HCCA Forums

I was at the swap meet Friday, the show Saturday, the full Sunday tour of Hangover III, and about 15 miles of Monday's tour. Then I had a Failure To Proceed, and others will have to report. Here are a few pics from Friday that others may not have posted. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg In pa...

There was a charity concours at the Trump National Golf Course (yeah, THAT Trump) to benefit the Trump Foundation, which helps kids with cancer. They wanted participating drivers to pony up 350 bucks a car. I demurred, because (1) I already donate to cancer and (2) I don't pay to let people see my c...

There almost wasn't a Brighton USA tour this year, but at the last minute Bob Stelle and Terri Ledva stepped up to the plate. Today we had a delightful 50-mile run in Hunterdon County (western NJ), with a lunch stop in Frenchtown. The weather was 10% better than perfect - temperature in the low 80s,...

Really? In nickel? And with a center button for an electric horn? That WAS advanced! I'd have assumed (and y'all know what "assume" means) it was '13 or later.

You might write to John Meyer, the Gazette editor. He wasn't the editor that far back, of course, but I'm sure he has access to prior issues. And he's always interested in the early touring history of cars in current HCCA use.

The small open car is a cross-engine Franklin. The one is the bottom picture is a Pope-Toledo, I believe. No idea on the others.

Gil Fitzhugh the Elder

Fall comes early to Maine. After the front came through yesterday, today dawned bright and clear and windy. Extra layers were in order. image.jpg The route was inland, often on top of a ridge, almost 10% unpaved, with glorious views. The first stop was a real sleeper. We arrived at a long, nondescri...

It is truly a fun event. I did it two years ago following the Lansing Dearborn tour, which is also lots of fun. The trailers for the L-D got preferred parking at The Henry Ford complex. Thursday we drove 100 miles to Lansing; Friday we drove 100 miles back. L-D cars were then given their own parking...

Joan and I did other things today, but several cars went out on tour. They didn't get rain until waiting in line for the ferry back from Islesboro Island; upon returning to the mainland, most of them cut short the afternoon tour and returned directly to the hotel. On the ferry ride over, the group m...

Never say never! Mike Landry was back on the road today, having had some repair parts custom-made at the Owls Head Museum's restoration shop over night. image.jpg Unfortunately, he broke down later for what seems to have been a different reason, and needed another ride in his trailer. Doug and Bev T...

Today's tour was shorter than yesterday's; 52 miles if you didn't want ice cream, 56 if you did. (Did anyone NOT want ice cream? REALLY??) But it was much hillier. Low gears got serious workouts, though I heard of no cars that couldn't climb in low or passengers who had to walk. That was quite a dif...

I'm sometimes astounded at the things people feel compelled to apologize for. Bill Jones, today's tourmaster, apologized for the number of short twists and turns in today's 70-mile route. No apologies necessary! The coast of Maine is convoluted. If you take straight roads, you miss some glorious mar...

We arrived today and checked into the excellent Country Inn in Camden. Met old friends and kicked off the festivities with a lobster dinner. LudGoceks.jpg image.jpg Tomorrow will be the longest day, 70 miles, to a boatyard specializing in wooden boats, and to a lighthouse. We're anticipating three c...

I use nets from Mac's Custom Tiedowns. I have some sized for 30x3 or 30x3-1/2 tires, and others for 33x4 tires. The two sets are different colors so I can't screw them up. I have airline tracks in my trailer mounted 56" apart, so I just drive my cars in on top of the tracks and tie the tires straigh...

Maxwells were well represented. The pre-printed roster showed 58 cars registered for the Saturday run to New Brighton, including 12 Maxwells, and six additional cars (mostly Model Ts that are too new for the main event) registered for the pre-tours. There were a few no-shows, and late registrants wh...

The 28th annual New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run in Minnesota is now history, and what a great tour it was! Wednesday, Thursday and Friday offered “pre-tours”, open to any pre-’16 car. We visited Heartthrob Exhaust Accessories, a custom fabrication shop started many years ago by John Forbe...

The North Jersey Regional Group’s annual tour was based at the Chauncey Conference Center at Princeton, NJ, an excellent modern facility with good food (breakfast included a custom omelet station) and easy access to lightly-traveled county roads. The tour was smaller than usual – only 18 cars, of wh...

My Stanley uses kerosene for the main fire. This is a problem, since kerosene pumps don't exist in northern NJ. But jet fuel - essentially kerosene - does exist, and there's a small airport nearby that is allowed to pump into a container but not into a vehicle (road taxes, you know). I realized that...

IMG_1108.JPG The first official Creepy-Crawly is over, and we learned a lot. For those who haven’t been paying attention, this Creepy-Crawly provided alternative shorter, easier routes to the joint AACA/HCCA Reliability Tour. The intent was to encourage slow, primitive vehicles that are overtaxed e...

Try Hagerty. I have had a claim, and was treated very fairly. And their rates are pretty stable.

Gil Fitzhugh the Elder, Morristown, NJ