2022 Holiday Motor Excursion

[29 Chandler]

For those of you looking for something to do New Year's Eve morning and will be in Southern California on the 31st, make your way out to Arcadia CA for the 66th annual Holiday Motor Excursion. One of the largest gatherings of pre war cars on the West Coast.

Hope to see you there, I'll be with our 1914 Chandler Model 15.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

Sounds like fun with really old cars.    Congratulations on 66 years of doing your ride.

Our Florida Club will do their 42nd Birthday Tour on New Years Day.   My new group here in NC

will celebrate our car Birthdays on New Years Day as well, but only for the 4th time.

[Robert G. Smits]

We need photo’s please 

[29 Chandler]

Photos as requested from 2021

 

[29 Chandler]

More from 2021

[29 Chandler]

Last set from 2021

 

[29 Chandler]

A few from 2019

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

A few from 2018

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

And a few from year earlier years

 

[29 Chandler]

And a few from 2017

 

[29 Chandler]

This "guy" in the Dusey keeps coming every year in a different car 🙂

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[29 Chandler]

The Eastwood Family started the Holiday Motor Excursion almost 7 decades ago. Here is the brief history of the event written by one of the sons, Peter Eastwood:

 

History written for the 40th HME in 1995

            December 25th in Southern California is, more often than not, sunny and clear.   It was on one of those Christmas days back in the early 1950’s when the seed was planted that eventually grew into the Holiday Motor Excursion.

            In Pasadena that Christmas morning, Doug and June Eastwood suggested to their five children, after opening their presents, “Let’s go to Uncle Warwick and Aunt Millie’s to see what (cousins) Joyce and Elaine got.”

It did not take long for Richard, Sharon, Jean, Peter, and David to squeeze into Dad’s Model T Ford for the ride over there.  After the cousins compared gifts, Warwick’s 1905 Buick was cranked up and a short trip around the corner took the families to Bill and Lola Collier’s house for a look at Nancy’s presents.  This prompted Bill to take out his 1910 Maxwell and the three families went for a short ride.

            It only took a year or two for the spontaneous Christmas Day itinerary to expand and visits were made to the homes of John Walgamott, Bob Coombes, Louis Cook, Dick Mendelson, and other Pasadena area Horseless Carriage Club friends.

            The sight of a small caravan of antique cars crisscrossing Pasadena only hours after Santa had been there was always greeted with cheers from the neighborhood residents.

            Before long, club members from outside the area were feeling left out.  The explanation that the Eastwoods were just out having some fun and that it really wasn’t an organized club event was not what they wanted to hear.

            It was at this time in the mid 1950’s when families in their antique cars started showing up at Doug or Warwick’s house on Christmas morning, not wanting to miss out on “the fun.”  Over the years, homemade cookies had to be supplemented with store bought doughnuts and the first of several 100-cup coffee pots were put into service.

            Sometime in the late 60’s the event date was changed to the weekend between the holidays and the departure point was moved to the Pancake House located between Doug’s and Warwick’s homes.  As the event grew in popularity, the Model T Club and other clubs with newer cars joined in.  In the late 80‘s, to maintain the flavor of early day motoring and to keep the event to a manageable size, participants were invited to bring vehicles built before 1933.

Over the years the H.M.E. has been fortunate to be invited to visit many wonderful family homes, collections, and business in the area.  Many visits have been made to the Dean Hensley, Burton Burton, and Don Ricardo Collections, just to name a few.

            Somewhere along the line the H.M.E. was adopted as a Horseless Carriage Club of Southern California event but the Eastwood family still handles all the event planning.  For over 30 years Warwick and Millie hosted the desert stop at their home at the events conclusion.  In 1994 they decided to take it easy and Gary and Sheryl Hunter eagerly volunteered to take over and host the party at their home in nearby Arcadia.

            The popularity of the event can be gauged by the 450 nametags and 150 copies of driving instructions given out last year—not to mention 30 dozen doughnuts, 400 cups of coffee and 200 cups of orange juice.

 

            We hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do.  Happy Holidays and Happy Motoring!

                                                                        Peter Eastwood for:

                                                                        Douglas and Doris Eastwood

                                                                        Warwick and Millie Eastwood and

                                                                        the entire Eastwood Family

 

 

 

And if you still want to see more please clink on this link to our club's website:

http://www.socalhcca.com/holiday-motor-excursion

 

[John_Mereness]

Please take and post photos !!!

[29 Chandler]

This year Southern California got some much needed rain, but mother nature was kind enough to provide a small window for the Holiday Motor Excursion to take place. With just light sprinkles about 100 cars or so showed up in the early morning hours to gather at the park before the 1932 and earlier cars headed off on what for most was a rain shortened tour. Most of us all made it to the important coffee and doughnut stop that marks the halfway point for the tour. Here are a few pictures from today's event.

Edited December 31, 2022 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

[29 Chandler]

[1937hd45]

Thank you for the event coverage. That is a "Bucket List' event I'd like to check off some year. Happy New Year! 

 

Bob 

[wayne sheldon]

That rusty Stutz looks a lot like one a good friend in Oakland California had about twenty years ago!

A pretty good turnout of cars for a mildly rainy day (I see the streets are wet). From model Ts to Rolls Royce! a Pope Hartford, and a Stanley Steamer. Packards, early Cadillac, and is the blue touring one of the last Loziers or first Chandlers?

A lot of really wonderful cars!

 

Sure wouldn't have wanted to do much in our area today. We had a couple inches of rain yesterday, and probably about an inch today! The heavy warmish rains (temps in the 40s and 50s) are melting last week's snow and we have serious flooding in low areas. Many roads are closed throughout the region. 

