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Recent SoCalAMX Events |
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SoCalAMX would like to have get-togethers every 1-2
months. What I have in mind is to meet at
an initial location, then caravan or parade our cars to a final destination,
to have coffee, breakfast or lunch, chat, and take photos. To help make it easier to coordinate an event amongst us I have an email list set up on Yahoo Groups. Join up on the list and emails sent through Yahoo Groups will be sent to each person. In this manner we can make a formal plan as where to meet, and at what time, etc. Afterwards I will try and post photos of the event for those who could not attend. Mark.. |
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10 AMCs showed up at Woodley Park in Van Nuys for the annual Spring Fling hosted by the Chrysler Performance West car club. There was Hobie Kaptan (69 AMX), Bob Martinez (70 AMX), Steve Fox (68 AMX), Mark Melvin (69 AMX), Carol Deocour (65 Rambler), Shelby Wright (Pacer), John Caley (68 AMX), Randy Kirby (70 AMX), and another 69 AMX whose owner's name was Steve? Just Mark Melvin ventured over to the Phoenix area to attend the Cactus Cruiser's annual car show known as the Cactus Classic. There were 38 cars total and a lot of good AMC fellowship. Steve Fox, Mark Melvin, John Siciliano, Hobie Kaptan, and Randy Kirby showed up for the 2009 Rod Run in Temecula. It was Steve Fox's first outing since getting his car repainted and it looked sharp. We also met another 68 AMX owner, Bob, and there was a Javelin parked down the street but its owner was not around. Just the 3 amigos, John Caley, Randy Kirby, and Mark Melvin, showed up at Cable Airport the day after the Burger Run to see some airplanes and cars mixed together. It made for an interesting morning and afternoon. There were demonstrations of full size aircraft and also radio controlled model airplanes. Around noon the cars lined up to parade in front of the crowd center stage as the MC talked about the cars. The 2009 Burger Run was on January 9 in Vista. It was attended by 10 AMCs, 7 AMXs, 3 Javelins, and a Metro. It was a fun show to drive to and everybody looks forward to returning next year. They had unique hand built trophies for every class. After the show we drove to Tom Dulaney's house only a few miles away for a bar-b-q. We got to meet Stu Jackson (69 AMX) & Randy Kirby (70 AMX) & Chuck Braddy (70 AMX) & Stacy Thompson 72 Ambassador Wagon for the first time. SNAMC held it's AMC Reunion on Friday and Saturday, November 7 & 8, 2009. Members of SoCalAMX that traveled to Boulder for the 3rd annual car show were Dave & Kati Chick with their 68 AMX, Bob Martinez and Marie, with their 70 AMX, Mark Melvin with his 69 AMX, John Caley with his 68 AMX, John & Shelly Siciliano with their 69 AMX, and Steve Fox without his 68 AMX. On Friday we headed to North Las Vegas to the Sunbelt Auto Museum (pictures) and toured the two buildings of great cars. On Saturday was the main show at the Hacidenda Hotel in Boulder City. Once again Mark Ogulnick organized a fantastic show and everyone had a fun time! On Sunday, October 26, SoCalAMX traveled to the west end of the Simi Valley to attend the 2008 Roam'N Relics Car Show. There were 5 AMX's, Mark Melvin, Dave & Kati Chick, Bob Martinez, John Caley, and Hobie Kaptan, along with first timer Gary Thompson, original owner of a great 70 Donahue Javelin. There were lots of great cars as you'll see in the pictures. Afterwards we convoyed over the hill to Bob Martinez's pad for a bar-b-q. SoCalAMX mustered up 5 AMX's to come to the last car show of the year at Canyon Country. It was breezy and on the cool side and spectator numbers were down. Neverless Hobie Kaptan won a great looking trophy for his 1969 AMX. On Sunday, August 24th, six AMC-ers attended the Enderle Center Car Show in Tustin. Steve brought his '68 AMX, Mark's '69 AMX, John's '68 AMX, Danielle’s '60 Rambler Custom, Joe Smith’s Rambler American, and Al Clark brought his 74 Javelin. Many cool and interesting cars were also in attendance, including two late 50's Cadillac's, one white and the other an eye-popping orange. Altogether, there were several hundred cars in attendance and unfortunately, no AMC trophy was awarded. John Caley took a chance on the raffle and won a $500 gift certificate to the Enderle Center. Good going, John! This year SoCalAMX hosted its second annual All AMC Car Show at the NHRA Museum in Pomona, CA. Better known as the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum