Jump to content

CCCA Ice Cream Social


Barry Wolk

Recommended Posts

The Michigan chapter of the Classic Car Club of America threw its annual Ice Cream Social fundraiser at our friend's home. It's a 7 acre gated compound with 3 family homes on the site. He opens up his 8 car attached garage for seating and serves ice cream to hundreds of people. The site is covered with sculpture in all media, and today, classic cars, too.

IMG_4525.jpg

IMG_4524.jpg

IMG_4523.jpg

IMG_4522.jpg

IMG_4521.jpg

IMG_4520.jpg

Fake

IMG_4519.jpg

IMG_4518.jpg

IMG_4517.jpg

IMG_4516.jpg

IMG_4515.jpg

IMG_4514.jpg

IMG_4513.jpg

IMG_4512.jpg

IMG_4511.jpg

IMG_4510.jpg

IMG_4509.jpg

IMG_4508.jpg

IMG_4507.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kingoftheroad

WOW, looks like a great gathering of people & cars.

Is that just friends or were there other local folks & car lover / owners there too ??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice array of beautiful automobiles!! Was the sculpture of the horse made by a guy with the last name Thibodeaux? He made sculptures out of bumpers and I remember one that he made of Muhammad Ali that was downtown Detroit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice array of beautiful automobiles!! Was the sculpture of the horse made by a guy with the last name Thibodeaux? He made sculptures out of bumpers and I remember one that he made of Muhammad Ali that was downtown Detroit.

I believe you are correct about the sculptor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure why, but I could not see the pics.

Anyway, Barry not sure if you are a CCCA member or not - on my "do list" even though I do not own a Full Classic. Nice to see CCCA getting some good press here, I have yet to meet a CCCA member who is not down to earth and more than willing to talk cars - the myth that they are not friendly is just that. Plus, who doesn't love ICE CREAM? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure why, but I could not see the pics.

Anyway, Barry not sure if you are a CCCA member or not - on my "do list" even though I do not own a Full Classic. Nice to see CCCA getting some good press here, I have yet to meet a CCCA member who is not down to earth and more than willing to talk cars - the myth that they are not friendly is just that. Plus, who doesn't love ICE CREAM? :D

The pics are large. They take some time to load. None of my cars qualify for CCCA, so I'm not a member. The hosts always ask us to come, regardless.

From my observations, though, the CCCA does have a problem, IMO. They are so restrictive that the cars that qualify are so expensive that there are no young people to replace the quite old people that own these cars. I felt like a babe in arms amongst that crowd and I'm nearly 60.

Years ago, when I asked the lady that was the head of the CCCA why the Mark II didn't qualify (it was due to YOM, only) I was told that the club would never change in her lifetime. Well.....................................they haven't called me yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to send this in this direction Barry, but allow me to play Devil's advocate for one minute - if CCCA was a marque specific group you had interest in, but no car yet, would you consider joining? I look at it that way - if I was invited by some friends to an LCOC event with my Packard, I really would not expect them to feature my car in their newsletter, say, but I might join especially if considering buying a Lincoln at some point.

(BTW, did the thought ever cross your mind that a Lincoln Continental would fit your "Continental" collection, and give you something to bring to the CCCA folks' sandbox?? :D )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if CCCA was a marque specific group you had interest in, but no car yet, would you consider joining?

NO

(BTW, did the thought ever cross your mind that a Lincoln Continental would fit your "Continental" collection, and give you something to bring to the CCCA folks' sandbox?? :D )

That could happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On my short list of possible future acquisitions as well. I would only add that while there are a lot of very expensive cars in CCCA, many eligible cars are in the $20 - 50K range. Not that exclusive compared to what many much more mundane cars go for...

Sounds like it is not about the people in your case, Barry, it is kind of an either I am fully in or I am not thing - if that is the case I get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why would I join the SDC if I don't own a Stude? Some of my best friends own Studes, but that's no reason to join their club.

I guess I'm just totally turned off by the CCCA's attitude, not their members. Many agree that the Mark II should be included as the only thing it doesn't qualify on is that it wasn't made pre-1948, a seemingly arbitrary date.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ahh - a philisophical difference. Unfortunately the Milestone Car Society, kind of a postwar answer to CCCA never really made it off the ground, kind of sputtered along for a few years there not sure when it died but I think it may have been at least 10 years ago. Somewhat different criteria though, as I think a '55 - '57 Chevy Nomad would be a milestone as well as your Continental; i can imagine a much less cohesive group than if they took a "best of the best" mentaility as CCCA does. I would agree there are a few cars - yours especially that fit the spirit of CCCA in every aspect except year of manufacture.

But in answer to the Stude question - if you were seriously interested in owning one then you may find it makes sense to join? If you appreciated them but just happened to have a couple close friends with Studes I agree, pass.

But I will go just about anywhere that has ice cream.... ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course I would join the SDC if I were in the market, but I'm not.

Frankly, I have little use for the Lincoln or the 356 national organizations, but I have to join them to belong to local regions. I greatly dislike points-judged shows, so I never subject myself to that kind of venue. I like people telling me what they like about my toys, not what's wrong with them, so I fit nicely in the Concours scene.

Again, to each his own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think 1948 is an arbitrary date at all. The CCCA is basically a pre WW II car club. The only post war cars let in are ones that are nearly identical to the 1942 models. There isn't one car in the CCCA that originally came with a modern type OHV V8 engine with power steering and modern type power brakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In reality, the Classic Era ended in the late 30's with the Packard Twelve, Lincoln, K, V 16 Cadillac, and V 12 Pierce Arrow. Those are the last of the American "over built, larger than life, super cars." Another way to look at it is the custom body business. I believe the only American body builder to make it through the war and still do car bodies in the late 40's early 50's was Derham. And after the war, most (but not all) of Derham's work was adding padded tops to cars. The custom body business (building a one of a kind body from scratch) is a hallmark of what some people call the Classic Era of the 1920's & 30's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess arbitrary is relative, but I agree that there is a definite difference between prewar and postwar cars. The CCCA's initial intent, as K8096 pointed out, was to highlight the cars of the Classic Era, which pretty much ended by 1939. I think they probably did "arbitrarily" choose 1942, just because it was an easy breaking point of prewar vs postwar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After the dust cleared, the cut-off was 1942, with the exception of Lincoln Continentals, which were included through 1948. That, in my opinion, was the camel's nose.

The founding father's were more interested in having a club JUST FOR the cars that all but the most wealthy one percent of us could afford. Cars that would be in the $300,000 category today. So bringing it into today's world, I guess the analogy would be somone with a Cadillac wanting to break into a club meant for Bentleys and Maybachs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I may be wrong, but I don't think that the wealthiest 1% are the ones buying $300,000 cars today. I believe the percentage is much smaller.

You're more than likely right. Go with my second analogy. Cadillac does not produce a car today that would fall within the guidelines of what the original CCCA founders had in mind. If they decided to produce that "Sixteen" that was developed a few years ago... that would fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, but a couple of the mid-'50s Caddys and the Mark II would certainly meet their criteria. I'm not suggesting that modern cars be allowed. I don't consider drum brakes and carbs to be modern.

Like I said, their rules are exclusionary, which will eventually kill the club through attrition.

Edited by Barry Wolk (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...