Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Logan on April 26, 2010, 09:08:07 PM
-
I live in Austin and would love to drive my Dragon to the convention, but I might have a very hard time getting off work. At the most, I think I would only be able to get off for one day. If so, which day would be the best for just looking at the cars? Is there a day set aside for a "show" where everyone mills around and looks at the cars that came? Never been before, but it's close to me this year and I would hate to miss the opportunity.
-
There are some people in the KFOCI who expect every day to be a day for people to mill around the cars. I personally would recommend that you hit the place on the 24th. That is the day for judging cars so the highest number of cars and hopefully (if the convention people did their PR work properly) the greatest number of people will be around. Otherwise, You might want to stop by on Sunday the 20th, in the afternoon. This is the first day of the convention and if you are looking for parts or other things KF, you would get first shot at what vendors might bring.
You could also call Robby Markman at 281-752-0098 for ideas on the best day.
-
KFLibrary: I live is Illinois and would like to go to the Midwest Meet in Peoria in May. Could you please post the location in Peoria where the meet will be and what the agenda is each day? I no longer have a KF product, but am looking around for one. Our family drove them for 20 years. Could you include the date and time of events in the agenda or where I could see it on line? Thanks.
-
Barbara hasn't finished the email version of the May monthly bulletin, which would have whatever info the group putting on the Peoria meet has supplied. Check on the website for the Bulletin Editor (not the Quarterly Editor) email address and ask if she would email you a sample copy of the newsletter. It will be done and in distribution by Thursday of this week.
-
To amplify what Jack said, Thursday (which would be the 24th) is Judging Day. That is always when the most cars are present (and the ones that hide in the enclosed trailers come out). Judges get to work at 9 AM and probably will be finished by 11 AM. If you are not registered at the Meet, you can park your KF car in the regular parking area. This is usually adjacent or just separated by a rope barrier. Unfortunately Judging Day is not the best day to take pictures of the cars because the hoods and trunks are open.
If you could sneak out early from work, you might want to come either Tuesday or Wednesday evening. Because of the Texas heat, I expect a lot of members to stay inside from noon to about 6:30. You can hear a lot of stories in the parking lot in the twilight hours.
-
I can definitely make it on Sunday, and I will see if I can get the 24th off. Otherwise, maybe I will try to get off early and see if I can get there by evening one day. Looking forward to seeing lots of cars (btw, I've never seen a Darrin in person!).
-
Logan: There won't be very many members or cars show up until late (like after 4 pm) on Sunday. The Host does have an early bird event scheduled for those who have registered. There should be 3 to 6 Darrins show at the National eventually. You won't be disappointed - until you have to work on one!
-
I remember the national in Flagstaff in 2005 - no Darrins present. That was very unusual.
-
Flagstaff: There was perhaps a higher percentage of modified cars there. I guess a lot of attendees chose to drive a Brand X or fly into Phoenix rather than drive or trailer their KF products while the people with V8 modified Kaisers drove their cars. I remember having to judge a CJ2A Jeep because I admitted to having a CJ3A.
-
I remember that Jeep. It looked quite nice. I thought I had a photo of it but I can't find it. I haven't been to a National in few years, Flagstaff was the last one (in 2007 I did drive down to Hoffman Estates on an impulse for one evening but did not bring a car or participate in anyway) so I'm toying with idea of trying to get to Kerrville. It may happen. The big "Back To the 50s" show is the weekend of June 19th here in Saint Paul and I'm already registered for that. I could still get to Tx - it would make for a full week that's for sure.
-
Speaking of full weeks, I'm planning to attend some of the Graham-Paige club's meet in NY and it's the week ahead of the KF national. One of my goals there is to talk to their officers and discuss the possibility of a joint meet. They do as we do...that is...try to move their national meet around the country so coordinating the effort might take some doing, but I'm hoping that we can make it happen.
For me, my work schedule is making a trip to TX unlikely...but I'm working on it!
-
In 1994 We hosted a PNW KFOCI regional Meet and invited the local chapter of the Graham-Paige Club. It was a very fun Meet. As I recall we got 5 G-P vehicles to go with 30 some K-F. It was a great show and both sides really enjoyed the gathering. The 41 Hollywoods interesting as was a 32 Blue Streak. We had 3 different colors of Darrins also ... memories
-
I live in Dallas and would like to bring my Darrin to the event. I am not a KF member, but would like to attend. Is this a closed function, to members only? There are no details on the web site. I tried to contact the Web administrator, but received no response. Is there another source for this information?
