Plymouth Owners Club meeting

[BobT-47P15]

I guess someone could start the "MPOC".....Modified Plymouth Owners Club.

Develop it's own set of judging rules, then either have their own meets, or

meet along with the regular POC, but on their own half of the field.

My car would not qualify as "factory original" because it has several things different like box seat covers, home made vinyl door panels, carpet on the floors, and is not an exact original color. At the same time, it retains the original flavor by having a flathead 6 engine, original trim and no body modifications.

And that's how several other members cars are here on this forum....original appearance and feel with various types of changes to suit personal tastes.

I met a few fellows at the Tulsa doings in June who belong to the POC....they were friendly and invited me to join the organization. I think the nearest chapter is in St Louis.....a 4 hour drive from here. So I likely would not be attending much in the way of activities. Am thinking about it, but have done nothing yet.

Used to belong to a local mixed make club several years back, but there was a time when I had no old car, so just dropped out....and haven't bothered to re-join. Clubs can be fun, and most old car people I meet are pretty nice folks......but I manage to have enough fun with the car attending what area shows and cruise-ins I have time for. Over the years, the car has won a few trophies here and there......but not a priority. I enjoy visiting with people who remember the cars and just enjoy looking at them....plus they often have interesting stories to tell. (my 3 cents worth---inflation, you know)

[knuckleharley]

Guys,I guess I am the guilty party for starting this thing. Dumping on the POC or other clubs wasn't my intention. I am not much of a "joiner" or a social person to start with,but was merely curious if I would even be welcome at these things in the future if I drove my V-8 P-15 or even my flat 6 Dodge to one in the future.

I have no problem with any club coming up with any damnfool rules they think is neccessary,including a secret handshake if that's what they want. I will probably join the POC while I am out at the meet,but will do so purely to network so I can sell antique parts I don't want or need and buy antique parts I do want and need.

When it comes to judging standards,I don't care what their judging standards are because no car I own will ever be put in a car show to be judged while I own it. This isn't a contest to me. It's a hobby. As long as I am allowed to drive my cars to their meets and enjoy myself,I will stay a member. If I am not allowed to do this,I will resign and demand a refund. If my cars are called "junk" by some anal members,they will hear things they had rather not hear. Trust me on this one.

And when it comes to #@&*heads,restorers don't hold a candle to the cretins called Street Rodders. I have had a couple come in my work shop and spot my "original east coast style hot rod" unchopped 1932 Ford 5-window coupe that was originally built back in the late 40's or early 50's and still had copper brake lines on it when I got it,and say,"Cool car,man! You should chop the top,put suicide doors on it,and make it into a hot rod!" If you don't think THESE guys have "rules",you should go to a run one time and stand around and listen to them talk about each other's cars. I never though I would ever meet anybody any more anal that a restorer until I started meeting street rodders. It's all about bragging about who spent the most money on their cars and who won the most trophies or has a car "just like " one seen in a magazine.

Then again,I am anti-social and have never understood why people play these games. I build or buy cars according to what I like personally. If I really like your car or something you have done to it,I will come up and tell you about it. If I don't like your car or something you have done to it,I will keep my mouth shut.

[Norm's Coupe]

And when it comes to #@&*heads,restorers don't hold a candle to the cretins called Street Rodders. I have had a couple come in my work shop and spot my "original east coast style hot rod" unchopped 1932 Ford 5-window coupe that was originally built back in the late 40's or early 50's and still had copper brake lines on it when I got it,and say,"Cool car,man! You should chop the top,put suicide doors on it,and make it into a hot rod!" If you don't think THESE guys have "rules",you should go to a run one time and stand around and listen to them talk about each other's cars. I never though I would ever meet anybody any more anal that a restorer until I started meeting street rodders. It's all about bragging about who spent the most money on their cars and who won the most trophies or has a car "just like " one seen in a magazine.

