OLDSMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA

EASTERN MA. GMO CHAPTER Issue #113

December 2016

ROCKET POWER NEWSLETTER!!

GMO November 6 Meeting

The November meeting was held at the Wellesley Community Center in Wellesley and sincere thanks go out to Stephen Beach and the rest of the staff there for making the facility available to us. Many thanks to those who brought refreshments to the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM by President Chuck Schiel with about 30 members and guests in attendance. The first item on the agenda was payment of dues for 2017. I am pleased to report that 12 members ponied up. There is a membership renewal form in this newsletter for the convenience of those who have not yet paid. The next item was the Election of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary for the next two years. All of the present officers were candidates and were elected by acclimation:

• Chuck Schiel – President

• Rich Santucci – Vice President

• Don Ferrara – Treasurer

• Ted Loranz – Secretary

• Vacant – Events Coordinator The following appointed offices were also renewed:

• Club Representative – Everett Horton

• GMO Photographer – Shaun Monaghan

• Head Judge – Phil Cafarella Chuck and Rich made it clear that they would NOT be candidates in the next election. Everyone needs to start thinking ahead as to their role in the GMO if they want the organization to survive. Ted Loranz advised that, although he will continue to serve, an effort should be made to have someone else able to step in should the need arise. Nelson Desjardins volunteered to become familiar with the club’s Access database and Shaun Monaghan volunteered to take over the Webmaster’s duties.

A discussion was held RE the Christmas Party which will be held on January 8, 2017 at the Imperial Room at Imperial Chevrolet in Mendon from Noon to 5:00 PM. The menu and events will be the same as in previous years except that this year there will be a $10.00 charge for each adult attendee (18 or older) which will be used to help defray the cost of the event. Chuck has negotiated with the Imperial Room staff and, although the cost has increased substantially over last year, the Imperial Room will hold that price for a total of 3 years. A sign up form is included in this newsletter for your convenience. The Spring Dust-Off show date has been set for May 21 with a rain date of June 4. The venue remains the same but, as a result of lowered attendance last year, it was decided that awards will be limited to the Top 25 Oldsmobiles, Best of Show, Berejik Award, and 1 Super Wheels pick. The auction last year was a big hit so please think ahead to what “new” merchandise or services you might donate, President Schiel has determined the correct contact people and is investigating the possibility of the GMO hosting an “End of Season” show for BPOC cars in Canton. Because it is at a church, it would be a Saturday show probably in October. He will keep the membership advised of his efforts. A brief discussion was held RE GMO merchandise. An effort will be made to determine the names of possible merchandise manufacturers. Chuck made a suggestion that a donation of $100 be made to the Wellesley Community Center which was approved. The Meeting was adjourned about 3:00 PM.

From the Vice President

Looking forward to our Holiday Party in January. Hopefully weather will cooperate! If anyone would like to contribute desserts, we appreciate it!! Also, will be doing the Yankee Swap again so if you'd like to participate please bring something in the $10-15 price range! Enjoy and have a great Holiday!

Karen Santucci

Rich Santucci, Vice President

Eastern Massachusetts GMO Chapter

GMO Meeting / Event Schedule

• Sunday, December 4 @ 1:30 PM – Meeting at Xtreme Restorations, Slatersville, RI in conjunction with the Nash Metropolitan Club.

• Sunday, January 8 @ 12:00 PM – GMO Christmas Party at Imperial Chevrolet, Mendon, MA.

• Sunday, March 26 @ 4:00 PM – Meeting at Larz Anderson, Brookline, MA.

• Sunday, May 21 @ 9:00 AM – Spring Dust-Off show at Kimball Farm, Lancaster, MA. Rain date June 6.

