March 2014

Contact Information: online at www.clutchchatter.org or call Steve Walker, President (916) 833-­‐6111 !
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Steve Walker, President, Regional Group No. 4 !
2014 is really starting off with a bang for the Sacramento Regional Group. Our February meeting was one of the best attended in a long time and Autorama was a resounding success. !
Ted Robinson, the author of Water In My Veins, The Pauper Who Helped Save A President, spoke with us about his time in WWII and with JFK. His Iirsthand accounts of the war in the PaciIic and of PT boats and JFK were fascinating. !
Autorama went off better than we could have hoped for. It has now grown to where it takes up all of the buildings Cal Expo. As expected, there were many spectacular cars. We got one of the best spots in the Pavilion, which for the weekend was the club house. We had eleven cars on display. Several of the clubs awarded trophies to their clubs favorite car displayed by another club. We chose a beautiful black ’33 Ford Coupe, owned by Bob Taylor of the Burgiemen Car Club. The only car club I know of named after a beer. !
At our next meeting Bruce Woodward is going to do a video presentation of the Hot Rod Hill Climb in Georgetown, Colorado and The Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood, New Jersey. Bruce attended both last summer and has lots of great pictures showing lots of Ilatheads. The meeting will be Wednesday, March 5th at 7:30. Don’t miss it!
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MARCH GENERAL MEETING !
Be sure to come to the March 5th General Meeting, to be held at the usual location at the Sheriff’s substation at 2500 Marconi Avenue, Sacramento. !
Bruce Woodward will give a presentation on the two best events of 2013 that featured traditional hotrods. Both were open to “period correct” hotrods of pre 1954 style. Most of the cars were powered by Henry’s V8, with the remainder powered largely by Model B and A engines. Both races are gaining legendary status as the places to have been last year. Come and see what happened, and then start planning for this year’s roadtrips! Race of Gentlemen Wildwoods, NJ !
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Hot Rod Hill Climb Georgetown, CO AUTORAMA By Your Intrepid Roving Reporter, Bruce Woodward !
For the Iirst time, the Sacramento Regional Group participated as a club in the 64th Sacramento Autorama. It is one of the longest running indoor car shows. The buildings at Cal Expo were Iilled with spectacular cars and trucks of all descriptions. !
Our cars were in what was called the c a r c l u b p av i l i o n , wh i c h wa s sponsored by the Association of Page 2
California Car Clubs. The building was large and many clubs participated. Our display included 11 vehicles. The cars were lined up in a row along a wall. We were near the main entrance, so we got a lot of foot trafIic. The old V8s seemed to get a lot of a t t e n t i o n . I t w a s i n t e r e s t i n g t o w a t c h p e o p l e a n d s e e wh a t caught their attention. T h e y w o u l d w a l k b y several of the cars and then one would cause them to stop. They would study the car like it was a science project, and then walk past the rest of the display. !
As we were new to the ways of the show, we learned several things. The Iirst was that every year a theme is chosen. Some of the clubs incorporated the theme into their set up for the show. Now that we know about this, the next time we can be better prepared to organize a display. We found out that an award is given for the best club display. Several members said next year we will win the award! Another thing is that some of the clubs have started to give an award for a car that is their favorite. Of course, to keep the spirit of sportsmanship, the award is made to a car outside of the presenters club. At the last minute Gary and Alma Thompson made a trophy for us to give away. We also learned about the registration process and set up procedures that will make it simpler for next time. !
Of the members who showed their cars, the person who gets my tip of the hat is Bill Toensing. Not having a trailer, and not having a ride back home, Bill made the show anyway. He towed his ‘41 Sedan behind his Mercedes! He had reinforced the ‘41’s front bumper with metal straps, hooked on a tow bar, ran taillight wires to the rear of the 41, and dragged it all the way down the hills through Grass Valley, through Auburn, through Roseville and on to Cal Expo! !
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The other cars arrived in less spectacular a fashion. President Steve Walker brought his ‘35 pickup. Unlike Bill, Steve had his bicycle in the bed of his truck so he could ride home. !
Bob Krieg drove up in his ‘36 sedan. ‘32 Fords were in abundance, including Paul and June Yaegley with their green 3-­‐window coupe, Dan Schwartz with his 5-­‐window coupe, Gary and Alma Thompson with their 5-­‐window coupe, and my roadster. Richard Heltzel brought his 35 5-­‐window coupe. Bill Cox had his barrel-­‐nose pickup, which was to get a lot of attention by the show-­‐goers. My favorite of the club cars was the beautiful 47 woody that Dave March displayed. Fred Hutlin and Lynda Bates towed the Ilathead powered altered roadster drag-­‐race car to the show. They displayed many of the racing trophies won over the years. !
