As the calendar prepares to roll over into a new month, I'm getting ready for the first real long road trip since I began writing this blog. It's been almost a year in the planning, and I'm really looking forward to it, for several reasons.
First, I'll be doing the drive that so many of us road warriors think and dream about; NY to CA, the true 'coast to coast' trip. Yes, I know, I did NY to WA, and that technically is 'coast to coast', but there's something about making the run between those two iconic states that road trippers have always dreamed of.
Because the last cross country trip took me north, and since this one is taking me to Los Angeles, I'll be driving on long stretches of 'new' roads. Well, they're new to me at least. And that's sort of exciting, even though much of the trip will be on the much maligned Interstate System, due to time considerations. But I'll be passing through cities and towns that I've never been in, and seeing things that I've not seen before. Eating at places I've never heard of, or ones that have become legendary among folks who take these long trips. For those reasons alone, I'm looking forward to this trip.
So, why am I going to L.A.? What's so important that it could get me, a notorious non-fan of CA to visit the land of fruits and nuts and taco huts?
Those of you who follow this blog, and my Facebook posts know that I am a fan and admirer of George Reeves and The Adventures of Superman television show. Well, this year marks a lot of anniversaries in the world of Superman, and the t.v. show. 
First, it's the 100th anniversary of the birth of the two men who first created Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who first dreamed up the character when they were high school students. That's pretty cool in itself.
Second, as I noted earlier this year, this is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Reeves, the one and only true Superman.
Third, a group of fans of the television show have contributed to erect a plaque honoring the only time in the 104 episodes of the show that the five principal actors (George, Noel Neill, Jack Larson, John Hamilton, Robert Shayne) were all out of the studio on location at the same spot. A small grassy island in Tarzana California. As a good fan of the show, I made a small (very small) donation to the plaque, and was invited to the unveiling ceremony.
And finally, to honor the three events, a celebratory luncheon is being held at the Beverly Garland Hotel on the afternoon of the plaque dedication. Along with a large number of fans of the show, many of the remaining actors and actresses who appeared in the show, relatives of performers who have passed on, and some celebrities who were influenced by the show will be attending. A special video presentation is being prepared, and it appears to be quite an afternoon. Jack Larson, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen, has confirmed his attendance; unhappily, Noel Neill, the second Lois Lane in the series, is in rather frail health at age 93 and is unable to attend.
So it's going to be quite a fun celebration in L.A., and I'm happy to be able to attend. I'll be stopping off to see some friends and relatives both on the way out, and on the way back, and will also be hitting some roadside attractions and other typical tourist spots. I'll have the cameras, and the laptop, so I should be able to post some great 'trip reports' both here and on Facebook. So keep your eyes on the blog, the fun begins when I leave on August 10! 

Someone, I think it was Jean Shepherd, opined that we male type humans tend to remember important moments in our lives based not on where we were, who we were with, or what we were doing, but on the car we were driving at the time.

Now, as silly as this may sound, I for one, plead extremely guilty. In fact, as I try to remember various things, places, and people, I find myself running through my head things like 'when did I drive that yellow Celica'? or 'when did we have that crazy VW bug'? And I guess to a lot of people, that makes me sound very superficial or even worse, like I don't/didn't care enough about the event, and who was there, to take notice of it without putting it in the frame of reference of what car I had at the time.

Again, guilty. But with an explanation. You see, for most of us, except those city dwellers who get around via the different types of mass transit that are found in NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc., our cars are accessed on a daily basis, and sometimes, for many hours each day. Some folks spend almost as much time commuting each week as they do eating, or relaxing. Heck, when we lived in Selden and I was working in Garden City (40+ miles each way), I spent so much time in the car that I knew every little stitch in the upholstery, every slight imperfection in the vinyl dashboard, and each quirk in the radio dial in that little red Dodge Omni. And why wouldn't I? I probably did close to three hours in that car on most days, as I was driving in the great east/west rush hour. And, let's not forget, this was in an era well before we had cell phones, pda's, tablets, and all the rest of the gizmos and gadgetry we now take for granted. In fact, back then, you'd have paid a premium to have a cassette tape player in the car - am/fm radios were usually what was standard in most cars. You youngsters can ask Mom or Dad exactly what a 'cassette tape' was.

Another reason I think a lot of us of a certain age remember cars so well is because years ago, they weren’t as reliable or as ‘bullet proof’ as they generally are today. Having a car reach 100,000 miles on the odometer was a rare instance, as most typical run of the mill cars were pretty much done by 70 – 80 thousand miles. And we found ourselves stranded by the side of the road a lot more often back then, usually due to some incredibly dumb, or serious problem with the ride.

We may not remember what restaurant we had great baked Alaska in, or where we bought that nice little ice crusher, but odds are, you remember quite clearly all of the places you got stranded by your car.