Your mention of street rodders brought back an incident I had with one of them a few years ago. Was looking at a real nice 30's Chevy coupe and talking to the owner at the Wisconsin Goodguys Nationals. I mean this car looked perfect. The guy said he bought the car that way. Then went on to say he was going to have it repainted. Ask what color and he said the same color. Since the car looked perfect, I had to ask why. Then he show me a little scuff mark near the roll pan in the rear. You'd almost need a magnifying glass to see that scuff. No one would even notice it unless he pointed it out. In fact, he even said he didn't notice it until he was waxing the car. Now, thats anal.

[knuckleharley]

Norm wrote: >>You'd almost need a magnifying glass to see that scuff. No one would even notice it unless he pointed it out. In fact, he even said he didn't notice it until he was waxing the car. Now, thats anal.<<

Yup. I feel sorry for those people. He MIGHT enjoy owning the car,but even that is doubtful because it will never be nice enough to please him no matter how nice it gets.

And there is no way he will ever enjoy driving the car because he will be too worried about rock chips and bugs.

These people are in desperate need of a hobby.

[greg g]

Probably got the scrape by mishandling one of his trailering tie down straps. It cracks me up that these so called "street rods" are nothing more than billeted up trailer queens. When the nationals were in town back in July, we did our usual ride through of the hotel parking lots. Couldn't believe the number of enclosed trailers out in the back of the lots. Cars all snuggled up inside, under their custom made flannel covers with the bunnies on them. The got driven on the street the 6 miles from the hotel to the fairgrounds, parked for the day, then got driven back to the hotel, swadled back up in their jammies in the trailer....Who knows, it might be dewey in the morning.

I guess the street in street rod is a misnomer, perhaps they should be ramp rods or trailer coasters. Some of them are pretty but with about 5000 on the lot, they all start looking pretty much like they were built in the same factory.

[BobT-47P15]

You can see in this picture the HAMB guys in town last weekend were not driving any trailer queens. Their car covers, put into use when it rained, looked a lot like blue plastic tarps from Wally World.

The things they brought on trailers were simply not set up for street driving, but were for drag racing.

They seem to ENJOY driving their cars.....no matter how slick they look, or how much patina they have. (some have lotsa patina)

That's a big part of what makes the hobby fun for them.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Greg...I am also one that will walk past dozens of these glass coupes to see a dingy ole Plymouth, Stude, or about any orphan car that dare come out and play..while I am sure there are a few of these guys on the HAMB..it is very refreshing to go over there and see some of the new and sometimes radical ideas they come up with..lots of skill and experience represented there..stock to these guys simply means somehting it in on hand and available...

[Normspeed]

Putting everyone under one label never seems to really work. I have quite a few street rodder friends and these guys drive their cars...a lot! The four in the photo have made multiple trips from Florida to Southern California, Indy, Pueblo, etc and the only time any has seen a trailer is if they just flat broke down and could not be fixed on the roadside. Last year, the beige car ran from FL to CA to CO, and on the way home busted the tranny big time and had to rent a u haul truck and trailer to get it home. This year darned if he didn't drive it back to CA again. The Phaeton hit a truck retread in NM and tore up his oil cooler. He patched it together and continued on. We fixed it right at my house. The black deuce is the guy's high school car. It's gone through many engine changes including flathead, hemi, and right now a fuel injected 5 liter Ford. Some of these cars are steel, some fiberglass, some chevy powered and some Ford powered. They wear their stone chips and smashed bugs with pride! Street rodders, yes, but not a gold-chainer in the bunch.

[Norm's Coupe]

The other Norm is correct. A lot of street rodders do drive their cars on the open highway. I see them on the freeway a lot. In fact, the guy I mentioned earlier at the Goodguys show complaining about the tiny scuff had driven his car over 100 miles, from Illinois to Waukesha for the show. That was another reason I couldn't understand why he wanted to paint the whole car again to get rid of that scuff mark. If he drives it like that, it's going to get some other mark anyway.

