Somehow I heard about the Klingberg Vintage Motorcar Festival. It takes place on the grounds of the Klingberg Family Centers, an organization that has served children and families since 1903.
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The event was to be held in New Britain, Connecticut, a mere 71 miles from my home. The festival usually attracts several hundred cars of all sorts plus a special Concours d’Elegance class of some 40-50 vehicles. This year the grand marshals were to be Bob and Wayne Carini and Lindsay Cushing. Wayne is the star of the very popular Chasing Classic Cars show that airs on Velocity Channel. I watch the program almost every morning and this event would be an opportunity to see Wayne in person. There were a couple of hurdles to overcome before I would be cleared to attend:
- The June 20 date was the same day that I was supposed to manage a previously scheduled VE exam. My friend Bob Beaudet solved that problem by agreeing to fill in for me.
- I really wanted my wife (not exactly a car nut) to go with me. She agreed on the condition that we did not take the ’41 Buick Roadmaster. I could live with that (this year).
- The weather had to be good. I had no control over that one.
Well, the weather was perfect and so was the day. We pulled in to the New Britain Rock Cats Stadium, parked the VW Beetle (lots of parking space), and took a shuttle bus ride (no charge) to the Klingberg Family Centers on Linwood Street. Admission for seniors was only $10 each. That included a glossy program book and a ballot for the spectator favorite car. The center is on beautiful grounds high atop the city of New Britain. Panoramic views of the countryside were at every turn. The number and quality of vehicles was overwhelming! The displayed cars were almost exclusively all original or mostly original factory vehicles. Although I do appreciate custom automobiles, it’s the originals, restored or unrestored, that I like the best. When I look at an old car I want to see an old car that displays what the original purchaser saw. It is the variety of early technology and style that interest me the most. That is what was on display at this event. Everything from an air-cooled Franklin, a fully restored Stanley Steamer, and several original ’32 Ford coupes to the incredible luxury and style of a 1960 Plymouth Fury convertible. It was all there.
The best part of the day was near the end of our stay. We had just walked to the back field so as to deposit our spectator choice ballot at one of the tents. We had already attended the opening ceremony on the front porch of the main building. There we saw Wayne Carini and his daughter address the crowd. We did not expect to see Wayne again. Suddenly my wife pointed out to me the Chasing Classic Cars tent.
Wayne is a real gentleman and I was thrilled to meet him. He even cued my wife as to when to click the photo. Notice the shirt I am wearing, an unintentional but welcome product placement for E. H. Scott radios, another hobby of mine.
Wayne was standing in the tent and greeting a small line of well-wishers. My wife Camille encouraged me to get in line (there was only one person in front of me) and go speak with Wayne. I handed my camera over to her and she quickly got it ready for a possible photo opportunity. Wayne and I spoke for a few moments. I found him to be a genuinely friendly and authentic person. He was obviously there to have an enjoyable day and to donate his time to the Klingberg Family Center. He helped make a good day into a great day!
One of my special interests is Buicks since I own a 1941 Roadmaster. There was not a single 1940’s era Buick at the show (if it was I missed it … very unlikely) but that is not to say that there were no interesting Buicks. The one I was most impressed with was a 1925 model. It was huge and beautiful! The owner’s son (recently back from military tours of duty in several countries including Afghanistan) was gracious enough to tell me about its history. This particular model is the result of a complete ground up restoration that was completed about seven years ago. Imagine purchasing this gem way back in 1925!
The interior of the Buick is a bit spartan but roomy. Notice the spark advance lever and all the nickel plating.
This 1925 Buick has presence! Click on the link in the text to learn all about the restoration it went through.
What an impressive paint job! This is one car that you can step into without hitting your head. Also notice the generous running board.
The spoke or artillery wheels looked great. The bright metal disk in the middle is what I would call a real “hubcap”.
A more modern Buick that caught my eye was a gorgeous 1952 Roadmaster Estate Wagon. That’s right, a woody. It reminded me of the old 1947 Mercury woody I once owned. Everything on such a car is deluxe, right down to the detail interior woodwork. This car has the same straight eight engine as my ’41, but with a single carburetor rather than the dual setup that was available in 1941. It also would have the foot-operated carburetor-mounted starter switch that I am interested in restoring on my car. I was not able to photograph the switch since it was on the side of the engine that was covered by the hood.
1952 Buick Woody – Check out that grill and the signature bumper!
The designation on the glove box door confirms that it is a Roadmaster.
It’s the famous Buick straight eight, very similar to the one in my 1941 Roadmaster.
The four portholes say it is a Roadmaster. The maple says it’s a woody.
That rear post is massive as is the top frame. These pieces look new.
Wood panels on the inside and metal gate stops just like on a Ford.
I was able to spot a mid-thirties Buick that did have the carburetor-mounted starter switch and managed to take a clear photograph of it. I am in the process of building up all the information I need before attempting to repair the one in my car.
The two yellow wires leave the starter vacuum switch at lower left and travel to the starter solenoid relay. Depressing the accelerator pedal moves the accelerator rod which engages the vacuum switch. The relay is now energized and the engine cranks. As soon as it starts manifold vacuum retracts a ball in the starter vacuum switch and breaks the contact. This switches off the solenoid so that the starter will not crank while the engine is running. What a great idea!
My favorite car at this event was a 1960 Plymouth Fury. The owner gave me a guided tour around the car. He pointed out to me a chrome strip that encircles the front end, including fender wells, and is duplicated in the rear of the car. The steering wheel is of a modified square shape with the most intriguing horn arrangement I have ever seen. The interior has amazing decoration and detail but it all blends in extremely well. This is a car I could put in my garage (although I would be light by over $100,000 or so).
It’s a 1960 Plymouth Fury in superb condition. What a ride!
