3rd General Meeting [Goleta]
14th Griffith Observatory [Los Angeles]
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Meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm
High Sierra Grill, 521 Firestone Rd Goleta Ca.
Presidents Message 1
NCM Ambassador 2
Activities 3
Membership 4-7
Last Month Minutes 8
Sponsor Page 9
Member Advertising 10
IN THIS ISSUE
EVENT CALENDAR
7th General Meeting [Goleta]
18th Runch Run—Jalama Beach [Lompoc]
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Peter Mackins
January
February
March
Editor/Publisher: Ed Clerkin-Publicity | Our Board/Contact Us
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish for all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year. I also hope those who were able to attend the Christmas had an enjoyable evening. Although we had a few last minute cancellations, we still had a great turnout. I think moving the date to the second Saturday in December was a good idea allowing some we have missed in the past to attend. I apologize for any confusion around the January meeting. I do realize I did suggest cancelling the January meeting at the Christmas party. After giving it some more con-
sideration and conferring with the members of the Board, it was felt that to get the year off to a good start the January meeting was necessary. We do not have a speaker for this meeting but I have very good news about the February meeting. Thanks to Ray Seider’s connections, local Bonneville racers Seth and Tanis Hammond will be making a presentation at the February meeting [see details in the Membership column]. Seth and his family have established a number of records at the salt flats. Tanis became the first women officially over 300 mph. It should be extremely interesting presentation so clear your calendar and circle February 7th. We currently have three events scheduled for the first quarter of 2017: January 14th is the Griffith Observatory run, February 18th is the Jalama Beach runch run and March 4th is the Estrella Warbird Museum. Please go to the website to sign-up for these events. Recently I was watching an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage where they had a visit to the Columbia Memorial Museum in Downey and Edwards Air Force base. Downey also has a Bob’s Big Boy which remains one of the largest drive-in’s in existence. It also has the original McDonalds so lunch would be easy for our group. Both looked interesting so I have asked Tony to look into the Columbia Museum for a possible future run. Edwards Air Force base is another story. Visitation is very restricted so if any one has any connections or strings they can pull, please give them a tug. Jay Leno was able to make a pass in his jet car on one of their runways—now that would be an experience—but I think Jay and a film crew would be able to get special privileges. In the rumor department, GM Authority indicates by way of internal GM documents that a dual-overhead-cam engine may be headed for the Corvette in 2018 or possibly a 2019 mid-engine Vette. They keep pushing back the introduction date on the mid-engine Corvette but don’t deny that it isn’t coming. Click this link for more information: 2018 DOHC V8. Awhile back, I saw a program on the Velocity Channel that featured Brad Paisley and Rick Hendricks. Paisley is a big fan of Corvettes. A couple of his music videos have featured Vettes and his tour bus pays homage in a big way to the Cove Vette.
See you at the meeting Tuesday, January 3rd at 6:30 at the High Sierra Grill.
4th Estrella Museum [Paso Robles]
7th General Meeting [Goleta]
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NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM MASTER AMBASSADOR
Frank LoMonaco
Rumors had been circulating that the new Sterling Blue Metallic, which debuted at the Michelin National Corvette Museum Bash April, 2016 for the 2017 Model Year, would be phased out in early 2017. That rumor was confirmed to be true by Chevrolet Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles. The last date to order the shade is February 16, 2017, and the anticipated last build week is March 20, 2017. At this time, we do not know what the replacement color will be or even if there
will be a replacement for the Sterling Blue Metallic color. If there is, it will be announced at the yearly Michelin NCM Bash slated for April 27-29, 2017. The Bash is held annually the last weekend of April at the National Corvette Museum and features the roll-out of the next model year Corvettes with presentations by Chevrolet Engineers and Designers, reviewing the current model year’s stats, and information on what to expect for the next model.
The team also brings a number of new models down for display giving event attendees the opportunity to see them and get an up-close look at the new options, features and colors. There is also an opportunity for Corvette lovers to share their feedback and suggestions with those responsible for creating the Corvette, as well as the ability to ask questions to those in charge.
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ACTIVITIES COLUMN
Tony Megowan
Welcome to the new year! For the month of December, we had the Christmas Party (See Peter’s Article under “Presidents Message”). For January 2017, we have the Griffith Park Observatory on Saturday the 14th. We will plan to have a drivers meeting at 9:00AM for a 9:15 AM departure. It should take about an hour and fifteen minutes to get there and
admission is free. There is a charge for the shows so if you want to see one or both shows (or all 3 if you want to stay that late) tick-ets can only be purchased at the Observatory. And finally for February, we have Jalama Beach Runch Run on Saturday the 18th. More details will follow as it gets closer but we are planning on having lunch at the Jalama Beach Grill. For the month of March, we will have a run to the Estrella Warbird Museum in Paso Robles. This will be a 2-day run and I will have further information including hotel info within the next week or two. We may also be adding a wine event in March (Wino’s Gone Wild). I will let you know. A Note About Tower Tours: I have changed my retirement date to 31 Mar so I will be able to conduct the tours in Jan, Feb, and Mar for those that are interested. We also had a run in December that no one knew about [Sly, ehh?]. We went to see Manheim Steamroller at the Arling-ton Theatre. Along with Paula and I were current members Jim and Judy Purcell, Hib and Sandy Halverson, Fred and Sharon Smith and Steve and Linda Peterson along with former members Bob and Inga Stallings who also showed up for this unknown run. It just goes to show you don’t need to plan a run to have a run—we just all show up. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and hope to see you on our runs in 2017.