Oldsdude@comcast.net – A Passion

Editors note: Sam Murray was challenged by his friend Jerry Hatch to do a 10 day picture challenge on Facebook. The result has many photographs and a lot of text about Sam’s racing career including a lot of time spent with Oldsmobiles and the Brainbeau, Berejik and Smothers Brothers racing teams I have edited it some to fit the newsletter format but it is mostly in Sam’s words. This is a continuation of the article in the last newsletter

Day Eight: Let's do a little where are they now? The 65 car Photo 1 unknown whereabouts. The 66 car went thru many hands from Ben Sykes Photo 2, Gene Horn and Woody to current owner Ross Huntsinger near Allentown PA. Restoration at a standstill. The 67 car Photo 3 went thru many hands from Doc Burgess Photo 4 and Lee Valentine to current owner Brian Martin last known

somewhere in FL. Restoration not started to my knowledge. Photo 5 Late September or early October 1966. A match race at Connecticut Dragway called the rerun of the U.S. Nationals C/S class final. L to R. Bobby Andresen, Pete Ganter in the overcoat, myself with the water jug, Ed Kovitch and track owner Frank Marratta. The GTO had serious engine smoke as can be seen in the picture. It lost 3 out of 3. Photo 6, 1967 came along tri power was gone and we were back to a Quadrajet carb with no other significant change's. We had a good year on the local front but it was the year of the Z28's. Good friend Ben Wentzel Photo 7 front and center with Jerry MacNeish cleaned everybody's clock at Indy. He and brother Dave are still at it and winning with the same Z28. The 67 442 was actually my favorite of the three cars. Photo 8 Jerry MacNeish in the Dave Stickler Z28 car and I at Maple Grove Raceway. Brainbeau Olds salesman Ray Kaligian Photo 9, was responsible for putting two local little guys together with the Olds factory to create one of the most feared Oldsmobiles in the U.S.A. from a small town family owned dealership that left a lasting impression worldwide. I was lucky to have been there for the ride. RIP Louie, John & Danny Thibault.

Day Nine: I have so many things that are coming to mind. I'm not sure where to start but here goes. Photo 1, The Grump from a 1971 press release Photo 2, His 1971 Pro Stocker Photo 3, one of his nemesis's Ronnie Sox. We were at Capital Raceway one weekend. Sox & Bill among others were there as well. They were lined up beside us in the staging lanes. Bill and a few others were standing at his car talking when all of a sudden Sox appears and say's hey Bill don't I have you this round? To which Bill grumbles yeah! Ronnie then says well I guess I'll have to go back and adjust my brakes! With that Bill was muttering and grumbling. Everyone else was laughing hysterically. Photo 4, Tasca Funny Car@ Indy. Indy starting line banner. The Honker. The Harris Auto Highlander from Providence and Tasca's T-Bolt. Photo 5, Bill Blanding's MIMI Pro Stock Vega before this he had a few hard running Camaro's. He was one of the true gentlemen in racing. Photo 6 The Farmer Tim Bishops class winning 57 Chevy. In 2010 Tim won Stock Eliminator @ INDY. Ehh right Tim! Photo 7, Press Release of Wally Booth's AMC. Photo 8, Nate Cohen AKA Nazy Crate. He was definitely a character and a great friend who shared with me a lot of tips and advice etc. He was the H & H Race gas supplier in New Jersey and Eastern PA. he stopped drag racing to build his gas business at the local circle tracks because of the large volumes of race gas they consumed. He also said they were friendlier and not as cheap as drag racers. LOL! I would spend lot's of time at his shop in Englishtown, listening to his stories and adventures. He showed me what radiuses on valve seats were and how it was done. What silicon rubber was, where it could be used and how to use it before it was on the retail market. One of his favorite stories was about some of the local Ford racers whom he helped, they would have the misfortune to blow up an engine, trans or rear etc. Then return to the Ford dealer and get it fixed under warranty. While he laughed at the GM racers suffering the same fate as they would not be able to get any warranty repairs from dealers on high performance cars. Later, from time to time I would call Nate when he was in the hospital. I knew he had cancer, but he never would say exactly what ailed him. He was always upbeat full of laughs. One day I called and the nurse said I would't be able to talk to him again. RIP Nazy! Photo 9, My Nominator! Jerry Hatch. Photo 10, Fellow mid west stock stick shift racer Donnie Beeler. Photo 11, Danny Chipman trying to get Bob Muravez AKA Floyd Lippencott Jr to fit in one of Tommy Ivo's dragsters to cackle it at the New England Hot Rod Reunion. He didn't fit! Photo 12 & 13, are an article I wrote about Bob Andresen that was published in the January 1996 issue of Journey with

