The "My Favorite Collectibles: Part I - 1/18" Model Cars" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Going through some of the cardboard cartons in the basement and came across a box of metal 1/18 inch scale metal Corvette models.   Some were made in Thailand by the Maisto Company, some were made in Spain by the Mira Company, some were made in China and sold by the Eril Company in Dyersville, Iowa while some were made by UT Models with no country listed.  

Standing next to my 1987 Corvette.

It was in the late 1990s that my wife suggested we buy a bright red Corvette we had seen a few months prior since at the time I was having a few medical problems.  Within a week the bright red 1987 Vette was sitting in front of our house on Janet Ave. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Before long My youngest son and I had begun entering the car in shows.  Took quite a bit of time preparing the car for the judging, but I had an entire shelf of trophies in no time.  

Magazine article in Vette Magazine.

Also submitted a story about the car to Vette Magazine and they published the story in the "Me & My VETTE" column.  As the months and years passed by I began to collect 1/18 inch metal model Corvette cars.  Had close to two dozen that I had purchased or others had purchased for me for gifts.  As time progressed,  the money we were spending for extra insurance, maintenance and entry fees for shows and contests for the Corvette was needed for other family projects as well as college expenses...so I did the unthinkable and sold my '87 Vette.  Sold it to my next door neighbor who allowed me to drive it whenever I wanted to so it eased the pain of selling it somewhat.  Well, the many models I had collected after getting rid of the Vette was what I found in the cardboard boxes in my basement.  

Carol and I with our '87 Vette on the Ocean City boardwalk.

Brought back the memories from the past as well as a few stories my wife and I shared from our years we drove the Vette on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland to making yearly visits to the Carlisle, PA Corvette Show each summer.  Rather than put the models back in the boxes right away, I thought I would take photographs of a few of my favorites to share with you.  So, the following photographs are some of the model cars I had collected in the past.  Still hate to give them up...so they will go back in the boxes and head back to the basement.  That is except for a half dozen that will fill my office shelves as a reminder of past memories.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

1954 - the second year that Chevrolet made the Corvette.

1957 - Neat car prepared for racing.  Notice the large tires on the rear.

1957 - This one is more a stock model than the one above it.

1963 Split-window, one of the most iconic Vettes every made.

1978 Official Indianapolis Speedway Pace Car.

1995 Official Indianapolis Speedway Pace Car.

1996 - Reminded me of my car with a few changes.

1996 C4 Grand Sport with White Stripe and Red fender accent stripes.

1998 Official Indianapolis Speedway Pace Car

The "Who Wouldn't Love A Vette?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Headed to Mt. Joy on busy Route 283W to pick up a few boxes of envelopes that I intend to print this coming weekend for the Manheim Township School District.  On my way home I decided to take a more scenic route and headed through the town of Mt. Joy which lies perhaps 12 miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

Row of Vettes that caught my attention in Mt. Joy.

I had just about reached the eastern end of Mt. Joy when something caught my eye.  A racing yellow 2018 Corvette at Whitmoyer Chevrolet.  Got into the left turn lane and headed into the lot to see the car that was one of six Vettes lined up side by side.  

Vette Magazine photo and story about
my '87 red Vette.  

It was back in the late 1990s that I bought a 1987 bright red Corvette.  At the time I was going through some medical problems and my wife, Carol, suggested we buy a Corvette.  Thought it might make me feel better.  Boy, was she right.  I wrote a story about the Vette and sent it, along with a photo she took of me next to it, to Vette Magazine which they published in their "Me and My Vette" section of the magazine.  We spent a few years touring with the Lancaster County Corvette Club and entering weekly car shows as well as taking trips to the shore in our dream car.  Eventually the thrill wore off and the insurance as well as the cost of maintenance grew harder to pay, so we sold the car.  

Carol and I riding on the Ocean City, Maryland Boardwalk.

