The Crosley Cruise: 2015 West Coast Crosley Club Meet - Part 2

I headed over for the Crosley Cruise kickoff at Thomi's Cafe on Sunday morning.  As luck would have it, my station wagon had developed a slight water pump leak over the weekend - I greased the zerk fitting and kept my eye on the temp gauge.  Luckily I'd brought a jug of water just in case, and borrowed another from Mike Blackburn who had decided at the last minute not to do the tour.  Mike's water jug sprung a leak as soon as I loaded it in the car.  So far, so good.

Prelude to the Crosley Cruise

Since 2015 was the 30th Anniversary Meet for the club, I had suggested that we do something we'd never tried before: a two-day meet, with a Crosley-friendly driving event scheduled for Sunday. While my proposal was overwhelmingly approved at our 2014 meeting, I came to find that my idea was going to be more of a struggle than expected.

2015 West Coast Crosley Club Meet - Part 1

I'm still recovering from the festivities at the West Coast Crosley Club's 30th Anniversary shindig this past weekend in the Gold Country: three days of Crosley shenanigans, 70+ Crosley fans, 23 Crosleys (or variants) and 160 miles in the driver's seat of a 26.5 horsepower mighty mite really takes it out of you.

Bummer.

Well, we were scheduled to have a Crosley Meet last weekend, but the Butte Fire raged dangerously close to Jackson and Sutter Creek, the HQ for the meet.  Both towns escaped the fire, (thank goodness) but the soot in the air, displaced people and general concern prompted us to reschedule for next month.

RIP Chuck Koehler

I just heard that Chuck Koehler has died.

Firing up the Denver Wagon!

This video is from way back in January, but finishes off the trip to Denver posts nicely.

Denver or Bust: Part 2, There and back again

Continued from Part 1...

Leaving Minden, Tim's Transit cruised across Nevada like it was on rails, and we couldn't even feel the extra weight of the trailer.  We'd opted for Highway 50, the Loneliest Highway, since it had more stuff to look at along the way, and we made it to Eureka, Nevada (population 610) that night.  As luck would have it, Tim had a friend who owned a house there, and though he wasn't home, he was happy to let us stay - the key was under the mat.  We were out the door by 6:30 the next morning, and wonder of wonders, found a tiny coffee hut on the main drag that, A) was open; and, B) served fresh-brewed espresso!

Car Spotter: Autobianchi Bianchina Special Cabriolet

A friend of mine was watching the 1966 Audrey Hepburn movie How to Steal a Million and sent me a note: "what is this car?"

Good question.

Scott Shultz 1943 - 2015

Scott Shultz was the very first Crosley guy I ever talked to.

2015 Orange Blossom Special - Fillmore Spring Meet

Back in the good old days (in this case the mid-eighties) shortly after the West Coast Crosley Club first got going, the powers that be decided to try having two club meets per year - the big meet in September, plus a smaller, more low key meet in the Spring.  Trouble was, there weren't that many members back then, so the Spring Meet never really caught on.  No one remembers exactly when they gave up, but sometime before 1990 we were back to one meet per year.

Twenty-five years later (more or less), we decided to try again.

New Tin Block Times Ready to Go!

Better late than never, nearly 200 copies of the new issue of the Tin Block Times, the West Coast Crosley Club newsletter, are ready to hit the mail!  Mike Stoner's kustom sedan leads the lineup on top, Raffi Minasian and his '53 Giaur at bottom.

Yes, That IS a Nice Farm-O-Road on Ebay

No less than four people got hold of me to make sure I'd seen the very nice 1950 Farm-O-Road that popped up on Ebay and was then spotlighted by Bring a Trailer this week. It also made waves over at the Crosley Gang site, so given all the excitement, I figured I should make a note of it.

Is this Chuck Koehler's Fibersport?

I was poking around on Cliff Reuter's Etceterini site the other day, doing some research on Giaur cars for an upcoming issue of the Tin Block Times (the Crosley club newsletter I edit).  The site is a never-ending source of wonders - no matter how many times I visit, it seems like there is always another surprise awaiting...