This blog may seem controversial. I finally paid my registration of $40 for the International Meet, including the $10 late fee for me and my wife, though I doubt if I'll get her to go to more than once the Concurrs and the Swap Meet. This will be the third International Meet I will attend, the first being the last in Long Beach (we lived in So Cal) and the last being in Omaha (on the way to visit my son & his family in Springfield). We will stay at their home in Springfield and commute to the meet headquarters, which is close to the Bill & Payne Stewart Municipal Golf Course. We will also bring our clubs as we will be in Springfield June 18 to July 5.
Now about the meet. I have been a life member of SDC since around 1974, when somebody in Great Falls, Montana left a copy of "Turning Wheels" in my car. I had inquired about the chance of buying his gold Avanti in the Holiday Village parking lot, and he left a note suggesting I look in said magazine. A M-5 pickup was on the cover (the magazine was B & W then) and I had never seen (or maybe noticed) an M-series truck, although I had driven several 1949-50 R-series trucks, both 1/2 ton pickups and 1 1/2 ton stake trucks while employed at Great Falls Transfer & Storage Company.
I decided I wanted one, and while driving south past Neihart on US 89, I saw a black pickup near a single-wide trailer house (lots of Montana rednecks lived in them at that time) and the occupant sold it to me for $100. After he had my money, he told me of another about 50 miles south in White Sulpher Springs. I drove down there and bought another (nicer) truck for $50. A friend gave me an engine for the truck (it had none) and for a total cost of $65 I had a running truck. I later "restored" it, if you call a minor restoration a "restoration". I like to think of it more as a "preservation", as it will never be a show winner. I suspect there are many Studebaker "preservers" as opposed to "restorers", as it has gotten prohibitively expensive to restore a car. As my Dad used to say, that is "for people with more money than brains."
Getting back to the Springfield meet...Living in Montana, I have been relatively isolated from other Studebaker owners although I did go to a meet in Kalispell of the NW Montana Chapter of SDC, now defunct, and I have heard that there is a chapter SE Montana, the Yellowstone Chapter in Billings, a mere 250 miles from Anaconda. For 20 years I lived in Southern California, where I was an active member of the Orange Empire Chapter, and even arranged for a meeting place for the chapter, Brea Community Hospital, until it was closed and torn down. I moved back to Montana shortly after that, and eventually had my 6 Studebakers transported back to Montana.
I drove my 64 Daytona Wagonaire down to California around 1984 and my Sky Hawk around 1988. I also took my family on a camping trip in the Wagonaire to Vancouver for the NW Can-Am zone meet around 1980 and also took the Sky Hawk to a NW Can-Am zone meet around 1978, both from Great Falls, I also took an my Avanti R-2 to the SW zone meet in San Diego. Which gets me back to the Springfield International Meet.
I have not met or made many friends at the meets, although we stayed at the meet hotel in Omaha and went to all the events in Long Beach and Omaha, including the "rubber chicken" awards banquets and the various socials and hospitality rooms. I guess this is probably my fault, as I am basically sort of shy and tend to be a "loner", while my wife is very social. I have run into friends from the OEC at the meets, although not many, as it is a long way to drive from Southern California to the center of the country. I have been a member of this SDC Forum for about 3 years, and it is a great source of information and conversation.
I was hoping to drive my 64 Cruiser with the Daytona interior to the Springfield meet, and in Omaha bought all the door rubber and red wind lace I would need to improve the interior to "presentable", but never got around to doing it. Same with the exterior, which needs to have all the stainless & chrome removed, and then get a paint job, but again did not get around to it. Again, "restoring" this nice-running Cruiser, would take "more money than brains."
Although I have 8 cars in a newly-built heated garage, it has been too cold and wet in Montana until today (June 10) to take them out to drive. Actually, we had two nice days two weeks ago. So I will drive the 99 Cadillac Sedan de Ville to Springfield, and enjoy the concurrs and swap meet and meet a few new people and see a few old friends. See you at the (free) ice cream social.
Now about the meet. I have been a life member of SDC since around 1974, when somebody in Great Falls, Montana left a copy of "Turning Wheels" in my car. I had inquired about the chance of buying his gold Avanti in the Holiday Village parking lot, and he left a note suggesting I look in said magazine. A M-5 pickup was on the cover (the magazine was B & W then) and I had never seen (or maybe noticed) an M-series truck, although I had driven several 1949-50 R-series trucks, both 1/2 ton pickups and 1 1/2 ton stake trucks while employed at Great Falls Transfer & Storage Company.
I decided I wanted one, and while driving south past Neihart on US 89, I saw a black pickup near a single-wide trailer house (lots of Montana rednecks lived in them at that time) and the occupant sold it to me for $100. After he had my money, he told me of another about 50 miles south in White Sulpher Springs. I drove down there and bought another (nicer) truck for $50. A friend gave me an engine for the truck (it had none) and for a total cost of $65 I had a running truck. I later "restored" it, if you call a minor restoration a "restoration". I like to think of it more as a "preservation", as it will never be a show winner. I suspect there are many Studebaker "preservers" as opposed to "restorers", as it has gotten prohibitively expensive to restore a car. As my Dad used to say, that is "for people with more money than brains."
Getting back to the Springfield meet...Living in Montana, I have been relatively isolated from other Studebaker owners although I did go to a meet in Kalispell of the NW Montana Chapter of SDC, now defunct, and I have heard that there is a chapter SE Montana, the Yellowstone Chapter in Billings, a mere 250 miles from Anaconda. For 20 years I lived in Southern California, where I was an active member of the Orange Empire Chapter, and even arranged for a meeting place for the chapter, Brea Community Hospital, until it was closed and torn down. I moved back to Montana shortly after that, and eventually had my 6 Studebakers transported back to Montana.
I drove my 64 Daytona Wagonaire down to California around 1984 and my Sky Hawk around 1988. I also took my family on a camping trip in the Wagonaire to Vancouver for the NW Can-Am zone meet around 1980 and also took the Sky Hawk to a NW Can-Am zone meet around 1978, both from Great Falls, I also took an my Avanti R-2 to the SW zone meet in San Diego. Which gets me back to the Springfield International Meet.
I have not met or made many friends at the meets, although we stayed at the meet hotel in Omaha and went to all the events in Long Beach and Omaha, including the "rubber chicken" awards banquets and the various socials and hospitality rooms. I guess this is probably my fault, as I am basically sort of shy and tend to be a "loner", while my wife is very social. I have run into friends from the OEC at the meets, although not many, as it is a long way to drive from Southern California to the center of the country. I have been a member of this SDC Forum for about 3 years, and it is a great source of information and conversation.
I was hoping to drive my 64 Cruiser with the Daytona interior to the Springfield meet, and in Omaha bought all the door rubber and red wind lace I would need to improve the interior to "presentable", but never got around to doing it. Same with the exterior, which needs to have all the stainless & chrome removed, and then get a paint job, but again did not get around to it. Again, "restoring" this nice-running Cruiser, would take "more money than brains."
Although I have 8 cars in a newly-built heated garage, it has been too cold and wet in Montana until today (June 10) to take them out to drive. Actually, we had two nice days two weeks ago. So I will drive the 99 Cadillac Sedan de Ville to Springfield, and enjoy the concurrs and swap meet and meet a few new people and see a few old friends. See you at the (free) ice cream social.
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