Chrysler Procucts
Chrysler Products
Restorers Club
Box 3504
Kalamazoo, MI
49003-3504
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The
WPC Club, Inc.
Plymouth,
Dodge, Fargo, DeSoto, Chrysler, Imperial, Maxwell, Chalmers,
Jeep and Eagle & related
Automobiles.
All
Mopar / All Years / All Models
WPC
Club, Puget Sound Region,
Pacific Northwest Regional Meet
August 2-6,
2006 Poulsbo, Washington
A Blast from the Past
!
Photos
follow the article but you
know
what ? - the aritcle is as interesting as the photos !
I think for all of us the old car
hobby involves memories of one sort or another. These may be of
childhood trips,
honeymoons, first dates, first drives or any other moments of time that
touched our lives or left an indelible
impression.Cars played a huge
roll in my childhood memories with my family taking one or two big road
trips every
year with our trailer usually in tow, and numerous weekend
trips to the ocean or the mountains. With two brothers
10 and 8 years
older, I was exposed to more things automotive than many kids my age.
I got my first old Chrysler when I was 13, and when I was 16 I drove a
1954 Chrysler wagon to Alaska, and owned
4 other 54 New Yorkers. At the
ripe old age of 20, I was ready to experience my first national W.P.C.
meet in
Denver, in 1976. I had never been to a big meet before, but the
memories of that meet will be with me forever.
My best friend and I drove there in two days, over 800 miles each
day in my 1954 New Yorker convert. I still
vividly remember the
gorgeous Wyoming sky, big thunder clouds and rolling high plains
as we were passed by
another club member in his 1956 Imperial
Southampton, running near 100 M.P.H.! Remember it was 1976, and
many
people drove like that in the desert. The meet itself was just as
memorable, with a 1932 Chrysler Imperial
Victoria salt flat hot rod,
numerous woodies, trucks and even two custom built Hemi powered
roadsters. In those
days letter series 300's were long distance
runners, running with multiple radar detectors, police tires and
C.B.
radios. It would be rare today to see a restored Chrysler 300 driven
hard across country to a National! All
too soon the tours, shows, and
dinners were over, and we were on the road home.
Ever since then though, I try not to pass up a National or Regional
meet. I still have the same 54 New Yorker,
and a good friend actually
bought the same Imperial that passed me in Wyoming some thirty years
ago! In the
ensuing years I have been to 7 more National meets, and our
region here in the Puget Sound area has traded off
putting on Regional
meets with our friends in the Portland Oregon region, and the
Vancouver
Island region of
British Columbia for the last 20+ years. These
regionals have left us with many great memories and friendships
that
are truly cherished. Although somewhat smaller than a National, they
are also just a bit more intimate and
still full of great events.
All this historical lead in is to put some perspective on what drove
our region to take on another meet this last
summer in spite of high
gas prices, busy schedules and highways that seem more and more
congested. As with
any meet there is the initial vision, followed by
many months of meetings, planning, and organizing volunteers.
As usual,
there are all the things that just seem to fall into place, followed by
all the surprises and mini disasters
that have to be dealt with. One of
our members had come to us about 8 years ago with an article about a
replica
50's diner that was available for special events, just a short
ferry ride from Seattle, and after 8 years we
felt the time was right
to incorporate it into a regional function, and we were off and running.
This years meet was August 3-6,
and was based in Poulsbo, Washington, which is a semi-rural community
located on
Puget Sound about 25 miles, and a half hour ferry ride from the greater
Seattle. The club reserved 50 rooms at
the Poulsbo Inn, and by 10:00
A.M. Thursday, the drive began to fill with vintage Mopars. The tree
shaded entry
check-in looked like an old travel log postcard, with cars
from the thirties to the sixties lining up to check in.
There were old
friends in familiar rides, some with new acquisitions, and new members
we were just getting to know.
The fun was just watching the highway to
see what would arrive next as the afternoon wore on. Members milled
about the parking lot to greet new arrivals and kick tires.
