0 On the Road: HCCA Modoc Tour

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

My wife, grandson and I recently escaped Alaska's record heat to take part in the annual Modoc Tour with the Horseless Carriage Club of America. The tour was sponsored by our friends Allan and Beth Schmidt, of Restoration Supply Company. This marked the 26th year for the tour, which was held in Alturas, California. The turnout was great, despite attendance being down a little due to some illness and other situations. At right is a 1913 IHC highwheeler that Allan brought up for us to drive. It ran without a glitch for all the tours. Rain and cold be darned, it kept on going!

Allan drove his 1903 Cadillac, which also ran without a glitch. The weather was a little cool, being 41º F on Wednesday morning and raining on Thursday, but Friday was sunny. Allan outran me in his Cadillac until the last day, when I decided to put the top down on the IHC. Then it was,"Katie bar the door," and the old truck picked up a whole lot of speed. Jack clocked me at 32 mph at one point, and the Cadillac could not stay with me.


Here are a few of the horseless carriages in front of the hotel before the tour began. There was a lot of  prep work to get some of them ready, but with Allan's well-maintained cars there was not much to do other than fill the oilers and  gas tank. We sure did miss seeing the Thurbers and their steam cars, but hope they will make it  next time.




The last day of the tour was the longest and ended at the Flournoy  ranch. It was a wonderful, sunny day and we drove past some great scenery through canyons and along some creeks. We saw a few deer and antelope along the way, plus a lot of old "bone yards" with some interesting looking stuff that I really wanted to peruse. Sigh, maybe next time.....



I love this picture of the the antique cars and vintage motorcycles parked in front of the old brick building. I don't know what will happen to this grand old building, as its only tenant is a used book store, and there probably isn't much chance of other renters moving in. It is truly sad to see the old store fronts closed and these little towns drying up, but at least some folks are hanging in and providing great service to try to keep people coming back.

Of course, one cannot have an old car event without a lot of good food! These folks put out a great spread for us, with barbequed chicken, a tasty salad with all the fixins, and then came out the pies. There must have been at least a dozen kinds, and try as I might, I could not begin to sample them all. It brought back a lot of memories of how the rural farm ladies could really put on a first-class feed with fresh made everything.

Wilma and Marcus had as much fun as I did, as Marcus got to drive the IHC for about 30 miles. Now it's time to begin the drive up the Alcan and head home!

Detail: On the Road: HCCA Modoc Tour

0 Space Jump to Hershey

by Willy Vinton, Manager

Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

While Felix Baumgartner was hurtling from space towards New Mexico on October 14, I was wrapping up my annual trip to the Hershey Fall Meet. I didn't space jump in, but if I had I would have been hard pressed to land without hitting a vendor or a pile of rusty car parts. "Hershey" is the ultimate magnet for old-car enthusiasts, featuring 3,000 vendors selling antique vehicles and related items over a 335-acre flea market and car corral.            

These first two pictures were taken from the bridge crossing over from one area to the next. If you cannot find what you are looking for at Hershey, you have to ask, "do I really need it?" The chance of finding what you need here is pretty good, but it's a challenge to find it with so much ground and so many booths to cover. With all the piles of parts, and I refrain from saying "junk," the item you want might be hiding behind that one ugly-looking thingamajig on the table. So, in order to not miss anything, you have to look at everything.

As if the flea market isn't enough, there are the RM auctions and a car show during the Hershey Fall Meet. I managed to attend both nights of the RM Auctions. I didn't buy anything, despite bidding on a few cars including this one-of-a-kind 1904 South Bend Surrey. It was assembled from parts purchased from various suppliers at the time, but never given a name. Many years later it was decided to title the car as a "South Bend," in honor of where it was built.

After leaving Hershey we toured some of the Pennsylvania countryside. We spent a day in Gettysburg touring the battlegrounds and museums, and then drove on up to Huntingdon for a visit to the Swigart Museum.  I enjoyed my time there, and found this stunning example of an original IHC, which I think is one of the best all-originals in the country.  I sure would have liked to sneak this out in my suitcase, but Duane Dubbs, the docent that gave me a tour, probably wouldn't have allowed it. A special thanks for the hospitality shown by the folks there.

Detail: Space Jump to Hershey

0 Busy Times

by Derik Price

Sorry our post this week is a little late.  We're half way through the summer season already and it has been a blur at the Museum.  It's fair to say we've exercised more cars this summer than I can remember.  Willy even had to write a list on the shop blackboard to keep track.  (So far) they include - '05 Olds, '04 Buckmobile, '14 Woods, '12 Premier 4-40, '14 Grant, '09 Hudson, '29 Model A, '25 Stutz, '08 Brush, '09 Olds, '04 Rambler, '11 Oakland, '12 Premier 6-60, '13 Argo, '23 Ford, '03 Columbia, '99 Hertel, '10 Whiting, '10 Stanley, '20 Argonne, '28 Pierce-Arrow, '33 Hupmobile, '34 American Austin, '32 Cadi, '09 IHC, '06 Cadi, '11 Ford, '27 Stutz, plus today and tomorrow the '14 Moline-Knight and the '18 Stutz. Wow!  30 cars out and running in the last 2 months.  It's been tough to keep up with Willy - he and the crew have just been 'cranking' them out.  :-)   I've had the opportunity to shoot LOTS of video this summer and we have been posting new clips each week or so to our YouTube Channel so do check it out.



After the long winters here we sometime forget - there is just nothing that brightens up your day like the sparkle of brass in the summer sun.

So thanks again Willy, Ethan, Steve and the whole docent crew for working so hard to get the cars exercised in our very short summer season.

Derik

Detail: Busy Times