Articles

In a book entitled Behind the Superstars – The business side of Sports by Gerry Patterson, he wrote about Jean Beliveau who was a very famous Canadian hockey player with the Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. In February of 1969, Jean met with Gerry to discuss developing his own company. They decided to work with a few companies doing commercials. Late in March of 1969, they met with Larry Rice, the president of American Motors and his decisions makers. When they walked out of the building, they had signed a contract with American Motors. He played the lead role in 16 commercials for American Motors. He ‘posed’ while photographers clicked away for ads which eventually appeared nationally on billboards, in daily newspapers, weeklies and monthlies. Personal appearances included sales meetings and plant tours.

One of the American Motors ads was dubbed “Gump’s Pumps”. Gerry had negotiated a contract for Gump Worsley also a famous hockey goal tender with the Montreal Canadiens – to appear as a gas station attendant, pumping gas and checking under the hood of a new Hornet driven by Beliveau.

Jean’s closing line was, “You know, I’ve seen that guy somewhere before.”

The commercial was scheduled for a 10pm start at a Sunoco stations in Toronto, and lasted until 5am because Gump kept screwing up his lines in the French version. Jean helped Gump with his French delivery, but it required 14 takes before it was perfect. Gump pawned off the blame by saying, “Jean, you gotta improve on your French teaching.”

Back in Montreal, the company took out key-man insurance with Sun Life, obtained an Ambassador for Jean, an AMX for Elise (his wife) and a Javelin for Gerry and checked out office space, knowing the future income was secure in the long term contracts they had signed.

1. (it appears to be Jean’s 1969 Ambassador in the background of the above picture)

From another book entitled Jean Beliveau: My Life in Hockey, there was a transcript that I found of interest. Jean noted that his most exciting foray into another sport occurred in the late 1960’s, when he was filming a commercial for American Motors at the Mont Tremblant racetrack. Al Unser Sr. was feature in the commercial as well. When they broke for lunch, Al invited him to play ‘his’ game for a couple of laps – using a regular North American compact car. Al took him around the track at about 150 miles an hour – or so it seemed to him. He wouldn’t open his eyes to look at the speedometer! Jean told him that car racing would never be a serious second career option for him.

I love stumbling across these little ‘snippets’ of history surrounding American Motors.

Submitted by Jodee Scott

I know it's a rainy day (at least to start) on Canada Day but it can't dampen the spirits and feelings of Canadians.  We've been a country for 148 years (the big celebration comes in two years for our 150th) and we've had our unique Canadian flag for 50 years!  What does being Canadian mean to each of you?  For me, it's a feeling of immense pride, knowing that I live in the best country in the world.  I would also like to recognize our Armed Services for the work they do each and every day to help maintain our freedoms.  With the threats that seem to be constantly out there (now perhaps more than every), I'm proud to take this opportunity to thank them!

Today is a terrific time to reflect on the previous year and look forward to where we want our country to go from here.  Each of us embodies the Canadian spirit (especially with our automatic apologies  when someone else bumps into you and "eh" at the end of  most sentences)!  Show your love for Canada when you're out with your AMC today and every day!  Wave the flag or just wear red and white!  But above all, enjoy yourselves with friends and family!

Barb van der Veen

Website Editor

Good afternoon.

Just a "quickie" to remind everyone of Rambler-ama this Saturday, June 27th (gates open at 9:00) at Haugen's Chicken just south of Port Perry with our AGM after the awards ceremony and dinner with Northern Ramblers after that.  If your position is up for renewal, please indicate to our President, Jodee Scott, if you intend to "stand" for another term.  If you aren't able to attend, please provide a proxy vote to someone you know is going.

The AGM is important to deal with any outstanding items, discuss the current and future status of the club, etc.  Please try to attend.  Remember - this is YOUR club and it is not a static thing!

Thanks and see you there!

Barb van der Veen

Newsletter/Website Editor

Submitted by Barb van der Veen:

On behalf of AMO+, I'd like to welcome our newest member - Charles Barradas.  He lives in Ottawa (sponsored by Henry Joneit) and has a 1973 401 Javelin AMX.  From the information he submitted, it looks like he's done a few things to modify his beauty - .040 over 401 Wiseco Sportsman custom pistons with K1 Technologies H-beam rods, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, polished air gap intake, Barry Grant Demon 750 cfm carb and the list goes on!  Sounds like he might be interested in the AMC Race Day in the fall!!

He joined AMO at the Kingston AMO International Show in 2008 and was a Junior Silver award winner in the Javelin Non-Stock Division.  He's also been to a lot of local car shows at which he's won numerous awards.

When you see him at one of our events, please welcome him in typical AMO+ style!

