You don't want to miss out on all of the AACA fun in store for this year, including 15 great Meets and Tours, 6 awesome issues of Antique Automobile magazine and tons of fun celebrating the hobby! 

Renewing your membership only takes 5 minutes and can be done one of three ways...

• Renew online - fill out the secure online form and pay with your credit card
• Renew by mail - fill out the form that came with your January/February issue of Antique Automobile magazine, provide payment in the form of a check made out to AACA or your credit card information and then mail it to AACA, 501 W. Governor Rd., Hershey, PA 17033
• Renew by phone - call AACA Headquarters (717-534-1910) and any of the staff here would be happy to take your renewal over the phone with credit card payment (office hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) 

By: Linda Pellerin, Meet Chairperson

Eastern Spring Meet

April 30 - May 2, 2015

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Registration deadline: April 11, 2015

Click here for brochure

The Tidewater Region members are getting excited about the upcoming Meet we are hosting from April 30 - May 2. I want to give members a highlight of the activities that are planned.

There will be a special car coming from Greensboro, VT, to compete for its First Junior. What's interesting is the fact that this 1909 Packard Model 18 Runabout was purchased new by a Norfolk resident, Mr. Sloane, and remained in that family until 1953 when Thomas E. Moody, a charter member and founder of the AACA Tidewater Region, purchased the car. The Region was established two years later, in 1955. Tommy never completed the restoration and at his passing the car was sold to Mr. Kirwin, who toured extensively with the car for a number of years. At the passing of Mr. Kirwin, Bill Alley purchased the Packard and immediately began the restoration process. Many of our members remember the car and are excited to see it again.

The Meet will be held at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. This is one of the top tourist destinations for people visiting the area. There are over 60 WWI and WWII restored operational War Birds located at the Meet site. In addition to the aircraft there are two vintage hangars that were disassembled, one in Germany and one in England, and transported to the museum site and re-assembled to store the planes that once occupied these hangars.

There will be a driving tour to visit one of Tidewater's member's private collection of exotic vintage race and muscle cars. He has also opened his machine and restoration shops, Abacus Racing, for your viewing pleasure.

On Thursday there will be a Ladies Vintage Fashion Show and Luncheon. Some of our Region ladies have volunteered to model some of their favorite vintage clothing.

On Friday there will be a tour of the Navy Master Jet Base at Oceana, where the largest group of F/A18 Hornets and Super Hornets call home. We will tour along the Flight Line and see daily operations training taking place. We hope to have another surprise experience that can't be confirmed at this time. So, as you can see there is something for everyone, so make your plans to come to the beach for the Eastern Spring Meet.

The Crossroads of America Region and the 

national club once again join together to host the most unique event in the Midwest! The list of free amenities goes on and on and includes free motorhome parking, free trailer parking, free admission and bidders' passes to the Auctions America Spring Auction. Special this year is a free commemorative plate with a unique number. Plates are only guaranteed to the first 300 entrants, so register NOW!

Auburn is a unique venue as everything is self-contained at the site including the final banquet. World-class BBQ will be served once again! Many unique sights to see along with discounts at all the great car museums in Auburn.

Let's show AACA that the Midwest is alive and well and have a huge turnout this year. 

Here at the library, we always look forward to sorting through and cataloging donated material. For one, donations from folks like you is what helps make our collection so diverse and rich. This process also allows us to learn a lot about a wide range of cars, some of which we may have never heard of before. Such was the case when I came across sixteen pieces of pre-war Voisin sales literature. Having never laid eyes on cars from this French manufacturer, I was inspired to dig through our collection and share with you its history.

Long before there was a Voisin car, brothers Gabriel and Charles Voisin (born in 1880 & 1882, respectively) had a reputation for being tinkerers. One of their earliest projects was a small boat they converted into a steamer. They built their first car in 1899, but their first major success was in the realm of aviation. In 1907, they constructed a plane which flew a distance of 80 yards. Unlike the Wright Flyer that flew before it, the Voisin brothers' aircraft took off under its own power. Thus, Gabriel Voisin argued until his death that they had created the first true airplane.

