I hope this News letter finds ever body in good health and spirits! I know for me this weather is a bit of a downer. I keep thinking to myself when is it going to stop raining so we can get out and enjoy our cars and each others company; or even just mow the lawn that is now a foot high.
I know it is hard to get motivated when the weather is bad like this but lets all try to make the best of it and participate in as many of the club event as we can. I know there are only so many weekends in a year and we just can’t do them all; But lets try to make this a club that goes and does things together. If you have any ideas on outings you would like to do let me know and I will put it in the news letter.
Lee
Benbow Inn Lunch & tour April 23rd This months club outing is a drive up to the beautiful Benbow Inn. We plan to meet at Little Lake Auto at 10:15 Am and leave by 10:30 Am. We will take a leisurely drive up and have lunch in there wonderful dinning room. After lunch we will have a chance to walk around and check out the Inn.
On the way back we may stop by the drive through tree in Leggett at a cost of $5.00 per car.
I hope to see you all there!
Piece’s Packard’s and Duese’s Oh My!!!By Lee Bryant As most of you know a last year I bought a 1939 Packard Henney Hearse. At that time I joined the national Packard club and the local chapter. All in hopes of making contacts for parts. The parts thing never really panned out and I never went to any of the events. Well about a couple of months ago I received there list of activities for the year. They had a trip planned to visit the USS Red Oak a WWII Victory ship. It is docked at the old Richmond shipyard where it was originally built. Since I really enjoy old ships; and would hopefully get to see a Packard like mine I decided to make the event. Bill, Petey, and I went down and had a great tour of the ship and lunch on the deck. We also got to meet some of the people from Nor Cal Packard’s & see there beautiful cars. While at the lunch on deck the club president got up and was talking about an invitation to the club to visit the private collection located at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Many of you may have seen it when you drive down Vaness in the old Chrysler show room.Bill and I new it was a rare opportunity so we made plans for the trip.Jump ahead to April 3rd. The time is 7:00 AM the three amigo’s head out to SFO. We had a great drive to the city found a place to park and arrived on the corner of Vaness & Washington At ten to be welcomed by the doorman and invited inside to see the collection.When you walk in you don’t know what to look at first. It’s like being a kid in a candy shop. To the left is a 1929 Cord L27 Convertible sedan (the first font wheel drive),to the right is a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible. In front of you is a 1929 Packard Convertible, an Auburn Boat tail speedster, Duesenberg Dual Cowl Phaeton, and over thirty more. People in black suits and ties come up and ask if they can take your jacket and inform you that a breakfast buffet are up the stairs. We go up stairs to several tables set up with fresh fruit, coffee, juice, and any kind of pastry you could want. After indulging we went back down a spent a couple of hours thoroughly checking out the cars. How often do you get to get up close a personal with cars like these with no ropes keeping you 10-20 feet back? My personal favorite was the 1938 Pierce Arrow Eight Convertible Coupe. It was absolutely fantastic.After a good look at the cars and a tour of the academy we were told that lunch was ready for us. Going back upstairs we find tables covered with black table cloths and cloth napkins. Our menu consisted of Prime rib, Turkey, fresh asparagus, gravy, baby potato’s, salad, and fresh rolls. WOW! What first class treatment! At any moment I thought they are going to see I don’t belong here and boot me out the door. Fortunately for me they didn’t. I am still in a bit of awe. The reality of what cars you have just seen and touched doesn’t hit you until later when you have time to think back on it.Our next meeting is Thursday the 13th 7 pm at Little Lake Auto.
May’s event is the Willits Community car show on the 29th.
