Current - December 2011 - Classic Chassis Car Clubs of Texas

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U p com I ng
e v e n t
What:
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Holiday Light Tour
When: Thurs. Dec. 15, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Starbucks, Highland Park Village
This year‘s Christmas Light Tour is through Highland Park. We will meet at the
Highland Park Village shopping center (southwest corner of Preston Road and
Mockingbird Lane) at 6:30 p.m. and begin our caravan from there. We can enjoy
a beverage at the Starbucks whilst we gather. I will have some Highland Park
maps with me (printed at 150%) but I would suggest at least one person in your
car have glasses or a magnifying glass. Assuming we begin our drive at 7:00, we
can meander through the streets for an hour, working our way south to the Armstrong/Preston/Oak Lawn 3-way where we will see the ―Million Dollar Monarch,‖
the 140+ years old pecan tree adorned in over 5,000 red, orange, blue, and green
lights!
From the Armstrong/Preston/Oak Lawn intersection, continue south on Oak
Lawn to Good Eats. We will meet there at 8:00 for dinner. Plenty of parking in the
rear.
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Re t ro s p e ct I v e
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Dinner Meetings
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R eT R O S P ECT I V E
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Great Vehicles
& Great Club
Members
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Classic Chassis Car club
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Wilson Auto Repair
3133 Saturn
Garland, Texas 75041
972-271-3579
PO Box 225463 Dallas TX 75222
www.classicchassis.com
214-446-0606
President: Tim Bunkley
scorpx5@yahoo.com
Vice-President: Terry Watson
Drtrw@aol.com
Treasurer: Art Darr
jettaart@att.net
www.wilsonauto.com
Classic Car Repairs and Restoration
Services Offered
214-228-7479
214-368-1625
We are also offering weekend tech sessions for clubs as well as individuals. If you like
to participate in a tech session, please call or email.
817-995-3983
Secretary: Robert Gamble ragam214-357-3759
ble@swbell.net
Activities Director:
Fred Burkle
972-484-0157
Membership Director:
H J Brice
214-803-2573
Advertising Coordinator:
Robert Gamble
ragamble@swbell.net
214-357-3759
Yahoo Groups Coordinator:
Bill Larke
BLDFW@yahoo.com
214-564-2049
Newsletter Editor:
Lee Arning LDAJR7@gmail.com
We have started a blog for your enjoyment.
http://wilsonautorepair.wordpress.com
214-289-5968
▪ Complete Frame-Off Restoration
▪ Classic Car Repair ▪ Tune Ups
D I s cla I m er
The President, Board of Directors, and Editor assume no responsibilities for
information contained herein, or for injury or damage resulting from use of
such information. Information herein will be used at the reader’s discretion
and risk. Neither contributors to the newsletter or the Editor express approval, authentication, or endorsement of the content.
▪ Brakes
▪ Electrical ▪ Power Tops
▪ AC Repair and Installation
▪Power Windows and Locks
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Christmas Corvette
By David Balcazo
Christmas with my family is always very special. There is one Christmas that was very special to me. The
year was 1960. I was still the only child and grandchild on both sides of the family
and the largest recipient of all the Christmas gifts.
As a child, nothing outweighs the rush that comes to you when you first lay your
eyes at all the presents under the Christmas tree and quickly do a mental inventory
of everything there. You first focus on big boxes and hope they have your name on
them. I was addicted to cars at a very young age. I have a photo of me sitting in
driver‘s seat in my uncle‘s brand new 1958 Corvette. Then, in 1960, I got my first
Corvette for Christmas. A beautiful red Corvette pedal car was parked by the
Christmas tree with a big red bow on it. My own Corvette! What a rush. This was
the best Christmas gift ever. Better than some silly BB gun that was made into a movie. Or other gifts such as
a red remote helicopter attached to a flexible cable and platform that only went in circles or an almost life size
chrome dashboard with a functioning steering wheel and horn that took up my parent‘s coffee table. After a
couple of weeks those other gifts just became a memory in my toy box. But my Corvette and I were inseparable.
Christmas in Chicago usually meant we had several feet of snow on the ground and I was not allowed to
take my Corvette outside until the following Spring. Therefore, I ―drove‖ my Corvette everywhere I could in
our three bedroom apartment. From my bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom to the living room and back.
