With my varied automotive interests ranging from sports cars, to vintage motorcycles to, toy ambulances to real police cars, every once in awhile I'm reminded of my Pontiac roots and how my editing the Pontiac-Oakland Club International's newsletter started me on a new career track.

Though I've never quite been able to justify getting one of those cool neon Pontiac dealer signs that cost a small fortune these days, I was lucky enough to acquire a large Pontiac Indian head weather vane a few years ago through a friend named Dave Doyle. I have it hanging in my car building and it's large enough to stand out pretty well as a wall decorations.

Until yesterday I had no knowledge of smaller versions of this item. Then, I ran across one in the swap meet at the big motorcycle show in Davenport, Iowa. The first one I saw was a rather weathered weather vane and the price was way too high for me. But the second one was not only nicer, but more reasonably priced.

I noticed that the two small ones were not identical. The mounting poles were different and the nicer one carried a brass tag with an actual serial number. The seller told me that the smaller Pontiac Indian head weather vanes are rarer and worth more because they were serialized.

Now, I think I remember seeing a picture of an old Pontiac dealership decorated with weather vanes of both sizes. I'm not sure though, So, I would appreciate input from anyone who knows about these things and reads my blog. I want to learn all I can about these unique pieces of automobilia.

Saturday, September 04, 2010 5:08:59 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

I'm in Davenport, Iowa for the Antique Motorcycle Club of America's annual Chief Blackhawk Chapter meet. This is the "Hershey" of the antique motorcycle hobby.

If you've been to a car show or concours d'elegance lately, you know that more and more antique bikes are showing up at such event. The Chief Blackhawk Meet is the best place to learn about, see and buy antique motorcycles and parts.

If you have a bit of an interest in old bikes and you're in the region and not doing holiday stuff or bidding on cars at Auburn, you might want to think about stopping by. Here's the official schedule:

Chief Blackhawk Chapter of the AMCA®
39th Annual AMCA Fall National ®
September 2 - September 4, 2010
The Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds
2815 W. Locust St.
Davenport, IA 52806

Announcing Canon USA Photo Contest

Buy 2010 Meet t-shirts

Thursday, 2 September
6:00 am thru 5:00 pm - Vendor checkin & setup
8:00 am thru 5:00 pm - Exposition building open
Check bikes in for display
Check bikes in for judging
Buy Banquet tickets
Buy meet t-shirts
Look at the keen bikes
dusk - free movie at Pavilion

Friday, 3 September
6:00 am thru 5:00 pm - Vendor checkin & setup
8:00 am thru ?? - exhibit hall open to public

Check bikes in for display
Check bikes in for judging
Buy Banquet tickets
Buy meet t-shirts
Look at the cool bikes

10:00 am - Shuttle to area malls, gambling boats, etc. starts running - Sign up at Twin Towers (Locust St end of Row AG)
2:30 pm - Practice for Unlimited Promotions 1/2 mile begins
4:30 pm - Heat Races for Unlimited Promotions 1/2 mile begins
5:00 pm - Shuttle done for day
6:30 pm - Unlimited Promotions 1/2 Mile

Saturday, 4 September
6:00 am thru 6:00 pm - The show goes on
8:00 am thru ?? - exhibit hall open to public

Check bikes in for display
Check bikes in for judging
Buy Banquet tickets
Buy meet t-shirts
Look at the amazing bikes

9:00 am thru 11:00 am - Craft Fair at Pavilion D
9:00 Chapter Executive Officer Board meeting - Starlite Ballroom (Not open to public)
9:30 First bikes out on cornfield tour
10:00 am - Shuttle to area malls, gambling boats, etc. starts running - Sign up at Twin Towers (Locust St end of Row AG)
10:00-2:00 Seminars on tap

Matt Olsen on roadside repairs for the old and the engineering challenged
Doug Matheson on plating
Bob Skeffington on Sporty's

10:30 Last bikes out on cornfield tour
3:30 Cornfield trophy tour presentations at Pavilion
4:00 pm - Church Services, "Victory Riders - Christian Motorcyclist Association", Pavilion D
5:00 pm - Shuttle done for day
6:00 pm - Cocktails at Starlight Ballroom, Cash Bar
7:00 pm - Dinner by Riefes
After Dinner speaker - T C Christenson

Sunday, 5 September
7:00 am - Judges breakfast at Exposition Building
8:00 am - Judging commences
12:00 am - Judging awards
12:01 pm - Start getting ready for next year!
See you next year and Thank you.

