Mark McAlpine

I see Stude Light posted a photo of Vinsetta Garage. Another cool car-related place to eat in metro Detroit is Ford's Garage in Dearborn. Although it's not in a historic building like Vinsetta Garage and apparently is a chain restaurant (there are 10 of them located in Florida; the one in Dearborn is the only one outside of Florida that I know of), it still has cool ambience (and great burgers) with Model A shell's on display inside and outside and other automotive-themed displays and fixtures inside. The "Ford" logo branded into the hamburger buns is a nice touch. Yes, Detroit is a bit down-trodden right now, but it's recovering. I admit a bit of bias (I was born in Detroit and raised in Detroit proper for the first five years or so of my life, then lived in its suburbs until I joined the Air Force at 26, and still return home 3-4 times a year and spend a good chunk of the year there), but there are plenty of antique auto-related (and other) things to do in the area, from being welcomed by the old Uniroyal Tires Ferris Wheel (from the 1964 New York World's Fair) as you head into Detroit on I-94, to the Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village, Ford Piquette Plant, Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, the GM Heritage Collection in Sterling Heights, the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, the Sloan Museum in Flint, the Stahls Automotive Foundation in Chesterfield, the Packard Proving Grounds, the Chrysler Collection (which may be open to the public again in a year or two after it relocates to the old Conner Avenue Assembly Plant Viper plant), Automotive Hall of Fall in Dearborn, the Detroit Historical Museum, the carcass of the old Packard Plant in Detroit (which has a new remodeling vision announced every few years), car and truck plant tours, etc. Time your visit and you can also catch the Detroit International Auto Show in January, the Detroit Autorama ("The World's Greatest Hot Rod Show"--home of the Riddler Award) every March, the Woodward Dream Cruise in August, the smaller Cruisin' Gratiot cruise in June, the Clinton Twp Gratiot Cruise in early August, etc. Drive Jefferson Avenue (Lake Shore Drive in points) along Lake St. Claire and see some of the remaining mansions of the early auto barons (many of the estates have been razed and subdivided, but there are still some impressive homes) including visiting the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Point Shores. As I said, I'm a bit biased about my home town. There are plenty of other cool "car things" to do in the metro Detroit area--other members will probably weigh in and add other things I haven't listed. Oh, yeah, don't forget the Gilmore Museum is only about 2.5 - 3 hours away.

Marion & I are looking forward to the Ocala National. Like Tommy & Debbie Nolen, we're staying at the LaQuinta (and already have our reservations for Charlotte, Auburn, Parsippany, and Hershey). Ed: You definitely have my curiosity piqued. I can't wait to see what vehicle you're bringing. Safe travels everyone! See some of you at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia next month (7-9 Feb for Chistech) and the rest of you in Ocala.

About 10 years ago a cargo ship carrying about 2,800 BMWs sank in the English Channel. BMW scrapped all the cars (understandable if they had been submerged) and did not allow anything to be salvaged from them, not even wheels or tires. Not sure if that was BMW's decision or the insurance company's (assuming the cars were covered by insurance).

Anyone who ever met Carol knows we lost a kind, considerate, friendly and intelligent woman. She'll be missed greatly. She and Don are in our thoughts and prayers.

The real 1934 Edsel Ford Model 40 Speedster (a one-of-a-kind speedster hand-built on a 1934 chassis for Edsel Ford) is currently on display at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke, VA, in its "Drive! Iconic American Cars & Motorcycles" exhibit. We saw it during the ODMA's Fall Tour this past weekend--it's beautiful.

Sorry, I just saw this post. It looks like there was a great turnout for the meet despite the rain. Thanks for posting the photos, Annie!

