Mass Cruisers May 2020 Newsletter by John Buchanan

Monthly Crusin

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

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Mass Cruisers Auto Club May 2020

Glenn Brayman's Garage Mahal

Happy Birthday Grant!!

2016 Nov 3 Cruise Winner 1941 Ford - Glenn Brayman

5th Birthday Cruise-By

Birthday Cruise-By Celebrations

Autocross Mustang

13 Year Old Daniel posing with “Back To The Future” DeLorean

Mike Brennan driving the ‘Stang at Palm Beach International Raceway

INSIDE: PRESIDENTIAL MUSINGS COVID-19 EDITOR’S NOTE PUZZLES CRUZIN’ AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS

2019 Golden Quill Mass Cruisers Newsletter Honorable Mention We’re on the Web

Celebrating 29 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 29 Issue 5

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 beginning in May. 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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PRESIDENTIAL MUSINGS

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Club Officers President: Larry Nyborn Vice President: Open

GLENN BRAYMAN'S GARAGE MAHAL

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Secretary: Lesley Corda-Majeski Asst. Secretary: John Guravage

AUTOCROSS MUSTANG

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Treasurer: Kevin Rushlow Asst. Treasurer: Rich Armando

BIRTHDAY CRUISE-BY CELEBRATIONS

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At Large Board Member: Steve Huntington

CAR MAKERS PUZZLE

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CAR BRANDS WORD SEARCH

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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

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CRUZIN’

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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS

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Special Assignments Webmaster: Steve Vining

Managing Editor: John Buchanan Newsletter Editor: John Guravage Digital Graphics Editor: Open Facebook: Patrick Touhey New Members: Lou Valentine Sgts. at Arms: Rick Lawlor John Sturniolo Charity Coordinator: Open 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

Monthly Crusin

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

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Presidential Musings By Larry Nyborn

WHAT KIND OF CAR ARE YOU? During these crazy times I have a little more time to think which can be a dangerous thing. One of the thoughts that ran through my head was how much correlation there is between the personality of a person and the type of vehicles they own. Some people like to take chances/push the envelope/have a need for speed. Obviously, they like to drive fast cars. People with a strong presence & personality like to own a vehicle with a lot of power & torque. Those that are perfectionists want a totally restored show car. A fun-loving person is more likely to just want a driver which they can use to have a good time. Those that have an appreciation for history & older things might like an early 1900's vehicle. Multi -faceted people might own several vehicles from different decades. Of course, if money is no object, some like to own the high-end super/exotic cars.. Those that like to tinker/build will get a project car. So, as you can see there is an automobile for every personality! Maybe I should go back to being too busy to have time to do this kind of thinking. Larry

*** Editor’s Note ***

By the time you read this month’s newsletter, Governor Baker’s has extended the shelter-in-place deadline and group gatherings limitations another two weeks before we’ll know when Massachusetts will begin the slow return back to a new normal. Our May 7 & 21 Bass Pro Shops cruises are impacted and we are hopeful June 4 will be our new cruise start date. The daily COVID-19 updates are getting more detailed as statistics continue to play a significant role in the decisions being made. Anyone who has experienced a family member or close friend that contracted the virus knows, this is one flu bug that cannot be ignored. On that note, one of our former club members and regular Bass Pro Shops attendee, Rick Cimo (1935 Ford Coupe & 1939 Ford Deluxe Tudor Sedan) was hospitalized at Newton Wellesley Hospital in April with the COVID-19 virus and was the first one there to be treated using the new anti-body plasma therapy. Rick’s wife Cindy tested negative and at this writing Rick was moved out of the ICU and is doing fine. Fellow club member John Bloom, who was cutting wood with Rick just before he started showing symptoms, self-quarantined for two weeks and showed no signs of having contracted the virus. Rick believes he contracted it from his next door neighbor so, you never really know where or when COVID-19 will show up. Following the CDC recommended preventative guidelines by practicing physical distancing, washing hands with soap & water for 20 seconds frequently throughout the day – a good excuse for washing the dishes –, clean and disinfect commonly used surfaces; limiting unnecessary travel, particularly to crowded places, will go a long way to keeping us safe until the pandemic subsides and an immunization vaccine becomes available. And, if you have an underlying health issue, that places you in the highest risk category so staying home, if at all possible, is wise. Who would have thought Stop & Shop’s Pea Pod delivery service would become so popular that booking at least three days in advance is the norm now. Just as the world of travel changed after 911, we can expect that additional travel changes will result from this pandemic. When I spent several months in Japan back in 1990’s, wearing facial masks and gloves in public for health reasons was a common sight that I became accustomed to seeing. Back in the U.S.A. with our wild west mentality, we associated masks of any type with 20th Century bank robbers, and today in the 21st Century, masks when also wearing hoodies is the new norm for crooks. I expect our attitude about wearing protective masks will change too. So keep tuned and when possible, participating in the newest cruising fad, drive-by birthday celebrations, will have to do.