 For instance, I remember one time when Maureen got stuck in her little Corolla coming home from work, it stalled as she exited the LIE, and wouldn’t stay running when she tried to re-start it. A nice Suffolk Police Officer gave her a ride home, we called her brother Bob, who’d owned the car previously, and he said that a rubber plug had probably fallen out of a vacuum port on the side of the carburetor. He said I should go back to the car, pull a rubber drain plug out of the bottom of one of the car doors, and stick in in the vacuum port. Apparently that was a pretty well known feature of the early Corollas. We drove back to the car, did as he said, and amazingly, the car fired right up and we never had that problem again. Now that’s a silly issue for sure!

So yes, I remember things in my life in part through the cars of my life. And if that sounds odd, well, I guess it is. But those memories, triggered by the cars, include all the events and people who were, and are, important to me. I know who pushed my little Fiat 850 to get it started when the engine just got too cold after a night working the skating pond in Garden City in 1973 (JC). I know who drove all the way to Greenport to pick me up when my ’96 Mustang blew the intake manifold in 2003 (Karen). I know that Steve Espey remembers who he was with, and who left him sitting alone in Jack in The Box in Mineola when he locked his keys in his car in 1977 – and who picked him up, took him home and then back with spare keys (me).

So if I refer to certain instances that we’ve shared with a line like ‘Oh yeah, I was driving my Dad’s Duster then’, don’t be surprised. It is, I suppose, just another in a long list of memory joggers that we humans need, and use, to keep those times alive in our minds.

We'll return to our regularly scheduled blog in just a bit....

Meantime, we interrupt our regularly scheduled silliness for this important announcement.

Returning to a television set near you, thanks to the good folks at MeTV.....

Yes, it's Superman, the one and only, the original, the only one that really matters, starring George Reeves!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog entry...

 

This past weekend, Tom and I took both the Yellow Fish and the Blue Cuda out to Carlisle PA for the annual Chrysler Nationals. If you're a MOPAR fan, this is the place to be. Well over 3,000 cars turned out for the three days of fun, frolic, and possible heat exhaustion - Carlisle is HOT in July!
I'm not going to write a lot, but rather I'll post some photos from the event to give you an idea of what you missed!

 Welcome to Carlisle!

This view is from 'the hill', where the trucks are on display. They've got a great view of all the Dodge and Plymouth "E" body cars, the '70 - '74 'Cudas and Challengers.

The Yellow Fish was parked next to this wonderful 1962 Valiant V-200 two door. There were a couple of Valiant convertibles, but this was the only 'original' (1960-1962) model there.

I'm not into the '50's cars as much as some are, but I certainly appreciate the graceful designs they had. Some of the '57 and '58 cars are truly works of art. 

Cars (and trucks) as far as the eye can see!

I'll take one of these please......

You'll even see a few "K" cars - the car that saved Chrysler (the first time)!

This one's for Billy - a rare Dodge Rampage. Based on the Omni/Horizon, it was a neat little multipurpose vehicle. Don't see many of them anymore.

Each year we see more and more "General Lee" replicas. And you can hear the 'dixie' horns throughout the day!

Sadly, not all of the cars are in great shape. We see way too many like this, classic rides that have been left unloved for too long. We always hope that we'll see ones like this come back a year or two later, restored to reasonable condition.

And  you didn't think I'd let this go without at least one photo of the Yellow Fish, did you? This was late in the day, after Tom and I replaced the front and rear bumpers with new ones. We're getting close to having a really sharp ride. And the little slant six powered car ran like a champ at 65 mph on I-78 both going and coming home!

For those of you who didn't catch the post on Facebook, dinner on Saturday night was at a place Tom found during his trip to Carlisle for Maureen's family reunion, Hamilton Restaurant and Lounge. It's been owned by the same fellow since 1937, and is a real old fashioned luncheonette/soda fountain/coffee shop, doesn't look like much has changed in there since they opened. Real friendly wait staff, very quick service, and great food keeps them going. Here's what we had:

After we told our waitress what we wanted, she said, 'you really have to try the Blockbuster sandwich', why don't you split one? So we did. Fresh baked ham, swiss cheese, onion, fresh local tomato, and lettuce on a soft kaiser roll. We had them hold the mayo, and our first bites were 'dry', and we immediately realized that it didn't need any dressing! The ham was tender and very tasty, the tomato was deep red, fresh, and tasted like a tomato - not like those orange pieces of wax that you get everywhere else! A truly great sandwich!

One of the 'you've gotta try these' that was on the online reviews was for the onion rings. Thick, full, freshly sliced onions, hand breaded in a light crunchy coating and fried perfectly. Very little grease on the plate, good mild onion flavor, and terrific crispiness. Excellent!

Ahh, the star of the show, the "Hotchee" dog! It's a "Kessler" (I think) dog, cooked to almost crispness on the grill, then nestled in the roll on a slice of American cheese (white American - yuck), then smothered with coney style chili sauce and very finely chopped onions. Add a little mustard on top, and wow, what a truly great dog!

And finally, the topper, a 'black and white' shake, hand mixed at the soda fountain. A black and white is made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. This one was perfectly balanced, the chocolate flavor came through, but it was also lightly sweetened by the vanilla ice cream. Thick, cold, and delicious, a perfect way to wrap up a long day at Carlisle. Already looking forward to next July 10 - 12!