it was the scene of some 50 AMCs total being shown off by their proud owners. The show started at 9am and ended at 3pm. In between there was a lot of picture taking, chatting, and general goodwill. Afterwards we convoyed to Irwindale Speedway to first drive our cars on the track in front of the waiting crowd, then park and join the fans to watch the races that night. Tom Grahovac invited our group to come join the gang at the 1,000,000 Dollar Cruise. Keith Magee, whose 69 AMX was apart, rode with Dave Chick in his 68 AMX, and I drove my 69 AMX, and arrived there at the show spot around 7am. There was plenty of parking as we were like the 4th and 5th cars there. John Siciliano arrived later in his 69 AMX, By 8am the parking lot was filling up quickly, and by 9am it was a jam-packed show. Awards and raffle prizes started at 10am. It was an enjoyable morning seeing cars not seen at other shows, and hopefully SoCalAMX can return with a larger force! Dave Chick and I venture down to Seal Beach for the always popular Donut Derelicts donut cruise. Ended up bumping into Bob Stevensen who had entered his 1965 Marlin at our June 07 SoCalAMX Car Show. Also met one gentleman who said he had several AMX's and would be contacting us. SoCalAMX members went on a road trip to Boulder City, Nevada, to attend the 2nd Annual S. Nevada Car Club Car Show. This was SoCalAMX's first car show. There were a total of 48 AMC vehicles, ranging from AMX's and Javelins, to Gremlins, Ramblers, 2 Marlins, a Metropolitan, a Pacer, a Ambassador, and a Jeep. The day started with a Breakfast Cruise at the Beachside Cafe in Covina. From there a convoy of cars moved down Arrow Highway to the show location held at the Irwindale Speedway. The cars were lined up in several rows and included two AMX/3's, one of them belonging to Jeff Teague, the other a newly found AMX/3 hidden in a garage for the past 30 years, and now owned by Tom Dulaney. The show lasted from noon until 4pm. Those who wanted to stay, were allowed to parade their cars on the track in front of the evening's crowd waiting for the race. After exiting the track everyone was allowed to enter the grandstands and watch the races for free that night. This year's AMC turnout at the Mopar Spring Fling XXI was the lowest in the past several years. Although it was slightly warm in the sun, we had a great spot in the shade to keep our heels cool. Regardless, we had a nice time on Sunday at Woodley Park in Van Nuys with the AMC crowd, such as Shelby Wright from San Jose with his 1977 Pacer. Roman Gora drove his 69 Javelin in, and Hobie Kaptan, and Mark Melvin filled in the row with a red, white, and blue combination of AMX's. At one point Jay Leno walked up and looked our AMC's over and commented, "nice cars," and stopped for about two minutes to chat with us. After the awards presentation was over we came back to our parking area to take pictures of our cars with the owners next to them. Hobie ended up winning 1st Place, Mark won 2nd Place, and Steve took home 3rd Place. Also stopping by to see the group was George Markos on Saturday, and Mike McCarthy on Sunday. Finally, can you believe the nerve of this one girl in pink boots walking around, causing such a distraction during the picture taking of our trophy winners? This was the second meeting at Paty's Coffee House. It was a pleasant afternoon, and we were treated to an air display of WWII Aircraft (B-17, B-24, B-25) taking off from Van Nuys airport nearby. In attendence was Shelby Wright from San Jose in his Pacer, in town for the Spring Fling. Also Dave Chick (68 AMX), Roman (69 Javelin), Alan Clark (72 Javelin), and Mark (69 AMX) brought cars. George Markos also showed without his 68 AMX which is being worked on in his garage, and Hobie Kaptan, who just got off work, showed without his 69 AMX. After eating at Paty's everybody had to leave so we retired to the parking lot where we talked for another hour until it got dark. I guess we didn't have to leave so bad after all. This was the first main meeting at Paty's Coffee House. It was a cool overcast afternoon, and there was a light turnout. However, making the trip all the way from San Diego was Tom Dulaney and his girlfriend, "Tiger." Craig Ordelheide arrived later with his 69 AMX, and Roman Gora was last to show up with his 69 Javelin. After about two hours inside talking and eating we moved outside to look at the cars, and stayed almost another hour until it was dark. Next meeting at Paty's is Cinco De Mayo. For the gringos