John & Nancy in Nancy’s 1956 T-Bird

Rick Cimo’s 1935 Ford Coupe

Rick Cimo’s 1939 Ford Deluxe Sedan

Monthly Crusin

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

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Glenn Brayman's Garage Mahal By John Buchanan

When listening to the WBZ radio news I’d hear ads for the planned community Pinehills in Plymouth. Although the primary pitch seemed to be for golfers, I wondered what the place was really like and wanted to see it when I was ever in the neighborhood. But, with its location half way between Plymouth Harbor where “the ROCK” is and the Sagamore Bridge at the Cape Cod Canal it wasn’t likely I’d ever be in the neighborhood. Then I got an invite to be the Massachusetts Association of Auto Clubs guest speaker from one of our newer clubmember, Glenn Brayman, who was hosting the 1st Annual Old Koots brunch in his garage with Wally Hayes’ OLD KOOTS CAR CLUB of which Glenn is also a member. I quickly learned you’ll need detailed road map directions and a good GPS to find your way through the over 3,000 acres at Pinehills to find Glenn’s home in the Forest Edge section. As would happen, I did come across one of the OLD KOOTS who hadn’t read Glen’s detailed directions wandering aimlessly in his big block hot rod trying to get his bearings to find the right trail to the brunch. By the way, Massachusetts municipalities and communities are made up of Cities, Towns, Census-Designated Places (CDP) and Villages. Pinehills is a CDP with plans for over 3,000 homes eventually to be built; who knew? The catered brunch by Chef Molly, arranged by Glenn’s wife Jeanine, went off without a hitch and the weather was absolutely perfect on that November morning for the one hour drive to Pinehills. Glenn’s garage was cleared out for the brunch buffet and table seating and the event was one of two featured GARAGE MAHAL articles in the April 2020 Issue of the Pinehills Social Magazine “Trailside Living”. The other featured article shows Glenn’s GARAGE MAHAL with his flamed 1941 Ford Coupe, a Bass Pro Shops Cruise Winner Selection in 2016, and 1987 Corvette parked inside the garage, noses pointed out. The term “Trailside” I also learned comes from Pinehills location relative to the Old Sandwich Road, the oldest unpaved road in continuous use in the U.S. which originally followed a native Wampanoag trail through the middle of the Pinehills forest. Unlike most developed communities, which typically don’t accommodate the kind of garage space or gearhead environment that auto enthusiasts like Glenn prefer, his garage shows that it is possible to do the impossible if you have both the patience and $$$. My photo of the brunch, the other featured article in the April “Trailside Living” issue, shows Glenn’s four bay garage is high enough for a lift and the steel beam support which is home for the hoist. The custom built cabinets, another amenity Glenn added, are neatly stocked with every possible spare part, supplies and tools he needs to work on his cars. Glenn’s winter project is a newly purchased 1931 Ford rare model Vickie street rod that will allow packing bags to comfortably go to those long distance week long events at Syracuse, York, Lake George & Burlington. Can’t wait to se the Vickie show up at our cruise whenever we get to open them up following the COVID-19 shutdown.

Monthly Crusin

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

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Autocross Mustang By Wayne Lestan

As Chester A. Riley, a.k.a. William Bendix, would say in the 1950’s T.V. series “Life of Riley”, “What a revoltin’ development this turned out to be!” My annual winter getaway to Florida began February 12 but, when my hoped for March 27 return date was extended thanks to COVID-19, my host friends Mike & Natalie Brennan have truly gone above and beyond by extending my stay until its safer to travel. Of course, all my winter car projects are on hold too but fortunately my friend Mike is a car guy and Florida is filled with a treasure trove of car related things to do in the winter. I was able to quench my thirst by sharing in his retirement project of transforming his 2016 2.3 Liter Turbo four-banger into an autocross road racer. Mike’s first couple of retirement years were spent purposing and customizing the 2016 Mustang for road racing. To make the lighter 2.3L Turbo engine that was originally putting out a decent 255 HP and 290 Ft. Lbs. of torque at the rear wheel with 18 lbs. of factory boost perform better, he made the following improvements to increase boost to 23 Lbs. and deliver 350 H.P. with 390 ft.-lbs. of torque: Cold Air Intake, Cat Back Muffler, Turbosmart Waste Gate actuator, Low Restriction Down Pipe, Turbo Heat Blanket, Intercooler, Intercooler piping kit & Blow Off Valve, Oil Separator, Oil Cooler, Hood Air Intake, 65 mm Throttle Body & COBB Stage 3 Tuning package. To improve the handling of the Stang for road racing he made the following changes: Ford performance shocks, struts & lowering Y springs, Strut Tower bracing, Front & Rear Ford Performance sway bars, Rear Cradle Bushing Lockout, one piece driveshaft and BF Goodrich g-Force Comp 2 A/S 255/35 ZR19 tires. Although neither of us had hands-on experience with organized road racing, he wisely chose autocross to enter now that the car was ready. Autocross offers a chance to tear up your car with sharp low speed turns while limited straights reduce the probability of a catastrophic incident. This also gives gearheads like us a low-cost way to see how our daily driver performs on a racetrack. Course times are posted but you can still be as competitive as you like. Somewhat less wisely Mike insisted I also drive and the experience was nothing less than thrilling. Navigating through the course without spinning out or knocking over too many cones was always my goal but the event is great fun at any speed. As for my elapses times, let’s just say, there is room for improvement. Our club should definitely look into having autocross on our list of activities. Mike’s need for more speed than I do so he decided to test the car on a real racetrack, so down to “Palm Beach International Raceway’ we went. He hit over 130 MPH on the 0.6 mile straight and did some serious cornering to satisfy his speed craving, at least temporarily. He also learned he needs more robust brakes to challenge real race tracks . Oh well, there is always something to work on $$$$. Isn’t this hobby great?

