Harm and I have known Randy Weales for many, many years (probably since he was a teenager) when we were in the Classic AMX Club of Central Canada and then the Northern Ramblers Club. He usually attends the international conventions so many of you will already know him. He and his wife, Michele, live in Cobourg where Randy's main passion (besides his 1973 [I hope that's right] Hornet) is playing the drums in his band.
Please welcome Randy and Michele at our next function (hopefully soon).
Gary and Sonia welcomed a new addition to their family this week. The big question - is he considered an AMO+ member by association? He's a two-year old miniature Dachshund named Cashew. I foresee more cleaning chores in their future - Gary has already commented on the fact that Cashew is shedding. Bad time of year as they prepare to get their winter coats. Welcome to the "cleaning" club, Gary and Sonia, and welcome Cashew!
Doug and Jenny Barker just left our farm this morning, after visiting to pick up a rear axle for his Spirit (sorry, can't remember what year). They are very excited to join our club - Doug has been passionate about AMCs for many years. Harm and I have known him for years as well, seeing him at car shows around the Midland area. In fact, Doug and I worked at the same hospital for years. Jenny is a retired school secretary who runs a little antique business from their home.
Please welcome them the next time we have a get together (perhaps at the Fall Colours Tour?).
Through Darryl Rae, Harm was given the number of a guy in Erin who had "some Javelin" parts he wanted to get rid of, as well as a 1969 Javelin. Wayne (AMO member but not AMO+) has had some health problems so he was wanting to simplify his life (and garage). As Harm and I have a few projects that could benefit from some spare parts, we decided to visit Wayne on Saturday, August 20th. I packed a picnic lunch and off we went in our 3/4 ton truck (Harm didn't want to appear overly excited by bringing the trailer). When we arrived, we were treated to a very nice Javelin (hunter green with white stripe down the sides). It was complete but needed a restoration. He wanted more than we would be able to pay (and besides that, we have enough projects to do) but if anyone is interested, we'll provide you with his name and number. He had lots of parts though - doors, glass, 1968 SST hood, seats, door sills, etc., etc. We picked up everything he didn't need for his Javelin and crammed the parts into the box and back seat of the truck! When we got home, we sorted them into categories (our ability to remember things just ain't what it used to be) and put them into Harm's barn. They will certainly come in handy for us and, whatever we don't need, we will be selling to others in the club.
Barb van der Veen
Welcome, Andy and Terry Baril, our newest members!
Andy is a retired Niagara Hydro linesman. As a "youngster", he used to tear up the streets of Toronto in a fast '70 Mustang. Terry still works as a receptionist for a company in Niagara Falls. Over the years, the two of them have enjoyed camping, RVing (no, it's not quite the same thing as camping), trail bike riding and, more recently, going on motorcycle trips together (they each have their own bike) all over Ontario and the US.
Andy wanted to get back into a fast car to rekindle those memories and what better way than to buy your uncle's '69 Javelin. No, this is no ordinary stock Javelin - it belonged to Mike and Gail Putz and is pretty quick. I don't remember what times Mike turned at the drags but let's just say, it was no slouch!
Our 1977 AMC Pacer (“Zippy”) Concours Story
Our first American Motors Owners (AMO) National Concours with Zippy was in 1997 in Concord, North Carolina. We were so green then that we failed to even win a Junior Bronze in AMC Stock class, so we decided to compete in Non-Stock class after that. In the following nine years, we competed with Zippy six times in AMC Non-Stock Junior class. In 1998, we drove “home” to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where we won a Bronze award. In 1999, we drove to St. Louis, Missouri, where we won another Bronze award. In 2000, we drove to Berlin, Connecticut with our orange tabby kitten “Pegasus”. Pegasus played in the lobby of the host inn with the innkeeper’s St. Bernard puppy, entertaining everyone. Meanwhile, we won another Bronze award. In 2002, we drove “home”, again, to Kenosha, Wisconsin where we won our first Silver award. In 2003, I retired from Norfolk Southern Railroad, but we missed the National in Lansing, Michigan while moving from Atlanta, Georgia to Duluth, Minnesota. In 2004, we drove to Scottsdale, Arizona where we won another Silver award. In 2005, we drove back to our old stomping grounds in Atlanta, Georgia where we won yet another Silver award. We were unable to attend in 2001.