Through out the afternoon WPCers walked or drove the half mile to
downtown Poulsbo to walk the waterfront,
eat and shop in the many small
stores and galleries. By late afternoon the parking was nearly fall and
we all
gathered in the breakfast room of the Inn for our ice cream
social. There were lots of toppings and decedent
treats, and many of us
moved from table to table visiting and trading stories old and new. It
was with great
anticipation that we all called it a night, looking forward to Friday's
tours and
BBQ.
Friday dawned sunny and warm, and after breakfast our group split up
into two tours. One small tour checked
the local wrecking yards, seeing
if there were any treasures to be had. The larger group wandered along
some
lovely back roads along Puget Sound and ended up at the Under
Water Naval museum near the nuclear submarine
base in Banger. The
museum lot was packed with vintage Mopars and there was an amazing
variety of things
to see in the museum. I had no idea how old torpedo
technology was, or how sophisticated even civil war
weaponry could be.
The machine work on the early steam powered torpedoes was a sight to
behold, with
tiny bevel gears and fly weight governors, almost like
watch making! Our time at the museum came to a close
and the group
toured back to the hotel for lunch and a break before the afternoon
garage tours.
For our garage tours the car count had to be pared down to about 25 to
30 cars for parking considerations,
and it was great to see every one
work together volunteering rides, sharing cars and compressing 100
people
into 25 or so cars. The long line of chrome and color left on
schedule, and traveled about 15 miles over to
Bainbridge Island and the
incredible waterfront home of Glen Mounger, who is one of the
principles of the
Pebble Beach concourse in California each summer. His home is
amazing with a drive
that was big enough for
our big old cars and a garage to die for. The
garage is loaded with all manner of memorabilia, jukeboxes and
neon.
Then we get to the cars, how about a 32 Lincoln coupe, a 32 Ford with a
blown twin plug flathead, a 1932
Packard speedster, a Bentley
Continental coupe, a Porsche speedster, a Pierce Arrow run-about, a
Ferrari
California Spyder, a 47 Ford woodie wagon, a 56 Ford Wagon and a
Gullwing Mercedes. There
was
also a "mystery" car he unveiled, but if I told you all about
I would have to kill you, so it must remain
a mystery! We all
could have stayed hours longer but the bewitching hour arrived and we
were off to our
next stop on the tour.
A short drive back over the bridge to the mainland found us at the
wooded enclave of our dinner hosts Ed
and Tanya Johnson. Their amazing
garage sits among the tall evergreens overlooking the water, and is
full
of unusual forties and fifties cars of all descriptions. How
about a 2 door Kaiser Manhattan with supercharger,
a 1955 Packard 400
with Caribbean trim and a stick shift!, a 56 Continental, a 47 and a 55
Desoto convertible,
an Edsel convert, a 1955 T-Bird, a 1957 Ford retractable and several
more,
each with its own wall area
complete, with literature and neon signage,
simply amazing. We were even encouraged to open doors and sit
in the
cars. After ogling the cars we all retired to the ample deck areas
overlooking the blue waters of
Puget Sound and spent a warm, relaxing evening enjoying a catered BBQ,
watching the
boats and sharing
time with good friends. After desert and some raffle
prizes, we motored back to the hotel for some rest
before Saturday's
show.
Show Saturdays are familiar territory to many of us, they mean getting
up at the crack of dawn, cleaners and
rags in hand, only to find that the guy parked next to you has already
finished his waxing and is heading off
to breakfast! Well, I actually beat a few people, but the morning was a
bit busy. After a quick bite it
was off to the show field. We had probably 8 cars in our group, rolling
down the rural highway in the morning
dew, the chrome playing out its light show as we passed through the low
lying early sunlight. It was mesmerizing
watching the mirror as we made our way to Port Gamble, and our show
field framed by trees and the bay.
The field was scouted and cars parked quickly, and soon the area
was filling up. By the time the morning
chill had left the air we were looking at 60 shining examples of
Chrysler's history proudly displaying their
heritage. The town of Port Gamble made a perfect backdrop, mad up of
homes dating back 100 years or more,
and nearly untouched by time.
