Mass Cruisers Auto Club Crusin’ at the speed of fun
February 2018 INSIDE: 2017 CRUISER of the YEAR Bob Wood Page 4
INSIDE: HB 1872 YOM Plate Restoration Legislation Page 8
INSIDE: Annual Autoparts Swap n’ Sell
Page 11 We’re on the Web
Celebrating 27 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 27 Issue 2
February 2018
www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
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Contact us by snail mail: P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093 Or by email: HO350@comcast.net
We’re on the Web! www.masscruisers.com
Our clubhouse is currently located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the police station. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the Mass Cruisers Auto Club are wel-
come to attend one of our monthly meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month in Norfolk. DIRECTORY
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Presidential Emissions
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BUSINESS MEETING
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2018 APRIL Cruise Calendar
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SNEAK PEEK VOLVO MUSEUM
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‘ROUND ABOUT
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ROUND ABOUT
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continued MAAC Legislative Update
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Support our Advertisers
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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS
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Auto Parts Swap & Sell Page 11
Due to limited Newsletter space, advertising is only available for club member businesses and Cruise Night sponsors. For details contact:
newseditor@masscruisers.com
Club Officers President– Ed Beatty Vice President—Diane Thornton Secretary—Patrick Touhey Asst. Secretary—OPEN Treasurer—Wayne Lestan Asst. Treasurer- Kevin Rushlow At Large Board Member: Steve Huntington
Special Assignments Webmaster—Steve Vining Newsletter Editor— John Buchanan
Facebook – Patrick Touhey New Member Liaison—Don Cole
SSgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor & John Sturniolo Charity Coord. – Frank Bryant By-Laws – Roy Rossman MAAC Rep — John Buchanan Cruise Nights—Steve Huntington Sponsors – John Buchanan &
Fred Tierney Club Events – Rich Armando
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Presidential Emissions President Ed Beatty
We had a very good year in 2017. The 26th Annual Car show enjoyed the best year yet and there is nothing like ending that successful run on a high note and getting back to basics by attending as many and varied cruising adventures in 2018 as possible . Freed from the responsibilities of directing another annual car show, Rich Armando is already working with club members that want to organize and have some fun socializing with our rides. The short list of planned events were presented to the club members at our annual meeting of January 23 at the Bass Pro Shops. Rich noted that members wanting to sponsor or lead a cruise to get that information to him so he can put it on the club events calendar and help get the word out to members.
A couple of new cruise events that Rich mentioned at the meeting was to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT being organized by John Nunez. John will set the date and find a local area restaurant where members can eat and socialize after the cruise. Another cruise will be organized by Zeke & Rose Sawayer to the New England Wireless & Steam Museum in East Greenwich, R.I. John Buchanan also spoke about plans for this year’s an annual long distance cruise plans that he and Bruce Berry are working on; a week long cruise out to Detroit for the “Woodward Dream Cruise” & Flint, MI for “Back to the Bricks” where annually over 40,000 cruise cars and over a million spectators gather each year during the 3rd weekend in August, the same weekend we had traditionally held our own car show. Another cruise combo that he and John Ricker are collaborating on is a Newport Cruise in June to the Audrain Museum Newport Mansion Cars & Coffee event then up to the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth followed by lunch at either Quito’s Seafood or the Lobster Pot in Bristol, RI. Fred Tierney also laid out the plans for our 27th Annual Anniversary Party for Saturday May 12, a buffet dinner at 4 pm the Colonial in Norwood followed by a walk across Nahatan Street to the Norwood Theater for an Everly Brothers tribute Show at 7 PM. Because of the limited seating at the Colonial, he asks that your RSVP as soon as possible when the email goes to assure that you will have tickets. This party is paid for through your annual membership dues and all you would be responsible for is your bar bill. John Buchanan and Fred Tierney are also pulling together the sponsors for our bi-weekly Bass Pro Shops cruise nights which kick off on Thursday April 12. Cruise Director Steve Huntington will need all the help he can get to maintain our club’s reputation for running this great cruise night that has garnered recognition and praise from all over New England. Cruise flyers will be ready for distribution at the upcoming March 23—25 World of Wheels in Boston. Upcoming monthly member meetings for the future will be held in the Conservation Room at the Bass Pro Shops on the 3rd Tuesday of each month rather than at the Norfolk clubhouse. We’ve talked about moving these meetings to a location with handicapped access and there is no better time to begin doing this than for this coming February’s monthly meeting. I am working on having a guest speaker for the February meeting.