that is May 5! Nat, Roman, Mark, George, and Hobie showed up. This evening we started to hash out details of next year's SoCalAMX Car Show. SoCalAMX members went on a road trip to Boulder City, Nevada, to attend the 1st Annual S. Nevada Car Club Car Show. SoCalAMX members visited the custom car shop of Boyd Coddington in La Habra, CA. Attending were Jack Boughter, Dave and Katy Chick, Mark Melvin, and JR Wildermuth. Mark Melvin, Mike McCarthy, and Roman Gora braved the heat of a unusually warm summer to attend the 2006 AMO National in Dayton, OH. There were over 300 AMC/Rambler cars there to feast one's eyes upon. Six hours were spent taking pictures of everything in sight. The cars who the American Cup award for their class were worthy as can be seen in the pictures. Next year's 2007 AMO National will be in Denver, CO. It is hoped a few of the members of SoCalAMX can attend. Harvey Weinberger joined Mark Melvin on a Thursday afternoon in Covina to display his newly restored 69 AMX. Harvey is the original owner and spent the past two years quietly working on his car, while the rest of us where having fun. Well now it's Harvey's turn to show off his car! The Dodge Challenger Concept Car's latest stop was at Bob's Big Boy in Toluka Lake on this one Friday night. The bright orange car drew quite a crowd and was the most photographed car of the evening. Drawing its own share of interest was a Ford GT40 parked next to the Dodge. Members from SoCalAMX in attendance were Hobie Kaptan, Roman Gora, Mark Melvin, Alan Clark, and Rich Truesdell. A bronze colored Rambler American rambled in for a visit. Mark Melvin, Dave and Katy Chick, Keith Magee, Hobie Kaptan, and Rich Truesdell attended the April John Force Show. Saturday we had Alan Clark, Jack Boughter, George Markos, Roman Gora, Dave and Katy Chick, and myself in attendance, along with Shelby Wright from San Jose with a Pacer Wagon. Sunday Dave Chick had a Ford car show to go to so he let a family member of Keith Magee drive his AMX to the show. Also there on Sunday was Michael Kelly, Mike McCarthy, Jack Boughter, Steve Synder, Hobie Kaptan, Keith Magee, Bob Martinez, Shelby Wright, Michael Breeding with a 71 Javelin, and myself. The weather Saturday was really nice and warm, Sunday was cloudy and a bit cooler. This year they announced the winners of the AMC class early in the awards presentation. 1st place went to a 68 AMX owner. 2nd place went to Hobie Kaptan with his very shinny 69 AMX, and 3rd place went to Jack Boughter with his very original 73 Javelin AMX. Early this morning we met at 6am at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. Rain kept the attendance small but myself (69 AMX), Rich Truesdell (64 American Convertible), Scott Selleh (69 AMX) and friend Chad, Roman Gora (69 Javelin), Alan Clark (72 Javelin), and Jack Boughter (73 Javelin) braved the cool morning temperatures to see what this show had to offer. Around 9:30 we hopped in our cars and headed north on the 405 in a convoy of AMC muscle, with Chad hanging out the window of George Markos's car taking pictures. At the Parasol Restaurant in Seal Beach we were honored to meet Guy Hadsell, known as Mr. Javelin. Mr. Hadsell having worked for the corporate offices of AMC in the 1960's, is credited with the naming of the Javelin. During a breakfast meal Guy answered a barrage of our questions about the Javelin and AMC. Before going outside to review our cars Guy tirelessly autographed anything put in front of him, books, posters, etc. We presented Guy with a club hat and declared him a Honorary Member of SoCalAMX. He put the hat on with no hesitation and a smile. Outside Rich Truesdell arranged our cars and took many pictures, including a group shot of Mr. Hadsell and SoCalAMX members. The excitement of the meeting between us and Mr. Hadsell was mutual. This meeting with Mr. Hadsell has already been given approval by the editor of Muscle Car Enthusiast magazine for a 4 page article when it's published in July 2006. Hobie Kaptan, Dave Chick, Alan Clark and his two boys, Roman Gora and his wife, and myself, showed up on this particular Friday evening at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank to show off our AMC metal. It took a bit of time but finally got all four cars parked next to each other. Panoramic Picture Hobie Kaptan and myself headed to the western end of the Simi Valley to the city of Moorpark for its annual car show known as "Roam'n Relics." There were hundreds of fine looking cars as seen here in these pictures, and thousands of spectators. Scott Selleh and his dad, and Ron and Lora Akerman came down later in the morning, without their cars, to check out the scene. Great morning and afternoon, need to do it again next year! Picture 1 