(It wasn‘t a bad commute!) My parents hated the fact my Corvette could be found double parked in any of
those rooms and was always in the way. Finally, when Spring arrived, I was able to take my ‗Vette outside for
the first time and open her up as fast as my Fred Flintstone feet would move me. The wind in my face, the
speed of my feet, it was a great feeling. But as
fate would have it, my Corvette came to a final
end like many real Corvettes in Chicago: It was
stolen in the middle of the night! I guess I forgot
to put ‗The Club‘ on my steering wheel that night!
A couple of weeks later, it was found under the
porch of a house a couple blocks away and the
wheels were missing. For some reason my parents were not interested in retrieving or replacing
the car. I always wondered why.
It was not until many, many years later, I
would get that rush of owning a Corvette again.
This time it was my 40th birthday and it was a gorgeous torch red. This car had its own engine to
transport me and I could feel the wind in my face,
and this time with my favorite guy sitting right beside me. Life was good again.
[...and best of all, you can never out grow that
Corvette ! -Editor]
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Thanks to all for helping !
C c cc w O R K S T H E
L E AK E AU CT I O N !
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Homo for the Holidays
By Paul J. Williams
I can vividly remember seeing
all my relatives come over to the
house for Christmas, and my
brother and me being in the other
room making fun of everybody. Don‘t get me wrong, I certainly wasn‘t being disrespectful
or mean. You just must understand that my family tree sprouted
a large of amount of nuts, present
company included.
Take for example my grandmother and her sister. It was a
game to my brother and me to try
to decipher their conversations. It‘s not that they spoke another language, they just never
spoke about the same thing at the
same time. Grandma: ―My doctor has me on the most amazing new blood pressure medicine.‖
Aunt Clarine: ―I saw that movie on Saturday, but I didn‘t much care for it.‖
Then of course, there‘s my father who absolutely loves having people over for Christmas. You see, it
gives him a reason to pull out EVERY ornament and light we own (store-bought and homemade), and put
them up in every available space in the house. Coupled with the plethora of hand-made crafts hanging yearround, the house looks not unlike a Stuckey‘s having a pre-Christmas sale.
Then came the big Christmas meal. Mom would bring out her finest Wedgewood china and crystal to
serve a lunch that has historically taken on hereditary proportions. There‘s Grandpa‘s Ambrosia salad,
Grandma‘s potato salad, Mamaw‘s Banana-Nut cake, Aunt Ruby‘s dressing, and of course, Mother‘s mashed
potatoes. I, being the baby (which my mother is always quick to remind me of), was seated at the ―children‘s
table‖ eating NOT off of Wedgewood china, but rather off of Melmac that we‘ve had since Mary
Ann Mobley was Miss America.
My how times have changed. Or not.
Going home for Christmas today still has an air of ―over the river and through the trailer park‖ to it, but
some things are different. Dad STILL hangs up every light and ornament he can find, only now I get to accessorize with candles and bows so that the house looks something like Martha Stewart meets Lulu Roman. The
Wedgewood is chipped and there‘s not as much crystal as there used to be, but the Melmac burned up in a
horrible dishwasher accident. (I have NO idea who set the dishwasher on HIGH HEAT!) We‘re still eating
Grandpa‘s Ambrosia salad although he hasn‘t been around to make it since 1974.
And I remain at the children‘s table… teaching my niece and nephew how to laugh at the family I still love
so much.
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An XLT Christmas
By Brandon Boger
My automotive Christmas story spans three generations.
When my Granddad retired from truck driving he only wanted two things. One was a diamond ring, and
the other was a new truck. So while visiting from Indiana for Christmas on his birthday (December 24 th) he
and my dad went to purchase a new 1973 Ford F-100 Ranger XLT.
For whatever reason they could not close on the sale that day, and Granddad was leaving for home so he
later wired the money to my dad and had him purchase the truck on December 29th. My dad drove the truck
all winter and in the spring when my Grandfather came
to visit again he took it back to Southern Indiana with
him, where he enjoyed the truck for years.
When he became ill with lung cancer and was coming to the end of his life, he told my dad that he wanted
one last ride in his truck. So one of the last things he
and my dad did together was take a drive in his truck.
When he passed away the truck was left to my dad,
who drove the truck regularly all through my childhood. When my younger brother turned 16 the only vehicle
he wanted was the truck. So that became his first car, and just like me, with my Mustang, for many Christmases after that our presents were parts for our cars. I guess it made shopping easy on my parents.
The truck was given back to my dad who still has it and is currently restoring it back to its full glory in honor of my Grandfather.
