May 2013

Reflections 4

A Little Humor 3

Cruises 6

Calendar 6

President’s Report 2

Club Minutes 2

Super Cruise In Flyer 5

Sponsors 7

Editor’s Comment 8

A monthly publication of the South Georgia Classic Car Club

Driver’s Seat

Table of Contents

About SGCCC

The South Georgia

Classic Car Club was

founded in April, 1984 as

a not-for-profit organiza-

tion dedicated to the res-

toration, preservation,

and enjoyment of special

interest automobiles.

The Driver’s Seat is the

official publication of the

SGCCC. It is printed,

published, and distrib-

uted during the last week

of each month to all club

members. All information

contained herein is not

necessarily the opinion or

the position of club mem-

bers, its officers, and/or

advertisers.

To submit content for

inclusion in the newslet-

ter, please e-mail the

editor, editor@sgccc.org

or mail to SGCCC News-

letter, 4017 N Oak St

Ext, Valdosta, GA 31605.

All other correspondence

should be sent to,

SGCCC, P.O. Box 403,

Valdosta, GA 31603, or e

- m a i l t o : p r e s i -

dent@sgccc.org

Your Officers

President:

Joey Weldon

1st Vice President:

Dan Bremer

2nd Vice President:

Bill Higgins

Secretary:

Bob Raffaele

Treasurer:

Donna Roberson

Chaplain:

Ralph Russell

Driver’s Seat Editor:

David Boyd

April 2, 2013

Meeting; Convened at 7:03 pm by Club President, Joey Weldon at Austin’s Cattle Company. The Opening Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance were led by Mark Helfin-ger and Bill Higgins respectively. There were 21 members 2 guests in attendance.

Minutes: The March minutes were accepted as published.

Treasurer’s Report: Donna Roberson gave the March Treasurer’s Report that was accepted as read. For a detailed copy of this report, please contact a club officer.

President’s Remarks: Joey reminded everyone that tonight is the deadline for dues.

There was a nice article about Mike Bennett and Ralph Russell in the 3/31/13 Valdosta Daily Times. They were pictured with their classic cars.

Dan Bremer started a discussion on the new license plate tax law.

An idea for expanding the club is having a service project—perhaps the Wounded War-rior Project. This coule be used to attract younger people to the club.

April 20—Cruise to Dan Bremer’s Classic & Antique facility in Nashville. 416 E. Marion.

May 11—Sheriff’s Ranch cookout

June 15—Garage tour of 4 or 5 garages

July 20—Scavenger Hunt

August—Tallahassee Car Museum cruise

Logan Birdsong reported on the Milltown Murals Tour—cars 1940 and older could be in the parade, others on display..

Super Cruise-In on May 18—Logan Birdsong provided sign-up sheets. We are expect-ing about 200 cars. We need at least 8 volunteers for parking, 4 for registration, 4 for T-shirt sales. We also need volunteers for door prizes and for setup and clean up.

Bill Higgins volunteered to set up a table with application forms and such at cruise-ins.

The dinner raffles were won by Fred Roberson, Mike Bennett, and Mark Helfinger. Guest Jim Willard won the 50/50 drawing.

Meeting: Adjourned at 8:05 pm.

Minutes submitted by David Boyd, Driver’s Seat editor.

Minutes

by Joey Weldon

Our fun and fellowship is getting so much stronger among members, and as we start this month out with our picnic at The Georgia Sheriff's Ranch, we are given the chance reach out to our kids at the ranch.

The next weekend we will be hosting our Super Cruise-In. Please come out and help us with the many duties that it is going to take to pull off another great event.

I hope to see everyone at our May Meeting.

I hope to see everyone at our April Meeting, bring a friend.

" Until we meet again, be safe and cruise on down the road "— Joey

President’s Report

A Little Humor

When driving through fog, what should you use? Your Car.

What is the difference between a flashing red traffic light and a flashing yellow traffic light?

The color.

Motorist...'But, officer, I was speeding because I'm late for an appointment with my lawyer.'

Policeman...'Well, now you've got something else to tell him.'