Picture 2Dave Chick, Keith Magee, Jack Boughter, Earl Conkling, Mike Bourassa, and myself (Mark) again trekked down to Huntington Beach for the weekly Saturday morning car show. Almost missed the place because it was a bit foggy on the way down there. But it lifted quickly and made for a nice cool morning with a full parking lot of hundreds of cool rods and rides. We arrived early about 5:15am and had a primo parking spot right in front of the donut shop, making for a short walk to the coffee refill window! Talked to a few people who mentioned they had a friend or two with a AMX/Javelin. I handed out my info cards with our website info on them, so maybe we'll have a few new members in the near future. On the way home we stopped for breakfast and chatted a bunch more. Thank you to Earl C. who snuck up to the cash register and paid for everyone's meal! Pictures Last weekend’s event that featured our first ever group bar-b-q came off fairly well. All in all about 14 cars showed up and I’m guessing in the neighborhood of about 40 people. A few came without their cars, one reason or another, but that’s okay. We can plan in advance for them to bring their cars to the next time we get together, right? Thank You to Tom Macomber and his wife Diane for hosting the bar-b-q in the back of their hobby shop, Pegasus Hobbies. It turned out to be a good site with trees lining one side of the parking lot which provided good shade. After the bar-b-q was over, Tom opened up the store’s outdoor radio controlled car dirt race track for us, and even supplied cars and extra batteries. We had a great time for a full hour chasing each other around the track. Take the time to thank Tom personally the next time you see him! Tom provided to us three trophies for the best looking cars. Each of his store’s employees come out on their breaks and picked their favorite car, making the judging completely un-biased, as none of his employees knew any of the drivers. Taking 3rd place was Keith Magee with his red 69 AMX, 2nd was Hobie Kaptan with his aqua blue 69 AMX, and 1st place was with a red 69 AMX, guess who, myself (Mark). Thank You's to Dave Chick and Jack Boughter who helped me slave over the bar-b-q cooker for an hour while we cooked up burgers and bratwurst dogs. For everyone who took the time to cook up a dish and bring it down, thank you also. In general, thank you to everyone who showed up to help, eat, cook, bring food, and look at AMC cars! For those AMX/Javelin owners in attendance, wither they had a car there or not, received as a goodie bag surprise, a specially made mouse pad with a cool AMC/AMX/Javelin logo on top, and a small socalamx pin to stick on your shirt. September 3, 2005 - Donut Derelicts Picture 1
Picture 2Jack Boughter and I met up at "Adams Ave. Donuts" for a Saturday mornings car show called "Donut Derelicts." It's located at the northeast corner of Adams and Magnolia in Huntington Beach. We both arrived right at 5:20am, which was not too early because cars start arriving early to get a good parking space in front of the donut shop. This was my first trip to this show and I was pleased at the interest the spectators and other drivers had in our two AMC's. Jack and I were constantly jawing all the facts and figures for our cars to the many dozens of questions tossed our way. There was a good variety of cars there, with cars coming and going for the four hours we were there, making this an enjoyable show to attend. Picture 1
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4For those not in attendance you missed a good afternoon and evening. The parking lot filled up real fast this month. Usually if I arrive by 4:15 there are still plenty of places left to park. This time by 4:15 it was almost full. We had to do some fancy parking to get all of us to fit in. We ended up having 7 68-70 AMX's, 3 71-74 Javelin/AMX's, and a 70 Ambassador Wagon. After parking and filling out entry sheets we cooled off a in the restaurant next door, later came out and milled around looking at other cars, went to Cold Stone for ice cream, and finally went to the front stage area for trophies. I was really pleased to see a big turnout. Regulars were myself, Nat Powers, Hobie Kaptan, Dave Chick, Keith Magee, Jack Boughter, Ron Akerman, and Alan Clark. Second time attendee was Steve Avery, and new comers Bob Martinez, and Craig Elliot. Thank you to everyone who came! Mark.. Here is the link to pictures of last night's event.. http://socalamx.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=26 Picture 1