Thursday Bi-Weekly Cruise Dates
Bass Pro Shops Cruise Nights
APRIL 12 & 26 MAY 10 & 24 JUNE 7 & 21 JULY 5 & 19 AUGUST 2*,16* & 30 SEPTEMBER 13* & 27* OCTOBER 11 & 25
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Annual Business Meeting By John Buchanan
We kicked off our 27th year as a car club with the Tuesday January 23 meeting that was held in the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room. A light buffet was served by the Blue Fin Lounge to 50 members that were on hand to learn about our club plans for 2018, recognize the 2017 “Cruiser of the Year” Bob Wood, and present thank you plaques to our cruise hosts Patriot Place and the Bass Pro Shops. Of course we also had to endure the detail 2017 financial results presented eby Treasurer Wayne Lestan, a necessary requirement that our club charter spells out. Once these formalities were out of the way, former Car Show Chairman, Rich Armando, who no longer has that job since we voted to end our 26 year run of putting on an annual car show, stepped up in his new role as Club Event Coordinator. Members that want to lead or sponsor a club event this year will need to run it by Rich who will check the calendar for any conflicts, then post it for everyone to keep. It will be included in our newsletter each month as well as be distributed to members using Secretary Patrick Tuohy's Wild Apricot communications distribution. See page 5 for Rich’s first iteration of the events that were discussed at the meeting.
ABOVE: 2016 Mass Cruiser of the year honoree Ralph Chadsey presents the 2017 Cruiser Award to Bob Wood. LEFT: Bass Pro Shops Promotions Dave DaSilva & Operations Manager Jeff Moschella accept the thank you plaque from Cruise Director Steve Huntington and President Ed Beatty . BELOW: Patriot Place Marketing Director Diana Griffin accepts the thank you plaque from Mass Cruisers President Ed Beatty, Vice President Diane Thornton & Cruise Director Steve Huntington,
Bob Wood colorful flag man at our Bass Pro Shops cruises
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Monthly Cruising Calendar By Rich Armando
APRIL Sun.
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22 Ford V8 Meet At Fitchburg Airport
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26 Cruise Night
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29 NUNEZ Cruise To The New England Air Museum
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Our first cruise of 2018 is official. John Nunez will be leading us to the N.E. Air Museum in Connecticut on Sunday April 29. He has also made arraignments with the Skyview restaurant a few miles from the museum for lunch after our museum visit. Both places will reserve a parking area for our cars. The restaurant will also give us our own room. More information will follow BUT John will need a head count by no later than April 15. Please contact John ASAP in order to get the ball rolling. Johnbn9852@yahoo.com TEASER: President Ed Beatty’s annual December trip to Sweden resulted in some interesting pictures that he took at the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden. We do have a couple of club members who have vintage Volvo’s in their collections. You’ll remember his last picture tour was at the Huskvarna Museum. Stay Tuned.
The first Volvo ÖV 4, one of ten, prototypes built in 1926 that survived. First production began in 14 April 1927.
The prototype P1800 sports coupe & later wagons which were designed in 1957—58 almost never were produced until Jensen Motors in England agreed to build the first 6,000 of contracted 10,000 production models. Don Cole has a later 1973 P1800 ES wagon.
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Area Scuttlebutt By John Buchanan
Everyone has heard the news that Jay Leno purchased a summer cottage in Newport. Well, in Newport, summer cottages are a little bit more than those one or two room bare-bones Cape Cod beach cottages I remember as a kid where you strung a line across the room to hang a blanket and make it a multi-room cottage. Jay’s East Coast digs are located on a private peninsula off Ocean Ave., the former residence of the ambassador to Morocco under President Reagan and others who could afford to live along the beautiful shoreline of Newport’s Ocean Drive Historic District. You can look at 107 photos of the property Jay Leno Buys Newport Mansion Missing though is a photo of the 6 car carriage house garage. Evidently Jay’s wife must have picked out the house from the photos and not Jay. Don’t get me wrong, of all the properties in Newport, this was always my favorite; first; for it’s location, and second, for it’s French Country style construction. And the expansive front lawn can host one grand benefit car show or cars & coffee cruise-in event should Jay and the Audrain Museum get together.
NEWS ITEM: Following the January 2018 Auctions in Scottsdale, Haggerty checks the temperature of the collector car market and although prices were down slightly from a year ago observers expect the tax cuts to have a positive impact.
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From club member Dave Reavill:
I was looking to see if Warrior Racing Products was still in business. They were a place for Pontiac performance products. I went to my Windows 10 map app and dropped down to Street side view. Warrior Racing Products is no longer in business, but their legacy is!
The city is Westland Michigan.