Sorry you couldn't make it to the ODMA Fall Tour, Wayne, but I know you had fun on the Sentimental Tour. The ODMA tries to schedule its annual Old Dominion Meet (usually held in the spring) and now its newly added Fall Tour (this was only the second one) so as not to conflict with AACA national activities, but it was particularly difficult this year to deconflict the fall tour because of the unusually busy AACA national calendar this fall: we had the Central Division Tour and Glidden Tour in September, the Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey and Founders Tour in October, and the Sentimental Tour in November. Add in also wanting to deconflict the ODMA Fall Tour with the major activities of the ODMA member regions (e.g., the Tidewater Region's annual meet in September and the Bull Run Region's Edgar Rohr Show in October), plus the questionable weather beginning in mid-to-late November, and it's a challenge to find a weekend in the fall that doesn't conflict with something. We'll try our best to avoid conflicting with national activities next year. (The national meet in Fallbrook, CA, may pose a problem, but I suspect there is a very limited number of OMDA members who will travel to the West Coast for the meet if the ODMA Fall Tour is held on Veterans Day weekend again.)

Ron Vanderpool and the Roanoke Valley Region did a great job. Marion & I are sorry you and Debbie couldn't make it, but Debbie's health was considerably more important. We're just happy things went well and wish her a speedy & complete recovery. We look forward to seeing you both at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this February.

A few more photos from the 2018 ODMA Fall Tour (9-10 Nov 2018).

The Roanoke Valley Region AACA hosted the Old Dominion Meet Association (ODMA) 2018 Fall Tour this past Friday and Saturday, 9-10 November 2018. (For those not familiar with the ODMA, it's a non-geographic region of the AACA comprised of 14 of the 17 AACA regions in Virginia--we're still trying to figure out why the other three regions don't belong. The ODMA's origins lay in the "Tri-Region Meet" held in 1952 by the Alleghany Mountain, National Capital, and Waynesboro-Staunton AACA Regions. In 1953 the new Richmond Region joined the group and the Alleghany Region dropped out, and the meet was renamed the Old Dominion Meet. Over the years more AACA regions in Virginia joined in the fun, and the Old Dominion Meet has been held every year since 1953 except 1961. In 2010, the ODMA submitted an application to become an AACA non-geographic region, and its charter was approved on February 10, 2011. In 2017, the ODMA instituted an annual Fall Tour, with the first hosted by the Richmond Region. Hosting of the annual meets, and now tours, rotates among the ODMA member regions.) 2018 ODMA Fall Tour Chairman Ron Vanderpool planned and organized a fantastic tour highlighting the beauty and some of the many interesting attractions in the Roanoke Valley. 65 people & 34 vehicles were registered for the tour. Most tour participants, especially those from out of the area, arrived on Friday evening and enjoyed socializing in the Hospitality Suite at the host hotel (the Holiday Inn Tanglewood). The ODMA Board also held its semi-annual meeting that evening. After breakfast on Saturday morning, we drove up to the top of Mill Mountain to see the Mill Mountain Star (aka Roanoke Star, the world's largest man-made illuminated star) and view the scenic Roanoke Valley below us. After that we headed to the National D-Day Memorial (fitting for a tour on Veterans Day weekend) in nearby Bedford, VA. The memorial is fantastic--it you haven't visited it before, you need to go. Following our guided tour of the D-Day Memorial, we drove to Peaks of Otter Lodge for a delicious lunch. After we stuffed ourselves, we drove to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke (stopping en route at a lookout on the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the view overlooking the valley), parked and took a bus to the nearby Taubman Museum to view its special exhibit "Drive! Iconic American Cars & Motorcycles." (Ron arranged for the bus because of limited parking at the Taubman.) After enjoying the cool cars, motorcycles, diecast model display, and special automotive art on display, we returned to the Virginia Museum of Transportation to view its collection including its eclectic collection of vehicles (including a rare 1923 Piedmont Model 4-30 Touring Car produced in nearby Lynchburg) and a special display--"The Star Cars of Hollywood." We enjoyed a fried chicken buffet dinner at the museum, before returning to our host hotel tired, but happy after a fun day. Some of us, not ready for such a fun day to end, returned to the hospitality room to socialize some more. Kudus to Tour Chairman Ron Vanderpool and the entire Roanoke Valley Region for being such great hosts and providing us such a great weekend! Enjoy the photos provided below--they don't begin to capture what we saw and enjoyed.

Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, Terry! And what a fitting way for you to celebrate--by going to Hershey and finding some great treasures in the flea market, antique stores, and Allentown paper show. Enjoy your retirement. As Marty Roth pointed out, you should have a little more time to do all the antique car-related things you enjoy.