Sold it to my next door neighbor who told me I could still use it whenever I wanted to take it for a spin.  Took him up on it many times.  Almost like still having it, but without the responsi- bility of owning it.  Every year when the next Vettes arrived, I usually stopped at a Chevy dealer to take a look at the new models.  Well, the 2018 model focuses on challenging the greatest supercars in the world.  I pulled into an empty space and headed to the racing yellow Vette.  

LDub with his new dream car, the 2018 Vette.

The Z07 package it carries features Brembo ceramic brakes, special suspension, Grand Sport black aluminum wheels, a carbon flash badge package and carbon flash painted mirrors which added $16,530 to the price.  List price with options was $81,980.  Add the destination charges to it and the total cost was $82,975.00.  Made my used 1987 at a cost of $12,500 seem like a bargain.  I went up and down the row of Vettes, admiring each one with their different add-ons and paint jobs.  

Exhaust pipes and neat taillights highlight the rear of the Vette.

Just then a salesman arrived and we began to talk.  Asked me why I was driving a Honda CRV instead of the Vette in front of me.  I was at a loss for an answer for him.  Asked him if he could take a photo of me in front of the yellow Vette and he obliged.  After a few photos I reluctantly got back in the CRV and headed home.  One more look at my photos with Carol and I was ready to put the car on the back burner.  They are certainly a fabulous piece of mechanical engineering, but just wouldn't fit in the driveway of a retirement community home.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Drivers side of the Vette.

Even from the rear the car looks like it is motion.

The "Harrisburg Pike Memories" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just pulling out of the driveway of Donnelley Printing Company onto the Harrisburg Pike in Lancaster, Pennsylvania after dropping off my grandson, Caden.  He spent the day with me and I had to take him to meet his dad after his dad finished his shift at the printing company.  

The tracks that run along Donnelley are the same tracks
that used to carry passengers to the Lancaster Fairgrounds.

As I sat in the car waiting for the light to change on Harrisburg Pike, I thought back to years ago when I used to visit the same site, only at that time it was a swimming pool.  One of my classmates at Brecht Elementary School, Biffie, lived in the house directly in front of the pool and her dad was the owner of the pool we all knew as Brookside.  It was back in 1914 that Silas Buckwalter opened the place which was eventually bought by Biffie's parents in 1945.  

Brookside Twin Pools.

I spent many a summer day swimming and enjoying the huge sliding board at Brookside.  Then in 1969 Mr. and Mrs. King purchased the pool.  Mr. King had worked at the pool as a teenager before he eventually purchased it.  When the King's took over they adopted a membership policy that would allow minorities to swim in the twin pools of Brookside.  

The grandstands at the Lancaster Agricultural Fair.

Then in 1978 the pools closed due to the expense to bring the pools up to code.  Sad day for many!  Eventually Donnelley purchased the property that now is the home to one of their three large printing plants in Lancaster.  But, before Donnelley and Brookside Swimming Pool occupied the large piece of property along the Harrisburg Pike, it was the Lancaster Agricultural Fairgrounds.  In

This aerial shot shows the track with grandstands directly
above it in the center of the photograph.  The train tracks
can be seen running across the bottom of the photograph
with Harrisburg Pike running across the bottom left of the photo.

1909 the annual Lancaster Agricultural Fair started a 23 year run on the Harrisburg Pike, luring customers to it's one-week summer meeting which included agricultural exhibits as well as horse racing.  It was to the rear of the property that fronted on the Harrisburg Pike, and even though Brookside opened in 1914 on the parcel along the pike, the fair continued until 1931.  

The racetrack and grandstands are shown here.

The Pennsyl- vania Railroad would shuttle thousands of passengers to the fairgrounds on special trains from its downtown station at North Queen and East Chestnut Streets.  The tracks ran directly along the side of the fairgrounds at the time.  

The entrance to the Fairgrounds as seen in 1910.

