5th Annual DOWNTOWN HISTORIC OREGON CITY CRUISE-IN

Posted on December 29, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

September 13th 2014, turned out to be perfect weather wise for the Downtown Cruise-in. The good weather no doubt contributed to the better than ever turn out, more car than any year previously. The quality of cars was really good too.
Several clubs showed up in mass this year and represented the Ford Mustang very well. A whole side street of Mustangs from 1964 ½ to nearly new were spit shined and gleaming in the sun. There was a parking lot nearly full of Nomads.

There were Rat Rods, Street Rods, Customs, Street Machines, Cruisers, Old and new Race cars, Camaros, Corvettes, Rusty Relics, Completely Restored cars, cars under construction, Hot Rods and Late Model examples that will one day likely be collector cars themselves.

The Cruise came off almost without a hitch. The Club, Trick ‘n Racy Cars, and the Downtown merchant association, Main Street Oregon City, had everything under control from start to finish. The trophies/awards, were donated by local businesses and individuals, with some of them being handmade, which made them quite unique.

The 6th Annual Cruise next year is scheduled for September 12th 2015. Again it will be a one day cruise starting at 10:00am and ending at 4:00pm. Put it on your calendar and come visit Historic Downtown Oregon City.

WHAT’S IT?

Posted on December 29, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

Last month we published a couple pictures of a car that as today December 19th is still unidentified. Yes, we are still waiting for someone who knows about that car to email us, or call us and share their knowledge. However, we must not stand in the way of progress and with that in mind we have another picture of a “What’s It.” I’ve seen something like this one before but I’m not sure what it is, who made it etc. etc. The body is aluminum, the engine is a four cylinder Crosley we think. The workmanship very good and it appears it’s complete.

It’s an odd looking car and it’s quite small. Any ideas? If you know something about this car and would like to share your knowledge please send us an email at roddinracinnw@gmail.com. Or you can give me Ed Gilbert a call at 503-522-5050. I would like to publish the answers to “What’s it” in a coming issue of R & R NW.

If you have or know of a candidate for this type of column please respond with that info as well. Thank you. Ed.

MY CAR

Posted on December 29, 2014January 2, 2015 by Stephen Veltman

It was crazy hot for mid-October on the Monterey peninsula. It was dry and dusty, I was covered with grit from head to toe yet in my glory. I was a ten year old kid, one of 42,000 plus on hand to witness New Zealander Bruce McLaren destroy his competitors at Laguna Seca.

His car was the iconic M6A, a swoopy, papaya colored sports racer with a booming small block Chevy engine. This win was particularly satisfying for me as my older brother had chosen the previous year’s winner, Jim Hall to win in his high winged Chaparral. On this day however, the tall Texan was fighting over heating problems and finished a full lap behind (sorry Scotty). Tenacious George Follmer was third in a Lola driving for Roger Penske.

A year later (1968) the weatherman conjured up something completely different…rain. McLaren was back with a new, less curvaceous M8A and stuck it on the pole. “My Car” was back too, now in Penske’s Sunoco livery with capable Mark Donohue up. Atop the velocity stacks was a gaping air box and the whole package was finished in royal blue with yellow pin striping. It was pretty and fast, fast enough to claim fifth starting position on the grid. In a downpour however, Donohue struggled on slick tires, eventually finishing eighth. McLaren himself couldn’t do much better, ultimately claiming fifth. I didn’t see my car again for 28 years.

My hunch is that Penske sold the M6A to sometimes professional driver Jerry Hansen before the ’68 season concluded. If I’m right, the car probably languished as a club racer for several years after that. Hansen was one of SCCA’s most accomplished drivers and won 27 national titles but walked the thin line between being an amateur and a pro (possibly because he had a regular job and couldn’t follow the entire series). After that…who knows? My car fell off my radar until the Can-Am Reunion held in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin in July of 1996.
By then vintage racing was the rage and the M6A had been restored to its original configuration. Harry Mathews was the owner/driver and made a respectable showing, especially when you consider the evolution of the division. The year after McLaren had won his first championship, most competitors jumped to bigger displacement engines (Since there were no rules restricting this, why wouldn’t you?). Consequently, even Team McLaren’s power plants went from 359 to 427 cubic inches in one year. By the demise of the original Can-Am series in 1974, there were fire belching, twin turbo charged, monster engines in competition, some producing in excess of 1,000 horsepower!

There were over sixty cars in competition at Elkhart Lake and of the small blocks, Mathews was among the five fastest. He qualified 24th overall and held his own in the race, on a course with a long straightaway where horsepower mattered.

