Romping on Woodward. Woodward Dream Cruise Club Parking. Royal Pontiac Club. Inside this issue: Aug 17th 2013

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1 Royal Pontiac Club Volume 20 Issue 4 Summer 2013 Romping on Woodward Inside this issue: Romping on Woodward 1 3 By Eric Schiffer This has already become a very busy Spring in spite of the turbulent weather patterns. As I m writing this Romping, The Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle is taking place this weekend with on and off downpours of rain and hot steamy 80 plus degree weather. But let s step back to reflect on other events that already took place earlier this season. There was the Detroit Dragway Reunion at Milan Dragway where Mike Kidd and other Royal members attended this one day event. Member, Skip Powelson broke into the 9 s with his 66 Lemans. Article and link to Skip s video are on page 11. On the same day as the Detroit Dragway reunion, I attended the Points and Condenser Preservation Society s 102 mile spring dust off-road rally from Ann Arbor to the Gilmore Museum in Hickory Corners, outside Kalamazoo. This was a fantastic rally with 100 cars and 200 people of all ages. I happened to be part of one of the lead groups where I drove my Z06 Corvette along with others that included a Porsche GT3, turbo charged Viper, Lotus and a Mercedes SL 550. It was a very scenic drive through some of Michigan s countryside. Needless to say, our group took full advantage of the farm countries straight aways and twisting roads. I had no idea how large The Gilmore was. The Gilmore is on 90 acres of farmland with several barns, including one from the 1800 s that had been transported 45 miles to the Gilmore. They are trying to build a village and have replicated a 1930 s Shell Oil Service station and have a real 1947 working diner. There are barns and buildings housing this massive collection. One new building is Ford Model A Museum. It was officially open the week after we saw it. Outside of the Ford building was a replica of a California dealership. All of the displays were of the highest quality, including the cars. Pictures of the Spring Dust Off can be seen on page Great events are happening on Father s day Weekend. June 15 Eyes On Design at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford estate. The other is the Motor Muster at Henry Ford s Greenfield Village that runs from June th. Reminders: 1) Club BBQ at Bill Klausing ranch near General Motors Milford Proving Grounds on July 21. Please call either Todd Ansbacher, (734) , or Bill Klausing, (810) to RSVP for a head count. 2) Dream Cruise Parking in downtown Birmingham on Old Woodward. We still have a few open spots left for members at $25.00 per car with a 2 car maximum. Remember any spot left will become available to non-members after August 1 for $ Loss of a street racing legend. Someone who has been a part of the original Thursday night High End Club since the 1950 s passed away. Joseph Joe Ruggirello, age 81 passed away on May 17, Joe had been featured in several magazines with his silver 1975 Mustang II that had been built by Wayne Gapp and Jack Roush. One such article was by Brook Yates for the October 1976 issue of Car and Driver. Unfortunately, the weekly Thursday night High End Club gatherings at the Rams Horn on Orchard Lake Rd and 13 ½ mile Rd. are getting smaller and smaller. (cont d next page) Gear head Destination: GM Heritage Collection Vintage Article Farmer s Track-ter Arnie Beswick (and other pics) Royal Pontiac Event: Detroit Dragway Reunion Meet the Member: Danny Kansy Royal Pontiac Event Winter Gathering Mar 2013 Royal Event: Points and Condensor Gilmore Tour Random Pontiac Pics Upcoming Events 20 Woodward Dream Cruise Club Parking Aug 17th 2013 Club Parking in Birmingham $25 per pass. Limit 2 per member until Aug 1st. Birmingham has a lottery system, if we are not accepted your payment will be refunded and Prior vehicles only MEMBERS ONLY Send Checks to: Royal Pontiac Club P.O. Box West Bloomfield, MI 48322