NEWS ITEM: Lou Modestino, Brockton Enterprise Motorsports Editor, has been organizing the annual Norwood Arena & New England Dragway South Reunions hosted at the Bezema Motors property on the Norwood AutoMile for the past 13 years. Lou ran into a snag when the Central Auto Group purchased the Bezema property and it is not available for 2018 due to site reconstruction. Lou reached out to area car clubs for help and thanks go to the Wheels of Time, Massachusetts for stepping up to help Lou and offering to co-host this year’s 14th Annual Reunions at their Raynham Park cruise venue on Rte. 138 (I-495 Exit 8) during their Thursday June 14 (rain date June 28) cruise from 4 PM til dusk . The huge parking lot at the Raynham track should provide more opportunity for everyone to enjoy and appreciate these vintage race cars, drag racing machines and land speed record vehicles along with the hundreds of classic cars, hot rods, customs and specialty vehicles that regularly attend this popular bi-weekly cruise. Be sure to mark this on this year’s MUST ATTEND EVENT calendars.
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MAAC Legislative Update John Buchanan
MAAC LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: HB 4022: An act designating U.S. Route 20 as a state historic highway was among several bills referred back to the Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) for additional comments. JTC member Rep. Steven Howitt (4th Bristol – Seekonk, Rehoboth & Norton) will request that his late filed bill which includes U.S. Routes 1 & 6 to also be designated as state historic highways be added. HB 1872: An act that allows for restoration of Year of Manufacture plates public hearing was scheduled by the Joint Transportation Committee on Wednesday Jan. 24. Sponsor Rep. Keiko Orrall (12th Bristol– TauntonBerkley, Middleboro, Lakeville) presented her support for this bill before the JTC as did MAAC President William Ellis and your truly. With SEN Ann Gobi’s SB 1830, which has yet to be scheduled for a public hearing, there is hope that passage in both sides, House & Senate will get the job done during this 190th General Court.
Rep. Keiko Orrall testifying before the Joint Transportation Committee public hearing in support of HB 1872 allowing restoration of YOM plates
Of the 99 bills being heard by the JTC on Wednesday, there were a few other bills of interest that MAAC followed but not testifying during the morning and afternoon public hearings including : HB 1857 would allow for a decorative plate to be used on the front of the vehicle when two plates are issued, SB 1909 would regulate the use of number plate automatic scanning information, SB 2234 allows the use of single number plates & SB 1991 Enhanced Technology Plates to improve readability including use of special characters.
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Support Our Advertisers
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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS By John Buchanan
FEBRUARY 2018 Area Auto Shows & Events of Interest Always verify before attending
Events of interest that MASS CRUISERS Club members regularly support and attend are asterisked * SEE M.A.A.C. WEBSITE http://clubs.hemmings.com/maynardaac/events.html for additional up-to-date listings FEB 4,,,,,,ENFIELD CT,,AUTO FLEA MARKET,,POWDER MILL BARN,,32 SOUTH MAPLE ST,,,1ST SUNDAY,,,,,,,,,,,413 786-6318 FEB 9-11,,,PROVIDENCE,,NE INTRNATNL AUTO SHO-CONVNTN CTR-SABIN ST providenceautoshow.com/show-info,,401 846-1115 FEB 16-18,,WORCESTER,,USHRA MONSTER JAM,,COMPETITIVE MONSTER TRUCKS,,DCU CENTER,,www.dcucenter.com,,508 755-6800 *FEB 17,,WALTHAM,NEW ENGLAND MODEL ENGINE SHOW,,,CHARLES RIVER MUSEUM,,PINE ST,,978 256-9268 FEB 17,,,ORANGE CT,,16TH ANN NORTHEAST GAS BASH,,AMER LEGION 630 GRASSY HILL RD RT 121,,7-1PM,,BOB,,203 878-8013 *FEB 24: STURBRIDGE; 3 rd ANNUAL GATHERING OF THE CLUBS,,STURBRIDGE HOST HOTEL,366 Main St.,2 PM,,Justin,,617-233-4919 *MAR 4,,,,NORFOLK,,,,MODEL A CLUB MARCOM FLEA MKT,,7:30-11,,HOLMES TRANSP CO,,MYRTLE ST,,,,,,,,DEAN,,508 285-3211 MAR 4,,,,,,ENFIELD CT,,AUTO FLEA MARKET,,POWDER MILL BARN,,32 SOUTH MAPLE ST,,,1st SUNDAY,,,,,,,,,, 413 786-6318 MAR 11,,,,,EVERYWHERE,,DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS AT 