Mario Bartoletti

The 1992-1996 Roadmasters constituted the “Last Hurrah” for that venerable Buick series which first arrived on

the automotive scene in 1936. A sixty year run was a pretty good showing for what was the Buick Division’s popular

entry in the luxury car market. (Actually, the Roadmaster was absent from the Buick stable from 1958 to 1992, when it

was moved aside in favor of the Electra 225 series.) As a young man, I was a Roadmaster owner for many years. Of

course I was very pleased when the new Roadmaster was announced in 1992.

That last Roadmaster series from 1992 to 1996 hardly qualifies as a collector car - yet! Still, as the last rear-wheel

drive Buick V-8 with a full frame, it can perhaps be considered as a “future collectible.” We owned a 1993 Roadmaster

sedan for 13 years and loved it. When we traded it in it had over 220,000 miles on the clock, mechanically had only

required the overhaul of its torque-converter along with periodic brake jobs, and still had the original exhaust system.

After owning our 1993 Roadmaster for several years, I began thinking of a few modifications that would help to

capture some features and romance of Roadmasters in the past. I thought the results of my efforts might interest my

readers, hence this article. Starting with our Roadmaster sedan, my feelings were that Wayne Kady (Head of Buick De-

sign for the 1992-96 Buicks) had done well capturing certain traditional Buick styling highlights. In particular, the grill

on that last Roadmaster series has a

definite similarity to the slender grill

bars of the 1954 and 1957 Buicks.

However, I felt the absence of

Ventiports on the fenders was a big

mistake. Former General Manager

of Buick, Edward H. Mertz, ob-

served at the time: “We don’t think

they would look particularly good

on the front fenders like they did

before - that’s a little too old-

fashioned; but, there is that little

vestige of them (on the sail panels).”

Giving it considerable thought over several years, I realized that three simple changes could bring back the tradi-

tional Roadmaster appearance: 1. Add four Vent ports (from the 1978 Electra); 2. Remove the plastic bump-strips

from the stainless steel side moldings. 3. Add after-market rear fender skirts. The primary touch, of course, was mak-

ing our Roadmaster a “four-holer” Buick; that was the most eye-catching feature, and it used stock Buick items. Next,

the removal of bump-strips and the addition of fender-skirts provided a side view appearance similar to the 1965 Elec-

tra 225 sedan; it also resulted in the illu-

sion of greater length. [The 1992-96

Roadmasters have a wheelbase of 116

inches, whereas the 1965 Electra sedan

has a wheelbase of 126 inches, 10

inches longer. However, with an overall

length of 216 inches, the 1992-96 Road-

masters are only 8 inches shorter than

the 1965 Electra sedan.]

The photograph of our 1993 Road-

master sedan in front of our new apart-

ment-home here in Valdosta, clearly

demonstrates the results of the modifi-

cations made. It was a Buick Roadmas-

ter of which famed Buick designers Ned Nickles and Wayne Kady could be proud. My wife, Lili, was less impressed,

however; she echoed Edward Mertz sentiments - feeling our Roadmaster looked too old-fashioned. (Funny, because

that was exactly what pleased me so much, i.e. its appearance being so much closer to that of the classic Buicks of for-

mer years.)

Making a new car look older; there’s something to reflect upon!

Reflections

May 2013

Birthdays and Anniversaries Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

James Bridges

3 4

5

6 7 8 9 10 11

12

13

14 15

16 17 18

19

20 21

Mike & Evelyn

Bennett

22 23 24 25

Ralph & Lark Rus-

sell

26

Bob & Doreen

Barrett

27

Dan Bremer

28 29 30 31

4 - Bainbridge Cruisers Cruise Dairy Queen, Bainbridge, GA Info: Lee West 229-246-4694

4 - Tallahassee Cruise-In Sonic, 5814 North Monroe Street 5:30pm until

4 - Albany Cruise-In Location: San Joe's in Leesburg 5pm start time

5 - Tallahassee Street Rodders Museum Cruise Antique Car Museum, 6800 Mahan Dr 1-5pm http://www.tally-streetrodders.com