2 Page 2 Royal Pontiac Club of America Romping on Woodward (cont d) By Eric Schiffer Magazine articles; Hemmings Muscle Machines July 2013 issue has a nice article on the 8 convertible 1969 Trans Ams. The featured car was one that had been ordered by Jim Wangers for his boss Chuck Adams who was president of MacManus, John and Adams. Chuck s son Randy and his good friend Gary Cochran would take the 4 speed Trans Am street racing while they were in high school. Gary, who I know, tells a story about the night he was driving the T/A in a street race and the clutch decided it was time to let go. Gary s family owned several restaurants, including Marverick s the once famous drive-in on Woodward. Gary currently owns Beau Jacks on Maple Rd near Telegraph in Bloomfield Township. Gary hung a picture of the Jim Wangers Famous Black Bird in his establishment as a reminder of the good old days. Enthusiast Magazines are just not that accurate. They tend to assume too much. Lets take a recent article in the June 2013 Muscle Car Review (MCR) in a section called MUSCLE CAR REWIND that titled BABY BOBCAT AND THE BOSS. The MCR article was about two tests of the GTO Judge by two different tests in November 1968 of the soon to be released GTO Judge. One test was by Hot Rod magazine at Ubly Dragway in early November. The other test quoted was by Car Craft later in November at Lapeer Dragway. There was no name of the MCR article s author. But it seemed that it was another rush job. With all of the information that has been floating around for years. This author came to mixed conclusions on there being two different Judges. The Car Craft Judge had a Baby Bobcat kit (what ever that is) with a 4 speed capable of 12 second quarter miles and the Hot Rod Judge was a preproduction bone stock car with an automatic running in Hot Rod magazine. In short the Hot Rod magazine test car was a Tempest post coupe 350 HO automatic with a bench seat to be a Road Runner beater called ET but changed to The Judge. Another change that occurred just before release of the car but not before the Hot Rod magazine test was that all Judges would not have anything less that a 400 HO. Even though Hot Rod tested was the 350 HO which they printed a side bar of a 400 cid. The later Car Craft testing at Lapeer was actually one of many future articles that would appear in several magazines. If you go by MCR they believe there were just two Judges; one auto, one 4-speed. Well, no. Even if you count their automatic Tempest coupe (ET), there were actually three. Yes, Three. Two stick shift GTO s. One was the West Coast Riverside Real Judge. It had fixed head lights, a 3 speed manual trans posi rear, 400 HO Ram Air with a black interior. This was the press announcement car. This Judge became Popular Hot Rodding magazines Four Phase project car with many mechanical changes along the way. Jim Wangers realized they needed a second real Judge, so they took his Lime Light Green Ram Air IV, 4 speed, hide a way head light, white interior, power rear antenna GTO press car and converted it to a Judge with a tall rear spoiler, white side front fender to door stripes with a Royal Bobcat emblem within the door end section of the stripe. The stripe was later changed to the production style. This hide away head light Judge appeared in several comparison tests. It was to be the Ram Air V Florida test car, too. Well, it did appear in an article by Ro McGonegal in Super Stock magazine test with a Ram Air V decal on the front fender. Just look for the white interior, hide a way head lights and rear mounted antenna. Links to the articles are posted on the next page for your review. Well time to burn rubber, Eric

3 Page 3 Romping on Woodward (cont d) By Eric Schiffer Musclecar Review Article June 2013 (Click link below) Hot Rod Magazine Article Dec 1968 (Click link below) Superstock Article April 1969 (Click link below) Popular Hot Rodiing June 1969 (Click link below)

4 Page 4 Royal Pontiac Club of America Gear Head Destination: GM Heritage CollectionTour Society of Automotive Engineers Detroit Chapter Text Mike Kidd Photos Aleta Kidd We recently attended the GM collection tour with the Society of Automotive Engineers. The collection comprises approximately 600 cars, that are rotated through the display area. The cars range from concept and show cars to historically significant vehicles. It s located off Mound road between 15 & 16 mile. Click on the hyperlink above for more info. The Firebird concept cars, some great convertibles and many muscle cars were on display when we went. In addition there were lots of great Pontiac s as well as the mako shark and manta ray concepts. A Cadillac that raced at Le Mans was also displayed along with an electric corvair car and the electrovan from the mid 60 s that were fascinating from an engineering standpoint (the van has a hydrogen fuel cell!). There were also many engines on display, which are always interesting to look at (see the history of internal combustion). If you have a chance to tour this incredible collection, it s definitely worth the trip!

5 Page 5 Gear Head Destination: GM Heritage CollectionTour (cont d)

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11 Page 11 Royal Pontiac Event: Detroit Dragway Reunion & Billetproof Car Milan Dragway May 11th By Mike Kidd Attending the Detroit dragway reunion at Milan was a lot of fun. The event was absolutely packed, in fact they had to delay starting time trials 2X to allow the racers to get in the gate and teched. The Billetproof carshow across the track was also well attended. I got in line at 8:50am (gates opened at 9am), and it took me almost an hour to get into the track! Cars and trailers were lined up to plank road in two rows. At 10:30 Cars were still lined up out the gates to get in. While the weather looked threatening early on, it improved as the day went on. I did get the 1st pass down the track, racing against a nice looking orange 70 AMX. A soft 60 time and an early 2-3 shift held me to an 121, to the AMX s 118. I saw former club members Ted and Christie Hanson s car, but didn t get a chance to talk to them. I also saw member Skip Powelson and even got a video of him breaking into the nines! Click link below to see the video. Unforunately, I could only stay until lunchtime, as I was flying to Germany the next day, and we were having our Mother day activities on Saturday evening. While I got to see some cool vintage funny cars, I did not get a chance to see Arnie Beswick run. I did get some pics of his previous cars. Fortunately there are a couple articles and sets of pictures of the event that have some more detail. Click on the links below: Drag way reunion, scroll down for pics Billetproof car show, scroll down for pics