Olds magazine. Photo 14, Connecticut Dragway win sticker. Photo 15, Ken Tingley's 55 Chevy gasser. Photo 16, Richie Lucier the man responsible for building the California Corvette for his brother Les in the inspection bay of Les's gas station on N. Main St. in Brockton, Mass. It was one of the fastest A/MP cars in it's day. Les who grew up with Ken Dondero, would host Ken the driver of the popular Pro Stock race cars of Dyno Don or Bill Jenkins. For needed repairs when he was racing in the New England area.

Day Ten: Been busy and looking for a missing album with not much luck. But this is what I have from photo's dated 1957 to 1960. These photo's were sent to me by Brian Andresen. They are the McDonough, Armstead and Andresen dragster at Sanford Maine. They were members of the Flywheels Auto Club of Braintree, Mass. Photo's 1 & 2: How it was transported to and from the races, the first ramp truck! There were a lot of pioneering things about this car in it's progression over 5 years. Just about everything on this car was engineered and made by Bobby Andresen. Marty

McDonough owned the engine and Ralph Amstead was the one crazy enough to drive it. Ralph also worked at large Government supplier and knew how to acquire needed materials. I worked for Ralph for a year and he was a character for sure. He and Marty shared the information. In all the years I knew Bob Andresen, he very rarely talked about the past. It would always be someone else who brought things up. If you didn't look closely at these photo's you would think it was just another Ford framed Chrysler powered dragster of the era. But this car had aluminum frame rails as evidenced by two facts. Every bracket etc is bolted to the frame. Also If you look under the frame there is a torsion rod to control the flex on each rail. They thought it wouldn't handle properly with all the flex. One of the things that can't be seen and I'm not sure what year he built them. Were the retainers to keep the rear wheels attached when the axles broke. Which was very common. Photo's 3 & 4 are the spoils of victory. Photo 5 is the next progression. Bob made the ram tube blower manifold complete with pressure gauge and a blowoff valve from a steam boiler. He machined the front snout for the blower and the drive pulley adapters & idler assembly etc. (Looking at the pulley sizes on the blower drive it looks like it was a 1 to 1 ratio). The last photo I believe was at a Flywheels annual Auto Show I think in 60 or 61. For the final upgrades they had added the moon caps and built a new aluminum body. Bob had made a fiberglass nose piece for it. I'm not completely sure whether the nose piece was being transported to be painted or home from being painted but it flew out of the truck and was badly damaged, so it never was installed on the car. I forget how fast this car actually ran, but I remember Marty telling us when he was spectating at the Nationals in Detroit the blown cars there were running something like 5 to 7 MPH slower than they had been running that summer. It was a missed opportunity for them! I want to thank Jerry Hatch for nominating me for this opportunity to share a little of my knowledge & photos of the past.

