October 2009 Here we are, heading into October already! Autumn is my favorite time of the year (Did I ever mention how much I hate hot and humid weather? LOL) so I m ready for those clear, crisp fall days with the trees all in color. Awesome! I know the snow and winter weather are soon to follow, but personally, I ll take a 10 degree day with snow over one of those hot and sticky 90 degree days any time. J And I don t even ski or have a snowmobile. Anyway, that s just me, I guess. WMCC October Club Meeting, Sunday 10-04-09: While the weather still supports driving our Camaros, we re making an effort to keep our meetings interesting and moving around. Last month we were on the east side of the State and this month we re heading to the southern part, to Three Rivers. So, we re planning to attend a local car show that is held in a person s yard. Yup, you read that right, in his yard. Reports of past shows say this is a pretty nice and friendly show, so we re going to invade. LOL Here are the details: We will meet at 11 am on the east side of the Three Rivers 6 (movie theatre) parking lot in front of the closed Village Market store. The address for the Three Rivers 6 is 120 Enterprise Dr Three Rivers, MI. The Three Rivers 6 is only 2 October 2009 The View from the top. By Doug Warren, WMCC President 1 bocks off of 131 on the corner of N. Main Street and Enterprise Dr. The show is only a couple minutes away from the parking lot. For those wishing to meet up with us later the address of the show is 56049 Buckhorn Dr Three Rivers, MI 49093. Now a little bit about the show, it is held from 11:30 am -4:00 pm. There is a Pot luck style lunch available, so please bring a dish to pass. There will be a donation can available for those unable to bring a dish, but still wish to still take part. For anybody that gets lost or needs directions please call Gary s cell number 269-506-0411. WMCC Membership Coordinator needed: After several years of service, our Membership Coordinator, Al Boyer has asked to step down. Our policy in the Club is that any office holder retains that job until they ask to step down. At that time we will elect a replacement for that particular job in the Club. So, we thank Al for his great service and for taking this job to a higher level with much more organization than it ever had before. The job consists of keeping records of members information and keeping that information up to date. There is also a need to periodically print up a current Club Roster. You will also be in charge of seeing that new
members receive their T-shirts, membership card and Club window sticker. So, basic computer skills would be a requirement, as well as good communication skills. If this sounds like something you would like to do as a member of WMCC, please let me know, and/or volunteer at the Club meeting. Frankenmuth Autofest 2009 report: The Frankenmuth Autofest continues to be one of, if not THE best, car show in the State. Even with a year restriction of 1978 and older cars, there were over 2,200 cars in the show this year (contrary to rumored reports of over 7,000 cars! LOL) The weekend event starts off on Friday evening with what they call a Block Party. The streets of downtown Frankenmuth are overrun with cool cars, food booths, beer tents, live bands and thousands upon thousands of spectators. It s truly a sight to behold. For Saturday and Sunday the show moves across the river to the park. If you can t find a car you like in this show, you just don t like cars at all. The park is filled with amazing cars, along with a manufacturer s midway and a huge swap meet. It s a car guy s heaven. There are also the hundreds of shops in Frankenmuth to keep the ladies busy. As luck would have it, we ran into Tom Peters from GM Design who was attending the show for the first time with some friends. (Tom designed the exterior of the 5 th Gen Camaro). He drove his beautiful Garnet Red 69 Camaro that packs a healthy big block under the hood, to the show. He parked right next to our group of cars along the river, in the shade. This is the first really big car show that I ve taken the Project DZ74 to, and was very pleasantly surprised at the response the car got from the spectators. I told the wonderful story of Project DZ74 to several people over the weekend. Every member of WMCC should be proud of the way the car turned out. Thank you again, everyone! 2 However, one person that liked the car made me feel really good about it, and that was Tom Peters. When a GM Designer said he really likes the car, that meant a lot to me. In fact, he started to walk away a couple times (to go see the rest of the show) but turned around to look at the car and talk about it some more. That made my day. It was very dry and dusty that day and between dusting off the car and answering