So many colors and chrome accents, even in the seat material. And it all works.
If you enlarge only one picture by clicking on it, this is the one. Wow!
This car even looks good from my distant vantage point on top of a hill.
I took about 100 photographs of the show cars. I won’t attempt to display them all here but I will show you a few of the more interesting ones. If you plan to attend the show next year please note that the date will be Saturday, June 18, 2016.
My wife sports a smile next to the Stutz.
1921 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow .. Massive!
1932 Auburn Boattail Speedster. What color!
Pontiac hood ornament – my all time favorite.
The Thermos Truck of 1925. What a great surprise!
Now that is a wheel! All trucks should have these.
A Packard 120. I believe it is from 1941.
Packard 120; I could sit in this rear seat all day!
Puttering Around with the Buick
Lately I have been spending more time working on the Buick. The car is about to turn 75 years old. It’s about time I paid more attention to it.
I’ve joined the Antique Automobile Club of America and the local affiliate, the Westerly-Pawcatuck Region of the AACA. I bring the car to at least one cruise night per week and even attended one show with it. Next week I will join a caravan of antique cars that will travel from Westerly, RI to the Washington County Fair in Richmond, RI. Our cars will be one of the many attractions at this annual event.
Little fixes are the order of the day for me. I was returning from a Friday night cruise when my neighbor passed by in his red 1932 Ford hot rod. He gave me a toot and a wave. I returned the wave but there was no toot. The horn had suddenly failed again. In the past I did a total rebuild of the interior horn button insulator. It had broken into about 5 separate chunks of plastic. I got them all back together with epoxy, adjusted the horn ring, and made a test. The horn worked.
The horn relay is the little box at the top. It will be painted soon. The wiring harness is a mess as you can see.
What could be the problem now? After a little poking around I decided that the root cause might well be the horn relay. I took the relay apart and measured all clearances and cleaned all contacts. I also firmed up one of the three wires (the S or switch wire) that was badly frayed. Now I have a well-functioning horn.
I’m still trying to remove the hood vent so I can replace its gasket. I just get tired and discouraged when lying upside down under the dash with my legs over the back of the front seat. There is only so much pain you can take at 65 years old. I’ll get back to that one. Then there are the inoperable door jamb light switches. I inspected them and found that they are not original but newer switches that have been soldered in place. They don’t fit correctly, have come loose, and don’t work. I am still tracing the circuit for the interior and back end of the car. When I have this done I will place an order for the required parts.
One other small item that has been pestering me is the sun visors. They needed to be tightened. Also each one has a small vinyl finger grip that had come loose on one side. The stitching came loose and so the grip material just dangled. I decided to fix this with fabric glue. It worked well. You would have to look real close to notice that there are no threads holding it together.
Then there are the instruments. Most of them don’t work and the wiring is in really bad shape. All of the cotton braid coverings are frayed and faded.
Hopefully I can remove just this instrument panel so I can replace it with a better one I have. I also need to refresh the wiring behind it. Not all the gauges work.
Short circuits abound. Sensors no longer sense. I have to figure out how to remove the instrument panel without taking the entire dash out. If I can do that I may be encouraged to purchase a new wiring harness. The neat thing is that the harnesses are made at Narragansett Reproductions in Richmond, RI adjacent to my hometown of Hopkinton. Narragansett Reproductions is just minutes down the road and they have everything I need. The price is fair but I am not going to make a purchase until I am sure that I will follow through with the installation. (see above discussion).
I did some experimentation with hubcaps. The Buick hubcaps for 1941 have ‘BUICK’ stamped across them. Each letter is filled in with black paint. Most of my black paint is missing. I masked off the letters on one hubcap and managed to do a decent job of spraying the letters. I also experimented on a 1953 Buick hubcap. My son gave me a full set. They are nicely chromed. Originally they also had black, red, and blue paint on them. This particular hubcap was found only on the Special with the straight eight, the very last car to have that engine. All other models had the new V8.
Then there is the trunk. I have been working on that for a while. I was able to purchase several missing items through eBay auctions. These include: spare tire hold-down clamp, spare tire wing nut, and the spare tire wheel cover. The wheel cover is a special one. It does not have BUICK impressed on it. The cover is perfectly smooth. It’s only purpose was to prevent any sharp protrusions from the wheel hub coming into contact with luggage. I restored my cover by sanding it smooth and painting it black. Unfortunately the wheel was missing the little wheel clips that hold the hubcap on. My regular supplier was out of them. There just were not any available. Then I found some similar clips that go to a Volkswagen. They were priced at only $8.00 shipped for a set of 5, just the amount I needed. Rivets were included at no extra cost. The ebay seller told me that they would not work on the Buick. I bought them anyway. Each of the four wheels on my car has three of these clips on them. The wheel that resides in my spare tire well is different. It has five positions for the clips. I attached the clips with nuts and bolts rather than rivets. I then bent them a bit to increase the clearance between the wheel and the spring portion of the clips so they would have the exact contours as the ones on my other wheels. When I tried to pop on the wheel cover it would not stay in place; although, it did seem to be attaching at one of the clips. I removed all of the clips and bent each one again so that they had outlines that approximated the one clip that was holding. The clips were then put back on the wheel and to my surprise the wheel cover fit very nicely. Now that was fun! (Note: I can’t guarantee they will work on your car. I just used them on the spare and am not sure how well they might hold on a moving wheel.)
I got a bit carried away while taking some photos of the trunk area. I was trying to test out various features of my camera, a Fuji HS50EXR. I do not like this camera. It is just too difficult to get good photos. If anyone has a suggested replacement I am all ears. I need something that has a high zoom ratio (50x or more) and a tremendous number of automatic modes that cover every possibility. I’m tired of trying to figure out how this thing works. It’s time for something that is very automatic and which has a large sensor.
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