An Oldsmobile Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and in the garage, There was nary a trace of a Ford or a Dodge. The presents were wrapped and the lights were all lit, So I figured I'd mess with the Olds for a bit. I threw open the door, and oh! what a sight, As the 4-4-2 bathed in the wondrous light. It's hood scoops did snarl as they came into view, With their broad rallye stripes of a sinister hue. As I twisted the pins on the fiberglass hood, A deep voice behind me said, "Looks pretty good!" Well, as you can imagine, I turned mighty quick, And there by the workbench....stood good ole ST. Nick! We stood there a bit , not too sure what to say, Then he said, "Don't suppose you'd trade in for my sleigh?" I said "No way, Santa" and started to grin, "But if you've got the time we could go for a spin!" His round little mouth, all tied like a bow, Turned into a smile as he said, "HO, HO, HO!!" So as not to disturb the neighbors' sleep, We pushed the car quietly into the street. Then taking our places to drift down the hill, I turned on the key and let the clutch spill. The sound that erupted took him by surprise, But he liked it a lot, by the look in his eyes. With tires a ‘chirping and trumpets aglow, We headed on out where the hot rodders go. And Santa's grin widened, approaching his ears, With every shift up as I went through the gears. Then he said," Can't recall when I've felt so alive!" So I backed off the gas and said “You wanna drive?" Ol' Santa was stunned when I gave him the keys, When he walked past the headlights he shook at the knees! With the 455 rumbling Oldsmobile sounds, Santa let out the clutch and it pounded the ground! Power shifting to second and again into third, I sat there just watching, at a loss for a word. Santa slid through the gears on this radical sleigh, As the high octane ride caused my hair to turn grey, Then I heard him exclaim as we blasted from sight,

"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, IT"S AN

OLDSMOBILE NIGHT!!!"

Glimpse of the Month

Shaun Monaghan

“Eenie Meenie Miney Mo”

Letter from the President

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone out there in GMO Land! Debbie and I hope you and your families are getting ready to enjoy warm family gatherings during the

upcoming holiday season … “tis the season to be jolly”! It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to communicate with our membership in its entirety, as I believe that our last Rocket Power Newsletter was published in June – and a lot has happened since then. We had a busy summer car show season, culminating with the 2016 New England Oldsmobile Club Show in Berlin, CT in September … and the Extinct Car Day Show at The Museum of Transportation in Brookline, MA on October 30. What a great way to close out the car show season! I was finally able to get my new 1966 Toronado (purchased from GMO member Joe Lane last December) out on the road in September by joining the GMO caravan down to the NEOC in Connecticut – what a fun trip. I had forgotten how great a “road car” the Toronado is, and I can’t wait for May, 2017 to arrive!

A big “thank-you” goes out to everyone that attended our GMO Member’s Meeting at the Wellesley Community Center on November 6 – we had a great turn-out for the meeting. The current GMO Board of Directors (Chuck Schiel – President; Rich Santucci – Vice President; Ted Loranz – Secretary; and Don Ferrara – Treasurer) were re-nominated to serve in their current offices for the next two years (until November, 2018) - and were re-elected by motion at the meeting. In addition, Shaun Monahan has agreed to serve as the GMO Webmaster … Shaun will take over the day-to-day administration of our GMO website. Ted Loranz will be working with Shaun on getting familiar with the website and getting the site updated. Thanks to both Ted and Shaun for taking this on – the Club truly appreciates your efforts! The GMO is looking for someone to fill the Events Coordinator position on the Board of Directors – Paul Abdalian did a fine job in this position for several years, but felt that he would not be able to remain effective in the position due to a very demanding work/travel schedule. If anyone in interested in becoming the Club’s Events Coordinator, please give one of our Board members a call to express your interest. I hope to see all of you at out next Member’s Meeting on December 4 at Xtreme Restorations in Slatersville, RI – the actual meeting will kick-off at 1:30 pm, but do plan to arrive early to enjoy some of the best pastries on the planet prior to the meeting. Until then, have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday! Until next month – Rocketing Forward!

Chuck Schiel, President

Eastern Massachusetts GMO Chapter

Eastern Massachusetts GMO Chapter 114 West Street

Medway, MA 02053-2226

GMO Officers

President

Chuck Schiel – 508-981-9039 cschiel@nalco.com

Vice President

Rich Santucci – 617-899-9109 Ourw30@comcast.net

Treasurer

Don Ferrara – 617-877-3910 ferraraproperty@gmail.com

Secretary

Ted Loranz – 508-561-7613 ted@teds-olds.com

Events Coordinator

GMO Photographer

Shaun Monaghan – 617-676-8729 Boston442@comcast.net

Club Representative

Everett Horton – 401-573-6361 antiqolds@aol.com

GMO Chapter Website – www.olds-gmo.com

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