questions about it, I never really got too far away from our spots on Saturday. By Sunday afternoon, I realized I had yet to take any pics of the show, so I snapped off a couple, and those are what you see here in the newsletter. The show was packed on Saturday. WMCC Fall Hot Rod Color Tour: Were just a couple weeks away from our Fall Color Tour, so we ll be talking about all the details at the Club meeting, like when and where we ll meet on Friday morning for our trip across the State. If you have not yet decided to join us on this fun weekend, you still may have a chance to do so. But I would call the hotel ASAP to see about still getting a room. The name of the hotel is the Tawas Bay Beach Resort, 1-800-336-8601, Website: www.tawasbaybeachresort.com They have blocked 20 rooms for our group, and if those fill up, we can get some more. This is a great area to see, and if you have the chance to pull it up online, please do so. We will be arriving on Friday (10-09-09) and departing on Sunday morning (10-11- 09). This has traditionally been my favorite event of the year and I highly recommend attending if you can. Room Rates for that time would be: Cityside: $98.99 + tax per room per night Bayside $107.99 + tax per room per night. You can call Liz Grzesik, Sales & Catering, Tawas Bay Beach Resort and Conference Center. 989-362-8600 Ext 163 or 800-336- 8601 Tell them you part of the WMCC group. WMCC November Club Meeting, Sunday 11-01-09: For November, we re going to take a look at Dan Bakers car collection, but we re going to meet for lunch and our monthly meeting first. So, we ll be meeting at the Sam s Joint Restaurant near Gun Lake at noon. After the meeting, we ll drive over to Dan s storage facility to check things out. Look for more details in next month s newsletter. We ll see everyone at the meeting in Three Rivers. 3
Frankenmuth Autofest 2009 4
For Sale..from the Jim Smith Collection Ebay Item Number 230379823434 2002 GMMG HOT ROD EDITION CAMARO Super RARE GMMG Berger HRE! - Adult driven CAR #1975 (9th Hot Rod Edition car built) (1 of 1) One of 36 HRE Cars built by GMMG for Berger & Hot Rod Magazine to commemorate the 36 years of Camaro. 36 cars (plus 2 prototypes) were built Numbered 1967 to 2002 Car #1 is #1967 Car #9 is #1975 Car #36 is #2002 1 of 4 Red T-Top HRE cars built 1 of 6 Red 6-Speed HRE cars built The ONLY HRE that is red/black, 380hp, T-top, 6 speed Hood is signed by Matt Murphy, Matt Berger, Dick Jacques & Hot Rod Complete documentation: GMMG/HRE Window Sticker, GM Window Sticker, Signed laminated board from Berger, GM Service History & more, This is a signed car GMMG Tag # 21155 VIN #: 2G1FP22G822157815 More photos @ http://www.daytonapacecars.com/id17.html & http://www.daytonapacecars.com/index.html Three owners 1st owner put on 38,707 miles before trading back into Berger Chev. Berger checked everything over, certified the car & installed new Good Year tires. 2nd owner bought the car from Dick Jacques from Berger Chev. - Dec, 26, 2006 with 38,707 miles. 2nd owner only put on 168 miles between Dec. 06 & selling the car to Jim Smith April 17, 2008 with mileage reading of 38,876. I am the third owner, took the car on the 2008 Hot Rod Power Tour & averaged over 27mpg over 3,500 miles. Current mileage is 45,350 #1975 is as near perfect as you will ever find. The car is always stored & covered in a climate controlled garage on a battery tender. Except for the Power Tour the car only is driven on nice days. The car was serviced @ Berger during the open house Aug. 28, 2009. *** This is a very rare car (1 of 36 built) that is appreciating in value. Remember the COPO, Nickey, Yenko & Berger Cars of the late 60 s & 70 s? This is the same deal as the old days ONLY with the latest technology. Who knows what the future value will be? We all know the big money the older cars are selling for. QUESTIONS??? Contact Jim 715-529-0898 E-mail: jimsmt@lakeland.ws www.daytonapacecars.com 5
2009 Events Calendar (*denotes Official WMCC Event) WMCC Monthly Membership Meetings: *Oct 4, 2009 WMCC Club Meeting @ Buckhorn Bash Car Show, Three Rivers, MI *Nov 1, 2009 Visit Dan Baker s car collection, more info to come.. *Dec 12, 2009 Annual WMCC Christmas Party @ the Lins Home again!!! *Jan 3, 2010 WMCC Club Meeting TBA *Feb 7, 2010 WMCC Club Meeting TBA *Mar 7, 2010 WMCC Club Meeting TBA *Apr 4, 2010 WMCC Club Meeting - TBA All Camaro / All Chevrolet Events: *Oct 9-11, 2009 Annual WMCC Hot Rod Fall Color Tour back to the Tawas City Area Other Automotive Events of Interest: Oct 3, 2009 Immanuel Church Car Show 325 104 th Ave Holland, MI Oct 3, 2009 Whenever Weinies Year End Show, Fowlerville, MI Oct 4, 2009 Buckhorn Bash Car Show, Three Rivers, MI Oct 11, 2009 Swap Meet & Car