We were unable to attend the Old Time Movies this year, but have gone to them the last five years or so and enjoyed them very much. Keep up the good work--the old movies are always entertaining, and it's especially fun to try to identify the old cars in them.

My sincere thanks to my Judging Team at the Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey this year: Karl, Michael, Scott, and Tom. Each of them was very knowledgeable, attentive to detail, fair, reasonable, and consistent. What more could you ask from a judging team? We had a great time judging some beautiful cars. I had fun, and learned something from everyone on our team. Thanks also to all the AACA members who weren't frightened off by the rain Saturday morning and still displayed their cars on the show field. You can't have a car show without cars.

A few more photos. (I maxed out on file size for my first post.)

We had a great turnout of over 200 antique vehicles for the Tidewater Region's 45th Annual Meet (our "Wings & Wheels" Car Show for the 11 years we've held it at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach). For those unfamiliar with the show, we have two show fields--one for AACA-eligible vehicles and one for "Mods & Rods." Combine those with the world's largest collection of flyable WWI and WWII military aircraft and you have a great day. We had a Hagerty Youth Judging team out judging vehicles and selecting their own 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prize winners. We were supposed to have two teams with 30 kids--mostly Boy Scouts--but our Scouts got pulled off to help collect relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Florence, so we only had one team of 9 kids but they (and our volunteer team leaders--Donna Elliott and John Heimerl) had a lot of fun. AACA Library & Research Center Director Chris Ritter's son Pierce was one of the judges. We also had a special display to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Chevrolet trucks. The AACA Library Bookmobile was supposed to be the centerpiece of the display, but was unable to make it because of an issue with the trailer. Que sera--things happen. (Anyone who takes cars to car shows has experienced the car, the tow vehicle, or the trailer breaking.) We were pleasantly surprised to see Chris Ritter, his father, and his son show up in the morning. We very much appreciate them making the trek from Hershey to Virginia Beach for our show and hope they enjoyed themselves. Our very own Terry Bond presented a seminar on collecting automobilia--it was very informative and entertaining. (Terry is a walking database of all things collectible that are antique automobile-related. His breadth and depth of knowledge is incredible. Every month he writes an article on collecting for our region's newsletter--it's the foundation of our newsletter, and every month I learn something new.) The Military Aviation Museum had a special "Snoopy" display on loan from the Charles Schultz Museum and also conducted a flight demonstration of its deHavilland DH-98 Mosquito WWII bomber (the only flying one in the world). Here are the "Best of" Awards for the AACA side of the field: Best-in-Show: 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 owned by Greg Cowell Best British Car: 1986 Jaguar XJS owned by Daniel & Diana Etheridge Best Camaro: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 owned by Paul Fuqua Best Chevrolet: 1931 Chevrolet AE Independence Roadster owned by Donna Elliott Best Classic Car: 1930 Packard 745 Roadster owned by Al Becker Best Corvette: 1958 Chevrolet Corvette owned by Scott Davies Best Foreign Car: 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto owned by Skip Patnode Best German Car: 1969 VW Beetle owned by Debbie Nolen Best GM Car: 1929 Buick Master 4-door sedan owned by Ken Talley Best Jeep: 1942 Ford GPW Jeep owned by Sam Kern Best MOPAR Car: 1937 Dodge Westchester Station Wagon owned by Kit Lawrence Best Mustang: 1966 Ford Mustang convertible owned by Wes Neal Best Orphan Car: 1970 AMC AMX owned by Joe Gentile Best Pontiac Car: 1962 Pontiac Ventura owned by Tommy Nolen Best Pre-War Ford: 1931 Ford Model A Pickup owned by Andy Ott Best Truck: 1966 Chevrolet El Camino owned by Charlie Dawson Attached are some more photos. Please come to our 46th Annual Meet next year on Saturday, 28 September 2019, so we can post a photo of your car, too! (Next year's special display will be "Automobiles Through the Decades" with 1-2 autos displayed from each decade from the 1900-2019 so spectators can see the change in design, features, and technology throughout automotive history.)