12 Page 12 Royal Pontiac Club of America Meet the Member: Danny Kansy By Danny Kansy Click on for more and larger pics MY NAME IS DANNY KANSY, I'M 67 YEARS IN AGE. I HAVE BEEN INTO PONTIACS SINCE THE EARLY 60S. THE FIRST NEW CAR I PURCHASED WAS A SPECIAL ORDERED 64 GTO, WISH I HAD KEPT THAT ONE. IN 1965 I WAS A MEMBER OF ROYAL PONTIACS BOB CAT CLUB UNTIL I WAS DRAFTED TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY. I HAVE OWNED MANY PONTIACS OVER THE YEARS, BUT HAVE ALWAYS WANTED ANOTHER 64 GTO. HOWEVER, IT SEEMED EVERY TIME I CALLED ON ONE IT WAS ALLREADY SOLD. IN 2002 I FOUND ONE THAT WAS STILL AVAILABLE. ONCE I SAW IT I KNEW WHY, IT WAS IN REALY BAD SHAPE, LOTS OF RUST, NO ENGINE OR TRANS. BEING A MECHANIC ALL MY LIFE I THOUGHT NO PROBLEM I CAN DO IT. IT SAT IN MY GARAGE FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS, I WOULD LOOK AT IT AND SAY TO MYSELF WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO. I'M A MECHANIC BUT HAD NO EXPERIANCE IN BODY REPAIR. I HAD TO LEARN TIN SMITHING, WELDING, BODY FILLING, YOU NAME IT. WELL BY 2011, THE CAR HAD AN ENGINE (GMPP CRATE ENGINE LS3 480 HORSE), A TH400 WITH TRANSBRAKE, A MOSER 12 BOLT WITH A 4.33 GEAR, AND MT ET DRAG RADIALS. I GOT IT TO MILAN DRAGWAY IN LATE ON THE UNTREATED COLD TRACK, THE CAR WOULD NOT HOOK. I GOT ONE PASS OFF IDLE LAUNCH, RAN AN GOOD ENOUGH, I WENT HOME KNOWING NEXT YEAR I HAD A BRACKET CAR THAT COULD RUN IN THE 10 S. I COULDN T WAIT FOR SPRING. A CAR OF THIS NATURE IS NEVER, EVER DONE. I HAD NO BUDGET FOR PAINT, AS THE BUILD ATE UP WAY MORE THAN I EXPECTED, SO IT WILL BE RACED IN PRIMER. UPDATE WINTER WASTED A LOT OF TIME AND MONEY TRYING TO TEST AT MILAN. HALF MY PROBLEMS WERE NOT MY SET UP IT WAS THE TRACK. BESIDES TRYING TO MAKE CONSISTANT PASSES ON A POORLY PREPPED TRACK, HALF THE TIME I FOUND MYSELF DODGING CRAP THAT FELL OF PREVIOUS CAR. AT THE NOSTALGA DRAG WEEKEND I FINALY GOT MY ET SLIP. I HAD CHANGED TO 10.5 x 28 MT SLICKS, AND ADDED A REAR ANTI ROLL BAR FROM COMPETITION ENGINEERING, IT GOES STRAIGHT NOW. PLAN ON GOING TO NORWALK FOR MOST OF ALSO GOING TO LIGHTEN IT UP SOME MORE, REMOVING REAR DECK LID AND REPLACING IT WITH FIBERGLASS PIN ON TYPE, WHICH IS ABOUT 7 POUNDS. NO LONGER IN PRIMER, I HAD IT PAINTED WHITE. I WOULD HAVE PREFERED RED, BUT WHITE IS ALOT COOLER UNDER THE SUMMER SUN. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A PASS.

13 Page 13 Meet the Member: Danny Kansy 1964 GTO Build Pics Click on for more and larger pics

14 Page 14 Royal Pontiac Club of America Royal Pontiac Club Winter Gathering Mar 23rd 2013 Text Mike Kidd Photos Eric Schiffer We had a great turnout for the clubs winter gathering at the Rusty bucket in Bloomfield Hills. The restaurant was absolutely packed, fortunately we had a private room reserved which helped dampen the noise. The food was great and they also had a large selection of beers on tap (which made me happy). It made for a fun night of bench racing and catching up with old friends. I received an from Doc Watson the day of the event, saying he hoped to attend as he was flying into town for business (he was then flying to California for the Nascar race the next day). Unfortunately his tight schedule didn t allow him to join us. Todd Ansbacher and his wife, as well as Bill Klausing joined us later in the evening and unfortunately did not get into the photos. Photos: Page 1: Lorin Budzinski, Ron Meyers Mrs Lorin Budzinski and Mrs Ron Meyers Page 2: Dave Harmon and his wife Debby and Jimmy Gannes Eric and Janis Schiffer, Aleta Kidd Frank and Betty Ellias Janis Schiffer, Aleta and Mike Kidd Jim and Shelly Boschan

