A New Year Dawns
By · CommentsAfter the Winter we suffered through last year, who would ever have thought we could be seeing weather like this. I’ll admit our weather the last 12 months has been more than challenging, what with a Tornado, Hurricane, Blizzard, Hail Storms and Micro-Bursts, even an Earthquake!! Who could have imagined we could see 60 degree temps in January!! Yet here we are, yesterday I couldn’t resist and pulled the “Gray Lady” out of her slumber, took her out for a spin, topped off the fuel tank, turned a few heads, finished up by cleaning her and recovering her.
Turned up an issue while out, we have been having a minor tranny leak all season from the front seal. Now with her laid up for a while it seems to have gotten much worse and my be more than just a seal. The only issue with the car we never dealt with was the transmission, we’ve run it a thousand miles, and now we have no choice but to rebuild it. Ahhh well, we debated doing it when the car was apart, but everyone said to just put it in and run it. Just delayed the inevitable I guess.
Problem is, this past week I also found that I need to rebuild the tranny in my GMC Savana 3500 too!!!! Geez…looks like it won’t be a pleasant Spring with about a 5K expense to start the year with. Could be worse I guess, but for now both of them are put away for the rest of the Winter and early tomorrow morning I hop in the Chevy HHR for the 1400 mile trek down to South Florida. We’ll try to take in a couple shows while there and I will pop in if I turn up anything interesting.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
By · CommentsLate Fall has been a trying time here in Western Massachusetts, the “Halloween” storm caused much damage, disrupted business and the cleanup is finally finished. I’ve not had a lot of time and not been update here as I should, but the “Gray Lady” is snug in her garage. I’ve still got to top off her fuel tank and add fuel stabilizer, do a final cleanup, cover her back up and wait until the better weather returns in the Spring. I’ll pop in and out through the Winter from South Florida where I will be trying to escape the cold and ice here in the frozen North.
We do have plans to attend a couple events while there, the Boca Raton Concours is in February and the AACA has a show scheduled in the south Beach area of Miami Beach. We also will have time to visit South Beach Classics down in Miami to check out their new location and inventory.
Mary Lee and I wish all of you a very merry and happy holiday season, and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Till then,
Did You Miss Us?
By · CommentsIt’s been an interesting year here in Western Massachusetts, we have suffered a Hurricane, Tornado, Blizzards, several micro-burst fueled damaging Hailstorms and now the famous “Halloween” snowstorm. 
Property damage here has been even more severe than that experienced during the tornado or Hurricane. It started Saturday night dumping more than 13″ of heavy wet snow, it was made more severe because all of the leaves were still on the trees. That Saturday night at our house sounded like the gunfight at the OK corral, “crack” and down would come a limb, over and over again. Power went out very early during the storm, 
and we awoke to complete devestation.…. Photos are of the devestation in our own backyard the following day, click on them for a larger view.
Three days later, with power still out, Mary Lee and I hopped a flight down to Florida for a pre-holiday break. Well, we’re back, cleaned up, somewhat and now getting ready for the Holidays. 
The “Gray Lady” is snug as a bug in her garage, we did have a tree down on the roof but thankfully with no damage. As a community we are still cleaning up the storm debris, some of us suffered without power for as long as eight days.
As with most classic fans, our season here is over, though we may try to attend an event up in Stockbridge, MA on December 4th only if the weather is perfect. A group up there as part of their Christmas celebration will try to re-create that famous Norman Rockwell Christmas scene in front of the Red Lion Inn, complete with the classic cars of the era. 
We will participate if all of the planets align correctly.…..
Mary Lee and I wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous holiday season
courtesy of Phillipe Ruel and the Cadillac/LaSalle Club forum
A Video Comparing 1958 Cadillac to 1958 Lincoln
By · Commentscourtesy of Phillipe Ruel and the Cadillac/LaSalle Club forum
Orange, MA. — “Celebrate The Harvest” Show
By · CommentsSunday dawned with one of those rare Indian summer days. 
The “Gray Lady” made her second trip up to Orange to attend the “Celebrate The Harvest” car show. For the second time, we got skunked here, this show really doesn’t fit for us, there is no legitimate class for us to compete in. It’s a long day, with travel we were up there for more than 8 hours and with no chance to be awarded anything it tends to be boring. 
We ended up in Class E, a collection of 1958 — 1964 autos that is a very bad fit for us, we were joined by a nice Chrysler, a Dodge 300, ’58 Chevy Impala and a Buick Electra, everything else seemed to be ’60’s era Impalas with a few Fords tossed in. Considering the dramatic style changes and size differences between 1960 and 1961 we were really comparing apples to oranges.
Plaques were awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in every class based on a popular vote, not being local we were at a distinct disadvantage there. The topper was when they awarded the 25 or so specialty awards, a collection of spectacular trophies, but we fit in no category, so had zero chance of an award there either. They awarded best Chevrolet, Ford, Mopar, Mustang, Corvette, Truck and Buick/Oldsmobile, then best interior, paint, engine, wheels, etc.
The 5 or 6 Cadillacs on the field had no shot at anything, I didn’t see any Lincolns either and that was a good thing for them, because they would have been in the same boat.
It’s a great venue, with a nice parade and flea market, next year we might attend again, but definitely without the car, as it’s just not worth the effort it takes. The Orange Business Association does a great job organizing and running the event, and puts all of the revenue generated to very good use. If you are a Ford or Chevy owner, put this one high on your list for next year, it is a fun time, just not a fit for us. It was a nice day out, with spectacular weather, just too long and boring a day for what really amounted to just a ride in the country for us.
Next Sunday will see us at the 5th Annual Wheels & Whiskers event in Westfield, another great fund raising event. See you there, weather permitting or course!
News Flash — Hershey AACA Fall Meet
By · CommentsJust back from 4 days at Hershey, after attending the 2011 Eastern Divisional Fall Meet, “The Engines Keep Revin’ In 2011″. Details and photos to follow when time permits. Today we are attending the Orange Business Association sponsored show out in Orange, MA to “Celebrate the Harvest”, have a great weekend!
Rain, Rain and more Rain
By · CommentsAnother rainy weekend.….As expected, Saturday’s event in Brimfield and Sunday’s in Westfield were both rained out. Brimfield was re-scheduled to the next Saturday, but unfortunately we are going to be in Hershey, PA for the Eastern Divisional National Fall Meet most of the week and won’t be back in time to attend. The Westfield show has been rained out for the 4th time! They are now rescheduled for October 16th, hopefully they will be able to pull it off then.….…