Thursday, September 02, 2010 1:44:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Went to a car show yesterday. It was big enough and in a nice location, and there were some interesting cars. But the judging classes were absolutely whacky. They had about four or six classes for four-wheel-drives in different age brackets and both stock and modified, but no category for sports cars. If you were driving a sports car, it might have fit in the "Two-seat" class or maybe the "Miscellaneous class." In the two-seat class your Triumph would have been competing with at least one golf cart. Really! I can't tell you what it would have been competing with in the miscellaneous class, because I didn't find any entries in that class. There was a class called "Best of Show" class. So, if your car was Best of Show, it really wasn't best of show, it was only best in that class! I tried to figure some of these things out, but I couldn't. Can anyone out there help me?

Sunday, August 29, 2010 10:53:33 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

The sixth “Masterpiece of Style & Speed” in Milwaukee, Wis., honored the 100^th anniversary of Italian automaker Alfa-Romeo and the Midwest’s magnificent motoring marvel—the Model J Duesenberg. The Aug. 22 venue was again presented in Veteran’s Park on the shores of Lake Michigan, with touring events and a Club Day staged on the 21^st to kick things off. A row of outstanding Alfas was present and four Duesenberg Model Js showed up. Duesenberg expert Joe Kaufman was a guest of honor at The Masterpiece and presented several seminars. Other cars at the show ran the gamut from early electrics to George Stauffer’s late-model Bentley factory racing car (a special entry since it was not built prior to 1972). Whether you like brass era touring cars, streamliners of the Art Deco era, ‘50s finmobiles or muscle cars, there was something outstandingly special to suit your taste at The Masterpiece in 2010. It was a great show.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:19:12 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

I'm at The Masterpiece of Style & Speed show in Milwaukee this weekend and for a change I have some vehicles entered. Since you can't "drive" two Indian motorcycles from Iola to Milwaukee, I brought them down in a new 14-ft. enclosed trailer that I bought from Ron Hanson in Stevens Point, WI.

After putting the trailer in the staging area, I chatted with some of the other vehicle owners and got a new perspective on car shows. A Packard owner from Minnesota was explaining how judging at club meets differs from concours judging. Although his car did pretty well in judging at a Packard Club event, he thought that the judging procedures could have been more logical and objective/

This raises the question of "who judges the judges?" Maybe the hobby needs all the clubs and all the show promoters to get together and come up with some kind of uniform judging system so that collectors are "playing by the same rules" no matter wehat type of show they go to.

What do you think?

Sunday, August 22, 2010 3:50:32 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [2]

Symco, Wis., is a small village located about 11 miles due east of Iola. The Symco Shakedown is now one of the biggest “old school” hot rod shows in the country. Symco 2010 drew over 4,000 people and featured everything from Matnard G. Krebbs look-a-likes to Lucille Ball wanna-be's. .  

At Symco 2010 it was rainy, then cloudy, then sunny, then hot and humid. It didn't matter. The grounds that the show is held at is just plain kool with fascinating buildings to hide in when it rains. It's called Unionville and it's like an antique tourist town, except that it's only open three times a year. The Shakedown is one of those times.

The focus of the Symco Shakedown is on “traditional” kustoms and hot rods, but there were shiny hot rods, too, and Chevy 350s, vintage circle track racers and some just-about-stock ‘50s and ‘60s cars. Cars that didn't meet the rules were parked in VIP Parking near a lake with a covered bridge. We doubt if any of the owners complained about the gorgeous setting.

Rockabilly bands from California, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin were shaking things up in the Unionville Dance Hall. The Unionville Saloon offered $1 tappers and $5 pitchers. Other attractions included the roller derby girls, a dragster exhibition run and mini-bike races.

Shakedown gave away a 276-cid Ford flathead V8 with a four inch stroker kit, Egge cast pistons, a custom-ground Howard’s cam, new Edlebrock heads and intake and new Speedway 9 Super 7 carbs. The block came from Flat Jack Meyer of Oshkosh, Wis., who did the build. Kelly’s Hot Rod Parts, Porter Mufflers and Appleton Crankshaft were also involved in the project. 

Rain or no rain, the 2010 Symco Shakedown was a success. If you missed it, put this show on your calendar for next year. You'll be glad you did.

Monday, August 16, 2010 10:04:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Famous Specialty Corvettes Fill New Book

       There are a lot of Corvette books and that market segment is hard to crack.

When we were planning a ‘Vette book, book sellers told us that those that sell

best are “coffee table” books that ‘Vette owners buy to impress people. Later, we

were involved with a thick, impressive coffee table book that focused on specialty

Corvettes like experimental versions and customs and such.