15 Page 15 Royal Pontiac Club Winter Gathering Mar 23rd 2013 (cont d) Larger PIcs at:

16 Page 16 Royal Pontiac Club of America Points and Condenser Preservation Society Dust-off Tour to Gilmore Car Museum May 11th Click the link below to see all the pics Photos Eric Schiffer

17 Page 17 Points and Condenser Preservation Society Dust-off Tour to Gilmore Car Museum May 11th (cont d) Click the link below to see all the pics

18 Page 18 Royal Pontiac Club of America Random Pontiac Pics Top: 2008 Drag Series at Milan looks like those redlines can hook! Bottom: Herb Adams 73 Grand Am Nascar

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20 Royal Pontiac Club P.O. Box West Bloomfield, MI June MI F-Body Spring Meet and Greet at Bakers in Milford 1 MI Antique Festival & Auto Swap Meet Midland 3 SAAC-MCR GO 38 Open Track Event & Drivers School Waterford Hills Road Racing Course 8 Widetrackers Spring Dustoff car show th Annual Charity Muscle Cars Past and Present Show, Walter P.Chrysler Museum, Auburn Hills, 9-4 Museum open to public one day only. This may be your last chance to see the Chrysler Museum which closed its doors in Cars 'R' Stars Packard Proving Grounds, Van Dyke south 23 Mile Rd ROYAL PONTIAC MEETING Denny s in Novi 7pm 15 Cruisin Gratiot st Annual Sloan Museum Auto Fair Flint, MI th Annual Antiques On The Bay, St. Ignace, MI 22 Classics for the Cure Car Show Baker's of Milford South Milford Rd, Milford th Annual St Ignace Car Show and Swap St Ignace, MI Blue Water Cruise, Fort Gratiot Port Huron,MI entid= th Annual Downriver Cruise 30 ϲϭƚś Žƌǀ ĞƩ Ğ ŝƌƚśěălj ĂƐŚ ϭϭ-4 GM Worlds Head Quarters Ren Cen July ROYAL PONTIAC MEETING Denny s in Novi 7pm 13 Jackson Road Cruise Jackson Rd in Ann Arbor 20 D / ŶƟƋƵĞ ŽůůĞĐƟďůĞ &ĞƐƟǀ Ăů& Auto Swap Meet 21 Royal Pontiac Club BBQ Bill Klausing's house 21 Motor City Fest Car Show Swap Meet, Canterbury Village 2369 Joslyn Ct, Lake Orion 27 R.E. Olds Museum Car Capital Auto Show Downtown Lansing27 Bader and Son Antique Tractor and Classic Car Show, Pontiac Trail, South Lyon Dearborn 44th Annual FMRCOA Car Show and Swap meet, all makes and models, Chelsea Community Fairgrounds Old US-12 (I-94, exit 159) 28 ZŽƐĞǀ ŝůůğ ' ƌăɵžƚ ƌƶŝɛğ ŶŽŽŶ- 6pm 10 Mile - 14 Mile th Annual Concourse d'elegance at The Inn at St. John's 29 Cruisin' St Ignace August Tri-WŽǁ Ğƌ E ĂƟŽŶĂůƐ ^Ƶŵŵŝƚ ƌăđğǁ ĂLJ ƉĂƌŬ E Žƌǁ ĂůŬ K, Ϳ 4 ' ƌăɵžƚ ǀ ĞŶƵĞ ƌƶŝɛğ Thunder over Michigan airshow, Yspilanti MI Back to the Brocks Flint MI 15 Royal Pontiac Meeting Little Daddy s Long Lake and Woodward 7pm 17 Woodward Dream Cruise Club Parking (Birmingham, MI) See above for details club parking ŚƩ Ɖ ǁ ǁ ǁ ǁ ŽŽĚǁ ĂƌĚĚƌĞĂŵĐƌƵŝƐĞ ĐŽŵ Detroit International Classic Car show, AM Auto Parts show, Specialty Equipt ment Show COBO Center, Detroit, ŚƩ Ɖ ǁ ǁ ǁ ĚŝĂŵƚƐ ĐŽŵ Looking for Articles!!! Auto Zone Book store, Woodward Ave north of 14 Mile Rd Every Saturday morning from 8AM 10AM Happening year round Have you done any cool car events lately? Maybe a great tech tip? Why not share them with other club members? Would you like to share your pride and joy with other club members? Write a short meet the member article introducing you and your car. Be sure to include some pictures. We can also add pics of your ride to our members tab on the website. Please Mike Kidd with ideas or anything you d like to share in the newsletter. kidd1014@charter.net on