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The Touring Club


Event Schedule
Pierce

 

2012

 

Feb. 9-11, Annual Membership Meeting, Punta Gorda, FL

 

May 13-17, Muscle Car Tour, Branson, MO 

 

Jun. 17-22, One & Two Cylinder Tour , Jugville, MI 

 

Jun. 21-25, Chrome Glidden Tour, Billings, MT  

 

Jul. 15-20, Heritage Tour, Homestead, IA  

 

Oct. 21-26, 67th AAA Glidden Tour, Brenham, TX 

 

Underlined items are direct links to registration information. 

 

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Newsletter of The Veteran Motor Car Club of America

November, 2011

The Touring Chronicle

 

Touring Chronicle Gets a Nice Review in Old Cars Weekly

Gerald Perschbacher, author of the Club Clips column in Old Cars Weekly, gave us a nice review in recent issue. He mentions that our interest is primarily touring and that the newsletter reflects that emphasis. He also had favorable comments about our recent Western National Tour in Laramie.  Actually, Old Cars Weekly has always been supportive of VMCCA and has given us positive PR many times.  If you don't already, think about subscribing.         

Regional Tour, Brenham, TX, Oct. 21-23   

Tales from the "Sneak Preview" Texoma Region Tour held mid October, 2011

 

2012 will be a big year for touring in Texas as the Glidden returns after 18 years! The tour will be located in Brenham, Texas October 21 - 26, 2012. Lots of preparation has already been completed and we thought a sneak preview region tour would provide a "hint" of flavor of the big tour. We chose the same dates, the same weather, the same town, the same food, some of the same roads, a couple of the places to visit, and then asked for suggestions. 58 folks agreed we were on the right track! They loved the back roads, the scenery, the slow pace, the food, etc. We did get some great feedback for ideas for next year.

Steve Mergele's 1911 Kissel
 

 The "Sneak Preview" Tour attracted 28 cars ranging from a 1911 Kissel Kar to a 1982 Cadillac! There were 58 folks mostly from Texas with the exception of Bob and Luci Bently from Alabama who had hosted a Glidden several years ago. We were particularly interested in their thoughts regarding our progress. All the Texas chapters were represented with the largest groups from the West Texas Oil Burners and Bexar Touring from San Antonio. The cars performed well with only a couple of minor problems. I never had to trailer a car the entire tour.

A few of the tour cars
 

The tour took us over the Washington County countryside on roads with practically no traffic. The scenery was spectacular, although the drought has had a significant influence on our beautiful countryside. We made stops at the Burton Cotton Gin which is home to a 1925 Bessemer Diesel Engine. The restored 16 ton engine is the largest internal combustion engine of it's vintage still operating in America. The engine continues to gin and bale cotton every spring. We also made a stop at the 1896 jail in Bellville, TX where the hangman's noose still is attached to the 3rd floor gallows!

Debbie Mergele in jail
 

Pat and I have a theory that if a tour is fed every 2 hours, any mistakes are long forgotten. True to form, we sampled local home cooking and baking and everyone finished fat and happy! In addition to three fine local establishments, we had supper at the Brenham Cannery --- a faith mission kitchen which provided a great meal and the tour helped support local effort.

Let's Eat!
 

The highlight was an exhibition barrel race performed by 12 of the Glidden Wranglerettes. Each girl was introduced by head Wranglerette, Katy Peterson and then the contestant showed the crowd how to barrel race as well as pole bend. The cowgirls were western dressed with hats, long sleeve shirts and boots and made a terrific hit with the crowd. In addition to the barrel race, the girls practiced parking the cars as they came up the road and parked near Pat's arena.

Pat Crandall barrel racing
 

We are looking forward to seeing each and every one of you at next year's Glidden ---- "The Great Texas Trail Drive". There will be a western flavor throughout the tour with great back roads and little traffic. The tour is being designed to be Model T and Brass Car friendly. In fact, we made a decision that all Model T and Brass

June Prade and her Model T
 

Cars will have preferred front row parking at each stop throughout the week! So, remember ----- you bring your boots and jeans and we'll provide the hat

 

Pat and Jamie

 

Concours d'Elegance of America    

Not long ago I received a surprise package in the mail from Rick Donahue. Rick, you will recall, is the author of Donahue's Dandies in The Bulb Horn.

 

The package contained, among other things, a stack of cd's containing hundreds of pictures Rick had taken at various events during the year. Rick lives in Cincinnati but travels to all the big events within reasonable distances.

 

One of the most important was the Concours d'Elegance of America in Plymouth, MI held last July. This event was formerly known as the Meadowbrook Concours before a recent change of venue. So have a look at a few of the great vehicles on display.

1914 Packard Model 48
1931 Cadillac V-12 Phaeton by Fleetwood
1938 Mercedes Benz 540K Special Tourer
1911 Thomas Flyer 6-70 K


New Feature! The Touring Chronicle Archive 

We are now several issues down the road in publishing The Touring Chronicle so I thought it time that we had an archive to make back issues available. The archive is an on-line site where all published issues of the Touring Chronicle can be seen.

 

You can find that article or picture you remember or replay that video. Perhaps the best use of the archive is to give prospective members a taste of what we do and who we are.

 

Check it out. There is a live link in the Quick Links section on the left.

Whatsit?

Do you know what it is? See answer below. 

 54 Kaiser Darrin

Here is one you don't see every day

   

 
Jeremy drives the smallest car in the world at the BBC - Top Gear - autos 
Limited garage space? Like small cars?
 
 
Photo Site - See Link in Quick Links

The Photo Site is one I created primarily for my local chapter, although many VMCCA members from other areas now visit it. It covers all the local, regional, and national events that I attend. Obviously, I cannot attend everything but I would like this to become a site for photos from all our regions and chapters.

 

So, who has photos from any of this years tours? I would love to share them with everyone. Send them to me!  

Fall Color
N. Colorado Chapter Color Tour, Rocky Mt. National Park
 
Join the VMCCA page on Facebook!

Facebook has become an extremely popular social networking site, reportedly having more than 500,000,000 users. That is something like one in fifteen people on the planet! There is no doubt that it is a great tool for keeping in touch with people and organizations in a way that was undreamed of and impossible just a few short years ago.

 

facebook vmcca

We try to keep up with the times so we have created a VMCCA page within Facebook. Join! Contribute! Make it a forum for all things VMCCA. Click on the "Find us on Facebook" box below. Then click Like!

Contact your editor with content ideas, feedback, or suggestions at [email protected].

Dennis Holland

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4200 Wellington Dr.

Fort Collins, CO 80526

 

Glidden, Holland MI

   

Whatsit answer: 1954 Kaiser Darrin