5 - Webster Swap Meet Sumter County Fairgrounds, Bushnell, FL 8am-2pm info: 800-438-8559 www.floridaswapmeets.com

7 - SGCCC Monthly Business Meeting Austin's Cattle Company 2101 West Hill Avenue Valdosta, GA eat at 6:00, meet at 7:00

11 - Valdosta Cruise-In at Toys-R-Us parking lot, Valdosta, GA 1200 N St Augustine Rd (I-75 exit 18) 3-6pm

11 - Tallahassee What-A-Burger Cruise Ford & Chevy Clubs 1101 Thomasville Road, 5:30-8:30pm info: Reuben Plachy 850-894-5815

16 - Live Oak Cruise, Huddle House (Hwy 129 & I-10), Live Oak, FL 6-9pm info: Ralph Towner 386-752-4725

18 - Thomasville Pecan Region Car Club Cruise Dairy Queen, 14375 Hwy 19S, 6:30pm until info: Steve Gordon 229-226-2266

18 - Monticello Cruise-In at Rare Door Restaurant North Cherry St, Monticello, FL 5pm until info: 850-997-0607

18 - Albany Artesian City Car Club Cruise-In Mellow Mushroom, 2825 Nottingham Way 5pm until info: Wendell Hill 229-435-2560

18 - Perry Cruise-In 221 N. Jefferson St. Perry, GA 6-9 p.m. Call Bob Taylor, 672-0848

22 - Tallahassee What-A-Burger Cruise 1101 Thomasville Road, info: Joe Clark 850-385-3959 or Steve Curvey 750-383-0651

24 - Lake City Hardee's West Cruise info: Ralph Towner 386-752-4725

25 - Tallahassee What-A-Burger Cruise 1101 Thomasville Rd, info: http://www.tally-streetrodders.com

Call the contact person before leaving for an out of town cruise to be sure it has not been moved or cancelled.

See the SGCCC web site (www.sgccc.org) for more info and flyers on these events.

MIKE S. BENNETT, SR.

ATTORNEY AT LAW

BENNETT LAW FIRM, LLP

1108 N. Patterson Street

Telephone:

(229) 242-6726

FAX (229) 242-7989

Support

Our

Sponsors

P.O. Box 403 - Valdosta, GA 31603-0403

Next Meeting:

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Eat @ 6:00

Meet @ 6:45

Austin’s Cattle Company

2101 West Hill Avenue

Cruise:

May 11, 2013

Toys-R-Us parking lot

Off Exit 18 on St Augustine Rd.

5:00pm until 8:00pm

May is upon us—school will be out soon, vacations will be

on our minds and schedules. But May has two very impor-

tant events for the South Georgia Classic Car Club: The

cookout at the Sheriff’s Boys and Girls Ranch on May 11

and the Super Cruise-in on May 18. We need good partici-

pation from our club members to make both of these

events successful again this year. Be sure to put both of

these events on your calendar. There is nothing quite like

the smiles on the faces of the young people at the ranch as

thay have the opportunity to take a ride in one of our clas-

sic automobiles.

The Super Cruise-in has been one of the highlights on the

year for the club. This year we are anticipating about 200

cars, so there is a need for club members to help with park-

ing, registration, set up and clean up, and various other

details. If you collect any door prizes, be sure to bring

them to the May club meeting.

Thanks to Mario for providing another in his series of Re-

flections articles for this issue. We plan on running some

old photos of some of our club members in future editions

of the Driver’s Seat. If you have any old photos with you

and automobiles, we will be glad to use them. You can

scan them and send them to editor@sgccc.org, or mail

them to the editor.

On a personal note, my wife, Becky, has been undergoing

chemo treatments this month and has one more scheduled

in May. This has taken a toll on her physically, but she

continues in good spirits.

Be sure to visit the club website

http://sgccc.org/ for the calendar

of events, and our Facebook

page https://www.facebook.com/

sgccc

Happy Cruising! David Boyd, editor

Editor’s Comments

Printed by the Graphics Arts Department at Wiregrass Technical College

Cover Photo

From the 2010 Super Cruise-In