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YouTube Video Link
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There are currently 90 members with 66 Corvettes. Best Wishes to our January Birthday People:
Member Highlight: Ray Seider—GUEST SPEAKERS: SETH AND TANIS HAMMOND I have arranged for Seth and Tanis Hammond to speak and present a slide show at our February 7th Meeting. Seth, Tanis and all of their kids have taken their race car OVER 300 MPH at Bonneville and hold numerous records. Seth actually crashed at over 300
mph a few years ago. Don’t miss out on this meeting, you will love the presentation! Member Highlight: Ed Clerkin—GM HISTORY: FISHER BODY CRAFTSMAN GUILD Member Highlight: Ed Clerkin—2017 BLACK ROSE GRAND SPORT ORDER ARRIVED! On 10/10/16, I placed a custom order for a 2017 Grand Sport, 3LT with a new color—Black Rose. I first saw this color at the 2016 NCM Bash on the Internet but was hesitant (Pat calls it Eggplant?). On 12/19/16, I drove up to Sacramento to take delivery of this beast and I have to say I am very pleased with the color and quite impressed with the changes in the C7.
The V8/V4 switcheroo thangy netted me 29.4 MPG after I passed Salinas down 101 but prior to that it was 23-26 MPG (engine break-in?). Above are pictures of the pre-delivery inspection and to the right is an image from the Internet of the color in full sun. Now, I just need to find someone competent to install clear bra across the front end, hood, fenders, mirrors, rear quarter protrusions and rockers or just park it in the garage and not drive it.
MEMBERSHIP COLUMN
Pat Bloom
1/1 Ron Murphy
1/5 Deb Hanks
1/12 Pat Dovas
1/27 Fred Smith
1/31 George Dovas
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: If things get better with age then I'm approaching magnificent!
See Page 5
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The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild was a contest pro-moted by General Motors Design genius Harley Earl as a way to seek out young talented car designers. It began in 1930 and continued for 38 years through 1968 when it ended. In the early years of the competition, contest-ants ordered a set of model plans to build a Napoleonic
Carriage—the signature logo of Fisher Body. Interest in the car design competi-tion became so overwhelming that in 1937 the Napoleonic Coach was dropped. In-stead, young men ages 11 to 20 years old were challenged to build 1/12 scale car models of their own design.
This design contest was also prominently displayed in the GM Parade of Progress road shows showing past winners and their models. GM would typically offer to purchase winning models for dis-play purposes but if a winner didn’t want to part with
their model, GM would duplicate the model and use the du-plicate for this display. GM also advertised the contest heavily in “Boys Life Magazine”, “Popular Mechanics” and other periodicals. It’s difficult to read but in this advertisement there is this notice: BOY SCOUTS TAKE NOTICE: Your model car, constructed in accord-ance with Craftsman’s Guild rules, earns you the Model Building Merit Badge. Check with your Merit Badge Counselor for all details. As much fun as it may seem, designing and
building a model car took many hours of hard work:
creatively drawing ideas then picking the best idea to build searching for clay or the right block of wood carving or sculpting the design constantly refining the design making the detail parts including wheels painting the body and assembling the parts packing the model to ship to Detroit with a deadline looming
GM HISTORY: FISHER BODY CRAFTSMAN GUILD
Ed Clerkin
Continued Page 6
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For most young, inexperienced boys, this was not an easy task. Yet, the prizes for winners were substantial. Cash awards were given for State
winners ($100) and college scholarships were awarded for National winners ($4000) with National winners frequently offered employment in the General Motors Styling Division.
Here were the contest details: In addition to the Carriage plans and a cool membership card, participating in the contest got you a subscrip-tion to The Guildsman which was a magazine that mixed news, sports, ads for GM products and craftsmanship articles. Each model was judged by a team of GM Designers and Industrial Arts Teachers. State Winners were noti-fied and given their cash award and Regional Winners were given an all-expenses-paid trip to a 4-day Guild National Convention in Detroit. Needless to say, these young designers were on edge until the Annual Banquet where in the presence of prominent Educators and GM Executives the National Award Winners were announced and broadcast live to anxious parents and friends. Later in the con-vention, these young designers would spend a morning in the GM Styling Stu-dios talking to professional designers and seeing first-hand how real cars were designed. The Fisher Body Crafts-man’s Guild became a major recruiting tool for young artistic talent.