Seemingly stuck at Silver level, we decided to forego the 2006 convention in Dayton, Ohio, and instead spend the time, energy and money giving Zippy a fresh look. We decided to give Zippy a major, full-body restoration. This was body only, but complete disassembly, soda-blasting down to bare metal (over, under, around and through), patching rust spots, etc. When Zippy was stripped bare, we loaded his unit-body carcass onto our utility trailer and had Bobbie’s 1975 Pacer X haul him to the body shop along with all the assorted doors, hood, fenders, hatch, etc. still detached. The painting was done locally by a professional body shop, in Bobbie’s beautiful color choice of a misty green two-tone. The complete underside, inside floor wells, door insides, and roof underside was painted to match using a tint-able bed liner for sound and rust-proofing. While the body was disassembled and curing over the winter, I couldn’t resist cleaning and painting every little item, preparing for re-assembly in the spring.
Successfully re-assembled, we proudly drove Zippy to Denver, Colorado in 2007, where we won Junior Gold in AMC Non-Stock and advanced to Senior class with a near-perfect score, deducted only for the cracked windshield which I broke during installation and did not have time to replace. In 2008, we drove Zippy into Canada, to Kingston, Ontario, where we won Senior Gold and the Roy D. Chapin award, advancing to American Cup class.
In the following eight years, Zippy has been driven to the AMO National Convention to compete six times in the American Cup class: 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri; 2010 in Detroit, Michigan; 2011 in Sedona, Arizona; 2013 in Auburn, Indiana; 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio; and finally, 2016 in Rockford, Illinois. We were unable to attend in 2012 and 2014.
Zippy won the AMO American Cup award in 2016 in Rockford, Illinois showing nearly 330,000 miles as he turns 39 years old, having never been towed to a show. It was the first and only time that Bobbie had not been with me at an AMO National. Bobbie stayed home to care for Pegasus who died within a week of my return. Although we haven’t brought Pegasus with us for several years, people still ask about him. He was such a good traveler and will be missed.
CLASSICS ON KENT – July 10, 2016 – by Jodee Scott
A bunch of us met and proceeded to the registration check in point at 8am Sunday morning. Harm and Barb van der Veen had their Hornet S/C360, Ken Edwards was accompanied by Aunix Lockyear-Breen, Roberta’s grand-daughter in Ken’s AMX, Bonnie and Terry Forbes in their 1970 Ford Cyclone 429 – yes, I know, the odd man out – but being such good friends, we let them join our convoy! – John Vander Meulen in his AMX, and Marty and Sandy Davis in their Bricklin (which has lots of AMC parts in it so it counts). I, of course, had my Ambassador and our club mascot Seymour the dragon accompanied me. The kids wandering around with their parents loved him!
We got to park on the main street – haven’t done that in a few years and headed off to get registered. During the day, we wandered around admiring the many wonderful vehicles on display. My favourite was a Chev Impala called Poison Kandy although a close runner-up was the Berlina Coupe we spotted by the park.
Sandy and I saw a vehicle with a registration number of 479 so I figured there must have been close to 500 vehicles at the show and lots of spectators. We stuck around for the awards presentation but no one in our club received any awards. Ah, well, we really didn’t mind as just getting a chance to drive our cars and exhibit them at a show is enough for most of us.
It was a great day, the weather was very warm but the light breeze that sprung up from time to time gave welcomed relief.
The next event is the AMO International Convention – can’t wait!
The cars were ready to roll, horses and dogs taken care of and a coffee to go in hand; Barb and Harm in their Hornet and me and Seymour (our club mascot) in my Ambassador, headed to Haugen’s Chicken Barbecue on Highway 12 just outside Port Perry. It was already a hot and sunny day, and forecasting promised to see us reaching the 30s with the humidex contribution. Before we got to the show field, we were flagged down by three guys in a very nice Rebel Machine from the Cornwall area who were having starting problems. After a bit of investigation, Harm determined it was more than his basic tools could fix so they decided to call a tow truck.
