA 2014 National Event Shaun Monaghan, our club photographer, is willing to take a picture for you if you pre-arrange this with him.

Massachusetts Legislation The Massachusetts Association of Auto Clubs (the GMO is a member) Reports through SEMA that The Massachusetts state legislature failed to complete action on a series of bills that would have impacted the automotive hobby. To follow is a brief summary: Massachusetts H.B. 3149: Legislation to ban the “use and sale of any exhaust pipe that increases the sound emission of any vehicle including motorcycles” died when the legislature adjourned. A hearing was convened in the Joint Transportation Committee on the bill, but no vote was taken. As in previous efforts in the state, the measure did not supply law enforcement a clear standard to enforce for motor vehicles, allowing them to make subjective judgments on whether a modified exhaust system is in violation.

The Oldsmobile Club of America National Event for 2014 was hosted by the Cincinnati Olds Chapter. Although no GMO chapter cars were in attendance, several from the NEOC made the trek. I think Dave Richter has driven his 1967 442 convertible to every recent national show.

Everett Horton was there in his role as Swap Meet manager and reports that the show was very successful. The next OCA National is scheduled to be in Brookfield, WI and hosted by the Oldsmobile Club of Wisconsin.

If the weather is questionable you can give me a call before 7:00 a.m. that morning on my cell which is 617-899-9109. Let’s hope for a nice day and a great turnout! A flyer for the show is in this newsletter. Rich Santucci GMO Vice President

From the GMO Treasurer Balance on July 1 - $11,462.31 Deposits • $370.00 (show income, dues, and calendar income) Expenses • None Balance on Sep 1 - $11,832.31 Don Ferrara, GMO Treasurer

Glimpse of the Month Shaun Monaghan

From the Vice President Hope you all enjoyed the summer. Don't know exactly where the time went, but it certainly flew by! I like to think, though, that the nice weather is here to stay for a while. The Olds did a lot of travelling this year to many different shows.....some good, some just okay. Still have more to do as long as the weather permits. Speaking of shows, the NEOC show in Berlin Ct. is sneaking up on us. Karen and I are planning on going so if anyone else cares to join us, here is info for those who wish to "tag along". We will be @ the Westborough Rest Area on the Mass Pike on the 21st @ 7:30ish a.m. The caravan will be leaving there @ 8:00 a.m. since it is a little bit of a ride to Berlin, CT.

Potential Sinkhole?

Letter from the President Random Thoughts It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to all of you – and you’d think I’d have a well-formulated message to bring to you this month. Well, you’d be wrong – I have so many things buzzing through my mind right now that I thought I’d bombard you all with some “random thoughts”. •

Work is necessary, but it sure does distract a person from having fun. Because of work and family obligations (mostly work), I have enjoyed almost no fun with my GMO friends this summer. Since mid-May, I have travelled to Orlando, Charlotte, Lake George, Raleigh, Newark, the Netherlands, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas …) - many of these trips involved Sunday travel which prevented me from attending the car shows that I normally enjoy. That’s the bad news … the GOOD NEWS is that it looks like I’ll be able to enjoy some really good car shows coming up – the Milford Lions Club Show (Sunday, September 14); the NEOC Show (Sunday, September 21); the Orange, MA Fall Festival Car Show (Sunday, October 12); the Extinct Car Day Show at Larz Anderson in Brookline, MA (Saturday, October 23). I hope to see you at these upcoming shows!

•

(very understandable, since she drives the Mass Pike into Boston every day and can have 2 hour commutes each way). The second most important thing to Debbie was that her I-Pod would interface with the car’s “entertainment system” so that she can play her 2,000+collection of songs that she enjoys on her daily commutes. Nothing was mentioned about “performance”, “style”, “color”, “safety”, etc. – just gadgets. It occurred to me that today’s car-buyers aren’t really looking to buy a “car”; they are looking to buy a “mobile entertainment center” – yikes! This car-buying experience got me thinking about whether this trend is really all that new – and it occurred to me that this trend actually began around 1958 (one of my favorite car-years). In 1958, Oldsmobile introduced the “Transportable Radio”:

I am a 19th Century man trapped in the 21st Century. I often HATE the 21st Century – and the so-called “must-have” technological conveniences that are so much a part of our lives. We just traded Debbie’s 5-year old car on a brand new one (I very much wanted her to get an American-made car), but she felt differently, so we bought a German car instead. When we went to the dealer, Deb told the salesman that the most important thing to her was that her new car have outstanding “ergonomic comfort”

The Transportable Radio was an “indash” radio that could be removed and taken with the owner when he/she left the car – it operated on batteries when not installed in the car. Chrysler “one-upped” GM in 1958 by introducing the “Hi-Way Hi-Fi”:

nominate a GMO member for one of these positions (or nominate themselves), please send a note to Ted Loranz with details, and we will be sure that the nominee gets on the ballot in November. I hope all of you have a wonderful September, and I sincerely look forward to seeing you all at an upcoming car show and GMO Meeting – and I look forward also to sharing some additional “random thoughts” with you all very soon.

Until next month – Rocketing Forward!

Chuck Schiel President Eastern Massachusetts GMO Chapter

The Hi-Way Hi-Fi was a full-blown record player that would play 78 RPM vinyl records – that must have been fun when the car hit a pot-hole in the road! So, I realized that this “technology craze” didn’t start with Apple, it actually started in the gosh-darned 1950’s – hence my reference to being a 19th Century guy! •

It is ELECTION Season – oh joy! Yes, folks, our Federal and State general elections are coming up in November – don’t forget to get out there and exercise the right that many of our fine young men and women throughout history have sacrificed their lives for! In addition, please remember that our GMO officer elections are also occurring during this November – PLEASE consider running for one of our elected officer positions – President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Events Coordinator. It’s important to bring new ideas to the GMO Board of Directors, so having contested elections for our club’s officer positions is a very good thing! If anyone would like to

Eastern Massachusetts GMO Chapter 114 West Street Medway, MA 02053-2226

First Class Mail

GMO Officers President Chuck Schiel – 508-981-9039 [email protected]

Secretary Ted Loranz – 508-561-7613 [email protected]

Vice President Rich Santucci – 617-899-9109 [email protected]

Events Coordinator Paul Abdalian – 603-505-2300 [email protected]

Treasurer Don Ferrara – 617-877-3910 [email protected]

GMO Photographer Shaun Monaghan – 617-676-8729 [email protected] Club Representative Everett Horton – 401-573-6361 [email protected]

GMO Chapter Website – www.olds-gmo.com