Submitted by Gary Freelen:

We’d never been to Bethany before.  The weather man was calling for rain, and that might determine whether we would go, man.  The day started off early, but just perfectly.

The Ambassador was extricated from its confines a few weeks prior to the show, and by the way the car skipped to Milton from London, this 50 year old should be fine to make the trip to Bethany.   The journey started just after 7am, in order to get across the 401, and through Toronto.  We were in Bethany at just about 8:30, and all the good spots under the trees were occupied.  We rambled into the next row.

We certainly made an entrance, as we came in off the spectator parking lot.  We missed the sign to get to the front gate, as Google Maps sent us in the back way.  I could hear the sounds of “what the.....”, as we drove to our spot.

The front gate keepers thought we were walk-ons, but I assured them we had Rambler over there.  Our goodie bag was filled with pens, paraphernalia and a dash plaque, and a winning door prize ticket.  I ended up winning a ‘Mustang’ alarm clock, and another pen, plus a cleaning cloth.

Once we got acclimatized to our surroundings, we went to get some breakfast.  The vendors were the next stop on our journey, and we bought a couple of interesting trinkets to take back as souvenirs.  Then Sonia had to try out the bouncy castles that were set up for the kids.

We walked around to enjoy the sunshine and the cars, and we saw an AMX come through the gates - it was John Vander Meulen.  It was great to see John again.   We talked for a while, and then we walked around further to enjoy the show, and take some pictures.  There were about 130 cars on the field by the end of the show, and there were some beauties!

I ran into someone who I worked with some 25 years ago, so Sonia and I talked to them for a while.  When I told them what car I had, they remembered the entrance we made. They saw the green shirt, and said that there were a lot of those green shirts at previous Bethany shows, so we were remembered too.  I also met someone in a car parked near ours who used to work on Ramblers in a dealership in Scarborough.  I love to hear those old Rambler stories.

We didn’t stay until the end, and said our goodbyes to John, about 1:30, as we didn’t want to get trapped in traffic.  On our way out, we stopped at a small gas station to fill up, and I bought a 6/49 ticket that ended up yielding $62.70 – it bought my gas for the day!

It was a picture perfect day, at a great show.  Hopefully we can get there next year.

I'm pleased to say that the BIA of Lindsay has stepped up to the plate to host this year's Classics on Kent!  Those of us who live in this area knew what a huge mistake it would be for the city NOT to support this event.  In fact, this car show is one of the largest in Ontario and brings a considerable amount of people (and therefore money) to the area.  Details about registration are located in the calendar.

Well, is it a sign of the times (financial problems or complacency) that the Classics on Kent has been cancelled?  In an article in the Kawartha Lakes This Week (May 14th, 2015), the General Manager of the Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce, Christine Baily, stated "while it's a great event for the community, it's not one that benefits our members greatly".  She went on to say that "there's a lot going on right now"...Mayoral luncheon (now that's important), annual golf tournament (wow!).  She did point out that although the show is cancelled, the Rolling Thunder Parade to the A & W will take place as scheduled on Saturday, July 11th.  It'll be very interesting to see how many people will come out for a classic car parade when the big event has been cancelled.  She mentioned the lack of benefits to their members (local businesses) - I know for a fact that lots of people shop the downtown (granted, mostly the wives) but they also go to the local restaurants to eat, drink, etc.  She did say that the "main organizer of Classics (was ) unable to continue this year, it was the responsible thing to do."  That, I think, speaks to the more pressing problem for all car clubs - lack of member participation/volunteerism.  As we know only too well in our own club, there is a small, dedicated group at the core who continue to stand for office, volunteer their time, etc.  Even AMO International is struggling with getting enough members to become board members, volunteer as officers, etc.  I have felt for some time that we are seeing the beginning of the end of car clubs as we know them, unless we get an influx of new/enthusiastic members.  I'm not sure of the reasons why the younger generation isn't interested, except that perhaps social media via the internet is too seductive.  It's too easy to sit in your home or in a restaurant (when you should be talking to those around you) to surf the web, make contact with people, buy and sell, etc.  While I believe this generation appreciates our vehicles, there's just not the desire to join a group of like-minded people.  Sad situation - all too soon, the very people who can provide an excellent history of the cars, tips on how to fix/maintain them, will be gone and these beauties will go to junk piles.  I'm not sure what the answers are - just sayin'...

Barb van der Veen

AMO+ Newsletter/Website Editor

Happy birthday!  Sorry we missed wishing Marisa Legon happy birthday on March 17th, but hope it was a great day for her. Upcoming birthdays for - Sandy Davis (April 14th), Mike Dumont (April 1th) and Dave Hall (April 25th) Barb van der Veen, Newsletter/Website Editor