2AM,,,TURN THE CLOCKS FORWARD,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,978 555-1212 *MAR 18,,TAUNTON,,,RTS EXPO CLUB ANNUAL MODEL CAR KIT AND DIE CAST EXHIBITION, HOLIDAY INN,,,STUART,,603 382-9724 MAR 18,,MILFORD NH,,30TH ANN MILITARY FLEA MKT,,NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY,,9-3PM,,www.mvmvc.org,,TONY2,,603 239-7225 *MAR 23-25,,BOSTON,,,,,2018 WORLD OF WHEELS,,SEAPORT WORLD TRADE CTR,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,www.autorama.com,,248 373-1700 *MAR 25,,,,MAYNARD,,,,WINTER BLAHS AUTO PARTS SWAP'N SELL,,MAYNARD ELKS ON RT 62,,7:30-11:30,,CRAIG,,978 562-2390 MAR 31,,,BEVERLY,,7TH N SHORE WINTER SLIDE SHOW,,AM-VETS LOWER HALL,,143 BRIMBLE AVE,,1-5PM,,RICH,,781 715-5653 APR 5-8,,,,THOMPSON CT,,OPENER,,SPEEDWAY ICEBREAKER RACES,,NASCAR & MORE,,www.thompsonspeedway.com,,860 923-2280 APR 7,,,EPPING NH,,OPENING DAY/TEST/TUNE AT THE FAMOUS NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY,,,newenglanddragway.com,,800 322-1263 APR 8,,,SEEKONK,,,FLEA MARKET SEASON OPENER AT THE SPEEDWAY, CHECK IT OUT AT,,,seekonkspeedway.com,,508 336-9959 APR 16,,LEXINGTON,,MILITARY4 VEHICLES/ANNUAL PATRIOTS DAY/CELEBRATION PARADE,,3rd monday April,,,,,,,,,google it *APR 15,,STAFFORD CT,,TY-RODS ANNUAL SPRING SWAP MEET @ SPEEDWAY,,RAIN/SHINE,,,staffordspeedway.com,,860 684-2783 APR 21,,,WINCHESTER NH,,MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY SEASON OPENER,,840 KEENE RD,,,www.monadnockspeedway.com,,603 239-4067 *APR 22,,FITCHBURG,,,FORD V-8 CLUB-46TH ANNUAL FLEA MKT/CAR SHOW,,,,FITCHBURG AIRPORT,,8-1,,,,BRIAN,,978 263-7256 APR 22,,,,,BRISTOL CT,,49TH CSRA SHOW/SWAP MEET-LAKE COMPOUNCE PARK-EX 31 OFF 84,,,,,,www.csra.org,,203 697-9113 APR 27-29,,NANTUCKET,,,DAFFODIL FESTIVAL & ANTIQUE CAR PARADE,,,,,,,,,,,,,www.daffodilfestival.com,,508 228-1700 APR 29,,,E HAMPTON CT,,ANNUAL GAS/STEAM ENGINE/TRACTOR SHOW,,SALMON RIVER ST PARK,,,,,last sun apr,,860 267-8394
MASS CRUISERS Club Events APR 12 & 26: FOXBORO;,,BASS PRO SHOPS CRUISE SEASON BEGINS,,3:30 PM. APR 29: WINDSOR LOCKS, CT; NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM CRUISE RSVP JOHN NUNEZ BY APRIL 15 Johnbn9852@yahoo.com MAY 5: SEEKONK; 7 TH ANNUAL CUSTOM CAR SHOW & GO,,SET UP FOR 8 AM—1 PM CAR SHOW MAY 12: NORWOOD; 27 th ANNUAL MASS CRUISERS ANNIVERSARY PARTY 4 PM COLONIAL CAFÉ BUFFET DINNER FOLLOWED BY THE EVERLY BROTHERS EXPERIENCE AT 7 PM NORWOOD THEATER
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Annual Autoparts Swap & Sell By John Buchanan
Every January when the Start Finish Productions Annual Autoparts Swap & Sell comes around, if it ain’t snowing and the roads are clear, I hop in my truck and head out to the Big E in West Springfield for a Saturday morning jaunt through the aisles to get back in the swing of hunting down some car stuff. The past few years I’ve been on the hunt for those old pre-war service station maps that nobody kept when they became obsolete during the Eisenhauer Presidential years when the country went on an interstate highway building binge. I’ve been doing this for two reasons, the main one being my interest in identifying the historic interstate highway system route details of U.S. Routes 1, 6 & 20. The other is that maps don’t take up much space or require any maintenance and, although they were original free to the motoring public, they are pretty inexpensive to buy as collectables. I also have pretty good luck finding pristine maps to fill in my collection at this swap meet. Although the Better Living Center which houses the indoor swap meet is typically filled with a good number of tool and collectable model vendors, there are a few other surprises and some neat looking cars for sale or being displayed, so it’s also a mini car show. Concurrently , the Springfield Motorcycle Show is going on in the nearby Young Building so you can attend both if you want more to see and do.
Above: 1956 Dodge Custom Royal Hemi powered D500. Below: Typical swap meet collectible stuff on display
Above: A clever display idea; mount a tool kit to the underside of the trunk lid. Below: Show Special 2003 “James Bond 007” custom Thunderbird for under $18 K
Last Page
February 2018 Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093
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