EDINMASS & C CARL nomination

[George Smolinski]

After I posted the ad regarding the 1928 Cadillac for sale, both EDINMASS and C CARL were quick to contact me with advice on the car. They also held off notifying someone else they knew that may be interested until I relinquished my position on the car.

Therefore I nominate both of these fine fellows for "Gentleman of the Year" award.

Both of you showed me real class.

George

[edinmass]

Thank you George! It's much appreciated.?

[R W Burgess]

Ed's a cool guy. Met him at the Philly DFer meeting this year!

[trimacar]

Ed's a very good friend of mine, and quite a nice fellow, considering!

[old car fan]

I never met a bad old car guy.

[trimacar]

2 hours ago, old car fan said:

I never met a bad old car guy.

 

Well, it's kinda like what my son says about pizza....there's really no such thing as BAD pizza, there's only pizza and great pizza......and, given a choice, you'd try to go with the great pizza.....so I can't say I've ever met a BAD old car guy, but over the course of 50-plus years, I've met some that were just car guys, not great car guys.....

 

Guess that sounds a little uppity or egotistical, not trying to make it sound that way, hope it makes sense to some....

[Guest]

trimacar, an old Hutterite friend of mine said that anywhere there was wheat there would be chaff.  Not to say that both aren't useful but different.

[C Carl]

Well , thank you , George. But this is hardly above and beyond. Just simple old fashioned up bringing , like most of us were fortunate to have had. We kids were taught that the Golden Rule was the Base Rock of our existence . Thanks also , George for posting that grand old 1929 Cadillac relic. Fine , fine , fine on the inside ! Certainly there are cynical cut throat guys looking to take advantage of anyone and anything. Mike B. and I did have beginners bad luck with a guy here. But he's not sittin' 'round the ol' grease pit spittin' chaw in the sawdust and drinkin' Orange Crush and Dr. pepper with us here anyway. Uh , speakin' of pleasures of the mouth : Pizza ? Frank Pepe ! Many of you all know this one. That is the same coal fired oven since 1925. The original. 157 Wooster St. , Little Italy , New Haven , CT. Hey ! Let's see if I can tell the Pizza and Cadillac tales. 

 

Dad had mentioned an incredible pizza place in New Haven , which he knew from shortly after he and Mom were married in '39. Over 30 years ago , I took Sandy on a birthday trip (late Sept) , to do some leaf cruising. Plan was to fly to Newark , visit The City (her first time) , rent a one way car , and fly back to Seattle from Boston. One way car rental was pricey back then , so we checked the local NYC ad rag , and ended up with an 8 or 9 year old '76 Eldo droptop. 22,000 miles. Great deal from a very nice widow lady in Port Washington. Factor in the saved money from the now unnecessary rental cost , and who wouldn't ? (I still have the car). No longer just a leaf cruise , it was a Top Down Cadillac leaf cruise ! Typical New England fall weather. The top only went up if there was more than a mist of rain. Great heater with the windows up. You can work up an appetite for hot fodder while sight seeing in a convertible. Pizza ! What was the name of Dad's pizza place ?

 

Dad was not home when we tried calling him from the pre-cellphone coin operated telecommunication device. Nothing rang a bell in the directory either. Sally's ? I dont know. Maybe. I just can't remember. What should we do ? Sally's. Oh , no ! Closed this week. Up the block was a line outside....................... Frank Pepe's. Let's eat ! Waiting in line we got to talking pizza with a guy from Scranton. He filled us in. Now I started realizing we had stumbled into exactly Dad's tomato pie joint ! That culinary revelation left us eternally longing for that far away pizza , against which every subsequent pie has had to be judged. It was so good that we took a large one to go. An occasional refrigerator raid in the motel that night made us glad we took a large. We left the top up the next Seattle style drizzle morning. We had planned ahead , and bought a roll of aluminum foil. A proper place was found in that 500 cubic inch oven , and a cold 6 pak nested down in the trunk. Mystic Seaport in an absolutely dead glassy calm continuing drizzle. Where we hail from , people do EVERYTHING in the rain. If they didn't do that , why they wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING ! Of course , hungry upon return to the Cadillac , pizza and 500 cubic inch oven were still warm. The 6 pak just right , out in the cold trunk. Sandy and I were still  relatively young , strong and limber. We found warm comfort under that massive hood , grateful for the 500 cubic inch oven ! We left the droptop at the friendly Cadillac store in Boston to take care of all the little odds and ends needed , and flew home . I took a detour when I returned to drive that 500 cubic inch Caddy home. The pizza was even better than I had remembered ! 

