Mass Cruisers Auto Club Crusin’ at the speed of fun Big trucks require a big picture and an extra wheel. Owner David Towle is just the guy to drive it. Page 4.
Check out the steering wheel on this 88. Page 5.
Jay tries to get Bob and Sal to buy a copy of his book, Route 66, The People—The Places—The Dream.
We’re on the Web
Celebrating 25 years of Cruisin’ October 2016
Volume 26 Issue 10
www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
MONTHLY CRUISIN
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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 located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the police station. For more information please call: 781 551-0520. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the
Mass Cruisers Auto Club are welcome 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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September 29th Cruise winner: 1941 General Motors CC352 Cab and 5th Wheel October 13th Cruise winner: 1951 Oldsmobile 88
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Club Officers President– John Buchanan Vice President—Diane Thornton Secretary—Patrick Touhey
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Treasurer—Wayne Lestan
October 19th Guest Speaker Bob Walton
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Webmaster—Steve Vining
October 19th Guest Speaker Bob Walton (continued)
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Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier
Jay Leno @ the Ziterion in New Bedford
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Crusers Camera Corner ----------------Armando Passes Check to Wrentham Development Ctr. November Events
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contact the newseditor@masscruicers.com for information about newsletter advertising options
Facebook Admin. – Patrick Touhey New Member Liaison—Don Cole Sgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor & John Sturniolo Charity Coordination – Frank Bryant By-Laws – Roy Rossman MAAC Representative— John Buchanan
Special Events Cruise Night—Steve Huntington Car Show—Rich Armando Club Events Calendar – (open)
Monthly Cruisin
Presidental Emissions
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Its
that time of year for the Presidential election. Not that Hillary vs. Trump brouhaha, but the Mass Cruisers 2017 Presidential election. My own Presidential and madam Vice-Presidential Diane Thornton’s two year terms end December 31 and, unlike many car clubs that have difficulty finding someone to step up and take over the reins of these two leadership positions, our club solved that problem 25 years ago with a bi-law, Article V Section 3, that imposes two-year term limits for these two positions. As a result we have many ex club Presidents and Vice-Presidents in our membership. With that in mind, I asked former club Presidents Lou Valentine, Larry Nyborn, Steve Huntington and Fred Tierney to be the nominating committee and present the slate of candidates for the elected positions of President, Vice President, Secretary & Treasury at our November 15 monthly meeting. Voting for these positions will be held at our December 20 monthly meeting. If you do have an interest in any of these positions, contact any of the nominating committee members. To be a qualifying candidate for any of the elected positions you must be a club member for 1 year before running. Also, 2017 membership dues are due no later than December 1, so plan on bringing your annual 2017 $80 dues payment to the Nov. 8 Business Meeting or Nov. 15 Monthly Meeting at our Norfolk clubhouse or, if you can’t make either of these meetings mail it to our P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093. Payment of your 2017 membership dues is required for eligibility to vote at the Dec. 20 election meeting as well as attendance at the 2017 Annual Anniversary Party. On the subject of our annual Anniversary Party, this year we separated our 25 th Annual celebration from the tradition of combining it with the formal recognition in January of outgoing officers, new members and introduction of your new officers. Having our anniversary celebration later in the new year as a primarily social event and conducting the January business of installation of officers as an offsite buffet gathering is a new tradition that we should continue for the future. I have already been getting suggestions for the 2017 Anniversary Party and that is one event that we can discuss at our Nov. 8 business meeting as well. We’ve kicked off our fall monthly meetings with guest speaker Bob Walton, one half of the “Route 66 Cadillac Guys” team, who gave us an excellent presentation of his and his buddy Sal Santoro’s Route 66 “bucket list” trip in Bob’s 1968 Cadillac Deville Convertible. A great presentation, by the way. Our November 15 guest speaker will be Dave Wilson, author of “Give Me A Brake”, who will explain the near universal deficiency of the braking systems in nearly all cars on the road today. Some of our club members met and talked with Dave at the July 17 Waushakum Live Steamers event which resulted in Patrick Touhey inviting him to be a guest speaker at one of our fall meetings. If you have an interesting guest speaker for our upcoming winter meetings, let us know so that a scheduled date can be arranged. One suggested guest speaker and visit is to our next door neighbor Gary Powers’ collection of antique gaming equipment and memorabilia. It’s been 10 years since we’ve done that and it’s something our newer club members have yet to see and experience and for us that were there 10 years ago, get to see how his collection has changed since then. You just never know what you’ll find on the other side of the wall, around the corner or down the road from our clubhouse.
