Fleetwood Flyer The Monthly Newsletter of AUGUST 2017 Club Contacts Director: Jim Brown 636-887-4439 <jbrownret@centurytel.net> Associate Director & Webmaster: kevin williams 314-481-9111 <stlwc1@yahoo.com> Treasurer & annual show chairman: ted fivian 314-752-5763 <swunland@sbcglobal.net> Secretary & newsletter editor: George bergen 314-966-3872 <bergeng@sbcglobal.net> clc mrc board member & st. louis region national board member: don hoelscher: 636-939-9667 <dhoelsch@mail.win.org> August Meeting: The August Meeting of the St. Louis Region Cadillac and LaSalle Club will be held at St. Louis Car Museum beginning at 6 PM on August 23. St. Louis Car Museum is located at 1575 Woodson Road about midway between Page and Olive and just north of where I-170 crosses Woodson. The club will provide snacks and beverages. Secretary/Editors Report: July Meeting/Events: The July meeting which was to be held at Jim Schloeman s in O Fallon, Mo was cancelled due to a weather forecast of excessive heat. It was fortunate that we decided to scrub this event as the temperature that day was 108 degrees F. This event may or may not be rescheduled. The National Driving Tour, which ended on July 1, was the event that involved a number of our region members both in the planning stage and helping to make the St. Louis destinations successful. From all indications the tour as a whole as well as the St. Louis destinations were very well received. See the July newsletter for the names of all of the region members who helped. Todd Tobiasz was the only region member who participated on the entire tour from Chicago to St. sponsorship chairman: noel wilson: 636-447- 5319 national website: <cadillaclasaleclub.org> region website: <cadillaclasalleclubstl.org> note: to submit information to website send to <contact@cadillaclasalleclubstl.org> region sponsor: elco chevrolet and cadillac, 15110 manchester road, ballwin, mo cadillac sales manager: bill pastor Louis. Todd has written a brief article which appears in this newsletter giving his impression of the tour and also provided photographs of many of the stops. Noel Wilson and Cindy Masterson submitted photos of some of the St. Louis stops. Since there was no meeting there was no treasurer s report or other business to discuss, thus, the brevity of the newsletter. See the -lyer advertising our annual show after the photos from the driving tour. George Bergen Upcoming Events: September Meeting: Wednesday, September 27, 6 PM, Classic Car Studio, Noah Alexander host. Annual Show: Sunday, October 1, 11AM until 3PM, Faust Park, St. Louis County, MO. Rain date October 8. See -lyer. October Meeting: Wednesday, October 25, 7 PM, Ted Fivian and Steve Unland hosts. November Meeting: Wednesday, November 15, 6 PM, ELCO Chevrolet and Cadillac. Bill Paster host. December: No meeting. Recommendation Wanted: St. Louis Region member John Meyerhoff wants to have a little restoration work done on his 76 Eldo-
rado convertible and would like any recommendations members might have for high quality local shops to perform the work. He wants to have the top replaced and have some body work done including some paint touch up. Those who would like to recommend someone may reach John at 636-519 -9283 or by email at jemjlry@earthlink.net Cars for Sale: 1940 Cadillac Sixty Special: Owned since 1967, older restoration, correct Cavern Green with twotone Bedford Cord upholstery. $20,000, See photo. Terry Wenger, 314-522-8899. Illinois Route 66 - The Experience -The 2017 National Driving Tour By Todd Tobiasz You call it an experience when you take six days to drive 300 miles. The 2017 CLC National Driving Tour offered members the chance to experience the Illinois portion of Route 66 seeing many sights that the interstate now by-passes. The focus of The Experience was to give travelers a chance to meet and talk to many people who live along the mother road some of them who still run businesses along Route 66 even though it was of-icially decommissioned in 1985. Saturday afternoon was a chance to meet everyone at Off Route 66, an eclectic collection of local kitsch, signs, toys, and an area called the poodle room. We started on Sunday with a bus tour to Chicago including a visit to the Chicago Motor Carriage Company collection. Route 66 starts at Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago. We drove the route from downtown