The author personally pushed out a lot of copies of that book through fact-to-face sales, but in the wider market, the demand for it was lower. It seems that Corvette owners and collectors like books that show cars like theirs-not “dream machines” they’ll never own.

This leaves me wondering what kind of pop Randy Leffingwell’s latest release from MBI will get. Legendary Corvettes: ‘Vettes Made Famous on Track and Screen is the title of this 9-1/2 x 11-in. 176-page hardcover that’s filled with some fabulous photos by Dave Wendt. These pictures are truly impressive and it’s definitely a coffee table book, but the idea is to show us all the great cars we can’t ever have. So historians are bound to love this book, but we wonder how Corvette owners will take to it?

Only time will tell, but we would recommend that they at least go to the book store, leaf through a copy and absorb the awesome photos of cars like the ’56 Sebring Racer, the Super Sport with its “upholstered torpedo” headrest, the CERV 1 with its side-draft carbs, the Kevin Mackay restored Penske Sunoco racer and Mike Yager’s “Corvette Summer” movie car next to an eerily lit Effingham cornfield.

We think that ‘Vette fans will find the high impact of the photos alone to be worth the $35 “price of admission” on this book. Yes, their neighbors will like them, too, even if they know nothing about cars or Corvettes. This book is simply an artwork combining masterful wordsmithing with camera art of the highest level. And as you can guess, it’s late-August Corvettes @ Carlisle release makes it a perfect item for holiday giving.

To learn more about the book or other MBI titles visit www.Qbookshop.com.

Sunday, August 15, 2010 10:09:10 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

My friend Jim Rugowski and I had a great weekend. On Friday I drove to the Chicago area in my MG TF (put 1,000 miles on her last week) and Jim casme down Saturday morning hauling his two "Fiats" on one trailer. Actually, his 1936 Topolino is actually a Simca -- or at least a Fiat with a Simca badge. The 1950s model is a Fiat.

The destination on Saturday was the little show that Lou Natenshon pours his heart out to produce for the Highland Park Historical Society. Maybe 40-50 cars  came, but you'd be amazed by what showed up. There were Amelia Island cars, Meadow Brook winners and cars whose next stop might be Pebble Beach, The Geneva Concours or The Materpiece. Not to mention an unrestored Duesenberg and Joe Bortz's Biscayne dream car. Why travel all over the country to see these cars when you can do it right in Chicago.

After the show, we loaded up Jim's "Fiats" and swung over to Crystal Lake, Ill. where we camped out at a motel right next to a McDonald's. That mean a lot of parking lot talk about classic cars and vintage MGs.

The next day we were invited to Bob Anderson's classic car bash in Barrington. Jim says, "Let's get there early so we can leave early for Wisconsin." Boy, did he miscalculate how many cars were coming. Two hours later his Dodge Ram, his trailer and the two Fiats were "parked in" by dozens of beauties from a 1912 Mercer to a Cushman service trike. (We finally got Paul Terhorst to roll his Auburn back a few feet so we could sneak Jim's tig out.)

By the way, my TF had no problem "running the gaunlet."

Strangely enough, Bob Anderson and his 200 or so friends did not seem to know muscle car collector Mike Guarise, who'll be having his own party a mile or so away in just a few weeks. That's because Chicago is such a great town for "old cars" that no one can keep up with all the activity down there.

For example, the transportation show in nearby McHenry, Ill., was held the same day as Bob's party in Barrington. In fact, we passed a number of other old cars -- including two red T-Series MGs -- that were probably coming home from that event.

All's I have to say is that you Chicago guys are very lucky!

Wednesday, August 04, 2010 11:50:57 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

If you live anywhere close to Delevan, Wis., you might want to take a drive over to Lake Lawn Lodge on Highway 50 to visit the annual convention of the North American MGA Register (www.NAMGAR.com).

This year the club is celebrating a variant of the MGA roadster called the Magnette sedan. The Magnet was made in ZA and ZB versions from 1954-1959 and only around 15,000 were ever built. Thirty one of them came to Delevan for the convention, which continues on Thursday July 29 and Friday morning July 30.

This was the largest gathering of Magnettes ever held anywhere and featured cars from across the country. In addition, Lou and John Shorten, Magnette experts from England, attended the show to present restoration seminars.

The show also features MGAs of couse, plus a sprinkling of other models. But the spotlight is really on the largest number of Magnettes ever gathered by collectors.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 11:17:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]