Do you have a friend that has been thinking about joining AACA? Regions & Chapters, are you trying to recruit new members for your club? This is an excellent time to encourage new people to sign up for membership.

Beginning on June 1^st, AACA National Headquarters will process any new 2015 membership application as a � year membership. The � year membership includes the months June through December at a cost of only $18.00 ($23 for non-U.S. members).

The � year membership gives new members an opportunity to get a taste of AACA without paying the full year membership fee. Anyone that includes the yearly payment of $35.00 ($45 for non-U.S. members) with their new application will be refunded $17.00 ($22 for non-U.S. members). 

� year members are entitled to the following benefits:

• Members receive three bi-monthly issues of ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE magazine: July/August, Sept/Oct & Nov/Dec.
• Members are eligible to join an AACA region and/or chapter.
• Members can exhibit vehicles & compete for national prizes & annual awards.
• Members receive unlimited free admission to the AACA Museum.
• Members receive limited free research by the AACA Library & Research Center staff.

The � year membership is for first time new members only. It doesn't apply to current members that are late in paying their yearly dues or members that have left their membership lapse for a year or more and wish to reinstate their membership.

If you have any questions regarding the � year membership program, feel free to contact Karen White at AACA Headquarters at 717-534-1910 or kwhite@aaca.org.

Click here to download an AACA membership application.

AACA is once again partnering with Harris Connect Publishing Company to produce our 80th Anniversary Member Album. We did this project once before five years ago during our 75th Anniversary year.

The 80th Anniversary Member Album will feature a colorful gallery of photos, stories and valuable contact information for members. The publication will also celebrate the club's 80-year history of supporting and promoting the antique automobile hobby.

Harris Connect has already started sending out emails, postcards and making individual phone calls to AACA members. During these phone calls, Harris Connect will ask you to verify your name, your spouse/partner's name, your address, phone and email. They will ask for your chapter or region affiliation. They will also ask if you would like to list your business information. Members will be allowed to include a listing of up to 10 vehicles owned as well. Members will be encouraged to submit photos and short stories to be included in this special publication, too.

All current AACA members will be listed in the album. Being listed in the album in no way obligates you to purchase the album. Harris Connect will discuss with you on your call the various options, formats and costs for the album that are available. Again, there is no obligation to buy the album, but we can tell you that it will be a beautiful, historic AACA piece that you will most likely want to add to your current collection.

Harris Connect specializes in alumni and membership publications and the data specifications involved with this type of project. PLEASE take the time to participate in this special AACA project. The success of the album depends on YOU and your fellow AACA members. Without your participation, the album will be incomplete.

If you have already deleted the email or thrown out the postcard you received, or hung up on the phone call because you thought it might have been a scam, please take a few minutes to call the representatives at Harris Connect this week so they can update all of your information for the album.

TOLL FREE: 1-800-598-4395

Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Non-U.S. Members: USA Country Code (1) 757-965-8092

Monday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT-5)

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in making this publication a success. 

If you have already participated, thank you for your quick response and your help!

This summer, millions of friends, families and thrill seekers will participate in a ritual that our ancestors have done for more than century: take a road trip. Trips like these wouldn't be possible today without motels, highways and fast food restaurants, and those things wouldn't be a part of the landscape if not for one driving force: the automobile. The National Geographic Channel invites viewers to buckle in for DRIVING AMERICA, a two-hour ride through the social, political and economic impact of the automobile on America.

In 1773 - two years before Paul Revere proclaimed that the British were coming - inventor Oliver Evans proclaimed that he could build a steam-powered carriage. By 1805, he was driving the streets (and rivers!) of Philadelphia with it, America's first known automobile. From there it was off to the races, as a new industry, and a new obsession, was born.

"Cars, for Americans, more than anything else represent freedom," says Matt Hardigree, executive director of Jalopnik.com in the film. "It doesn't matter what you drive, you have the freedom to go wherever you want and do whatever you want, as long as you have the money for gas."

DRIVING AMERICA looks back at how car culture has changed the way we have lived, worked, traveled and socialized, through original interviews with journalists, car historians, automobile executives and general car enthusiasts. Among the fascinating stories they'll share:

• Architect Arthur Heineman added a new word to the American lexicon - motel - when he built a drive-up lodging establishment outside San Luis Obispo, California, that charged $1.50 for an overnight stay. The concept exploded, with neon motor courts soon dotting the highway.

• President Eisenhower's time in the Army's first transcontinental motor convoy in 1919 stretched on for 62 days on impassable roads. This experience no doubt inspired him to build the interstate highway system. In 1956, when ground was broken, it was the largest public works project in the history of the world: 41,000 miles and 50,000 bridges.

• During the very first Indy 500, engineer and race car driver Ray Harroun raced his way to victory when he ditched his riding mechanic, a person who rode in the car to warn of approaching traffic, and installed a mirror instead - a rearview mirror.

• In 1934, Adolph Hitler asked Ferdinand Porsche to design a German Model T. The result was the Volkswagen Beetle, which Germany made only a few of before World War II scrapped production. After the war, when the British army took control of the Volkswagen factory, they found the little bug-shaped cars, and an unexploded bomb. Thankfully the bomb was a dud, otherwise the world might never have known the VW Beetle (which was the most popular car in the world by 1972).

DRIVING AMERICA also looks into the future of the automobile industry, with potential game changers like Tesla's electric cars. Through it all, one thing is clear: from urban sprawl, to drive-in movies, to OJ's Bronco and Hot Wheels, the automobile's overwhelming impact on American society is as endless as the roads we've built to drive them on.

