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It was a dark and stormy night…. No?
Sorry, wrong event. Let’s start again.
It was a bright sunny day, with three
yellow Cadillacs (a 1953 Eldorado, a 1956 Series 62 convertible and a
1977 Coupe de Ville) parked at one corner of Penske Cadillac-Hummer in
Torrance while our display was being built.
The entire service department and
front parking lot were emptied for our cars, thanks to the generosity of
the Penske dealership.
As if it were
announcement time for the new 1960 Cadillac, we lined up eight excellent
examples of 1960 Cadillacs in the service aisle. (Yes, new cars were
displayed in the service aisles of dealerships.) Although we missed
having a Fleetwood 75 or 60 Special, we had something many dealers never
got for 1960: an Eldorado Biarritz (belonging to the Hanes) and an
Eldorado Brougham (belonging to the Thomases). The flattop Sedan de
Ville was represented by “oil tycoon” Gary Falasco (who kindly wiped up
oil dripping from several of the cars). The six-window hardtop was
represented by Dal Keil’s blue car. There were three Series 62
convertibles (including Leo Affi’s white one and Calvin Jones’ yellow
one). The two-door hardtop was represented well by the Wilsons’ blue
Series 62.
While the treasure was being arranged
in the castle keep, Sir John Gibbons did battle with, and ultimately
prevailed against, the cunning and uncooperative beast known as
Binaltobboote at his ’76 Eldorado convertible. Julian Cangelosi helped Frank and
Sharon Brannon park an immense ’92 stretch limo (body by Armbruster?).
Practice for next year went on in the
service area with several 1961 cars being displayed. Lunch was sandwiches and chips—simple
but good. Thanks very much to Linda Leonard for delivering them.
Most of the exhibitors who judged cars
(using the peer method) did so discreetly. I did not see many people
mulling over ballots. As usual, awards were handed out shortly after
lunch. It was a pleasure to see Michael Dubos
and Garry Mitchell back with us again. Also very good to meet new
members Cathy and Joel Feldman, who brought a 1931 Cadillac V-8 Town
Sedan.
Many thanks to
the Penske team for inviting us back this year and being so generous
with their facility. It’s a lot of work to move all the cars they did,
and it is much appreciated.
Rob
Leonard |