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2016 September 29th Cruise Winner
1941 General Motors CC 352 Cab & 5th Wheel I don’t believe we’ve had a vintage flatbed trailer truck at our cruise before so when David Towle drove his restored and recently finished 1941 General Motors CC 352 Cab hitched to a 5th Wheel Lapier Flatbed Trailer into our Sept. 29 cruise heads were, not only turning at this spectacular looking truck, it also drew a constant stream of curious gearheads after it parked up against the Route 1 berm between Lots 14 & 16. The big attraction was not as much about eyeballing the restoration, which was great, but to see how its amazing mechanical 5th wheel latch and rail system is operated using a two lever system from inside the cab. Everyone was commenting, “I’ve never seen one of these before!”
The truck’s history was interesting as well. It has S/N 11 on the tag and was purchased and put into service by the Newel Coal & Lumber Company in Pawtucket, RI hauling lumber from the Providence shipyard daily to their Pawtucket yard. This was a heavily used work truck back in the day. David’s father, David Towle Sr., bought it in 1970 and tucked it away until 2005 when it became a father & son restoration project. David’s dad’s health deteriorated and he passed away this past May and, although they had completed all the mechanical restoration, it still needed to be painted and upholstered so he turned it over to Al Thurber in Pawtucket to finish. By the way, Al Thurber is the builder, driver and former owner of the famous 1985 Monster Truck “Godzilla”. The rear of the GM truck’s cab now has the tribute to David Towle Sr. painted on it. The original Newel Coal & Lumber porcelain signs were attached to the trailer’s stake body side panels to recognize its authentic origin. If you missed seeing it because of the questionable weather forecast for the Sept. 29 cruise, Dave promises to bring it back when time away from his excavating business allows.
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2016 October 13th Cruise Winner 1951 Oldsmobile 88
Fran Barboza’s hubby Vic bought a 1951 Texas Oldsmobile 88 Convertible in 2005. Vic loves Oldsmobile’s. Three of his five Oldsmobile’s were parked at the cruise tonight, the two 1952’s parked next to Fran’s ’51 cruise winner are Vic’s. Vic restored all of his cars and the next one on his to-do list is a 1949 Club Coupe. After all of Vic’s other projects started to wind down in 2010, he began working on the convertible with his fellow Olds buddy Joe Domingos and few other of his Joe kibitzer buddies that hang around his Swansea, MA barn/workshop. The end result was a stunning looking 1951 Olds, but, because he wanted it to be an exceptional driver for Fran, there are a few other non-stock 1951 features. The first is the eye catching candy apple red paint finish. I suppose that color red is a stunning safety feature so that inattentive drivers won’t miss seeing it. Next is the 455 V8 engine coupled with a 700 R4 tranny with rack & pinion steering and custom tan leather interior to make this a comfortable highway cruiser. Purists might also note that the center grill piece on the front bumper is a 1952 feature and those hubcaps are 1956 Oldsmobile Fiesta’s, a popular one year design that custom car owners prefer. But, look in the driver side cabin and you’ll notice the 1951 optioned self-winding clock mounted on the steering wheel yoke, a rare and unique feature on this Oldsmobile. The car, however, was meant to be driven by Fran, yet she prefers to ride on the passenger side and let Vic do the driving. While the Olds has been collecting awards wherever Fran & Vic show it since putting her on the road in 2016, it took best open car honors at the Seekonk Speedway Show & Go weekend in April, it had been the #2 pick the few times they drove it to the Bass Pro Shops cruises, so it was about time that it finally came in as the top pick tonight. Congratulations Fran on having a winner on two accounts, the ’51 Olds convertible of course, and Vic who took the time to build it for you.