Edwin Erlbacher
-
Anyone can attend and participate in a convention but your car will not be judged and you will be ask to join if you wish judging. I would highly recommend that you do join. The access to the Monthly Bulletin, parts vendors, our great calendar, Quarterly magazines and the massive fellowship are grand reasons to join KFOCI.
-
I see that someone is planning on the Graham-Paige National Convention in NY (did I get that part right?) Where and when is it supposed to be? Barbara and I may be able to make that.
-
Jack: You could ask the Club Secretary. He has a 1937 Graham.
-
Erl (Edwin Erlbacher) How is it that you have a Darrin and don't know the other Darrin Owners? You are welcome to come to Kerrville and you may profit from the contacts. BUT you won't be allowed to show your Darrin or have it judged UNLESS you are a current member and have registered for the meet.
-
My reply to Edwin Erlbacher was particially inspired from my experience at the KF National in Manitowac.
There were a lot of people who showed up there that weren't subscribed to the Club.
-
At that time, I was recording Judging Winners AND the points the cars received for publishing in the KF Quarterly. The points had not been recorded for publication before. I had a problem with several cars because their owners of record were not current KFOCI members and 2 had not EVER been members according to the records I saw. So those guys got something on Friday morning, but it didn't appear in the published records.
-
One Last Thing About Judging Tonight! As long as Fred Walker was Chief Judge, there wasn't a list of winners at the KF National! You had to be at the presentation ceremony and write down what Fred said if you wanted a list. Fred had his reasons for not giving out a list but he didn't even make a list for his own use! He announced from the way the judging sheets were sorted!
-
Excuse me, the Manitowac Meet had the days shifted so judging was on Friday and Awards was on Saturday. This was during a time when one group of members saw the KF National as week long (Monday-Friday) and another group saw it as an extended weekend (Friday-Sunday).
-
You should also note that Manitowoc WI was 1988...more than 20 years ago! A lot changed since then.
-
As for Darrin owners at the National--many Darrin owners are members of the Darrin Registry without being members of KFOCI. This has been policy from the beginnings of the Registry, formerly Roster. Some others were former KFOCI members but are not currently. This is for a myriad of reasons.
Terry Trasatti
Editor Darrin Newsletter/Registry
-
I am confused. Should I bring the car or not. Some say I can not show it, some say I can. Having the car judged is not important to me, so that is not an issue. But, I do NOT want to cause any problems at the KF national or be told to park in the WalMart lot across the street. This is a one family owed car with 9700 miles and almost 100% original that is just driven around for fun. I would rather stay home than cause any trouble. I just need a simple you are welcome or you are not welcome.
Edwin Erlbacher
Dallas TX
-
It is my experience (being in the club almost 40 years now) that you would not be told to park across the street if you came to a National Convention in any kind of K-F or Willys product (and that includes Darrins). I can see a split over wether or not the car you bring would be judged...this should go for anyone who is not a member of the club. It would be very likely, however, that people knowledgeable on the vehicle brought would be happy to go over the vehicle with the owner to see what's what...you just would not get a trophy.
Have you ever thought of joining the KFOCI? It is a great source for parts at fair prices along with helps, tips, and general restoration or maintenance (in this case) information.
-
As Vice President of the KFOCI, I can tell you that we welcome anyone who shares an interest in the cars that Kaiser, Frazer and Willys built, regardless of the year and whether or not an owner is a member of the club. It is true that to have a car judged, one must be a member but to bring a car and enjoy the fellowship of the club, you need not be a member. That's not to say that we won't talk you into joining! (grin)
-
Our fellow members of the club are the best part of all. The more that you get involved in the club the more friends that you make with like interests. I am coming up on forty years of membership too and I would not trade the friendships and experiences I have had in the club for anything. Just the savings you make with the club newsletter ads will pay for your membership in a hurry and the connections made with the club forum are priceless. I hope that you will join us but please come to the meet and see how much fun it is.
-
I said in a former post that I had never seen a Darrin in person, so I would love to see your car. You would be more than welcome.
-
Please come and bring your Darrin!
-
Erl (Edwin Erlbacher): I can see that you did not understand my use of the term "show." There will be a portion of the parking lot roped off for members cars that will be judged or displayed - that is the "Show." Usually the adjacent area has Brand X, tow vehicles and visitors cars. These visitor cars can be quite interesting - I remember Sharknose Grahams, Avantis, Hudson Club Coupes, and a Chrysler Airflow coupe (!) at previous Nationals. Since some of these cars are there for a short period of time, they tend to get a lot of immediate attention.
So my use of the term "show" was that you couldn't park in the roped off area. You show up and the people in charge of the parking lot (that's the Club VP, right Jim?) would try to get you as close as possible. Neither you or your Darrin will be ignored.