Many members of our club was assisting our sister club, Northern Ramblers, with their annual event – Rambler-Rama. We were helping at the gates, registration and with 50/50 sales. Attending the event were: Barb and Harm van der Veen, Mike and Gail Putz, Ken Edwards and Roberta Sommerville, Dave Nalepa, Sandy and Marty Davis, Ken and Irene Perrier, Joann, Mark and Jake Legon, Peter Lewko, Henry Joneit, John Vander Meulen, Dave and Donna Hall, Darryl and Chantelle Rae, Rob van Veen, Angelo Fedele and Ken Parkman – a great turnout from our club!
Dave Nalepa drove his 1970 AMX all the way from Cape Breton, and Bruce Clarkson and his wife Jane came from Massachusetts in their 1967 Ambassador. I met Bruce last year at the Cleveland show and it was so nice to have them drive up for this event.
The show went very well and the awards presentation was held at 3pm. A number of our members received awards as voted on by the participants – Peter Lewko, Sandy Davis, Ken Perrier and Ken Parkman. Ken Edwards even won the 50/50 prize (Roberta collected it on his behalf as Ken was helping the guys get their Rebel Machine running again).
After the show, we drove over to Carol Anderson’s place where she and Jeff Spratt were hosting the AGM and barbecue. Carol has a lovely home with a wonderful backyard including a 3-level deck and an in-ground salt water heated pool, where Seymour hung out to observe. Our AGM was held there from about 4 – 5pm. After, Ken E, Roberta and I took a dip in the pool while the rest enjoyed various libations and snacks. Jeff cooked up a mess of burgers and dogs, tables were laid out with all the goodies various members contributed and we had a wonderful feast. My great big thanks to Carol and Jeff for hosting!
Everyone headed out around 7pm for home. With windows down, tunes playing and a lovely evening for the homeward drive, Seymour and I cruised along behind Barb and Harm – having enjoyed another great event and successful AGM. It was so wonderful to see everyone out and we are looking forward to our next event, which for some of us will be the AMO International Convention being held in Rockford, IL. Hope to see many of you there!
Ciao for now!
I thought it important to let you know of two major occurrences in our club members' lives:
Last week, our youngest son Hendrik borrowed our 1971 Hornet SC 360 for a few days. He left his daily driver, a Suzuki Sidekick, here so Harm could get started on welding up the floors, etc. He took off with half a tank of gas and a "poop" eating grin on his face! Nothing quite like driving your parents' muscle car. Now, the car hadn't been out much since the beginning of spring so it was understandable that it took a bit to warm up. He drove it back to Wyevale and became concerned that it was going through too much fuel. He checked the fuel filter (that was okay), but the air filter was soaked with fuel! Car Quest in Midland to the rescue as they had the only filter around for miles. Given that it had sat for the winter, the carb was sticking open a little more than the 850 rpm it normally runs at. Not letting a little thing like that get in his way, he and the whole family hopped into the Hornet to go to the local burger joint for dinner. There were four sets of pearly whites bombing down the road while thumbs up were hoisted all around! The car had its last rebuild in the mid-1980s so it's by no means a show car, but it can still get the looks. They heard comments like, "My Dad had a Hornet but it didn't look like that", or "I've never seen one of those before - what is it?" Hendrik took the time to do a little AMC 101 for one of the other customers and a waitress.
That's really what it's all about - just getting out there. Even if you don't get out to the local cruise-in or one of the many events listed on our website, just driving it to your local restaurant or shopping mall increases the exposure of these cars! Perhaps sooner than we could imagine (or would like), we may be unable to drive these classic cars so we all need to get out there and enjoy them while we can. This applies to us too because, especially at this time of year, we're fixated on farming and good weather usually means either planting or haying. But you can be sure that the next time I need to head into Lindsay to pick up a few things, I'll take the Hornet! Happy motoring everyone!
Barb van der Veen, Website Editor/Social Convenor