The ride would cost a dime for the round trip and another quarter got you into the fair.  Schools, shops and factories shut down for a day so students and workers could visit the fair.  Lancaster at the time was truly an agricultural society.  The harness racing on the half-mile dirt track was very popular.  Games of chance, food stands and a side show were also popular.  In 1911 airplane flights drew large crowds to the Lancaster Fair while another year "Professor" John Mack and his aeronauts rose in balloons and dropped in parachutes to the delight of the crowd.  Yet, another year saw the "The Performing Pachyderms" tour the fairgrounds.  

This photograph show the annual car show at the fair.
Taken in front of the Exhibition Hall.

There were annual car shows for those that took pride in their auto- mobiles.  Eventually the fair closed due to so many other nearby towns starting their own fairs as well as the Amish and Mennonites boycotting the fair due to the betting on horse races.  This little tract of land that now produces phone directories and commercial mailings has a rich history in Lancaster County.  It would have been neat to have lived in the era when the fairgrounds was the hub of Lancaster County agricultural importance, but time doesn't wait for anyone, including LDub!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Back To The Future" Story

The gulled-wing DCM-12 DeLorean.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in a gulled-wing DCM-12, known to most of you as a DeLorean automobile, talking with Dave who works at Horsepower Enterprises LLC of Lancaster, PA.  I had Dave as a student in my Graphic Arts class in the late 1980’s and knew he worked at the business.  Had passed Horsepower Enterprises on North Prince Street many times in the past few months and saw the DeLorean in the window with the gull-wings raised and knew I just had to stop to sit in the stainless steel car. 

Movie poster for the movie
Back To The Future.

This was the same auto that a young man is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in the 1985 movie “Back to the Future” which was invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown.  Stars of the movie were Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd who predicted what the future would hold and actually some of those predictions came true 30 years later while others ..... well not so much.  So what predictions from the movie came true?  Here are a few you may recall:  (1) Video conferencing which Marty McFly does with one of his co-workers is much like our current day Skype and Facetime; (2) The Chicago Cubs were predicted to win the World Series in 2015 and they came very close this year to reaching that pinnacle; (3) McFly drank Pepsi Perfect in the movie which resulted in Pepsi releasing Pepsi Perfect for the “Back to the Future” fans; (4) The movie showed how fingerprints were use instead of keys and today our phones and various other tech devices use fingerprints to do just the same thing.  Some things in the film that didn’t come true .... yet, but may soon come true are: (1) A woman in the Oval Office which could happen if Clinton or Fiorina win the election; (2) Ejection seats that are now used in planes but could someday happen in automobiles; (3) A cure for cancer which McFly read in a newspaper which claimed that cholesterol was the cure; (4) And, flying cars which were said to eliminate roads and I predict will fill our skies and prevent our crops from growing from lack of sunlight. 

Driver's side of the gull-winged DeLorean.

Well, the DeLorean is a fantastic car even thought it was only made between 1981 and 1983 which was a few years before the movie was released.  A few facts about the car that are pretty neat are: (1) The car was created by John DeLorean who had worked for General Motors and was given credit for making the first muscle cars with high performance engines; (2) It was designed by Giorgetto Giugaro of Lotus fame; (3) The car was built in Northern Ireland in a factory that John DeLorean had built and stopped production after fewer than 10,000 cars were built; (4) It really wasn’t that fast for a car that looked like it could take you to the future; and (5) It was fun to drive and sit in as I can attest to the latter fact.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "A Farewell To Brynn's Car" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting with my daughter Brynn as she signed a contract for a lease on a 1997 Mazda Protege.  Her hand was shaking and you could see the beads of sweat on her forehead as she wrote her name on the dotted line.  She had recently graduated from Millersville University with a degree in elementary education and needed a car to travel to her first job as a substitute teacher.  She was excited about having a new car and decided to lease instead of buy so she wasn't tied to the higher payments of buying a new car.  Car was a deep blue with gray cloth interior.  Great car for a first car for just about anyone.  After her three-year lease expired she decided she wanted to buy a new car and opted to return the leased car rather than purchase it with a buy-out.  I went along with her at the time and questioned the salesman as to how much the buy-out price would be and after hearing the cost, bought Brynn's car for myself.  

