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Grand National 2009
By Rob Leonard
Las Vegas was a fantastic place for a Cadillac &
LaSalle Club Grand National. Despite the recession America’s playground
is bustling with excitement. The strip is bigger and better than ever
and construction of even more opulent hotels continues unabated. The
choices of things to do and see are never ending with hundreds of shows,
restaurants, casinos, shops, and spectacles of unending variety. Vegas
is thought-of as a gambling Mecca, but non-gamblers such as myself are
always winners as we have more time to explore the Strip. Anyone with
eyes, ears, taste buds, and more than a little cash will have a great
time in Vegas. I could stay for a month and not see it all.
The SouthPoint, host hotel for the GN, is a
beautiful resort with large well appointed rooms, a huge pool and
Jacuzzi, movie theaters, restaurants, a bowling alley, a casino, and on
June 20, 2009, an exhibit hall filled with well over 100 of the world’s
most beautiful Cadillacs and LaSalles.
During the week prior to the big CLC show I opted
for two days of tours; the Phil Maloof Collection and Shelby Museum on
Tuesday, and the Sunbelt & Imperial Palace Auto Collection on Thursday.
The Maloof Collection included his home and cars. His home was filled
with hundreds of statues, and contained two rooms with large pipe organs
and memorabilia of all sorts. It was opulent to say the least. His car
collection consisted of 150 of various makes and models. My favorites
were more than a dozen ’41 Cadillacs of many different colors, most of
which were displayed in a garage all their own.
The Shelby Museum and Production facility included
an area devoted to the last five decades of Carroll Shelby’s life and
his products over those decades, including the very first AC Cobra built
in 1962. The shop floor was filled with dozens of customer’s cars
undergoing performance upgrades. We had a fantastic docent/salesman that
provided detailed insights into both the man and his machines. This guy
was a true professional making it one of the best tours I’ve ever
taken.
The Sunbelt automobile collection is undoubtedly
the most enjoyable I have ever seen. Jim Rogers began collecting cars in
the 1980s. His collection grew to over 200 cars; half of them
convertibles. The collection is housed in two warehouses; one for the
convertibles and one for the non-convertibles. Almost all the cars were
of American makes and most were built from 1941 to 1965. The
non-convertibles were beautiful, but the convertible collection was
stunning. As one tour participant stated after ogling over the
convertibles, “I have seen heaven, and I like it.”
The Imperial palace collection is one that I have
viewed several times over the past 20 years. Since it is always
changing, it is always somewhat new. Most of the cars on display are for
sale, with prices geared to the drunken gambler that just hit it big at
the tables and has a boatload of money burning a whole in his pocket.
Unfortunately, the quality of the cars on display is not what is used to
be and the hotel itself is really looking run-down. I will skip this
collection the next time I am in Vegas.
On the Wednesday before the big CLC show I attended
three seminars. The first, on automotive air conditioning, was given by
Gregory Surfas from the Alamo region. It was very insightful and gave me
a newfound respect for the complexities of the issues involved in
keeping our decades old systems functioning. The second was on
lubricants and general automotive questions. The lubricants guy was from
Mobil 1 and was in full marketing mode. The mechanic was a LV CLC Region
VP David Fornes. He is a Certified Cadillac mechanic with 40 years of
experience. He was great – and absolute fountain of knowledge. The third
seminar was on CLC Regions development. It was interesting to hear of
the issues from Regions around the country and Australia. Some
challenges were the same everywhere while others were unique to various
parts of the country stemming from differences in weather, culture, and
congestion.
That evening the opening night reception was held
with a “Fabulous ‘50s” theme celebrating the 50th anniversary
of the 1959 Cadillac. There was live music, a dance floor, a hamburger
buffet, and two 1959 Cadillacs parked among the attendees. Much fun was
had by all.
Friday - the day before the big show - was
dedicated to preparing and placing 100+ Cadillacs and LaSalles into the
indoor show area. Everyone was busy with their car and visiting with
friends from across the country. This was my fourth GN and I now know
hundreds of CLCers from a dozen or more Regions. CLC members from
California outnumbered those from all other states – even Nevada!
Saturday was the big show. The general public was
invited to attend at $15 each. Hundreds came and gawked at our beautiful
machines. At the busiest point there were so many people that one could
barely walk among the cars. The cars glistened under the hall lights and
all enjoyed a great show out of the midday sun and in air conditioned
comfort.
That evening the week culminated in the awards
banquet. I must admit that in the past I found this mainstay of Grand
Nationals to be too dull and too long. I am happy to report that this
“tradition” was broken in Vegas. The decorations – especially the table
center pieces (I “won” one) were splendid, the dinner delicious, the
desert fabulous, and the Elvis impersonator hilarious. John Bergler was
a witty and entertaining host. When it came time for the personal
achievement awards our very own Tom Hall most deservingly won the “Self
Starter Author of the Year Award”. The car awards moved along mercifully
efficiently and the whole affair finished 15 minutes early. Bravo to all
for making the awards banquet an experience I now look forward to at
future GNs.
My
congratulations to John Bergler, Jerry Parsons, Colin Christie, Lauren
Schweitzser, Betty Formes, Hal Sheaks, David Formes, John Villano, Bob &
Sharon Koteras, Carolyn Weaver, Bob Cardillo, Edward Pentesco, and many
others from the LV Region and from National for putting on a GN that
will always be remembered. My week in Vegas had many highlights, but the
one that sticks out was riding down the strip in the back seat of
Charles Thompson’s ’49 convertible. Thanks Charles. |