That car like many other high buck street rods really can't just have a little spot in the paint touched up. It was one of those specialty blended paint colors done by the painter, so it would have been impossible to match it up. That was the real reason he was going to have the whole car repainted. However, he did say he wanted to do it the same color, which means another specialty paint job. If you are going to worry about every little scrape or scuff, you should go with a color that can easily be matched up. In the end though, as mentioned, no one would have seen that mark if he didn't point to exactly where it was.

[james curl]

I saw three rat rods out on the salt at Bonneville, later they pased me, all washed up an on their trailers, all three were from Colorado by the tow trucks plates. Saw a lot of trailers out by the interstate where you take the park road into Bonneville. Some of the rat rods are so low that it would be hard to drive any distance in them because they cannot have much suspension travel.

[Jerry Roberts]

I would never join a club which would have a member like me . By one of the Marx brothers .

[Plymouthy Adams]

I am not knocking them because of the fact that they may or may not drive their cars..sure lot of them do..it is just the industry tailored toward them is same ole stuff which makes most of these cars look like they were off the same production line at some company..last show I was at...think 5 was there and 3 had the exact billet third light...only spearation of the three from looking at the rear of the car was the different color and license plate..getting to where if you see one you have about seen them all..

[1949P17BC]

I am planning on driving from the St. Louis area, leaving Monday, mixing in work and whatever. Planning on arrivng Wednesday night or midday on Thursday and am staying at the Host Hotel. I went to POC meeting last year in Indy. My 49 is not "stock", everyone was fine with. (When you start talking with guys, a lot of them had made modification, not so visible to the naked eye). The real test was at the Winchester race track and then again on the open road. Dual Carbs, Dual Exhaust, cut head tells the story. No body likes to get passed. Bottom line we are all car guys. See you there.

[Norm's Coupe]

I am not knocking them because of the fact that they may or may not drive their cars..sure lot of them do..it is just the industry tailored toward them is same ole stuff which makes most of these cars look like they were off the same production line at some company..last show I was at...think 5 was there and 3 had the exact billet third light...only spearation of the three from looking at the rear of the car was the different color and license plate..getting to where if you see one you have about seen them all..

Tim, I'm assuming you're talking about street rods here. I wouldn't knock them because of the third brake light. After all, there are only so many different ones made. Plus, there's not that many spots to put them on the car where they will do what they are supposed to do.

My problem with most street rods is that they aren't true street rods of the day. People who drove street rods and hot rods didn't have $50,000 and more to put into their rods back in the day. In fact, most of them were in primer, not some special blend color of paint, with billet wheels, etc.

As for the glass kit cars, I don't have a problem with them either. That's because it's getting harder and harder to find an old coupe or convertible to build a street rod out of. At least with the kit cars, people who want that model of street rod can have one. The problem with them is that they also make them look modern with the wheels and modern paint jobs, etc. If they want a true street rod, they should stay with what was available in the day, even on the kit cars.

When I say stick with what was available back in the day, I make exception and agree, they should use modern brakes, etc to make it safe. I'm only talking about the body, wheel type and interiors when I say keep it looking old. I see nothing wrong with using modern engines either.

[1949P17BC]

I am planning on drivng from the St. Louis Area, should arrive by Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I went to POC meet in Indy last year and had a great time. sure there are purist. My 49 has Dual carbs, exhaust, cut head and few other modificatons. The real message was when we went to Winchester Speedway and the open road, no car guy likes to get passed. See you in Concord!

[knuckleharley]

I am planning on driving from the St. Louis area, leaving Monday, mixing in work and whatever. Planning on arrivng Wednesday night or midday on Thursday and am staying at the Host Hotel. ...

I plan on being there if I'm not back in the hospital. Look for a short fat geezer with a t-shirt with the P-15/D/24 Logo.