Car known as Brynn's Car.

That was back in 2000 when I became the proud owner of the Mazda Protege.  Served me well for many years until now, when …. well it has seen it's last speed bump, gone over it's last curb and even driven over it's last pot hole.  She turned in the car with about 30,000 miles on it and when I decided to let the car go it had slightly over 93,000 miles on it.  Not bad for driving it for 16 years.  I know, Brynn's car may have had another 20K or 30K miles in it, but I wasn't about to shell out another couple of thousand for a car that probably needed a new transmission or needed the rust around the wheel wells repaired to pass inspection or needed to have a spark plug drilled out and head taken off since it was permanently stuck in place.  The little car with front-wheel drive, automatic transmission and a cassette player on the dash is headed to who knows where.  Brynn's car served me well over the years, but recent mechanical problems made it more feasible to trade the car on …. lease one.  I have never leased a car and always thought it was crazy to lease a car.  You drive it for a few years and turn it back in to the dealer with nothing to show for the years you invested your money into it.  No chance to use it as a trade-in or resell it yourself.  So why did I do it?  It is a second car for Carol and myself and there are many times when we only need the use of one car, but there are other times when we both need transportation and can't find a way to drop me or her at a location and find an appropriate time to return for pickup.  

Our new "Little Girl".

So, we decided to least on a short-term basis and get the least expensive car that we could that would still suit our needs.  I made a few phone calls and finally decided on a car that offered free inspections and free car washes for the length of the lease.  So now, when I enter the garage I see a white car instead of a blue one in the second bay.  Little MitiIbishi Mirage with a 3 cylinder engine, blue-tooth, electric windows, and a place to plug in my memory stick with my Jimmy Buffett music.  Even has cool air coming out of the vents which was something that Brynn's car didn't offer anymore.  I'll miss the little girl that accompanied me on my deliveries when I visited the schools with the printing I did for them.  I'll miss the little girl that led me on many a photo excursions around Lancaster County.  But, it was time to move on and stop investing in a car that in car age was older than me.  And, that's pretty old!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Not Just Amish And Whoopie Pies" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of a 1924 Oldsmobile that was partially made in Lancaster, PA.  Lancaster is better known for its Lancaster rifles, Conestoga wagons, Hamilton watches and Armstrong cork production, but at one time in history Lancaster manufactured fine automobiles.  

A magazine photograph showing the Duesenberg made by Schutte.

It was in 1910 that the Charles Shutte Body Company was founded, but little is known about the early years of the company.  In 1918 Schutte began building a roadster body Argonne automobile.  In 1920 they were known as "Coach Builders Specializing in Open Type Bodywork for Any Chassis" as they advertised in the 1920 New York Auto Salon catalog.  They also made and distributed their own line of disc wheels and most of their coachwork was pictured with these wheels.  

The beautiful disc wheels for which Schutte was known.  

They were known to be manufac- tures of the Duesenberg body, the Pierce-Arrow body, the Rolls-Royce Phantom II body, the Bently body and a number of Cadaillac, Franklin, Marmon, Packard and Oldsmobile bodies.  Then in 1926 Charles Shutte entered into negotiations to merge with the Blue Ribbon Body Company of Bridgeport, CT whose business was declining after Locomobile went bankrupt.  

Plaque on the body of the Oldsmobile telling who made the body.

When it was found out that Schutte would probably close the Lancaster plant, his investors when to court to stop the merger which eventually caused the company to declare bankruptcy and close.  Well, one of the cars that had been made in Lancaster is in front of me right now at the Lancaster Historical Society, directly next to President James Buchanan's house known as Wheatland.  

Interior of the Oldsmobile.  Notice the
pocket watch placed in the steering wheel.

