Day 4: September 14, 2008
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Palmantier's is a good place to stay but it does lack an internet connection. I found just what I needed to upload Saturday's journal at the Arcadia Grill and a darned good breakfast, too.
Then it was off to the concours. The weather was almost perfect for today's activities but the rain had caused some big changes. I understand that the cars are usually spread out over part of the golf course but were clustered on higher ground around the club house this year. After being directed to a parking spot in an open subdivision lot, I got in line for the shuttle. It was approaching noon and arrivals were probably near their peak. The fifteen or twenty minute wait was understandable.
An impressive collection of cars surrounded me when I stepped off the shuttle. The closest car in the first photograph is a 1931 16 Cadillac Fleetwood and that's a 1933 Packard Twelve in the second. The cars in the foreground of the next two pictures are all from the same model year - 1934. The black car is a Packard Super Eight. The cream colored one is a Pierce-Arrow 12. I thought I recognized the silver car as a Chrysler Airflow but was only partly right. It's a rarer DeSoto Airflow in an even rarer two door model. The wind tunnel designed Airflows were real standouts at a time when Herbert Hoover had barely left office and the Ford Model B had just come to market. A 1938 Horch Special Roadster and a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL finish out this panel.
I found the cars that normally fill the Motorcar Portfolio along with clusters of Porches, Ford Model Ts, and woodies. A 1928 Indian Scout sat in front of a group of classic motorcycles.
The Cadillac Sixteen Concept Car was there and modern exotics, including a 1001 HP Bugatti Veyron, were arrayed behind the clubhouse. Here is a view of the Veyron's other end. Chuck Mallott (white shirt, last picture) brought a couple of his V8 powered Soltices.
Executive Director David Schultz introduced the judges which included George "King of the Kustoms" Barris.
A 1912 Siddeley accepted an "Award of Distinction" to begin the award presentations. Each class has a winner and, if warranted, one or two "Awards of Distinction". The next car through was the class winner, a 1910 Premier. "Awards of Distinction" went to a 1950 Packard`and a 1960 Imperial. A 1929 dual cowl phaeton Cadillac picked up first in its class. This panel and the next one show only a fraction of the many award winners.
A half dozen first place winners fill this panel. They are: 1) 1928 Isotta-Fraschini. 2) 1933 Packard Twelve. 3) 1940 Packard Darrin. 4) 1924 Bentley Vanden Plas. 5) 1950 Aston Martin DB2. 6) 1957 Dual Ghia D-500.
This is one of the Hostetler Hudsons from Shipshewana, Indiana. That is one of the car museums I visited over Memorial Day and I have a picture of this car in the museum. The 1911 33 Speedster didn't win its class, a 1961 Corvette did that, but it did earn an "Award of Distinction" which owner Eldon Hostetler accepted while someone else drove the car. While idling, the car died and Eldon handed off the award to give the car a crank. After a couple of good but unsuccessful attempts, the announcer suggested that pushing the car off might be the better idea. Although he was probably just being polite, Eldon went along with that and hung up the crank. Then the 86 year old Hostetler helped push the car from the circle.
Other awards, including best of show, remained when I decided my day at the concours was done and walked to the trolley pickup point. I found standing room on the next departure.
The McKinley Memorial is a pretty big thing in Canton but I'd never even seen it. I corrected that on this visit but just barely. I told myself it was lack of time that kept me from climbing the steps to the top but it might have been a lack of energy. Watching Eldon Hostetler crank that Hudson must have worn me out.
You may be wondering where pictures of that 1909 Maxwell are. After all, it was the news that it would be here that first got me thinking about coming. I'm talking about the Maxwell that Emily Anderson will drive across the country next year as she retraces Alice Ramsey's drive of a hundred year ago. At the Motorcar Portfolio tent, Rosemary Rubins told me that the car wasn't here. She thought it had to do with transportation but wasn't sure. I later spoke with David Shultz and he left no doubt. Members of both the Anderson and Ramsey families were there but no Maxwell. The transportation company had "dropped the ball" he said. I don't know David Shultz at all so I can't be sure that I read him right but I got the impression that his was not at all happy about that dropped ball.

The good news is that the car is ready and Emily is learning to drive it. I was just one of many people disappointed by not seeing the car on display in Canton but maybe I can make up for it by seeing the car driven through Canton next summer. I'll be watching AliceRamsey.org for news.

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