the collector car hobby and a top

honored editor of A.A.C.A. newslet-

ters. It was Bill who helped me to

understand the fundamentals of

newsletter writing. This even be-

fore we met for the first time!

Congratulations to Bill for the qual-

ity of his work not only on his out-

standing cars, but also for his dedi-

cation to the hobby and the Antique

Automobile Club of America.

See You at the next car show!!!

As most of our members know, Bill

Clark is a member of Iroquois Re-

gion as well as the editor of their

excellent Antique Auto News, their

monthly newsletter. Bill is also the

proud owner of not only a renown

collection of Metropolitans, but an

outstanding 1955 Studebaker

Speedster.

The ’55 is an excellent example of

the tri-color cars of the fifties and

also one of the few remaining ex-

amples of an automobile that once

was a respected and sought after

make.

Like so many of the makes from

the past, Studebaker has become

what is now called an orphan make.

The company went out of existence

in the early 1960’s after being one

of the oldest makes up to that time.

Bill happens to own one of the best

looking and rare Speedsters I

have seen. He also Received a

Grand National Senior Award this

year at Shelbyville.

The picture of his Studebaker was

taken by me at the Northeast Auto

Museum in Norwich, New York this

spring. I am sure the car will be

back in this venue when winter

happens, but I hope also that Bill

will bring this outstanding exam-

ple of mid fifties automobile to

our car show this August 26.

Bill is an outstanding member of

Congratulations to Bill Clark

P. O. Box 607 Owego, New York 13827

Www.tiogaregion.com

Tioga Transmission The official newsletter of

Tioga Region Antique Automobile Club of America

August

2012

The July meeting was held

at the Newark Valley Rail-

road Depot on July 16,2012.

There were fourteen mem-

bers present. Several

members met first at the

ice cream shop on route

38 before the 7:00PM

meeting.

The plans for the car show

were the main subject of

the evening. Since there

were many questions about

the set up on the new loca-

tion, we decided that we

would make an effort to

have the members who

were interested meet at

the field after the get to-

gether at Castle Gardens

on August 4,2012.

We plan to attend the Fam-

ily Day at Castle Gardens

from 11:30 AM to 2:00PM on

Saturday the 4th with our

collector cars. We will then

travel to the Beds 4 Kids

location, 100 Elm Street,

Owego to survey the field

and better understand how

the show will set up.

There are many changes

that Leonard Hilldale is

planning for his location

that will be an influence to

our car show. It is our hope

that we will see the overall

plan and be able to incor-

porate them in our set up.

We were also given a pre-

view of the new Dash

plaque by Mat Vaglica and

had the choice of three

versions. The different se-

lections were discussed

and a final decision made

by the members present.

Our featured car is Mau-

rice and Ann Stoughton’s

1946 Ford 4 door. We chose

to make this car our fea-

ture car since last year

this distinction was taken

away by the flood.

The heads of each work

crew for the car show

were listed and advised to

make their plans for the

process needed to make

the show a success.

Our August meeting will

take place at the Trout

Ponds Park in Newark Val-

ley, New York on August 20,

2012 at 6:00PM. This is our

pot luck picnic dinner and

each member will bring a

dish to pass. We hope to

get together a little early

for ice cream at our stop

on route38.

July Meeting

Page 2 Tioga Transmission

A couple of months ago I

was surprised to have one

of the older female mem-

bers of my church hand me

a small envelope that con-

tained the coins you see

reproduced on this page. I

was able to recall the four

coins at the bottom of the

page as advertising give-

away tokens from the Sun-

oco gas company. These

coins were given to all cus-

tomers who came into Sun-

oco in the 1970’s. There

were at least two different

collections and the three

coins on the left were from

the second collection while

the one on the right was

from the first.

The two coins on the right

top of the page are a little

more interesting as well as

more mysterious as to

their origin.

.Although the other coins

all measure one inch in

diameter, the Dodge coin is

one and a quarter inches

across.

The Dodge coin seems to

be from 1954 and, I am

guessing, must have been

given to customers of

Dodge Dealerships in 1954.

I, of course, might be

wrong in this guess but it

seems unusual that there

would be any other expla-

nation where the year

would be so designated.

The reference to forty

years certainly fits with the

1914 beginning of Dodge as

The Dodge Brothers.

Dodge, of course, was

bought in 1928 by Walter P.

Chrysler and became their

second line car just one

step above the base Ply-

mouth that was new for

1928.