We were allowed to set up a table for promoting our club. Again, as this was our Iirst time at the show, we learned that to take full advantage of this opportunity more preparation would have been nice. I think Paul and June, Gary and Alma, Fred and Lynda, and Dan spent the most time at the table. If I left someone out, sorry. !
The coolest thing came at the conclusion of the Autorama. The Thunderbolts are Sacramento’s oldest hot rod club. They have been involved with the Autorama since it began. They give an award that honors the memory of Butch Gardner who was active in both the Thunderbolts and the A.C.C.C. One car is chosen out of all of the cars in the building. Much to our delight, the 2014 Butch Gardner Club House Award was presented by the Thunderbolts to Fred and Lynda! One more trophy was won by the little red roadster. This was an awesome Iinish to a great show. I’m sure that we will want to participate in the 2015 edition of the Sacramento Autorama. !
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EDITOR’S RANTS AND RAMBLINGS CHALLENGES
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By Richard Heltzel, Clutch Chatter Editor, Sacramento Regional Group This month your peripatetic Clutch Chatter Editor has a challenge for you…the Tirst Regional Group 4 member who correctly identiTies the make and model of the car shown in the photograph below will receive a special prize at the March General Meeting. !
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Please note that you must be present at the General Meeting on March 5 at the Sheriff’s Substation to win! !
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MARCH 22 DELTA TOUR TO KORTH’S PIRATES’ LAIR, BRANNON ISLAND !
On Saturday, March 22, Richard Heltzel and Bruce Woodward will lead the Iirst tour of the season, traveling through the Delta to Korth’s Pirates’ Lair Marina located on Brannon Island. !
Korth’s is known as the “Garden Spot of the Delta” and has been family-­‐owned since 1937. It has retained the feel of the era, seemingly frozen in time about 1948. Perfect for our cars! !
We’ll meet at the parking lot of Sacramento Executive Airport on Freeport Blvd. Departure from there will be at 10:00 am. We’ll head down the River Road to Isleton and from there to Brannon Island. Lunch will be at the Pirates’ Lair Cafe. After lunch, we’ll continue on around Brannon Island, returning to Sacramento by middle afternoon. !
All travel will be on secondary roads, which should be perfect for Flatheads of all sort. Our friends with Chevy-­‐powered cars may be challenged, but hey, we didn’t tell them to choose one of those engines, did we? !
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SACRAMENTO REGIONAL GROUP 2014 EVENTS CALENDAR WHEN!
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WHERE
WHAT
January 8
Sheriff’s Substation
Regular Meeting — Planning session
February 5
Sheriff’s Substation
Regular Meeting
February 14 - 16
Cal Expo
2014 Sacramento Autorama
March 5 @ 7:00 pm
Sheriff’s Substation
General Meeting — Special Topic: Hot
Rod Hill Climb, Georgetown, CO;
Race of Gentlemen, Wildwoods, NJ,
presented by Bruce Woodward
March 22
Sacramento Delta! !
March Tour — Korth’s Pirates’ Lair,
Brannon Island
April 9 @ 7:00 pm
Sheriff’s Substation
Regular Meeting — Special Topic: to
be announced, presented by Dan
Schwartz
April 26
Sleep Train Arena Sacramento
Annual “ARCO” Swap Meet
May 10 @ 12:00 noon
Sacramento Vintage Ford
Lunch Meeting
June 3
William Pond Park
Russ Broyle’s Annual Hot Dog
Cookout and Meeting
July 2 @ 7:00 pm
Sheriff’s Substation
Regular Meeting — Special Topic:
Film: A Day at the River Rouge Plant,
presented by Richard Heltzel
July 30 - August 3
Reno, NV
Hot August Nights
August 9
Sacramento
August Tour — CAM Car Cruise
August 16
Home of Richard and Marie Heltzel,
Sacramento
Annual Ice Cream Social and BBQ
September 2 - 5
Thousand Oaks, CA
Western National Meet of EFV8 Club
October (Day TBD)
TBD
Regular Meeting — Special Activity:
Poker Run/Kane Hanger Potluck
October 18
Tower Park Marina
October Tour — Trailerfest
November (Day TBD)
California Auto Museum!
Regular Meeting
December (Day TBD!
TBD
Annual Christmas Party
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