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Mass Cruisers Auto Club March 2020
INSIDE: RIDING SHOTGUN 2020 CLUB CALENDAR AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS We’re on the Web
Celebrating 29 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 29 Issue 3
www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
Cruisin’ at the speed of fun
Monthly Crusin Contact us by snail mail: P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093 Or by email: HO350@comcast.net
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We have moved all monthly meetings to the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room at 1 Bass Pro Place in Foxboro, MA. Monthly meetings will still be held the third Tuesday of the month starting at 7 PM, guests and visitors are welcome to attend. Business meetings will be held an hour earlier, club members are encouraged to attend. DIRECTORY
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Club Officers President: Mark Crichton
RIDING SHOTGUN
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GATHERING OF THE CLUBS #5
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BOSTON CASTING
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MAXIMUM SPEEDLIMITS
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MAXIMUM SPEEDLIMITS
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Vice President: Larry Nyborn Secretary: Lesley Corda-Majeski Asst. Secretary: John Guravage Treasurer: Kevin Rushlow Asst. Treasurer: Rich Armando At Large Board Member: Steve Huntington
Special Assignments Webmaster: Steve Vining Managing Editor: John Buchanan Newsletter Editor: John Guravage Digital Graphics Editor: Diane Thorton
SEEKONK SPEEDWAY
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AUTOFEST
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Facebook: Patrick Touhey New Members: Lou Valentine Sgts. at Arms: Rick Lawlor John Sturniolo Charity Coord.: Open
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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS
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Food Pantry: Steve Fernald Bob Okerholm By-Laws: Wayne Lestan MAAC Rep: John Buchanan Cruise Nights: Steve Huntington Sponsors: John Buchanan Fred Tierney Club Events: Rich Armando Photographs: Steve Vining John Buchanan
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Riding Shotgun By Larry Nyborn
In any organization, especially a car club, there is a big difference between one that has many active members versus one with more passive members. When the pendulum swings too far to the passive side it spells the death-knell of a club. People want to know 'what can this club do for me?' Yes, there are many benefits to joining a club like the Mass Cruisers: 1. Associating with other car people 2. Becoming involved with the charitable giving 3. Participating in the largest cruise night on the east 4. Participating in a variety of auto related events during the year. So, yes there are benefits to becoming a Mass Cruiser which should help in recruiting new members. Individuals have different interests & talents and these should be harnessed to make the club stronger. In the theme of the famous President Kennedy speech, ask not what the club can do for you but ask what you can do for The Mass Cruisers and we will all be that much better off! Larry Nyborn, VP EDITOR'S NOTE: As an example of how new members that bring different interests and talents to a car club can be harnessed, is one of our newest club members, Scott Beer, who cofounded a unique company called BoostBadge. Scott is a professional videographer who attended our 2019 Bass Pro Shops cruises taking videos of our cruise which he then used as background for his BoostBadge website. Former Mass Cruiser member Steve Mirabile and I ran into Scott at the Audrain Concours last September where he and his new BoostBadge venture had set up a vendor display. Steve was immediately impressed with the concept which then caught my own. Steve started collaborating on some ideas Scott and then I introduced them to some of the auto enthusiast segments of the market we both were familiar with. Scott then joined the Mass Cruisers in January and quickly produced a BoostBadge QR Code for us that promotes our Bass Pro Shops cruises. You can see the results for yourself by using your smart phone camera to access our Mass Cruisers BoostBadge site using your phone's native QR Code reader or by downloading a free QR Code reader app for your phone.