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4I showed up early followed by Alan Clark and A.J. (Alan Jr.) and Dave Chick with our various machines. Also making an appearance but without any heavy metal was Tom Macomber, Mike McCarthy, and Keith Magee. Towards the end of the evening a new socalamx'er showed up, Steve Avery, with a 1970 AMX. It was great to see a bigger than expected showing of people and AMC cars! Picture 1
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4I think I can speak for most if not all of the AMC owners at today's show when I say we had a great time. The show was in honor of Mike Rickers who owned an AMC Dealership for many years in S. Cal. I heard he was quite a big wheel here locally, having set up the deal for the LAPD to purchase AMC Matadors in the 1970's, and also having sold a Rambler to the brother of then Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1950's. At the show we met several people who had worked for Mike Rickers before AMC was sold in 1987. Thank you to Mike Bourassa who spotted this show and alerted us to it. Mike picked a spot around the corner of the show for us to meet at and get our cars lined up for our big arrival. I arrived first at the Von's parking lot which gave me some time to clean my car up a tad, Mike showed up not too much later. Within a half hour we also had Nat Powers, Ron Akerman, Jack Boughter, Hobie Kaptan, and Tom Jennings in a Hornet, roar up and get into position. Hobie over the past week was able to get our first set of hats made in time for the show. By 8:45am, with new hats on heads, we took off for the quick two block sprint to the St. Bruno's Church, where the show was held on a softball field and everyone parked on grass. Minutes later Roman Gora and George Markos arrived and slid into the two spots we saved for them. Tom Macomber, without his 69 AMX showed up for a hour to support the group. Along with the 8 cars from our AMX/Javelin group there was a large number of various Rambler/AMC cars, probably 15-20 other cars in all. Towards the end of the show I learned Rich Truesdell was in attendance and I went to track him down and bring him back to our chair area so we could talk to him. We spent a good 30-45 talking about promoting AMC's and such. To keep everybody entertained all day there were two live bands playing songs for the crowd, and also a dog stunt show kept the people amused for a hour or so. Finally as the show drew to a close the awards were announced. Several Ramblers won an award, and our very own Jack Boughter won a trophy too. More pictures here. Picture 1
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Picture 3On very short notice just Dave Chick, Alan Clark, and myself (Mark) showed up at Fuddruckers. It's not the same car show it used to be but it still brings a nice assortment of cars in every Saturday night. For some unusual reason our cars attracted a lot of attention this particular evening. The spectators were really giving our AMC's a good looking over. We were able to assemble a group of 10 AMC's at the Chrysler "Spring Fling XIX" held at Woodley Park in Van Nuys. In advance of the car show Hobie Kaptan was our event liaison and convinced the show organizers we would have at least 10 cars therefore at the show there would be a separate AMC class for trophies. Awarded 3rd place Best AMC was Hobie and his 1969 AMX. 2nd place Best AMC went to Jack Boughter and his 1973 Javelin. 1st place Best AMC went to Mark Melvin for his 1969 AMX. Plenty of parking in the shade of trees made for an enjoyable afternoon. Spring Fling XIX Attendees Big thank you's to everyone who attended last night's 2nd Anniversary meeting of socalamx.net. Especially Tom Dulaney and Greg who drove up from San Diego to join us. Also gotta give at-a-boy's to Keith Magee whose clutch linkage failed him one block away from Fuddruckers, and still made it. Thank you to Dave Chick and Hobie Kaptan for going over and helping Keith get the pieces back together, thank you to Mike McCarthy who loaned out several wrenches to get the job done. We had I think 7 cars cars total, 5 AMXs, 2 Javelins, and several attendees whose cars for one reason or another could not make it. Here's the list of AMC folk who joined in the fun. I hope I didn't leave anyone off the list.. Alan Clark-72 