 

Thank you for the report and photos!

[modela28]

3 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

is the blue touring one of the last Loziers or first Chandlers?

It looks to be a Chandler which has similar lines to the same era Lozier.

[wayne sheldon]

53 minutes ago, modela28 said:

It looks to be a Chandler which has similar lines to the same era Lozier.

 

A good friend over twenty years ago had a 1915 Lozier. I got to sit in it a few times, and followed him on club tours a couple times. Great car! Looking at the photo above, it is quite similar in lines, but my reaction was that it was more likely a Chandler (especially looking at the radiator in the front view). There was some short carryover from one to the other for couple years. 

A lot of really fine cars in those photos!

[29 Chandler]

The last picture of the blue car is indeed our 1914 Chandler Model 15. It is very, very similar to a Lozier Model 77. The men who founded Chandler were all former executives at Lozier, thus they built what they knew best.

 

As for the event we had about 35 cars on the tour despite the rain and slick roads. In a normal year we would see around 150 cars on the tour and another 150 "modern" (post 1932) cars show up for the meet and greet before hand. Our club has to schedule this event out far in advance of any weather predictions. So like the Rose Parade we get what mother nature provides. With heavy rain overnight and predictions for more later that morning we did pretty good.

 

I counted two Silver Ghosts, one Pierce Arrow, a Pope-Hartford, two Packards, a Lincoln, a big Buick, the aforementioned original Stuz, and a couple of Cadillacs, among the big cars. And don't forget a wonderful Stanley Steamer. We are fortunate to also have the support of the local Model and Model T clubs who help make this a fun gathering. Being in Southern California we are also lucky to have cars from a variety of eclectic and rare makes come out for the party.

[1937hd45]

Thank you so much for the original history of this event. I've seen photo coverage over the years buy never knew it had been going on for so long. Bob 

[speedyb]

On 12/31/2022 at 4:38 PM, wayne sheldon said:

That rusty Stutz looks a lot like one a good friend in Oakland California had about twenty years ago!

A pretty good turnout of cars for a mildly rainy day (I see the streets are wet). From model Ts to Rolls Royce! a Pope Hartford, and a Stanley Steamer. Packards, early Cadillac, and is the blue touring one of the last Loziers or first Chandlers?

A lot of really wonderful cars!

 

Sure wouldn't have wanted to do much in our area today. We had a couple inches of rain yesterday, and probably about an inch today! The heavy warmish rains (temps in the 40s and 50s) are melting last week's snow and we have serious flooding in low areas. Many roads are closed throughout the region. 

 

Thank you for the report and photos!

The  Stutz came out of Riverside Ca when I purchased it in 2019, was garaged there since 1951 but was indeed brought down to So Cal from the bay area in the late 40's.

[wayne sheldon]

4 hours ago, speedyb said:

The  Stutz came out of Riverside Ca when I purchased it in 2019, was garaged there since 1951 but was indeed brought down to So Cal from the bay area in the late 40's.

 

Thank you speedyb, I figured it likely was not the same car based upon some differences in condition. I don't know if my friend still has his Stutz sedan or not as family health issues have kept me from being active with local clubs for way too many years now. However your car looks so much like his and the condition is very similar, that seeing a picture of yours was like seeing an old friend in a photo.

He had had a couple very original cars and was one of the first people I ever knew that used the word "patina". And his Stutz had plenty of it! He had a small collection of good antique automobiles, which a nasty divorce forced him to sell most of. He was only able to keep a couple high end classics, which left him out of a "Nickel Club" for a short while. Once the dust settled, he bought his Stutz for Nickel Club use, and enjoyed it for several years.

 

Wonderful car! I hope you enjoy it for many years.

[29 Chandler]

5 hours ago, speedyb said:

The  Stutz came out of Riverside Ca when I purchased it in 2019, was garaged there since 1951 but was indeed brought down to So Cal from the bay area in the late 40's.

Thanks for bringing it out to the event speedyb especially on a wet day. For me the survivors are always the most interesting cars at the meet. Feel free to join us on further tours!

Edited January 2, 2023 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[1935Packard]

I used to live in the neighborhood of the excursion, and it is such a treat.  Just a great event. 

[speedyb]

Thank you Wayne Sheldon and 29 Chandler, I enjoy using the car and sharing  it with others.

Funny it always seems to be on it's worst behavior at the end of the year,

I guess it's time to give the Zenith Carb a good going over again.

[kar3516]

On 1/1/2023 at 9:11 AM, 29 Chandler said:

The last picture of the blue car is indeed our 1914 Chandler Model 15. It is very, very similar to a Lozier Model 77. The men who founded Chandler were all former executives at Lozier, thus they built what they knew best.

 

As for the event we had about 35 cars on the tour despite the rain and slick roads. In a normal year we would see around 150 cars on the tour and another 150 "modern" (post 1932) cars show up for the meet and greet before hand. Our club has to schedule this event out far in advance of any weather predictions. So like the Rose Parade we get what mother nature provides. With heavy rain overnight and predictions for more later that morning we did pretty good.

 

I counted two Silver Ghosts, one Pierce Arrow, a Pope-Hartford, two Packards, a Lincoln, a big Buick, the aforementioned original Stuz, and a couple of Cadillacs, among the big cars. And don't forget a wonderful Stanley Steamer. We are fortunate to also have the support of the local Model and Model T clubs who help make this a fun gathering. Being in Southern California we are also lucky to have cars from a variety of eclectic and rare makes come out for the party.

 

[kar3516]

What a fantastic event!  Thank you so much for posting!