The National meet in Texas

[jerussel]

These are MY recollections and not official numbers....
I believe there were 26 cars judged and 5 that chose not to be judged
1 Kaiser traveler
3 Darrins (1 rough, but drivable)
2 '53 Dragons
A number of J's of various flavors
3? Frazers - a '47, a '49 and a '51.  I think that's right.
Some were stock, some slightly modified, some highly modified
I do have pics.  I'll see if I can post some tomorrow.
No time tonight to figure it out.  Drove home to AZ today.  Going to bed...   

[mbflemingkf]

Thanks John...pictures would be great.  Maybe you can upload photos to a photo posting site and provide the link here.

[jerussel]

I'm sure others will be uploading more (and better) pics.  Especially of individual cars.

(I took mainly under hood details - so I could figure out how to out mine back together!) 

But - Here are a few of the gathered cars.  More showed up in the days after I took these.

http://s781.photobucket.com/albums/yy91/jerussel/KF%20National%202010/

[j762538]

I would like to see more photos of the Traveler.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The Indiana site (according to my Rand McNally Road Atlas) has a population of only 524 people.  Where are you goling to put at least 240 people in a town of that size?  I also note that Shipshewanna is a number of miles from any city of substance.  Someone want to explain what the group pushing for the convention there presented as a host facility, actual location, size, etc?  Traditionally, Midwest  Convention sites usually draw at least 200 people and 40-60 cars when held in the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana-Illinois area.

I'd also be interested in seeing who proposed Cleveland and what location in cleveland was planned as host facility.

[jerussel]

Hopefully, someone else that took pictures will post them.  That one of the Traveler is the only one I had.

[joefrazer]

Jack, I proposed Cleveland as a meet site and would use one of a couple different possible hotels. One that comes to mind is the Holiday Inn at 77 and 480. Close to the train depot in Valley View, an easy shot to downtown for a baseball game, a boat ride, a visit to the Rock N Roll museum and not far also from the Crawford museum. The Nash club will be using this hotel next week for the national meet, which I will be attending.

I've been to Shipshewanna and it is bigger than you think. There are quite a few larger hotels nearby and it's an easy drive to any of the bigger Indiana cities.

By far, the best midwest meet site I've found has been Auburn, Indiana. There, the hotel sat in a cluster of hotels, restaurants and better shopping. Museums and attractions were minutes away. I'd like to see us back there one day soon.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Barbara and I have an interesting concept idea for a National in Cleveland.  There are now several Extended Stay Motels along the interstates.  Room rates (on a per day basis) run around $55-60 a night.   I have no doubt that these places opened after the Nash folks established their location.   

Auburn is a good spot.  I stayed there on my visits to Auburn Clutch in the 1990's.  The place with the big old wide wooden staircase is especially neat.  I am just concerned about what to do for a week unless you are totally into the Amish sort of thing....commutes to Fort Wayne, Auburn or other larger cities may not appeal to people looking for things to do.

We've got contacts for the Valley View train ride and a lot of other places around town set up because we're hosting the Midwest Meet. 

[Fid]

The Auburn meet in 2004 was one of the best. I have to say, the best one I recall was Dearborn in 1974. I've never been able to find any record of how many KF cars were present but my memory wants to say 300+ that year. It was amazing. I was 14 and quite a motorhead at the time so seeing all those KFs and assorted other orphans and then the Henry Ford museam is a memory that has stuck with me all these years. My dad drove us there in a 1948 Kaiser Custom which we're looking at purchasing back again. It took us from Omaha, NE to Dearborn, to Toronto to Washington DC (past an empty Whitehouse that Nixon had just vacated). I doubt there will ever be another meet like that one.  With 3 kids in college now, I'd likely not be able to attend one for awhile no matter where it is held.

[Gordie]

Well, the meet is over and it was lots of fun.  I just got home last night as I went to St. Joseph, MO to pick up my '51 Kaiser club coupe and it is now back in CA.  I drove modern to the meet.  I enjoyed 106 degree temperatures thru Arizona and New Mexico.  Although a few members drove their KF products there were over 20 trailers in the parking lot, the most I have ever seen at a National Meet and I would never subject my Kaiser to that kind of punishment in driving it in that heat.  At least two of the cars that drove had V-8's so that made it a little more dependable.  I was concerned about my modern car breaking down or blowing a tire in all that heat.  I am getting too old to be laying under my car trying to change a tire in the desert.  There were many nice cars but not a Willys in sight!  Lets get ready for San Diego next year!

[darrin502]

Here are a few pics I took at the Texas National hope you enjoy them. It was a great meet not alot of cars but alot of great people.
www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/darrin502/vehicles/62143

[raat475]

She cannot handle heat well, especially the triple-digit highs that you typically run into down in TX, NM and AZ during the summer.  For that matter, it's not good for our old cars if you are driving them down there or any distance around town for that matter thanks to the current formulas for gasoline.





retouching

[HJ-ETEX]

You want hot? The Red River area of Texas (Wichita Falls to Amarillo) tends to be at 100 during the summer and it is too far inland to expect relief from hurricanes. I believe it was 1988 when the high temp was 100 or more for more than 90 days straight. They have a bike race about this time every year up there. They weigh you at every stop to make sure you have not lost more than 10 lbs. Lose more than 10 lbs in body weight and you are likely to plop over before the next check point.

[Logan]

We're getting a lot of spam on here.  Look at the post by raat475: he's only made one post, on the same day he "joind" the dicussion board; he has a link on his post undoubtedly to spam (I did not try it); and the text he typed is an EXACT copy of the second entry on this post, made by Kaiserfrazerlibrary.  This is not a legitimate member and should be removed by the webmaster.