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Gathering of the Clubs #5 By John Buchanan
Perfect weekend weather greeted the 5th annual Gathering of the Clubs at the Sturbridge Host Hotel for all the hot rod & custom car clubs that attended. The Gathering’s primary purpose is to socialize and communicate their upcoming events for the 2020 Car Season and solicitate participation for their events from the participating clubs. The social aspect alone draws clubs from far away like the Boulevard Bombers out of NJ & RI and the Highway Trash out of Epping, NH along with regional events like the Pinetree Jamboree in Winterport ME and the annual East Coast Reliability Run at Round Top, NY. Internationally the Torquer’s from Montreal and Goonz Ireland have attended every year since the Gathering stated back in 2015. Local clubs that attend include still active grand-daddy clubs from the 1950’s like the Ty-Rods (1952), Hot Heads-Oxford (1956), Push Rods – Waltham (1957), Spindles (1957) & Red Devils Rod & Custom – Norfolk (1958) to the newest, Goonz MA chapter – Sterling (2019) that was appointed to host the 2021 Gathering. Other clubs in addition to our own Mass Cruisers at the Gathering were the Departed Car Club, Road Devils C.C. Boston – E. Bridgewater, Rust Rods - Amesbury, CREEPS C.C. Cumberland RI, C.A.R.B.S.- Athol, Slo Rollers - Westford, Kingpins – Salisbury, Gasket Goons MA – N. Adams & The Car Club – New England. This year’s host club, the Rattlers Bay State, upped the ante by holding the Saturday annual gathering in a much larger conference room at the Host Hotel that seated 200 at tables plus with plenty of room left over for the buffet line, band stand and host club seating and dias. The club presentations are as entertaining as anything you’d get at a comedy club, a bit raw at times, but all in good natured fun. A few of the local events presented by the clubs that Mass Cruisers may want to mark on their calendars are as follows: May 3; 2nd Annual Bombshell Betties Sunday Funday for Vets Pre- 1980’s Car Show at MTR Machine 229 Quaker Hgwy. (Rte. 146A) N. Smithfield, RI Aug. 15 Road Devils 13th Annual Boston Massacre – Pre- 1970; E. Bridgewater Commercial Club, 1 Neilson Ave. East off Rte. 18 Sept. 5; 6th Annual Hot Rods on the Hill at Diamond Hill Park, Cumberland, R.I. 11 AM – 4 PM Sept. ?; 48th Annual Ty-Rods Old-Timers’ Reunion, Lancaster Fairgrounds, Rte. 117 Sept. 6; Spindles 2020 AutoFest at the Marshfield Fairgrounds Sept. 19; Red Devils Fall Throw Down #5 at the American Legion on Rte. 1A in Wrentham 10 AM – 4 PM Sept. 26; Heart Rodders Fundraiser Pre- -80’s Car Show @ 4 PM & Drive-In @ 7:30 PM at the North Attleboro Elks Lodge on 52 Bullfinch St. Of course September is also has popular weekend events that club members attend like the Adirondack Nationals at Lake George, NY and the Old Orchard Beach Car Show in ME so consider this list as local alternatives. CREDIT PHOTO: Buddy Wenners – WRT Media Group
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Maximum Speed Limits By John Buchanan
For those of us who regularly CRUIZ long distances to regional or national car events in our collector vehicles by racking up the miles on the Interstates to reduce road time and maximize event time, we are faced with exceeding the speed limit to keep up with most of the other drivers we share those roads with. That is, unless you prefer to drive the byways and truly enjoy the journey without the pressure of scheduled arrival times. Typically, many of our older vehicles were originally built to travel roads that had much lower maximum speed limits. I collect old service station maps and always get a kick out of the maximum speed laws posted on them for different states; e.g. a 1935 Tydol New England map has Rhode Island's maximum highway speed limit at 35 miles per hour while Massachusetts and Connecticut were listed as "reasonable and proper". I'll have to ask "Fast Eddie" Beulieu, who is now age 102, if they posted speed limits on Massachusetts highways then. The limited access Interstate Highway system built in the late 1950's saw our typical maximum highway speed limits increase from 45 to 65 mph. Then, suddenly faced with the oil crisis in 1973, a national 55 mph speed limit was imposed. That was the dark ages for our hobby, particularly for muscle car owners and hot rodders. Then, as the country got used to the higher per gallon gasoline prices, speed limits were increased again, but not on a national scale. States still exercised control with the Insurance Industry and EPA looking closely over their shoulders. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety <https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/laws/speedlimits?topicName=speed>, maximum highway speeds in each state range from 60 mph (97 km/h) to 85 mph (137 km/h). Speed limits through congested urban areas are commonly set to speeds like 55 mph (89 km/h) and I've seen some as low as 45 mph (72 km/h). Continued on next page
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Maximum Speed Limits By John Buchanan
Continued from previous page Although the following are destinations we'll never get to go CRUIZN to, the maximum speed limit in the U.S. Virgin Islands is still 55 mph (89 km/h). In Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa the maximum speed limit is 45 mph (72 km/ h). In Wake Island, the maximum speed limit is 40 mph (64 km/h). In Midway Atoll, the maximum speed limit is 15 mph (24 km/h) which, as I recall, was typical on military bases back in the day. Also, "highway speed" changes with traffic conditions as any morning or evening commuter can attest to. I've also noticed that posted minimum speeds have disappeared as highway traffic congestion increased. Admit it. We all tend to speed on the Interstates. The speed limit today is considered by many the minimum speed expected to go with the flow of traffic. So, what was the fastest highway speed scofflaw in the U.S. clocked at? According to Internet legend and Top Gear, in May 2003 a San Francisco to Miami Gumball Rally driver named Arthur Chirkinian was clocked driving a Koenigsegg CCR in Texas doing 242 mph (389 km/h) in a 75-mph zone. He was arrested and his car towed to an impound area. His co-driver bailed him out of jail and retrieved the car from the impound and they later caught up with the other Rally drivers in New Orleans. Of course, this all happened about 10 years before the police & traffic alert Smart Phone app Waze was available and today could be the most significant contributor to embolden speeding scofflaws. It works for me.
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March 2020
Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093
Monthly Crusin