Chrysler also introduced

the DeSoto in 1928 giving

them a car for all price

ranges with the Chrysler

Imperial being the answer

to the top of the line luxury

cars of that era.

The copper coin is a mys-

tery to me as it just does

not seem possible that it

could have come from

Stutz! Any Ideas?

A Surprise Gift

Page 3 Tioga Transmission

I believe it was the spring

of 1961 that a specially

modified tractor trailer

arrived at The Miracle Mile

Shopping Center in Mon-

roeville, Pennsylvania. This

truck had a paint job that

would make a modern Car-

nival truck proud. The bold

lettering proclaimed “See

Hitler’s Car!!!”

Who knows how much

money was made by the

owner of this truck as it

toured the United States,

but I was one of the eager

throng who paid a dollar to

enter the tight space to

see this wonder. The tight

passage in the trailer and

the long line of spectators

prevented one from taking

more than a brief look, but

it was soon evident that the

heavily mutilated car inside

would not soon be driven

on the highway.

Someone had taken a saw

and a torch to the whole

car. Holes cut into the body

revealed a heavy armor

plate inside the smooth

Mercedes body, and this

plating had been cut to

show the thickness of the

armor. Even the tires had

been cut to show that there

had been extra steel belts

added to make the tires

impervious to most bullets.

A hole also had been cut

into the floor level to show

that the car was protected

from mines placed on the

road.

The Black Body had been

treated to a hasty and hand

painted swastika in white

paint. Had this actually

been the car that Hitler

traveled in? It could have

been, but one has to ask

was there only one car

used by this leader of Ger-

many during his reign of

terror?

I know by now you are ask-

ing why has Bob included

this story in our newslet-

ter? Today as I logged on to

the “Net” I was treated to

an article about a New Jer-

sey man who in trying to

have his Mercedes re-

stored and found that his

car also had ties to the

monster who caused World

War 2.

As the story went, The

man’s grandfather some-

how managed to bring the

car home when he re-

turned to the States from

the war. The car suppos-

edly came here aboard a

U.S. Navy ship after being

painted black. I’m not sure

why the color made any

difference in this story.

A while back the man

bought the car from his

grandfather for

$100,000.00 and wanted to

restore it, so he took it to a

shop where the restorer

began to order parts from

Mercedes in Germany.

When the manufacturer

asked for a serial number

for the car it came back as

belonging to Hitler.

Since the car was a special

manufactured during the

reign of the Nazi party, it

seems that the pedigree is

probable. As a result of the

history the owner has

turned down an offer of

one million dollars!

Looking Back

Page 4 Newsletter Title

The car in the story on the

last page is a cabriolet

while the car I saw back in

1961 was a four door sedan.

The car from 1961 definitely

would have been a typical

staff car from the Third

Reich, however the car

from the modern story

would have been more of a

parade car.

The main question now is

how many other cars will

be found that have a con-

nection to Hitler? By the

way, the story of today’s

car finalized that the car

actually was not that of

Hitler, but one of his top

Generals.

Isn’t it interesting that we

can have so much interest

in a car from over seventy

years ago that has been

suggested to have be-

longed to such a despicable

man?

I wonder if we could find a

car that could be traced

back to Franklin D. Roose-

velt?

on route 6 to look over the

Susquehanna Valley where

French Azilum is located.

Lunch was at the Wyalusing

Hotel, then on to the his-

toric site of French Azilum.

Our guide, Danielle, not only

was knowledgeable but also

had a great sense of humor

that made the tour even

more interesting.

A brief stop for fuel in Wy-

sox, Pennsylvania was fol-

lowed by a quick stop at

Pickering Winery also in

Wysox.

Ice Cream finished the day!

Our French Azilum Tour

Saturday July 14, 2012 was

a perfect day to tour. We

met at The Big Dipper in

Apalachin and proceeded

south on Pennsylvania Ave-

nue to our first stop, Cabin

Country Gift Shop, where

the picture on the right

was taken. As you can see

we numbered fourteen with

eight cars represented.

The members from right to

left are Howard and Emily,

Bob and Lois, Jerry and

Barb, Ralph and Gloria,

Charlie, George, Ken and

Vera, and Cheryl and I.

From the gift shop we trav-

eled to the scenic overlook

Looking Back (Continued)

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1

With such a beautiful day we all envied

Jerry and Barb i n their convertible!

Most of us didn’t even have air condition-

ing in our cars and the slow speed did not

bring much of a breeze.

Thirteen members of the

club brought seven cars to

the senior center. These

cars were joined by two

that had connections to the

residents of the center.