STATE FARM Kathy Wall Agency
Check out our website: www.kathylwall.com
Office hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Sat by appointment
5600 W Lovers Lane, Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75209-4361
Business: 214-350-2692 Fax: 214-358-3163
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A Dashboard in the
Living Room
By Lee Arning
My love of cars started with my grandmother‘s ‘55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe (story in newsletter of
November 2010 –available at our website). So my parents knew what to get me for Christmas –cars! I
was privileged to have both of the toy dashboards pictured below (circa ages 4 and 6). So as a young
un‘, I could sit in a living room arm chair and have a dashboards balanced perfectly on the arms of the
chair—and I was ‗on the road‘ -no pretending needed!
[Note the toy on the left is called the Firebird 99, by Remco 1958-1962; to the right is the Playmobile
which was probably circa ‘62 -‘63. Does anyone else notice that these toymakers favored Ford Dashboard styles? They both featured radio controls, however the Playmobile was so realistic, that it even included four gages, push-button radio, heater controls, working wipers, dash lights (batteries required),
and an emergency brake release lever. Who needed the Christmas tree lights? I just sat behind the
glow of my Playmobile dashboard lights! It probably offered my parents hours of peace-on-earth, and
I’m sure they thought the money was well spent!]
When winter passed and the weather was good, I could leave the toy dashboard behind, and go into
the garage where I could sit at the wheel of my grandmother‘s ‘55 Bel Air, imagining which streets I was
driving down; that‘s the only reason I lost interest in toy dashboards –I had a REAL dashboard to play
behind (much less such that classic ‘55 –she bought it new and kept it until she died in 1990).
I‘ve always thought that it‘s cool to have your pride-n-joy car as close as possible. So when I was in
college making weekend junkyards trips looking for ‗upgrade‘ parts for my ‘68 Pontiac LeMans Convertible (i.e. the options it didn‘t come with as standard, have but should have had, such as power brakes,
tachometer, clock, rally and tilt steering –yes, we found them all), I‘d think ―…a good den should have a
wall-mounted dashboard from some classic, that would light up, and I‘d have the bar decanters set up on
top of the dash pad. Cool, right?
Well then I found this (continued next page).
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The
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Lincoln
Living Garage.
Yea! Architecture that
brings the beauty of a classic vehicle right into your
living space!
Now if that
isn‘t the pièce de résistance, then I‘m not a car
buff. Imagine having your
guests over with your pride
-and-joy right there to be
admired and talked about
throughout the event?
If you think about it, those of you who have been to Dr. Terry Watson‘s warehouse in Dallas (or his new
museum), know that he attained that goal: he created den/living spaces right next to his cars.
Irony: my
home is a one-car, attached garage home. The garage was converted to more living space (arguably done
so well, that you‘d never know it was once a garage). BUT, what if I covert it back to a garage some day? I‘d
leave the French doors that open into the former garage right where they are so they display a car. And I‘d
just about achieve the same thing I had when I was five years old –a dashboard in the living room !
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Bishop Arts District Cruise
By Fred Burkle
R ece nt
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ev e n t s
The Bishop Arts District held its First Thursday Cruise Night on November 3rd and CCCC not only participated again this year, we were the sponsor club!
We had an excellent showing of 30 cars and, in addition to other vehicles that participated, there were 42
beautiful collectible cars lining the streets. Many thanks go to Bryan Howell for once again coordinating the
event and reserving the parking spaces for our cars. I know several members started bringing their cars
down early in the afternoon to get those ―princess‖ spots. I brought my friend Mary Clements from work to
see the cars and meet everyone. Mary graciously prints the color copies of our Newsletter for me to give to
Robert Gamble for our advertisers. She really enjoys reading the Newsletter and was glad to meet so many
of the guys she has seen in pictures. Oh, and she liked the cars too… ha-ha.
By about 6:30, after everyone had parked and gotten situated, we gathered and walked over to Lockhart
Smokehouse BBQ for dinner. What an unusual dining experience - there are no plates at Lockhart. The
meats are sold by weight and wrapped in paper. Side items are sold in individual containers. You carry your
wrapped meat and side items to a table, spread out and enjoy your meal. They DO have plastic flatware so
you don‘t have to eat like a cave man. (Was that not PC? Whatever…). The BBQ was delicious! After dinner, we strolled in and out of the shops and looked at the cars. It was a perfect fall evening and everyone enjoyed themselves. Thank you to all the club members who participated. It was a successful event.
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1936 Buick
A Chapter of
Lambda Car Club International
PO BOX 225463 DALLAS, TX 75222
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