Also in attendance that weekend was another vintage racer named Richard Griot. When Griot inquired as to whether or not the iconic McLaren was for sale, he was told “No, I don’t think I will ever sell it”. Turns out Griot had patience and kept after Mathews, making regular calls. In the years that followed Griot continued to grow his car care products business and in 2008, when it looked like the world was coming to an end, Mathews finally said over a routine phone call by Griot, “Fly on out and bring your checkbook”. Griot was on a plane the very next day and the deal was done.

Today the McLaren is the centerpiece of Griot’s personal race car collection housed at corporate headquarters in Tacoma, WA. In the same way you would never admit to having a favorite child, Griot won’t admit that the M6A is his favorite race car…but his fondness for the yellow orange missle is evident.
“Actually, it’s my car,” I told him when we met at his open house last weekend. And then I proceeded to relate my story of claiming the car as my own some 47 years ago. Griot was amused by the tale and took it in the spirit in which it was intended.
“Okay,” he smiled raising his eyebrows, “But I get to drive it!”

NORTHWEST HOUSE OF HARDTOPS

Posted on December 29, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

Mark Young has been selling cars, specifically, special interest cars for more than 30 years here in Portland. A couple years back I was driving by his store at 11834 SE Stark when I saw some cars coming out of a transport. One was a beautiful 61 Bubble Top 409 Chevrolet and I just had to stop for a closer look. Turns out Mark was getting back from Barrett Jackson. My recollection of the details on that day’s events are fuzzy, but the point is Mark sells cars and buys cars at Barrett Jackson.

Barrett Jackson’s Auction Company has turned Phoenix, more specifically Scottsdale, into a January destination for the car nuts of the world. I don’t know which Auction Company started it for sure but Barrett Jackson is arguably the best known and the biggest. Not to be left out though, now there are many collector car auctions happening in Phoenix in January. Russo & Steele, Bonhams, Gooding & Co., Silver Auctions, RM Auctions and of course, Barrett Jackson.

Mark will be at this years’ Barrett Jackson Auction with 15 cars for sale as follows:

     WEDNESDAY – starts at Lot #300
        # 375                1964 Gasser Nova
        # 468                1968 Camaro Convertible
        # 469                1969 Corvette Convertible

     THURSDAY – starts at Lot #600
        # 755                1955 Ford Crown Victoria
        # 778                1968 427 Camaro
        # 848                1970 Chevelle Convertible

     FRIDAY – starts at Lot #900
        #1020               1956 Corvette
        #1023               1961 Austin Healey
        #1070               1970 LS6 Chevelle

     SATURDAY – starts at Lot #1200
        #1288               1968 Hemi GTX
        #5015               1970 Hemi Challenger *
        #5024               1970 Hemi Cuda *
        #5062               1969 GTO Judge Convertible *
        #5063               1969 Yenko Camaro *
        #5051.1             1963 Bunkie Corvette *

* These 5 cars “5000 series numbers” are Salon cars

They sell some high end cars at Barrett Jacksons Auctions and Marks cars fit right in. If you aren’t going to Arizona in January you can watch all the action on Velocity TV. Check it out.

BILLET PROOF HOT ROD ERUPTION DRAGS

Posted on December 29, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

If you’ve never been to a Billet Proof event you have missed out on of “The Worlds Least Important Car Shows.” No kidding, that’s what they are billed as. And the Hot Rod Eruption Drags at Riverdale Raceway in Toutle Washington can best be described as what I’ve heard said many times. “It’s a Hoot!”

The drag strip is an outlaw strip, devoid of Jersey Barriers, walls, catch-fences or other gear to protect spectators from the speeding cars. Tech inspections are basic and safety requires a helmet in an open car. All the racing is heads-up on the 1/8th mile and though there is a return road, its dirt, so the cars that have raced wait at the end of the track and after a sufficient crowd forms, they all line up and parade lap back up the track to the starting line while the racers in the staging lanes wait. It’s gotta be what it was like in the beginning of drag racing.

It’s a run-what-ya-brung kind of format and I think there were some grudge matches going on out there, and if not this year, there will likely be some next year. At least one where I heard a fellow saying, “I got beat by a Volkswagen!” He was driving a Ford with a V-8. That has grudge match written all over it, don’t you think. This year was my first and the place was packed. Everything about the day is primitive at best but it was also a lot of fun. Real racecars were in attendance along with some very old school creations that frankly looked a little scary. But everything went well and I saw a lot of smiling faces. That should tell you that there was a lot of fun happening too.

The Billet Proof Hot Rod Eruption Drags appears to be an annual event so it you start now you could just about have your “Race Car” ready for next Augusts Drags at Toutle’s Riverdale Raceway.