Javelin Dave Chick-68 AMX Ed-73 Javelin-car not present Greg-came to Fuddruckers with Tom Dulaney from San Diego Hobie Kaptan-69 AMX Keith Magee-69 AMX Mark Melvin-that's me.. 69 AMX Mike Bourassa-74 Javelin-car not present Mike McCarthy-68 AMX-car not present Roman Gora-69 Javelin Steve Snyder-68 or 69 AMX Tom Macomber-69 AMX Tom Dulaney from San Diego-69 AMX-car not present Wednesday evening this past week saw myself, joined by Alan Clark and Dave Chick, at the NHRA Museum's monthly Twilight Cruise. It was reportedly the biggest show there ever, with an estimated 560 cars showing up. Cars arriving there by 3:30pm were too late to park in the front lot, they had to head towards the back lot, which frankly I prefer in the summer because of buildings and trees on each side for shade. One reason for the large turnout possibly was the appearance of TV Celebrity Huell Howser, doing a segment for his show, "California's Gold." As I sat beside my car reading the latest PCcomputer magazine I was approached by two guys looking my car over, who said they had a silver 68 Javelin parked in the front lot. A few minutes later Alan arrived and we went over to check out this new Javelin. We found out the owner's name is Jim Mitcham who lives in Highland near San Bernardino area, has a very nice Javelin, with a well worked on engine. I think we'll see more of him and his car at future gatherings. I met Keith at his house and we convoyed northward to the Canyon Country Show. Ron Akerman, who brought his 70 Donohue Javelin, a first timer to one of our get-togethers, was already there. Hobie arriving late for a change snagged the spot we saved for him. After the sun dipped low in the sky it really cooled down nicely and we enjoyed sitting and chatting and watching the action. Hobie hauled out his r/c car and was terrorizing the small dogs that came by with their owners. There were plenty of cool cars, and a bunch of trophies on the table. Congratulations to King of the AMX's, Hobie Kaptan, sitting back by his car, who had his name announced over the P.A. system as winner of the Best Stock car and had to sprint up to the stage to accept his trophy. We were invited to be the featured car at the NHRA Museum's monthly "Twilight Cruise" car show, which gave us front row reserved parking. I got busy and emailed as many people I could think of, including Steve Snyder of vaultcars.com, who also got busy doing the same. The result was the largest gathering of AMXs and Javelins we've ever had, a total of 16 cars. Helping swell the numbers that night were new members Don Driscoll in a blue 72 Javelin SST, Tom Macomber in a red 69 AMX, Nat Powers in a black 69 AMX, Steve Snyder in a white 68 AMX, John and wife Shelly in a BBB AMX, and Chuck Toth in a very clean Javelin. Regulars showing up were myself in my red 69 AMX, Carl Stromberg from Palmdale in his silver AMX, George Markos and son in their white 68 AMX, Alan Clark in his 72 Javelin SST, Ed with white and yellow Javelins, Roman Gora in his orange 69 Javelin, Dave Chick in his white 68 AMX, Keith Magee's red 69 AMX driven by Dave's wife Kati, who hasn't forgotten how to drive a stick shift, and last but not least Hobie arriving last, hampered by heavy late afternoon traffic, in his aqua blue 69 AMX. I think everyone had a good time. I'm looking forward to next week's gathering at the Canyon Country car show on the 14th. Picture 1
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Picture 6George Markos and his son Peter, with their 69 AMX, joined us at Fuddruckers for the first time this fine Saturday summer night. We had a combined total of 6 AMX's, and a single Javelin, belonging to Roman. Roman's wife, Ann, and Dave's wife, Kati, joined up with the gang for a fun evening. The two ladies want the other wife's to know that it's okay, and fun, to join the guys at the show! Picture 1
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Picture 3A new driver, Ron Akerman (70 Javelin), emailed me and said he'd try to make Fuddruckers tonight, so I decided to drive over and meet him. Instead a different new driver showed up, Carl from Lancaster, driving a 68 343 AMX. We talked for quite a while before Alan (73 Javelin) and his wife showed up, which extended our bull slinging session. Carl knows of a few more AMXs in his area so maybe we'll have contact with them soon, or see them at a show closer to their area. Picture 1