For more information on DRIVING AMERICA, click here.

The Redwood Empire Region will be hosting a wonderful tour, headquartering in Santa Rosa, California, in August of 2015. Stops include the World's Largest Petrified Forest and the Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga. The world-renowned Sonoma County coast promises to give you picture post card photographs. Jack London State Park is also on the tour. And, of course, wine tasting.

Check out our web site RERAACA.ORG or call AACA National at 717-534-1910 and request the tri-fold brochure and tour application.  

The Host Hotel is the Flamingo Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa. Call 800-848-8300 and mention the AACA for special room rates. 

 

 

       

Founders Tour

September 14-18, 2015

Northeast Ohio

Registration Begins: July 1

Registration Deadline: August 15  

Click here for brochure & registration form

Planning is complete for the 2015 Founder's Tour! The Canton and Meander Chapters of the Ohio Region have been busy planning and organizing a wonderful week of touring and look forward to hosting you September 13^th through the 19^th. Buckeye, Backroads and Buggy's is our theme and you'll enjoy all three and more.

We will be based out of Dover, Ohio, in the middle of small town Ohio with rolling picturesque countryside and right on the entrance to Ohio's Amish country. We have some very interesting stops and venues planned including local artisan shops, unique museums and collections, and you may even get up close and personal with the Goodyear blimp! Based on popular requests, we are also planning a "post tour" Saturday bus excursion to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Crawford Auto and Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Registration materials are now available from AACA National Headquarters.

You can request them by phone, email or click here to download them from the website.

If you love Italian cars the name of Pininfarina should ring a bell. Founded in 1930, Pininfarina has remained a staple in the world of coachbuilding. Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Ferrari are among a few of the big names associated with Pininfarina's clientele. The company was named after founder "Pinin" Farina, a man whose life story was every bit as legendary as his craft.

Born in 1893, his actual name was Battista Farina. As the youngest child in the family he was affectionately nicknamed Pinin, which translates to "baby of the family" in the Italian dialect of Piedmontese. Farina was raised in poverty - his family having to scrimp and save whatever they could to sustain themselves. From an early age, he learned how to be resourceful.

He also set his sights high and was driven to make his mark in the blossoming automotive industry. Farina was inspired by his older brother, Giovanni, who apprenticed with Italian coachbuilder Marcello Alessio. In fact, Pinin eventually became his brother's apprentice at age twelve. Together, they performed repairs on carriages and motor vehicles. 

By 1910, services grew to include coachbuilding and it was within this realm that Pinin Farina began to really shine. That same year, Pinin designed the body for the Fiat Zero; he was only seventeen. His reputation continued to grow and followed him "across the pond" when he visited the United States after World War I. Pinin was purportedly asked to work for Ford, but he declined and eventually returned home.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 1959

In 1930, Pinin left the family business to establish Carrozzeria Pinin Farina (later Carozzeria Pininfarina), his own coachbuilding enterprise in the city of Turin. Among Pinin Farina's significant early contributions to the industry were the inclined windscreen and horizontal grille, which inspired designers across the globe. Pinin himself also drew inspiration from other designers and jumped on the streamlining bandwagon in the late 1930s.

Before long, the company established a series of long-lasting partnerships with big-name auto manufacturers. 

One of the earliest of these was Lancia, but the list went on to include the likes of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and, by the 1950s, Ferrari. Projects with American companies followed

Ferrari 250 GT Coupe 1959

the success of the 1947 Cisitalia 202, whose aerodynamic styling helped influence the design of sports cars that followed. In recognition of its significance, the 202 went on display at the New York Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) 1951 exhibit, "Eight Automobiles." (It remains in the museum's permanent collection.)

Wisconsin-based Nash contracted Pinin Farina to design bodies for the 1952 Ambassador and Nash-Healey sports car, which went on to place first in its class at LeMans. Pinin Farina also went on to do coachwork for GM cars, such as the 1959 and 1960 model year Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Pinin Farina built 200 units during this time

Nash Healey 1954

before the Brougham was ultimately abandoned. Attempts were made to resurrect GM's interest in Pinin Farina's coachbuilding, such as the Cadillac Jacqueline concept car. Unveiled at the 1961 Paris Auto Show, its purpose was to illustrate how Farina styling could be adapted to the larger dimensions of American cars.

By then, Pinin Farina was a living legend, so much so that Italian President Giovanni Gronchi issued a decree in 1961 changing Farina's last name to Pininfarina. That same year, Battista Pininfarina gradually began handing over the reins to his son, Sergio and son-in-law, Renzo Carli. Five years later, he passed away at the age of seventy-two.

Battista Pininfarina was a trend setter who left an indelible mark on the automotive industry. When his company was founded in 1930, there were 90 employees and production totaled 42 units. By 1966, the factory employed 1,555 workers and production totaled 11,751 units.

Discover More:

If you are interested in learning more about Pininfarina, be sure to visit the library or give us a call. We have Michael Frostick's books, Pinin Farina: Master Coachbuilder and Pininfarina: Architect of Cars. Pininfarina is also just one of more than 200 different coachbuilders represented in our flat files, and the Dunwoodie archives contains files with period articles for more than 100 manufacturers.  

Central Spring Meet - Independence, MO

Click here for brochure

July 15-18, 2015

Southeastern Fall Meet - Louisville, KY

Click here for brochure

July 27-31, 2015

November 5-7, 2015

Central Fall Meet - Houma, LA

Click here to watch a special promotional video!