R&G Machining Update

Posted on December 23, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

I visited R & G Machining the other day to get an update on their machine shops capabilities. It’s amazing, they can do almost any kind of machine work for engines that you might need, or they have a large stock of rebuilt parts and engines on hand.

R & G Machining is a full service machine shop. They can turn crankshafts, regrind camshafts, bore engines, align bore, hone, balance, do head work to include resurfacing, valve grinding, install new seats and guides, flow bench test heads, weld blocks and heads and they work on both Gas and Diesel engines, all in house.

R & G Machining also has exchange cranks, rods, cams, heads, short blocks and long blocks in stock for same day service. And they have a full parts supply as well. Visit their web site at www.grumpysperformancecenter.com or visit them at 27716 S. Hwy 213, Mulino, OR. or give them at call at 503-829-6038.

NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM

Posted on December 23, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

Most, if not all of you, know about what happened during the wee hours of the morning on February 12th this year. The security cam video went viral on the internet showing eight (8) Corvettes fall, one after another, into an ever enlarging HOLE that developed in the floor under where these cars were parked on display in the museum’s “Sky Dome.” No one was there, fortunately, since it was early in the morning before the Museum opened, so no one was hurt. That can’t be said for the cars however.

The list consisted of the following cars:

1962 Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 1 Millionth Corvette produced
1993 ZR-1 Spyder
1993 40th Anniversary Ruby Red Coupe
2001 “Mallet Hammer” Z-06
2009 1.5 Millionth Corvette Produced
2009 ZR-1 Prototype “Blue Devil”

Looking into the gaping hole you can see some of the cars and while damaged, those don’t look too bad. The others are buried under the ones you see and tons of concrete and dirt. Those cars got the worst of the damage. It’s surprising to me that they were found and recovered at all.
Early on, GM said they would help with restoration of the cars. The Museum said they would restore them but then many on lookers said “No,” leave them as they are and display them as found. I submitted my two cents worth in this regard, suggesting that a ‘to scale’ graphic be created and applied to the floor once the hole was filled and the floor repaired, so that future visitors could experience the scope of the damage but, without the danger and the dust. Others had expressed this idea and the Museum entertained and discussed all the ideas that were submitted. This one was considered too expensive both initially and to maintain. I was told that they are discussing, at a minimum, putting the outline of the hole in actual size on the newly repaired floor but a decision hasn’t been finalized. I think that’s a great idea.
The construction crew arrived back at the Museum this week to begin re-filling the hole. The plan is to fill it entirely with rock and then re-enforce the fill by drilling and filling with columns of concrete to support the floor.
Many of the cars that were recovered were displayed in the months since the sinkhole happened. The curiosity factor created a significant boost in attendance since the sinkhole in February. Since some of the cars were literally destroyed and in consideration of the idea that displaying them as recovered would be a historical display, the Museum’s current plans are just that. Create a permanent display of badly damaged cars showing what happened to them.
The “Blue Devil” ZR-1 prototype was sent to GM in Michigan for restoration. Two weeks later it was as good as new. It was transported to SEMA for display and it arrived back at the Museum on November 14th, looking as spectacular as ever. The White 1 Millionth Corvette and the Black 1962 Corvette will be restored as well. The remaining five cars will be in the future “Sinkhole” display.
My wife and I are members and we visited the Museum in 2003 during the 50th Anniversary celebration. Celebrating the first Corvette’s birthdate, June 30th 1953. Since I’m a lifelong Corvette nut, it was cool to go there and see the displays and we look forward to going back again soon, but I think we should wait until the Skydome floor is finished and the damaged Corvettes are displayed again. I’d like to see that since we couldn’t go this year.
The Corvette Assembly Plant is across the freeway from the Museum too. They offer tours of the assembly plant which are fascinating to any car nut. When you plan your trip to the Museum and the Assembly Plant, I recommend that you contact the plant for tour info BEFORE you book your trip. They have certain black out times and dates where you will not be able to tour the plant. Don’t plan and book your trip without checking for their schedules.

Jack’s Specialty Parts advertiser update

Posted on December 22, 2014January 2, 2015 by Ed Gilbert

Jacks “collection” of what I generally call “hard parts” is extensive. The coverage is from the 30’s thru the 70’s with a little into the 80’s if there were ‘carryover’ applications. Jack tells me that his inventory is primarily Ford and Chevy mechanical parts, no sheet metal, glass or rubber parts.
Having had a career in the aftermarket auto parts business, Jack has crossed his inventory over into one numbering system for ease of identification. This large collection of elderly but, new parts is all properly organized and arranged on parts room shelving in his warehouse space at 909 N.E. Cleveland Ave. in Gresham, OR. 503-667-1725. If you’re looking for parts for your latest project, Jack might be able to help, give him a call.