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2016 October 19 Guest Speaker Bob Walton (Google “Jay Leno’s Book Club – Route 66” for Jay Leno’s interview with Sal & Bob) Last year after the 2015 Daytona Turkey Run, Jack Lane and I went to Rick Treworgy’s Muscle City Car Museum in Punta Gorda, FL; a great museum to see all those muscle era Chevy’s & Corvettes. On the book shelf in the gift shop I found a picture book called “Route 66” THE PEOPLE – THE PLACES - DREAM and it was autographed by the authors, Sal Santoro & Bob Walton. My son Jim and I had just finished our own Route 66 adventure to California that September in my ‘61 Impala so I bought the book and discovered they had experienced a lot more of Route 66 than we had, but also learned they took 38 days to explore and return home to New Jersey and we only had only 15 days for our own round trip adventure, including breakdowns. These two retired guys, who called themselves “The Route 66 Cadillac Guys, LLC”, had done the whole shebang in Bob’s 1968 Cadillac Deville Convertible that he calls “Big Red” and they put together a beautifully photographed and documented 260 page book of their adventure. Fast forward to one of our 2016 spring Bass Pro Shops cruises. I had just finished taking my usual 200 or so photos at the cruise and pulled out my folding chair to sit and relax behind my Chevy and next to a man who was also sitting In a folding chair behind his red Cadillac. We chatted, and although it didn’t strike me at first, we started relating each other’s experiences driving these old cars on cross country trips like Route 66, POW, it hit me! I am looking at his ’68 Deville and it dawns on me that this must be one of the Route 66 Cadillac Guys and that was his car. What was he doing at our Bass Pro Shops Cruise? He’s from New Jersey. After a more formal introduction by Bob after admitting that he was the co-author of the book that he and his buddy Sal published and, that was “Big Red” parked in front of him and, that he and his wife Sharon had recently moved to Mansfield, MA to be closer to their daughter and family who now live in Easton. Needless to say Bob became a Bass Pro Shops cruise regular this year and he usually pops open the ’68 Caddy hood to prop one of his “Route 66 Guys” book promotional signs over the engine bay that prominently features their picture with Jay Leno. Bob founded the Northern New Jersey Cadillac Club where he met and hooked up with Sal Santoro for their Route 66 road trip. After moving to Massachusetts he joined the New England Region Cadillac LaSalle Car Club after moving to Massachusetts and started to enjoy the local cruise and car show scene.
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2016 October 19 Guest Speaker Bob Walton Bob offered to do his promotional tour presentation slide show that he and Sal created to sell the 2,500 printed and autographed books at one of our monthly meetings and our October 19 meeting was the day. They had taken over 7,000 digital photos on their 4,800 mile Route 66 drive. Now you purists will say Route 66 on its longest leg is only 2,451 miles from Chicago to LA (Santa Monica) but, because there were route changes over the years from when the highway was first strung together in 1927, they would travel each of the different alignments, sometimes zig zagging back and forth several times through some cities and towns. They left no pot-hole unturned. Bob culled out some 44 photos for his presentation which he uses to highlight more than a dozen aspects of Route 66 culture and lore that he and Sal experienced; ‘50’s Places, Murals, Roadway, Animals, Drive-In Theaters, Historic Sites, Oversized Objects, Gas Stations, People’s Passions, Unusual Hotels, Weather, Signs, Surprises and Highlights. The idea for publishing a book came about from suggestions by fellow car buddies and friends when they were shown all the photos they had amassed. “You’ve got enough photos to publish a great book on Route 66.” Had Bob & Sal had an inkling of what putting together a photo book and selling it was like, they probably wouldn’t have done it. But they did, and when Jay Leno read the two copies they sent to him, he called them to say he was selecting it for his book club and then invited them out to LA to spend a day with him in his garage, lunch and all, followed by attending his Tonight Show taping as Jay’s special guests which included another personal visit in the Green Room after the show. It was Jay’s endorsement of their book that helped open doors, like the Muscle City