to Riverside to see Hoffman Tower and hear prohibition and repeal era stories of the area. The drive continued through my home town of LaGrange and on to Joliet. Day 2 we spent in Joliet including a tour and organ concert at the Rialto Theater and an impromptu car show at the Joliet Correctional Center. Then it was on the road. Tuesday had stops in Wilmington, Braidwood, Gardner, Dwight, with lunch and dinner-theater in Pontiac. Rather than try to keep everyone in a caravan our guide books described the estimated time to rendezvous at the various stops. There were roughly 50 cars for most of the trip. A few travelers only planned to drive sections of the tour, but most were there for the long haul. Everyone on the trip to this point had eaten fried chicken for all three dinners. Wednesday had ten stops before reaching Spring-ield. I -inally got to see the Hawes Grain Elevator museum in Atlanta. I think we stopped at -ive restored service stations over the six days. Many of the current owners made a point to greet us when we arrived and were very generous to talk with each of us and provide some background on each stop. Thursday Amber and I took the older highway alignment through Carlinville. There we met a retired school teacher turned county courthouse tour guide who showed us the million dollar court house and introduced us to or pointed out the of-ices of all his former students. We also had a local home owner show us how he rehabbed his early 20 th century Sears home. There was a mansion tour where they gave us the run of the house and a stop to see turkey tracks preserved in 1920 s wet highway cement. A highlight of the trip occurred on Friday when about 70 cars came into St. Louis across the old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Earlier in the day we stopped to see the proprietor of the Rabbit Ranch a cross between the VW version of the Cadillac Ranch and a small mammal caretaker. Once across the river the St. Louis CLC swung into action. The remaining day and a half was jampacked. After crossing the river we all headed to Doug Kirberg s for a look at his growing collection and lunch. The trek to the Westport Sheraton included something we had not seen all week Friday afternoon rush hour traf-ic. There was just enough time to get to Hyman s where dinner was hosted in the
showroom. The adventurous headed to Ted Drewes for frozen custard. Saturday started out at the Hunter collection for a tour of the buildings and a quick box lunch. Then it was on the road to the History Museum for the Route 66 exhibit where travelers were met by St. Louis club members and museum trustee Greg Rhomberg directing parking for 50 cars including Greg s Budweiser boat car in front of the museum. Then we traveled across town again to the Transportation Museum where staff stayed after normal closing hours to give our visitors a chance to quickly browse the exhibits. Finally, the group went back to the Sheraton for an informal banquet and dessert at Ted Drewes. All in all a very interesting -irst driving tour for me and Amber and a number of the folks we met. Yet another Experience to meet CLC members from around the country. Next year: Southern California! The following photos and captions were provided by Todd for the Illinois portion of the tour. Chicago Vintage Motor Carriage- Tucker with Ties to Missouri 41 Cadillac Convertible Sedan & 39 LaSalle 5019 56 Cadillac 62 Heads Line up at Joliet Correctional Facility Above- 41 Cadillac with Muf-ler Man: Lower Left- 58 Coupe de Ville at Antique Stores in Wilmington: Below-Restored Ambler/Becker Texaco in Dwight
A Little Stir Crazy on Route 66 Historic Brick Road Near Auburn Soulby s Shell Station in Mount Olive Above-At the Entrance to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Above Right-Getting Organized for the Bridge Crossing. Right- 47 Cadillac Convertible Coupe Crossing the Bridge. Above-Fred Butalla, President of the West of The Lakes Region and Tour Organizer Arrives on the Missouri Side Right-Todd and Amber Tobiasz, Only Tourers from St. Louis Region, Complete the Illinois Leg
Above Four More Tour Cars Reach Their St. Louis Destination. These photos and the last two on the previous page were taken by Cindy Masterson. Below photos and those on the following pages at the Hunter Collection and at the Missouri History Museum were taken by Noel Wilson.