For MOPAR fans east of the Mississippi, this week brings one of the best events of the year, the annual Chryslers at Carlisle.
Held at the Carlisle Fairgrounds in PA, this annual event draws over 2,500 MOPARS and Chrysler owned nameplates (AMC, Eagle, etc.) to the show. You can find everything from 1915 Dodge Brothers trucks, to the huge tail fin cars of the late '50's, the great muscle cars of the 60's, and all sorts of stock and custom current models.
There's a great Car Corral area with plenty of cars for sale, in all conditions, from two tons of rust to finely preserved original muscle cars priced well into the six figure range.
You can find almost any oddball part from new old stock screws and nuts to body parts, gas tanks, wheels, glass, etc. at the flea market area.
Chrysler sends out a fleet of test drive cars, and MOPAR has a full display of parts, engines, and custom parts as well.
And there's an indoor show area which features some of the most beautiful MOPAR cars you'd ever see. This year, they're having a special Barracuda exhibit, with one car from each of the model years (1964-1974) on display.
And, of course, all sorts of goodies are on sale at the many stands located throughout the fairgrounds, from fair food to t-shirts, sunglasses, you name it.
So, on Friday, I'll crank up the Yellow Fish and head out, through Jersey and into PA. While it's not one of the best cars on display, it's always fun parking it next to a couple of dozen similar models. And MOPAR owners are so cool to converse with, we always seem to learn something about our car.
On Saturday, Tommy and Karen will bring the 2014 GSS over, along with Molly, and we'll spend the day wandering around the show field, sitting by the Yellow Fish and chatting with people, and generally enjoying all things MOPAR.
I'll post up some photos next week after we're back.

Happy Independence Day everyone! Today, it's about cars.

Obsessive (Adj.) thinking about something too much. I guess I’ve known that I have obsessive tendencies for some time now. In certain ways, that’s not a bad thing, as it tends to make me good at completing tasks, I chase something down until it’s ‘done’. Of course, there are other times when it just gets in the way, sometimes I miss the big picture as I relentlessly pursue some silly little thing. Overall, I deal pretty well with it these days, as I guess my filter has gotten better at recognizing what to let go and what to pursue.

Which brings me to the latest obsession, owning a Barracuda. As much as I love our ’65 glassback Valiant/Cuda, I’ve always wanted one of the ’70-’74 “E body” Cudas, the last, big ones that Plymouth made before the muscle car era went on a 30 year hiatus. Never did buy one back then, although I could have (why I ever bought that ’74 Mustang 2 is still a mystery to me…), and in the  years since, the prices for the original E body Cudas have skyrocketed. But, I still wanted one…or a new Cuda, which was being teased by Chrysler pretty regularly over the past two or three years. In fact, Ralph Gilles, who is one of the main product planners for Chrysler was widely quoted a couple of years ago as saying “There WILL be a Barracuda”, although with Chrysler/Daimler having closed the Plymouth division, nobody could say what it would be. A Chrysler ‘Cuda? An SRT ‘Cuda? Nobody knew, but I was hopeful. Knowing that I would be looking for a new ride around the time the ‘Cuda was expected, I kept my fingers crossed and hoped.

Fast forward to late last summer. Chrylser reversed itself, and after many months of speculation that a ‘Cuda would be a) based on the Challenger, or b) a completely new rear wheel drive car based on a Dodge/Lancia platform, it was decided not to do a ‘Cuda. Seems too many people couldn’t buy into a ‘Cuda that was not a Plymouth, and evidently the name had a lack of cache’ among Joe Average car buyer (although enthusiasts still wanted one). So with Chrysler killing the idea, I bought the next best thing, my Challenger R/T. But I knew that I really, really wanted a ‘Cuda.

Enter “Mr. Norm”. Norm Krause had been the owner of Grand Spaulding Dodge back in the 1960’s when muscle cars really started to take off. His dealership was one of the real innovators in building fast cars, and I believe he was the first dealer to stuff a 426 Hemi engine into the little Dodge Dart, creating one of the wildest, fastest cars you could buy. Through the years, Norm’s dealership did lots of modifications to stock Chrysler rides, many of which were eventually incorporated into the production models, and even sponsored a drag race team for a few years. Eventually the dealership closed, and Mr. Norm seemed to disappear. And then, here came the internet. And all the guys who longed for modifications to their rides. And Mr. Norm was there, again, just like he was back in the 60’s, with products that helped transform stock production cars into something special.

Only this time, the products that caught my eye weren’t performance enhancements, although those are available. What I spotted were the two “Cuda Conversion” kits on his website, the “GSS King Cuda”, and the “GSS Racer” packages. Both include a ‘Cuda front grille, a ‘Cuda tail panel, fender and tail emblems, side graphics (stripes or emblems), disc brake covers, floor mats, embroidered head rests, etc. And, the front grille and rear tail panel are dead ringers for a ’71 Cuda!

Well, you can probably guess the rest of the story, and hopefully the photos I’ve teased along the way have let you know, yeah, the obsessive part of me won out. The Challenger is now a “Mr. Norm’s GSS Racer Edition ‘Cuda”!