Car Museum gift shop, to sell out their 2,500 copies. Unfortunately, the book sold out and is no longer in print, but you can find used ones offered on Amazon from $200 (originally cost $34.95). Amazon has 4 available, and has 8 customer 5 star reviews. Did they make any money on the book, NO! Was it worth it? Bob asks, how much would you have paid to spend a whole day with Jay Leno in his garage and have him make lunch for you, endorse and interview you for your first book and then be his special guests at one of his final Tonight Show tapings? PRICELESS for any car guy!! Bob did an excellent job sharing his Route 66 bucket list adventure with us. (Google “Jay Leno’s Book Club – Route 66” for Jay’s interview with Sal & Bob) And, for those of us that have travelled Route 66 like Jack Lane many times, myself in 2015 and this year, Wayne Lestan, we learned about a lot of different sights and experiences that we missed and would want to go back and do over. My own would be to go back and take the northern New Mexico Route 66 loop through Santa Fe & Taos to meet up with Willie Lambert again who has been spending his retirement years documenting every 0.1 mile of Route 66 in New Mexico with photos and hand drawn maps. I met Willie at breakfast in Gallup New Mexico on the Southern Route. Willie epitomizes the lengths some Route 66 enthusiasts will go to share their Route 66 experience with fellow travelers. Bob and his buddy Sal have done the same by publishing their Route 66 book which has now become a rare collectible but continues to generate excitement for others who will want to add the “Mother Road” to their own bucket list. Thank you Bob for a great presentation and sharing of your adventure in “Big Red” with your buddy Sal.
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Jay Leno at the Ziterion in New Bedford Jay Leno is back doing standup tours across the country this year and into 2017 and on Sunday Oct. 24 he was at the Ziterion in New Bedford. He’ll be appearing at the Mohegan Sun Dec. 31 if you want to catch him there for your New Years celebration. Joe Jesus, who organizes the New Bedford Downtown ‘50’s night, asked our annual P-Town cruise co-organizer Bob Bramwell if he could round up a half dozen nice classic cars & hot rods to display out front of the Ziterion before Jay’s 7:00 PM show. Bob complied and I was sent a few photos that tie in with this past month’s club events. The first one is a photo of Jay Leno looking over Fran Barboza’s 1951 Oldsmobile convertible that was selected for our October 13 Bass Pro Shops Cruiser Award and the other is of Bob Walton, our October 18 guest speaker, with Jay who finally got to personally eyeball Bob’s 1968 Cadillac Deville Convertible that was featured in the Route 66 Cadillac Guys book. I’ve also included a picture of Jay posing, from right to left, with Bob Bramwell, Joe Jesus & 100 year old “Fast Eddie” Beaulieu.
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Cruisers Camera Corner By Steve Huntington Cruiser Steve Huntington stopped by Hemmings Motor News recently and took these pictures while there to share with the rest of us less fortunate. We would like to see more cruisers follow Steve’s lead by sending in pictures for the newsletter of recent or past auto-related pictures for the rest of us (and everyone who receives a copy) to enjoy. Don’t be shy. If you don’t enlighten the rest of us with your trips and adventures then I’ll be forced to fill this page with pictures of trips to the dump in my old driverquality rods. Photos. Above left, Hemmings Shop in Bennington, Vermont; Left, Bantum; below, Hemming’s very familiar Hudson Panel truck.
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Armando Passes Check 2016 AutoFest Car Show Chairman Rich Armando presents this year’s donation to Tony Marano, Director of Volunteer Services and Special Projects at the Wrentham Development Center. Tony described how these annual donated funds are used for program expenses that are not covered by the state. It’s events like our Annual AutoFest Car Show and the town’s annual Crackerbarrel Fair that help bring the Center’s residents and Wrentham community together.
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November 2016
Last Page
Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.
The other day a not so elderly lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy. He looked at her and he asked: "What the heck is a Jalopy?�
She knew she was old but not that old.
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093