Classic Car Show—Greenfield Village

This year I participated in my first car show — Greenfield Village's Classic Car Festival. What a weekend! The weather was perfect, and the crowds were crazy big. I met other drivers in Madison Heights, and we drove in a caravan to the show on Saturday morning. It's about 24 miles that way, avoiding the highways, and by driving down earlier in the week, it saved me from making the Saturday morning drive a 48-mile affair.

All in all, we had a great time. My wife wasn't feeling well enough to make it, so I passed on the gas-light event in the evening. I've seen this in the past, and it's great. Once the sun goes down on Saturday, the village lights their gas street lamps. Drivers then start up their cars and drive around the dusky, lit streets. There are fireworks a bit later, and then everyone goes home.

Instead, I brought my daughter down on Sunday. Though she was chomping at the bit to ride the carousel, and had a great time at it, all she's talked about since is our ride in my uncle's 1909 Model T.

I need to work a little on my presentation. The panel truck is a great vehicle, but in the commercial category, the other trucks are much more visually interesting. I am hoping to add a photo presentation that my grandfather put together, and I have some ideas for explaining the Model A Panel Truck and its place in the Ford commercial line-up for 1931 (especially how it differs from the De Luxe Panel Truck).

The return to Madison Heights was exhausting. Aside from the sun beating down through the driver's window, the cab is a bit tight, and all that shifting begins to wear you down. I think I had to stop at nearly 25-30 lights, and at least half of those I talked with the folks in the cars around me, answering questions about the truck (Where'd you get the car? How old is it? How fast can you go?). It certainly is a nice ice breaker.

I am already looking forward to next summer, when maybe I will have a chance to tool around some local shows as well.

Old Car Festival

The Old Car Festival is coming up this weekend at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. For as long as I've had the panel truck, the past two or three years, I've been signed up to show it at Greenfield Village. Every year something happens to thwart my intentions. Most often it's that I have books due in September, and I am spending every waking hour writing.

This year is different... hopefully. This summer we worked on the steering, and it seems to be fine. The gas gauge no longer leaks (at least I think it's fixed—still need to fill er up to make sure). And I changed out the battery for a new one. We started it up last weekend and took it out for a little pampering at the car wash.

On Labor Day morning, however, my dad and I were taking it to my uncle's garage so that we could caravan over to Dearborn on Saturday morning with other drivers. About fifteen miles into the trip, the car stalls on the expressway. We ended up getting it towed to the aforementioned garage, and I've been told it's whatever might be wrong is an easy fix and the truck will be ready for Saturday.

Today my dad and uncle swapped out the distributor and put in a new condenser. It kills me to be here at work and not helping, but hopefully I can glean some info about the process and add it to my inventory of "stuff I know about Model A's."

Battery Saga

Every year since I brought the panel truck home, I've had problems with the battery. Either the trickler wouldn't keep the battery charged, or the thing wouldn't charge at all. Last year I gave in and bought a new battery. This year, the new battery wouldn't hold a charge.

When I took it out for testing, the box had split and it was leaking acid (goodbye new shirt). New battery from AutoZone works fine, but from now on I am bringing the battery in for the winter. At $80 a pop, it's no small thing to buy a new battery every couple years.