Show, St. Joseph Co. Fairgrounds, South Band, IN Nov 6-8, 2009 ISCA Car Show @ Birch Run Expo Center, Birch Run, MI Nov 21, 22, 2009 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Rosemont, IL Jan 11-24, 2010 NAIAS COBO Hall, Detroit, MI Feb 14, 2010 Auto Parts Swap Meet Delta Plex, Grand Rapids, MI Feb 12-21, 2010 Chicago Auto Show, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL Feb 26-28, 2010 58 th Annual Detroit Autorama, COBO Hall, Detroit, MI Mar 5-7, 2010 48 th Annual World of Wheels, Chicago, IL Cruise-Ins: Mondays: Russ Grand Haven location, 1313 S. Beacon Blvd (20% discount on food) Tuesdays: Mr. Quick s Cruise-in, Apple Ave, east of Muskegon Tuesdays: Fricano s Pizza, Alpine & 7Mile Rd. north of Grand Rapids Wednesdays: Culver s 6300 28 th Street SE, Cascade, MI 5 to 9pm Wednesdays: Russ Muskegon location, 3225 Henry St. (20% discount on food) Wednesdays: Gilmore Classic Car Museum, Hickory Corners, MI Wednesdays: Ice Cream Shop in Wayland. Free small ice cream for each car. Starting the end of May. Thursdays: Das Dutchman Essenhaus, Middlebury, IN 5:30-8:00pm Participation is free and will receive dining & shopping discounts, door prizes, and more Fridays & Saturdays: Dawg Dogs in Grandville, MI Just south of 28 th Street on Wilson Ave. 6
September 2009 Meeting notes: September 13, 2009 @ Gib & Tammy Loudon s Home Thank You to Gib & Tammy for their hospitality and opening up their home to us. And Thank You to Tammy & Jan for cooking us an awesome breakfast on Sunday morning. It was delicious! will continue to discuss possible events at our next several meetings. We wrapped up the meeting and headed off to the Frankenmuth Auto Fast. We reviewed the Berger All Chevy Show and everyone thought things came off quite well. We were impressed with the number of cars at the show given the iffy weather. Everyone s looking forward to next year and hoping for better weather. Everyone was pretty impressed with the Berger SS prototype debuted at the show. Gary talked about our October Club meeting in Three Rivers and the local car show we ll be attending. More details in the newsletter We talked about our November Club meeting and visiting Dan Bakers car collection. Dan has recommended that we meet for lunch, have our meeting and then drive to his storage facility. So, we voted to hold our meeting at Sam s Joint near Gun Lake, and then do the visit. Several members mentioned making some changes to our Annual Fall Hot Rod WMCC Color Tour. The biggest change is staying at two different motels on Friday and Saturday nights. This will give us the opportunity to cover more area. The Bridge, and Tahquamenon Falls were two possible destinations mentioned. We will discuss this more at this month s meeting. We talked about finding a way to hold a special event, for Club members as a pay back for all the hard work our members have done at the Berger Show and other Club events. The Club would pick up at least a portion of the expense, depending on just what we come up with as an idea. This is something we would try to do sometime next year, so we Attention Ladies It s a BeautiControl "Spa" party Post Wedding Shower For Carrie Hoffman Given by Shelley Crippin - The WMCC VP s Wife Saturday October 3, 2009 at 4:00 pm 4486 Whitneyville Road SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 RSVP to Shelley only 269-273-5051 - home 269-506-0901 - cell scrippin@live.com Carrie did not receive a pre-wedding shower from the WMCC Ladies do it being canceled a couple of times by the shower organizer. So I am giving her a post-wedding Shower. This one will Not be Canceled. So Please join us for an afternoon of relaxation, fun and good times. Carrie and myself look forward to seeing you there. Thanks, Shelley Crippin 7
Don t Miss the Next WMCC Meeting Sunday October, 4th @ 11am in Three Rivers, Mi See Newsletter for details. The Western Michigan Camaro Club is dedicated to the enjoyment, preservation and promotion of the Chevrolet Camaro as the premier four passenger sports car ever. The club was formed in 1975. Meetings The WMCC holds monthly membership meetings on the first Sunday of each month. Times and location vary, so see the Newsletter or check the club s web site at www.wmcamaro.org for specific times and locations, or call one of the officers. WMCC Officers President: Doug Warren 616.531.7482 Vice President: Gary Crippin 269.273.5051 Secretary: Anne Kohler 616.527.2432 Treasurer: Anita Warren 616.531.7482 Membership: Al Boyer 231.777.7500 Webmaster: Brent Findley Newsletter Editor: Gary Crippin 269.273.5051 Club Archivist & Photographer: Ray Cochran Club Sponsor Berger Chevrolet ~ BERGERCHEVY.COM Website www.wmcamaro.org Watch www.mifbody.com for the latest info on upcoming WMCC events. Camaro Corner 8