A Texas man owns the car and loaned it to the historical society so those living in the area can visit and admire the work that was done in Lancaster close to 100 years ago.  The 1924 Olds convertible has a red-painted aluminum skin, wood disc Schutte wheels, 6-cylinder engine which is immense, "fat-boy" steering wheel that rotates to the side to allow large people to get behind the wheel, a recess to fit a lit cigar and a place on the steering wheel for a pocket watch.  The body resembles the flying machines of the era.  There are very few cars in existence today that were made by the Charles Schutte Body Company from Lancaster, PA.  

The 1924 Oldsmobile has a plaque attached with model, serial and engine #.

The company employed about 35 crafts- men and mecha- nics that pro- duced the car bodies, gas tanks, fenders, hoods, disc wheels, bumpers, tire carriers and various other items for the automobile.  Pretty neat to know that Lancaster is famous for more than the Amish and Whoopie Pies!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The rear of the car illustrates airplane lines.

The front emblem of the 1924 Oldsmobile.

The "Traveling To Cuba?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just heard the news about the new relations that the United States may have with Cuba.  Pretty exciting news for both countries.  I can remember over 50 years ago when my friends and I had nothing by bad things to say about Communist Cuba.  But this is another era and quite a few of you who are reading this probably know very little about the bad blood between our two governments.  A few news stations last night called it a win-win for both countries.  Even the Pope is hoping for better communications and relations between our two countries as well as the rest of the free world.  For me it also looks like a win-win.  I would love to travel to Cuba in the near future to see (1) All the classic cars that roam the streets, (2) Some of the best baseball players who have not defected already to the USA and (3) Some of the best beaches in the world.  

Jose Abreu in a Cuban uniform.

As far as baseball players goes, this past year saw the Chicago White Sox rookie and Cuba defector, Jose Abreu, make the American League All-Star team, finish the season with 36 home runs and be unanimously named the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year.  Prior to the Cuban Revolution in 1959 when Castro rose to power, Cuban-born players played in the American Negro league as well as in Major League Baseball. After the revolution Cuban players were not allowed to play abroad.  I checked online and found almost 200 Cuban players who either played before 1959 in the United States or who defected since that time to play in the Major Leagues.  

Who wouldn't want to relax on this beach?

As far as beaches go, Cuba is renowned for its spectacular beaches, which lay on the Atlantic Ocean on the north side of Cuba and touch the Caribbean Sea on the south side.  There are more than 300 natural beaches on Cuba's coastline with an average 330 days a year to enjoy all of them.  Cuba's most famous beach is Varadero Beach which is a dazzling white sand beach with glistening, clear Caribbean waters that are perfect for snorkeling.  People who Carol and I meet on other islands in the Caribbean describe some of the Cuban beaches and how lovely they are.  Since they people we meet are citizens of other countries, they may travel to Cuba.  And, as of now, Americans can't lounge on a chair under an umbrella with a drink in hand and enjoy it.  Here's hoping that will soon change.  My traveling years are slowly coming to an end and I would love to try the sand and water on the island before my time ends.  

Really "Cool" classic cars in Cuba.  The Desoto on the right
sports the same grill that I placed in my 1958 Chevy Impala.

As far as the classic cars go, there are approxi- mately 60,000 of them in Cuba.  These vintage cars are a tribute to the nostalgia of the good old days when cars where ... well CARS.  Every year the car companies would make enough changes so that you would know what year each car was.  A 1954 Chevy was easily distinguishable from a 1955 Chevy by almost any American boy and probably even a few girls, even thought I didn't know any of them.  Sadly not like that anymore.  I also read that since the early 1960's, no new parts were shipped to Cuba so they had to either manufacture their own parts or use parts from Soviet cars to keep those 60,000 US cars running.  Funny that last night I was listening to President Obama talk about our new relations with Cuba, since yesterday I started a story about a good friend of my and his Studebaker, one of the oldest American cars ever made.  Hope to post that story soon for you to see how automobiles played such an important part in our American history.  And now I may soon get the chance to see some of those classics, on the island of Cuba, in person. 

It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.