The pictures on page two

are the cars that attended

with the exception of

Cheryl and my 78 Monte

Carlo. It was a real thrill to

see Ray’s 1929 Reo back on

the road!

Castle Gardens provided an

excellent picnic for the

residents, their families

and we members of Tioga

Region. There was also a

three piece band that pro-

vided not only background

music but also proof that

once an instrument is

learned the musician can

continue to make pleasant

music all his or her life.

Several residents of the

facility came over to the

cars to admire and remi-

nisce about their cars they

had owned in their lifetime.

The 1957 Chevrolet that

came was owned by the

son and daughter of one of

the residents. This car was

an example of a slightly

modified car with loud du-

els and tuned engine. The

owner was a fifty some-

thing couple.

The real surprise came in

the form of the 1939 De-

soto that arrived without

our knowing. Several of us

then spent a significant

time trying to determine

who brought this beautiful

example of a pre-war auto-

mobile. The real surprise

was revealed almost too

late as the driver had al-

ready gotten the car run-

ning and in gear before we

were able to get to him.

The car actually belonged

to one of the residents and

was being driven by his

teenaged grandson! We

hope this vehicle will be at

our car show as both How-

ard and I gave a personal

invitation for that occur-

rence.

two daughters.

The family asks that a re-

membrance might be made

to the American Cancer

Society in Susan’s name or

to an educational fund for

her girls at Visions Federal

Credit Union, 24 McKinley

We were saddened to learn

of the passing of Russ and

Margaret Edwards Daugh-

ter, Susan M. Kemp.

The young woman was the

victim of cancer and left

behind a family that con-

sisted of her husband and

Ave., Endicott, New York

13760 in loving memory of

Susan M. Kemp.

We send our regrets to

Russ and Margaret.

A Sad Note

The Castle Gardens Family Day.

Page 6 Newsletter Title

Lois Holmes has found a

need that she requests our

help to fill. There is a need

for old useable suitcases

within the homeless veter-

ans community of the area.

These suitcases are being

collected by a veteran and

taken to a local veteran

home for distribution to

those in need. They also

are looking for used bicy-

cles in good working condi-

tion.

If you can help with either

of these items give Lois a

call at 607-748-9657 and

she will help co-ordinate

the delivery to those in

need.

I am not sure how the suit-

cases will be used, but

there is no doubt that we

need to help those who

have done so much for

their country. This might

just be the way to clear out

some of the clutter in your

attic or basement while

helping those who made

our country strong.

come see who. Soon we

saw Helen coming through

the hall with a walker. She

had just had the boot re-

moved from her leg after

breaking it this spring.

In their usual good humor,

they both sat for a friendly

visit in the kitchen of their

lovely home. Of course,

they offered refreshments

and were a bit reluctant to

have the picture taken that

is here reproduced.

Both asked that they be

remembered to all their

friends at TRAACA.

A Visit With Old Friends

Jim and Helen McCloe were

home the day that Cheryl

and I happened to be trying

to sell ads for the car show

book. Since we were that

close it was just natural for

us to make the stop to see

these great people.

As we drove up the drive

Jim was outside close to

his Chevy but had his usual

big grin of welcome on his

face. In typical form he

greeted us both with an

invitation to “come on in”.

Inside the door Jim called

to Helen that they had

company and she needed to

A Request For Help

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 1

Musings

I have been thinking about the changes in the collector car world over the

years. The very first car show I attended that I believe was sponsored by an

AACA club was in the late 1950’s. The cars were all from no later than the

early 1930’s. Each car had to be driven not only onto the field but also to the

field. If there were trailer queens then the trailers were parked somewhere

out of sight of the show field. The owners of these early automobiles also

dressed in period clothing for their cars. I even heard a story of the best of

show car being determined by the period correct union suit worn under

other vintage clothes by the car owner! True or not that happily is not done

today!

Today we try to make the car the star of the show while we remain comfort-

able in our modern clothing. The cars now strive to represent themselves as

they came from the factory or at least from the showroom. Not only that but

most of the cars on our show field were not even in the design stage during

those early car shows. What then will the car show of the future be like?

I hate to think of it but surely we will see a time when the cars shown will be

those from Japanese, Korean, and Chinese controlled builders rather than

ones that wear a bowtie, or blue oval. In less than twenty years the tuners of

today will be the pampered collectors. But the main thing is to remember

that the collector car hobby, though evolving, is and will be alive and well as

long as we have roads to travel and places to go.

The car show and the collector hobby lives!