 

I flew to Boston again several years later. Had been on a V63 Cad hunt for three years. Two ideal ones popped up in Hemmings at the same time. One in RI , the other in Eastern OH. I should have bought them both. Someone may remember the Brewster green '24 phaeton on Westinghouse suspension. It was a remarkably well preserved one , but had deferred maintenance written in capital letters all over it. This condition was confirmed 13 years later , when I ran into Phaeton and new owner at the Detroit Centenial. Well , 98.6 % of you know how lucky I was to get the '24 7 pass touring which has been a delight for almost 30 years now. If you are a newbie here , or have a short memory , just let me know. I'll post a reminder for you. Oh , O.K. Just I case 1 or 2 of you new guys haven't seen it , a pic for you. I had a reminder pizzathon at Frank's joint , this time no detour needed. Yup , even better than I remembered. 

 

My last pizzathon coincided with Hershey 2013. In and out of Newark , with a brand spanking new all black AWD Rentillac for the two week duration. Met and got some needed parts from Mike G. who invited me to stay with him and his family for a week , not far from Frank Pepe's. Can you imagine Mike's 1926 Cadillac DCP back when it was brand new at the first anniversary of Frank Pepe ? On the way to Mike's house , more pizza ! Also saw the sign to Ambassador , Chief JJ's digs , so dropped in for a visit ! Great fun , great car guys , events and sightseeing made me wish I could stay longer. But all good things were not to have a totally abrupt end. Frank is now open every day , lunch too. A half and half , two flavored pie lost a slice from each flavor , now not under , but this time on top of the Cadillac hood , hot in Frank's parking lot. Waiting for lunch , I was given directions for the best route that time of day to Newark by way of the Tappan Zee bridge. That left time for an encore in the parking lot after turning in the Rentillac. The remaining 1/2 pie was carefully wrapped , and your delivery boy here toted that pie home , all the way across the country in his carry on ! You KNOW Sandy loved it , and even let me have some out of sheer gratitude !       Double thanks again , George !   - Carl

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2017 by C Carl
Correcting spellcheck (see edit history)

[trimacar]

Great story, great cars and pizza, perfect!  Thanks for sharing....

[R W Burgess]

9 hours ago, C Carl said:

Let's see if I can tell the Pizza and Cadillac tales.

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Really Carl? "Let's SEE if I can tell a tale?"

 

Good stuff, newsletter article material guys!!!

[edinmass]

I love pre war Cadillac's...........28-34 are my favorites. My first car restoration was a 1931 Caddy V-8 I started on in 1980 at age 14. Took me years to make it drivable and "whole" but it still at best was a thirty footer. That was my first of more than a dozen early Caddy's. I don't have any photos of me from the old days scanned yet.......on my to do list. As any good Cadillac owner, I also try to eat pizza at Frank Pepe's as often as possible, usually twice a year. It's worth the trip! Ed

[R W Burgess]

11 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 As any good Cadillac owner, I also try to eat pizza at Frank Pepe's as often as possible, usually twice a year. It's worth the trip! Ed

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I thought only Chevy and Ford owners HAD to eat pizza????  :-)

[trimacar]

Well, you know Ed, being a Pierce Arrow kinda guy, when he can't get caviar, foie gras,  and Lobster Thermidor, he'll humble himself with a piece o' pizza pie!

[R W Burgess]

16 minutes ago, trimacar said:

Well, you know Ed, being a Pierce Arrow kinda guy, when he can't get caviar, foie gras,  and Lobster Thermidor, he'll humble himself with a piece o' pizza pie!

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David, you and your buddies need to go on more AACA Tours. We actually have ice cream parties on our tours. I got 2 scoops last week in Touloume, Ca for $3.50 on the Sonora California Western Divisional Tour!!!