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Picture 3I had my newly painted engine compartment on display for the first time. The AMX should look really good when the body matches the engine area's "Flame Red" color, with a white stripe of course. Myself, Dave, Keith, Hobie, Roman, Alan, and Mike Hedden with his 72 Gremlin, stood proud in support of AMC this night. Picture 1
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Picture 8An all-new record setting night at Fuddruckers, with new comers Alan Clark and Richard Sparkman. A wonderful warm clear sky brought out all the hot rodders in the area. Still found room for 10 AMX's and Javelins, and a pair of Rambler Americans to park. Milled around, chatted, and discussed and compared each others cars for a while, followed by dinner inside. Nothing too outrageous, but a enjoyable and somewhat warm evening! Being the only one to show up at Fuddruckers I was almost ready to leave until Roman showed up close to 7pm. Glad I stuck around because I got to see Jay Leno arrive in his immaculate silver and black Buick. A small crowd quickly formed around him, and even so he noticed some guy on the other side of the parking lot having problems keeping his El Camino running. Leno takes off towards the guy to help him out with the crowd following closely behind. Imagine hearing someone ask if you need help and look up to see Jay Leno poking his head in your car's window! (See photo link above) Nice guy that Mr. Leno! :) Picture 1
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Picture 6Good night at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank on my first visit. Hobie arrived soon after me, shortly before 5pm. After parking we went inside Bob's for dinner and some AMC chit-chat. Later Michael arrived with his AMX followed by Roman in his Javelin. As we were standing around talking a clean Gremlin-X showed up. Also there was an ultra clean Nash. Hobie, Roman and I were the last to leave and did a AMC convoy through the parking lot for a lap and half before pulling out front of Bob's for a photo in front of the Bob's Big Boy sign. See photos above. As I was heading to the Fuddruckers show my engine lost electrical power and pulled over to the side. A puff of smoke had been observed from the ignition key area, but couldn't see anything wrong when I stuck my head up under the dash. I called Super Dave on the mobile phone and he was there in 20 minutes. It seems there's a short in the coil wire so we disconnected it and ran a jumper from the battery to the coil, and had me ripping down the road before you could say "Rambler." At Fuddruckers a threat of rain kept the turnout low, but Dave and I were joined by Chris and had a good shop talk session.
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Picture 4Record setting night for the group! I met Dave at his home, and after picking up Keith nearby, the three of us convoyed to Fuddrucker's and parked next to a '64 Rambler. It was a chilly evening and early on it didn't look good that other AMC units would be joining us. But slowly and surely our numbers started to grow. Ed, another AMC friend of Dave that lives nearby, showed up with his yellow Javelin. Then Roman with his orange Javelin. Mike and his AMX were soon joined by Hobie and his special "model h" AMX. Finally, first time attendee John Caley arrived with his '68 AMX to bring the total number of Ramblers to nine, a record for our group! A special salute to John and his son for driving up to Pasadena all the way from South Orange Country.  Picture
2Hobie and I attended the last Canyon Country car show of the year. We grabbed the same parking spots as the May show, but this time instead of 8 Mustangs directly across the row, we had 4 Dodge Cudas and Roadrunners staring us down. The weather was fantastic, mild t-shirt temperatures, and a great evening capped by a visit next door to the Cold Stone ice cream shop! Lot's of lookers, one man stopped to say hello and tell us his brother in Bakersfield has an AMX. I handed out a web site card and hopefully we can add another car to our growing group. Another great summer evening enjoyed by Roman and myself, and a Metropolitan driver who showed up at the other end. Where was everyone else? Picture