Arthur

[Captain Neon]

You mean, BJ? I've had my little disagreements with him when renewing my membership or making an address change. I tried to pay my membership renewal via PayPal ,and he stated that the POC isn't set up for PayPal and told me that it was my responsibility to get PayPal to refund my money. He for some reason or another was incapable of either depositing money on my behalf to the POC bancque account or refunding the money to me through the easy-to-use PayPal interface was too difficult to figure out.

I recently moved to Colorado and requested an address change for the POC Bulletin, my A-1 reason for being a POC member (Rev. Knutson does a good job editing the magazine). I included what appeared to be a membership number to assist him, and he berated me because the POC no longer uses membership numbers. He's a police officer in a small town so that may account for part of his attitude.

I realise that Membership Secretary is kind of a thankless job, but it is often the most immediate interface any one has with the POC. I think the POC would have a better time retaining members if ol' "Benjie" took a few lessons from Dale Carnegie or they found some one else to take over for him. No one runs against him for Membership Secretary when it's time for the elections.

BTW, I hate car shows because of all the trophy-hounds. I used to like parades because I'd get so many compliments from folks watching the parade. Got kind'a burned out on parades because the organisation that I was promoting at parades never really appreciated the time and effort involved. I just like driving my P15 around and seeing little kids smile and wave. When I was a teenager I went to school with a Miss Teen USA pageant contestant, my dad always said he enjoyed driving my P15 because Miss Teen Minnesota USA would wave to him.

[billwillard]

Who needs them? Forget the trophies and and lower the entrance fees. With all the money wasted on them more people could afford to enter shows. Car shows are to me about seeing ALL old cars and PEOPLE. Any one going to CONCORD put my # some place and call me if you need help. I only live 10 mins away in CHINA GROVE,NC and have a garage and lift for your needs. Hope no one needs it. Look foward to seeing you there.

BILL

704 855 2727

[greg g]

Hey Bill did you see the post regarding the happy hour/tailgate deal Friday? If so, you're in charge of the rabbits and squirrels for the Brunswick stew. Road kill is fine if its fresh and gutted before you arrive.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Greg...can we subsitute pssum or armadillo...been thinking about showing up but that would make two trips back to back to Charlotte...6 hours each way..anybody got a place I can park and sleep in the car...lol Usually sleep in the car inside the swap meet area for the big show...

[Norm's Coupe]

Greg...can we subsitute pssum or armadillo...been thinking about showing up but that would make two trips back to back to Charlotte...6 hours each way..anybody got a place I can park and sleep in the car...lol Usually sleep in the car inside the swap meet area for the big show...

Tim, you must like to rough it. No swap meet in the world is worth me having to sleep in the car all night.

[greg g]

Well if Bill is only 10 miles away, he must have a space in his driveway.........Oppossum is OK, but I rather do woodchuck than them darn dillos. Once you get em out of the shell, there doesn't seem much to em. Now if sombody was to whack a turkey on the way we could cook it up in 10-30 synthetic. (salt free doncha know)

[Plymouthy Adams]

to be honest with you, it is really pretty confortable and have plenty of room to stretch out..I rarely have problems falling asleep..and only get stoved up if I try to sleep too many hours....my friend lives about 90 minutes or so from there...never a problem to stop over at his crib...can't get him interested in vintage American iron though..he be true English sports through and through...

[Norm's Coupe]

Well if Bill is only 10 miles away, he must have a space in his driveway.........Oppossum is OK, but I rather do woodchuck than them darn dillos. Once you get em out of the shell, there doesn't seem much to em. Now if sombody was to whack a turkey on the way we could cook it up in 10-30 synthetic. (salt free doncha know)

You guys have to get with the times. Haven't you ever heard of a restaurant where they serve the food to you, ready to eat? Good ones even have napkins.

[greg g]

Restaurants is for breakfast when you are:

A) not awake yet

to hungover to argue with the toaster

C) hungry and haven't been to bed yet

Besides just when you start having a good time, the other customers complain about the language and nudity and the manager asks you to leave.