Chuck Jordan, charged with bringing the 1956 GM Aerotrain to production and designer of the 1958 Corvette then later GM Design Vice President, had this to say at the time of his retirement: "I’ve always been grateful for my expe- rience in the Craftsman’s Guild. That ex-perience has paid big dividends. In fact, when I think about it, my life has really been one big Guild Competition, de- signing and modeling cars, just like I did when I was 19 – except these models are full-size and they compete with the best in the world." As the 1st National Scholarship award winner in 1947 for the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild model car competition, Chuck was awarded a four-year scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the awards ceremony, Harley Earl's assistant Howard O'Leary invited him
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FISHER BODY CRAFTSMAN GUILD: CONTINUED
Ed Clerkin
Continued Page 7
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to come to GM when he completed his studies. He ac-cepted the invitation and after graduating MIT, Chuck started with GM in 1949 to fulfill his legacy.
Mentioned earlier, the response to this contest was overwhelming with models shipped to GM from all over the US for contest consider-ation. In fact, there were so
many models that it filled an entire audito-rium. Some of the models submitted
seem to have found their form replicated in early GM prototypes. Posted on the GM Heritage Center website is this comment from Danny L. McDaniel, a prior contestant: “It was a program that was ahead of its time and one that should be reinstituted if General Motors is to once again re-capture its rightful place among the greatest automobile manufacturers. It was educa-tional, interesting, and above all fun to participate in, which is sorely missing from GM in 2009”. Danny is shown here in the center of the front row.
The remaining images on the bottom of this page I believe were
taken at the GM Tech Center during the 1950’s showcasing models. FBCG winners would eventually have reun-ions and display their winning models to the public.
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FISHER BODY CRAFTSMAN GUILD: CONTINUED
Ed Clerkin
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MINUTES OF DECEMBER 6, 2016 GENERAL MEETING HIGH SIERRA BAR & GRILL—521 FIRESTONE ROAD—GOLETA, CA
1. Meeting called to order 6:29pm. Peter called meeting to order. No guests. 15 members. We have a quorum. 2. Secretary’s Report: Sandy Rubel—Minutes passed around and approved. 3. Treasurer’s Report: Fred Lopez—Treasurers report approved for month. Hib made a motion to make party
$10 next year and let club pay rest. It was suggested to bring it up at next budget meeting so people could take a vote. Hib withdrew his motion.
4. Membership Report: Pat Bloom—Membership reports 90 members and 66 cars. Ed Clerkin at meeting tonight so Pat gave an appreciation for the newsletter. Three interest cards turned in.
5. NCM Ambassadors Report: Frank LoMonaco—Raffles going on at museum. Frank selling $10.00 raffle tick-ets for white Cpe. Sterling Blue Silver to be discontinued. Kansas City Mecum Auction showed 7 out of 10 sellers were Corvettes. Emoji’s now available for Iphone of several Corvette years.
6. Activities Chairperson: Tony Megowan—Tony not here tonight. Signup sheets sent around for next year events. Sign up on website as well.
ACTIVITIES: 7. Old Business: None 8. New Business: Peter shared a nice letter the Corvette museum sent thanking us for our gift of $500.00.
Also wanted to know what club thought about donating more like another $500.00. It was suggested may-be sponsoring a student in autoshop at SBCC or a local charity. Motion was opposed. Decided these things should be put out to club and then financial committee have meeting on the matter. It would be nice to have our club out there in a positive way.
9. Tech Talk: None 10. 50/50 Raffle—Question: What year did the horsepower dip below the 1958 V8Blue Flame? (1975) Ryan Mann got
ticket. Anne Lopez won prize $13.00 (Birthday Girl). 11. Next meeting is January 3rd at High Sierra Grill. 12. Correspondence: None. Meeting adjourned at 7:19 PM. Respectfully submitted, Sandy Rubel-Halverson, Secretary
MINUTES OF CCSB MEMBERSHIP GENERAL MEETING
Sandy Rubel Halverson
12/10/16 Christmas Party at Mulligans Café
1/14/17 Griffith Park run—Tony & Paula Megowan
2/18/17 Jalama Beach run—Tony & Paula Megowan
3/4/17 Estrella War Birds run—Tony & Paula Megowan
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For clothing embroidered with the Corvette Club Santa Barba-ra logo contact Frank or Barbara LoMonaco.
http://store.corvettemuseum.com/ Members of the NCM receive 10% to 15% discount on purchases from the museum store. Check the store before buying Corvette relat-ed items from other vendors—you might be surprised at the current inventory as well as prices. Be sure to check the items on sale while you are there.
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5290 Overpass Rd., 805-683-1233 Suite 217 Goleta, CA 93111 Cell 805-340-4921
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MARY KAY COSMETICS
SPECIAL MEMBER PRICING
Dr. Paula Ross, D.C., C.C.S.P
Chiropractor
Chiropractor specializing in nutrition/weight loss and exercise rehabilitation
Montecito, CA 805-969-0022
[email protected] montecitochiropractor.com
25th Anniversary Club Logo
FOR SALE: NPP (Dual Mode) mufflers from 2008 Base Corvette – Approximately 60,000 miles on them. Clean and in good shape. If your C6 is not equipped for NPP you will need the full “Mild to Wild” NPP in a box Retrofit System kit which includes the setup for your Vacuum Lines. See either www.nakidparts.com or www.mild2wildexhaust.com for the kit. Contact Fred Smith ([email protected])
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