All:
Last March 15, I went to the Puyallup, WA state fairgrounds (pronounced "Pew-yowl-up" not "Pull-you all-up") with an old college buddy to attend a swap meet. We didn't have much luck there. My friend had a couple of tickets to the Lemay Family Collection at the former Marymount School in nearby Spanaway, WA. (
http://www.lemaymarymount.org ). So we went. Mr. Lemay made his fortune in the garbage hauling business and yes he is the same person the new museum (
http://www.lemaymuseum.org/ ) in Tacoma is named after where KFOCI convention is being held. It is a long story, but after his death, Mr. Lemay gave a portion of his collection and funding to create a new separate independent car museum and organization, while the family kept the bulk of the collection. The Marymount site is absolutely amazing and the cars and grounds are shared with the community in a big way. A lot of locals prefer the family collection because camaraderie is tremendous. The volume of cars in various states of repair are stunning. Volunteers are everywhere, and there is plenty for everyone to do. I am told the Marymount site has maybe a third of the cars the family owns.
So why am I telling you all this? It is because they have an unrestored 1952 Aero Lark in their collection - see attached picture. If I remember right, I was told this car was purchased from the Harrah's collection as excessed inventory. The sign says that the car has an "134 ci, I-4, 75 bhp" which certainly isn't the case. Most likely this car has the 6cyl 75 hp L head engine. As you can see from the picture. this car is stored on big shelving stalls - like an oversized Costco. I am fairly certain they had a couple of Kaisers or Fraziers as well.
Anyhow, if you are headed to the KFOCI annual convention in Puyallup, this place will be well worth your time. Although I am not a member of KFCOI, I would be interested in meeting other Aero owners in June 22-27. I live in the SE corner of Washington state and it takes about 5 hours of driving to get to Puyallup.
John B.