Many of the woman folk disappeared at lunch and had a women's High-Tea
at a quaint little tea house in
town. They sampled riches beyond
imagination, well, that is if your imagination runs to chocolate! The
rest
of us had lunch in town and took in the cars as the day ran its
course. The cool breeze off the water was
welcome, and many tourists
stopped off to check out the show field. As the afternoon came to an
end,
we all packed up and made our way back to the hotel to change and
get ready for the banquet.
Those of us putting on the event drove out to "My Girl" early to set up
and prepare for the clubs arrival.
The drive out is about 15 miles on
quiet rural roads, through rolling hills and tall trees, the kind
of road
that makes an old Hemi sound just right. Then, over a rise
there is a small hand written sign that says My Girl,
placed at the end
of a non-descript gravel road. As you make your way down this drive a
touch of doubt
creeps in, is this the wrong road?, did we miss the real turn?, but
just then the drive turns and
through a
small gate rises a vision of times gone by, much like an
improbable oasis in the desert!
What greets guests is a classic American drive-in, nestled in the trees
but complete with a car hop awning,
neon and a full road house diner
inside. To the left and behind the main building is a miniature drag
strip
complete with timing lights, tower and bleachers for the
"burn-out" area. On the right side of the restaurant
building is a full
size replica of a Union 76 gas station, complete with pumps and service
bays full of vintage
cars. As our evening began to come together the
parking lot slowly filled with life and color as the cars began
rolling
in. It could have been any one of thousands of small towns in the
fifties or sixties, with kids and their
hot cars arriving to be seen
and be seen. The only difference was that these "kids" looked somewhat
more
mature, and their cars were nicer than those ghosts from the past!
Our group visited for the first hour, and toured the facility with all
of its history and memorabilia, which
included a chain saw collection,
numerous classic cars, antique tools, Elvis Presley's Airstream
trailer, and
an amazing collection of vintage magazines and books. We
then sat down to a delicious catered dinner, and
enjoyed the trophy presentations, along with a rousing rendition of our
Northwest signature song,
"Hemis
and Fins",
sung to the tune of Ghost
Riders in the Sky, by four brave volunteers. ( Jon Carson,
Ian
Smale, Ron Wenzel and Gene Kahn ) During the meal we were serenaded
by
a great local singer
doing classic songs from the forties and fifties
as well.
After dinner the soft summer twilight began to alter the whole look of
this special moment in time, the neon
began to take over as the light
softened and the chrome and paint really put on a show. Many of us just
walked
around outside taking in the magic, listening to the sounds of
vintage songs from the jukebox, and talking to
old friends. As the
stars became more distinct, the neon glowed ever brighter, and the
whole scene looked
even more like an oasis in the night. The music wafted out into the
trees, and bits of
conversations could
be heard, punctuated by laughter here and there. As
the evening wore on, the cars would start and file out
one by one
through the gate. Several of us stood near the gate to say our good
byes and watch the show. The
sounds of mellow sixes, throbbing big
blocks and oh so smooth Hemi's played their own music as our guests
left. Each car strutted its stuff for the crowd, the Desoto's
with their stacked lamps glowing, the soft glow
of
Thirties cars lamps, the yacht-like shine of the Town and
Countries wood and chrome. The night was warm
and windows were down, we
were able to talk and shake hands as each car passed, savoring each
moment with
old and d ear friends. I think all of us knew the night was
a special one. As the crowd thinned we found a group
inside watching
old Elvis movies on the mini- theater screen, couples holding hands,
heads together, watching
clips they hadn't seen in years, and just
enjoying the moment.
All too soon we were done cleaning up and it was time to head back to
the hotel, my two kids drove us back,
my daughter and I in our '54 New
Yorker convert and my wife and son in the '61 Newport wagon, the sky
was full of stars, the air warm and the country roads were quiet as our
two time machines helped etch the
evening in our memories. We will be
ready for the next regional in a heart beat, and thanks so much to
every
one who came and made this one so special!
Jon Carson
WPC President of the Puget Sound Region
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