Seven short years later, Europe found itself in the grip of the First World War. The conflict ushered in the modern age of warfare, including the birth of aerial combat. When the French government sought to build its fleet, they not only looked to Voisin for help, they also contracted other manufacturers to build Voisin's designs. By the war's end, the Voisin factory had churned out more than 10,700 biplanes, making Gabriel Voisin a very rich man. Sadly, his brother Charles would never know of this success, as he was tragically killed in a car accident in 1912.

When the war ended, the demand for airplanes wound down. In an effort to remain a profitable enterprise, Voisin would branch out into other industries. He experimented with making prefabricated homes and motors for bicycles, but automobile production would soon supersede both. The first such Voisin car was the C1, which debuted in 1919. It was powered by a 75 hp, 4 cylinder inline sleeve valve engine based on the mechanics of the Knight engine. While sleeve valve engines were more expensive to manufacture, Voisin continued using them in his cars while in control of the company.

The C1 sold relatively well during its production run from 1919 through 1921. In the mid-twenties coachbuilders began using dihedral angles in Voisin body designs, creating an appearance that set them apart from the competition. They were a favorite of the rich and famous. Science fiction author H.G. Wells owned a Voisin, and silent film star Rudolph "The Sheik" Valentino owned three.

Despite the car's notoriety, Voisin appeared to have a love-hate relationship with his craft. He disliked flashy advertising and was particularly critical of the motoring public at large, feeling people were more interested in appearance over functionality and efficiency. He even went so far as to express his opinions in the very sales literature that advertised his vehicles. In the preface to one of his 1925 catalogs, Voisin lamented:

When a customer, in the year 1924, indulges in the purchase of a motor-car, he is chiefly concerned with what he calls "the aesthetics" of his car. These "aesthetics" are accompanied, more often than not, by fundamental mechanical errors, and we have rarely succeeded, even in the case of personal friends, in getting ideas accepted which seem to us obvious for the future.

The irony of Voisin's statement was that the very catalog it was in also drew upon the type of gimmicky advertising he despised. The cover and 4 plates inside featured 3D images of Voisin cars, which were viewable with red and blue lensed glasses.   

When the Great Depression reared its ugly head in 1929 the demand for luxury cars quickly diminished, and Voisin was hit especially hard. By 1931, Gabriel Voisin had lost most of the fortune he had worked so hard to earn, and his business was taken over. While he regained control in 1934 it was short-lived, as he lost it again in 1937 to a financial consortium. The final car to bear Voisin's name was the Spanish-built Biscuter microcar of the 1950s and 1960s; it was an unusual end for an unusual company. 

Discover More:

The story of Gabriel Voisin and his cars comes to life through the library's collection of Voisin sales literature and articles from period trade journals. We also have the Mullin Automotive Museum's book, Vitesse - �l�gance, which features ninety-one pages of information on the subject. All of these materials and more are available for research at the library. To find out more, feel free to contact us or pay us a visit. We'd love to hear from you!

For nearly 50 years, Motorbooks has embraced the gearhead life. If it has wheels, they dig it. Wrench, Race, Ride, Roll, Read: that's their mantra. Alongside publishing its own titles, Motorbooks continues to offer the best books from other premier transportation publishers as well.

Here's how to take advantage of this great new member benefit:

• Visit www.motorbooks.com (you can also shop at www.QBookshop.com).
• Browse and shop for the books you want - make sure to add them to your shopping cart.
• Ready to check out? Use the discount code AACA to get 40% off your purchases.

Enjoy your new books!

 *Shop Manuals

Check back often, as we will continue to add new items throughout the year!

For more information, contact our Library Assistant,

Matthew Hocker at mhocker@aacalibrary.org or 717-534-2082. 

Click here for brochure

November 5-7, 2015

Central Fall Meet - Houma, LA

Click here to watch a special promotional video!