Stock 2016 Mustang 2.3 Liter Turbo

Finished race dress Mustang at Auto cross with Wayne in the driver’s SEAT

Cruisin’ at the speed of fun

Monthly Crusin

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Birthday Cruise-By Celebrations By John Buchanan

A new cruise phenomena called “Birthday Cruise-By Celebrations” has popped up all over Southern New England since the COVID-19 Pandemic guidance discouraging social gatherings of 5 or more, banned restaurant seating, closing public parks and beaches and shutting down event & entertainment venues. Since the “Shelter-In-Place” orders were instituted affecting milestone normally happy birthday parties, this new form of drive-by birthday celebrations have exploded across the landscape. Calls have been going out to the collector car community using Facebook for a few antique or special marque cars favored by the celebrant to drive by and wave HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes. There were a couple of truly noteworthy area birthday’s some of us were able to participate in. With area cruise nights and car shows cancelled and the winter car projects completed, getting your favorite ride ready for the opening April cruising season, car owners were chomping at the bit to come up with legitimate reasons to cruise when the daffodils started to bloom. BANG, like a shot in the night, we started paying attention to those Facebook postings looking for any excuse, particularly birthday’s in need, that wanted a few classic cars to drive by and wave. Previously we’d see an occasional drive-by celebration on the evening news. These were usually well planned for that special day because it usually involved availability of community or business vehicles during the longest growth expansion our economy has ever experienced. Then COVID-19 came to our shores and everything shut down almost overnight. Streets were suddenly free from traffic congestion and many, who could, were now working from home or not working at all, having to apply for unemployment benefits or were retired with time on our hands. And, it was during this period that children were robbed of celebrating their milestone birthdays without their extended families or friends. Enter the shoutout, via Facebook, Twitter and numerous other social media sites for Birthday Drive-By celebrations. Instead of a dozen or so vehicles showing up to drive past the celebrant’s home, car owners were showing up by the dozens making these now one of the longest parades some communities have ever experienced. Police Departments, charged with maintaining order during scaled back traffic, were faced with preventing large unorganized gatherings from occurring and were having to put order into potential chaotic situations. The town of Dighton was faced with this when a little boy named Grant, who missed celebrating his two previous birthdays due to bone marrow transplant, was facing his milestone 5th birthday again without a celebration. Dighton Police Chief Robert MacDonald announced they would offer Happy Birthday Drive-By celebrations for Dighton kids age 13 and younger during the COVID-19 pandemic with three days’ notice. Only difference with 5 year old Grant is, that after his bone marrow transplant he was also made an honorary Dighton Fireman and also went to Florida to meet with his bone ,marrow donor. Grant’s parents, wanting him to have a special 5th birthday, reached out to the car community for a few Mustangs to join his birthday celebration because he is he crazy about Ford Mustangs. The big day came on Friday April 17 around 2 PM and the line of vehicles including dozens and dozens of Mustangs participating in the Drive-By celebration stretched from the Dighton Community Church parking lot starting point to the Grant’s home and looped back to the church, a 1 ½ mile loop with a constant stream of celebrants’ cars coming and going for about an hour. I posted the video from my dash mounted smart phone on YouTube and on our Mass Cruisers Facebook page. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=xkxj7OUtpOA&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1gYwIMNF1Llw2J0x2fyioFZBHJ-jOMSZXR7onE37QAZwBFcEZRXa9hOOU The day before, Thursday April 16, a similar 13th birthday Drive-By cruise was held for a Pawtucket, R.I. teen, Daniel Breault, whose dad passed away unexpected last year. Daniel’s aunt reached out on Facebook asking for a few custom cars to drive by their home for his birthday drive-by. Hundreds of cars lined up in three lanes at the nearby Pawtucket Red Sox McCoy Stadium to be dispatched at 4:45 PM and drive past the family’s home. In amongst the parade was Daniel’s older brother Jonathan driving their father’s custom car. These were two wonderful emotionally charged cruises that will be remembered for a lifetime, both by the birthday honoree and the participants helping celebrate their milestone birthdays.

Diane Thornton in line for Cruise-By

1.5 mile line of cars going to & coming from Grant’s

5 Year Old Grant waves to all the birthday Cruise-By cars

Cars waiting at the Dighton Community Church parking lot for Grant’s Cruise-By

Lines of cars queued at McCoy Stadium for Cruise-By

Monthly Crusin