Route 66 Classics in the Park

Last year, the Route 66 Classic Car show on September 23rd in Edmond, Oklahoma, had 200+ cars entered and they expect even more this year. There are about 30 classes, including one for kit cars. This is a charitable event for Edmond Family Counseling. Contact information at: www.edmondfamilycounseling.org or 405-341-3554. Only 9:00am to 2:00pm - so lots of time for a ride afterwards! Any takers?

I'll be there Cal.

...my condolences to the unsuspecting car owners who will be judged in the same category as your car, Jim!

I'll try my best to make it.

Carol and I are "on" for the drive on Route 66 for dinner. It's about the perfect distance for Carol - less than an hour out. (I could drive all day and come back with bugs in my teeth..... Come to think about it, I used to do that on a motorcycle for nine days straight every year for decompression - leave on a Friday night and come home a week from Sunday, covered with entrails and looking like hell. The only destination in mind was somewhere that didn't have rain. Now that my bones are brittle and more likely to break and less likely to heal, the toys have changed.)

As far as the car show - the more the merrier. If any one of us wins, we all win. Jim's car is what I hope to grow into - one has to have goals, right? Finally, just to be able to see all the other cars (I was a motorhead mechanic while in school) will get me charged. Having one to show makes it all that sweeter.

"...my condolences to the unsuspecting car owners who will be judged in the same category as your car, Jim!"

Thanks for the complement, Jim I. The other cars that will hopefully be there are equally beautiful and well pampered. I've seen Cal's signal red Speedster reflecting the sunset light and it turned heads as Cal and his wife came through a local intersection. Justin's Speedster has only improved over the years and the faux Rudge wheels he has on it now really make it stand apart... black with tan, very nice. Justin's Dad has probably one of the more striking looking Speedsters I've seen in some time. It has 'the' stance and the wide body is sure to be a crowd favorite. If one of us is recognized by the show, cool. If not, that's ok too. I'll bet Cal and Justin share the same feelings.


I suspect Cal is a guy that enjoys cars and car people and is going for the same reason the rest of us are: for the community, to kick tires, to meet other owners, and to enjoy learning from each other. The group drive after the show will probably be the highlight of the day for us. There's nothing like enjoying a drive with other owners, sharing that SEG, and getting lost on Route 66 NW of our town.

I'm just pleased that we now have a Speedster community here in the OKC area.

Cal & Justin, if we can arrange an early meeting time it would probably improve our chances to park together in a shady spot on the grass. I have a 10x10 pop up cover and so if we each bring chairs and a small cooler we should be set for a nice afternoon in Hafer Park.

The drive after the show is something I'm looking forward to. If there is enough time, a trip up to the Rock Cafe (vintage road house) in Stroud on Route 66 might be fun. They serve up some tasty fried green tomatoes! The owner was the inspiration for Sally the Porsche in the Disney movie; Cars. In fact, the producers went to a native son that wrote a book about the mother road and took a road trip with him in several old Caddies through Route 66 before making the film. They left road kill on the hoods and were a stinking mess by the time they got to the coast. Anyway, "Sally" is the present owner of a 66 cafe that I've been going to since I was a kid.

I like the decompression technique you used, Cal. As an ATCer, I found the long way home after a trying shift many times. Riding a bike got to be a risky proposition in the DFW area and so I gave it up. I know what you mean about old and brittle bones.

I'll bet Gayla will be in for a trip to Stroud. After right seating on that trip this Spring, she's relieved when I mention that I'd like her to join me on a 'short trip'. So, let's plan on the trip after the show. We can do 66 up and if time is a factor then we can take Will Rogers back.

Here's a link: http://www.rockcaferoute66.com/

and another: http://www.oklahomaroute66.com/preservation/rockcafe.html

Justin? How about you guys?

I think I can manage to get both family Speedsters there. The weather is getting really nice out, so it should be a good weekend.

The weather is supreme right now. I slipped on a t-shirt and a golfing nylon pullover this morning at 7 am and took the Speedster for a drive out NW for an hour..... perfect! If we have 4 cars there, that will be the largest meeting of Speedsters in Oklahoma since Kenny King, Billy Sims, Joe Washington, Elvis Peacock and Horace Ivory all played in the backfield on the same Sooners Football team.

Washed the car and put on a coat of wax getting ready for next weeks show - and now I want to drive the speedy around. Let's see.... beautiful sunny day, mid 90's, too breezy to sail, hard decision. Oh well, I can always wipe it down later.....right? I'm outa here!

Unfortunately, Jim wasn't up to it and Justin had a spousal commitment (smart man....). Glorious sunny and breezy day, mid-70's. There were lots of classes at the show and as it turned out - all the volkswagens and dune buggy types chose the "VW" class, all the other imports chose to be "foreign cars" and the Cobra's all chose to be classed as "Musclecars". Left me to my own devices in the less desireable "kit cars" and ended up with another trophy. However, the icing on the cake was that the red tub ended up getting the "Best Paint" trophy and cash award - out of over 100 cars. I'm still shaking my head. Must be dumb luck, huh?

Hey, congratulations Cal! Especially for the Best Paint award! That's quite an honor as I know in the past there have been some very nice cars in all the classes there including a guy that lives north of you with an exceptional Willys Coupe. That extra detail you did last week paid off! A well deserved win in my opinion.

I was tempted to sneak out and drive by to say hello, but as you know. I'm officially grounded for a few days. It's prime driving weather and so I am hoping to be 100% before long. If so, we should take an evening cruise later this week, maybe out to the marina.

Again, congrats. Talk to you soon.


(Justin get a kitchen pass and we can play with the ICTs this week.)

Congrats Cal! Sorry, I wasn't able to make it out. LIke Jim, I wanted to sneak out there, especially for as nice of a day it was.

Jim, let me know what your schedule allows this week. I am usually busy on Tues & Thurs, but other days are usually open.

Attached is a little memory of yours Jim.

Thanks for sharing the memory, Justin.

Paul posted something on the thread about Butch (for sale) that made me think of the memories and history of some of our Speedster-Rs, including your VS. It's comforting to know that your VS's history continues and that it serves as a 4 wheel memory maker for you, just as it did for us.

Cars have soul, even these plastic fantastic tubs... if we take them out of the garage and point the nose onto some two lane blacktop. Your VS has seen plenty of those roads.... 4-Corners/Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon, Route 66 out in the western AZ desert, California, and on and on.... but some of the best memories came from the shorter drives... out to Lake Hefner, to Okarche for chicken, to Meers for a burger, watching Gayla take it for a Girl's night out, and the many miles I put on it as a stress reliever during challenging days. The pic in your file of it on the dam at Hefner proves that it is still doing it's duty, and doing it good. I think Okarche would be a good place for us all to go before it gets too cold.

Anyway, I have some good detail pics of the VS I'll share with you as soon as I figure out how to convert them from files on a floppy disc. Most of the VS pics were taken on a Sony Mavica that loaded on to floppies instead of a card.... I thought, at the time, it was the way to go with a digital. Of course floppies have gone the way of 8 tracks and so now I have a box full of memories on floppies that I can't load on our current computers. I do have an old computer in the attic with a floppy and a CD burner (it's so slow I can't even give it away). I'll get up there and see if I can make a CD of good pics of your VS, including the build pics from VS back in the summer of 2001. In the meantime here's a few I have on this machine... they are not the best of pics... as far as detail and etc, but here they are: (loaded on a web page - http://www.dubudee.com/new_page_9.htm