2I showed up first followed by Keith, and shortly after by Dave and Roman. We spent a good deal of time comparing engine compartments, discussing why two AMX's made the same year would have different front shock tower mounts. Dave's wife and daughter joined us later for a burger inside at Fudds. Weather temperature was great once the sun dipped low in the sky. Made for a pleasant evening and walking around and checking out cars. Keith and I were the only AMC's at first, but were joined later by 69 Javelin driver "Roman." I stuck around for the raffle and won a reel-up electric cord with matching drop light. I arrived early around 4pm, but not as early as "Jack" with his 73 AMX, who drove up from Garden Grove. We chatted for a while and then later Roman Gora with his 69 Javelin arrived to make it a threesome. After grabbing a burger inside we came outside to find the "Bizarre Car." Not too much later the driver and a young lady climbed in and took off, I mean drove off. Only In Southern California! I showed up at Fudds around 4:30, no other AMCs in sight. Later 2 Metropolitans showed up, one a hard top, the other a convertible. And the guy with the Chevy powered Javelin showed up later as well. Saw a pre-Adam 12 era Los Angeles Police Car, very sharp. Looked around for Joey but guess he did not make it. Just before the 7:30 raffle I spotted a 69 Javelin, found the owner named Roman, and had a hour long talk with him. Missed Dave Chick, understandable being it was his wife's birthday, with a surprise party that night! Happy Birthday Kati! I joined up with Hobie tonight at the Route 66 Classic Car Show in Canyon Country. This was the second best car show I've seen to date, the best one was the Orange Show a few weeks ago. Tonight's show more or less had the same number of cars as you'd see on a full packed night at Fuddruckers, Pasadena, but the size of the crowd was 2-3 times as large, people everywhere for the 5 hours I was there. In addition there was a live band playing popular hits all night, and they had a table full of very nice trophies to hand out at the end around 9pm. Both Hobie's and my AMX got a lot of looks from the roaming gawkers. I joined up with Rich Truesdell and his 68 Rogue at the (last Wednesday of each month) car show at John Force's Racing Headquarters in Yorba Linda. We arrived and parked together, and enjoyed a good number of fine cars there. My favorite that night was a gorgeous 1969 Boss 429 Mustang. Sorry, no photos because I forgot my camera's digital film flash card again. Once again I met up with Dave Chick at his home and we did a dual cruise to Fuddrucker's and arrived by 4pm. Hobie was already there parked in a good corner with a large sign providing shade for us. Larry S. arrived no more than five minutes after us and the bull sessions were in full swing! A gentleman there as we arrived introduced himself and stated he had a 70 AMX, in "not ready for prime time" condition, that he bought in Phoenix, and would be ready in the future to join us. After having a bite to eat inside, and just before the raffle drawing at 7:30, a 69 Big Bad Green AMX showed up and parked next to us. I learned the gentleman's name was Lee and that he was the 2nd owner, and that the original owner had also been a member of his family. I hope he can join us in the future! So we had 5 AMX's for the second time in a row, with different drivers each time. Second time in a row we missed Keith at the Fuddrucker's show! Too bad because we had the best turnout of AMX's so far--5 total. From the picture you can see my car, Dave Chick next to me, and first time attendee Larry Saletko on the far side. Later, another first time attendee Hobie showed in his clean 69 A.M.X. with the Alamosa Aqua paint job. Mike Skewes was AMX #5. Richard Truesdell arrived in his Rouge and took several nice photos. Keith couldn't make this night's show, but I arrived shortly after Dave and parked along side him and quickly got a good picture before the light disappeared. No less than 20 minutes later we were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of first time Fuddrucker's attendee Mike Skewes (pic by Mike) with his 69 Bittersweet Orange AMX. Dave mentioned another show hopeful, Larry, couldn't make it, and at the end before leaving a gentleman walked up and wanted info for an AMX owner friend that had heard about the few of us getting together. Let's shoot for 4 or 5 AMX's at the next gathering! I met Dave Chick at his house then we went to Keith Magee's a few minutes down the road, then together the three of us convoyed to Fuddrucker's. I remembered my camera and memory card and got a single picture. The light was poor for picture taking but you can see my AMX on the left, Keith's on the right, and Dave's white AMX in the background. I met Dave Chick at his house and we convoyed to Fuddrucker's in Pasadena. Sorry, no pictures, had my camera but forgot my memory flash card. |
