The Official Newsletter of the Indy Miata Club Volume 29 Issue 2 February 2018 What s Inside Page 2 President s column continued IMC Clothing Classified Ads. Page 3 The President s Squeak By Dave Phares This article could possibly be viewed by others as something from out of Ripley s Believe It Or Not. None the less, I am going to share with you some of the experiences that I have had with a few of my cars of long ago. The first car that I owned was a 1954 Chevrolet. Of course, it was a two-door coupe. In my era, it wasn t cool to drive a four-door. This car was a two-tone with green over beige finish, the original colors. Well, it smoked a little, and ran somewhat rough, so I had it overhauled, a term used back then. Can you imagine a complete engine job for $100? Ok, I had to have it souped up some, so on went the split manifold and, hence, dual exhaust. The old 3-speed on the column was replaced with a Hurst shifter on the floor. The steering wheel was rather bulky. I couldn t see over it anyway, so off it came, replaced with a sleek black 12 wheel. Cool! Well, after about six months of owning this vehicle, it started smoking; I began wondering exactly what the mechanic did. Maybe a light bulb should have turned on in my head when I took the car to him, and he greeted me with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. From here I was moving up in the world, purchasing a 1955 Ford, once again, a Continued on page 2 IMC Events of 2018 Page 4-6 Upcoming event information Page 7 2018 Regional Miata Events Page 8-9 In Case of Emergency Page 10 Funny Stuff? Page 11-12 Advertisers February holidays Time to renew your IMC membership! Send to Treasurer, Ben Hecht 7812 Ashton Lane Fishers, IN 46038 The current membership count for 2018 is 60. We have seven (7) new members. Tom & Zuke Austin John & Sandra Beard Mary Burns Jim & Diane Detwiller Drew & Kate Hastings Tony & Karen Tokarz Kevin White Give them a big Welcome when you meet them!
Page 2 Open Road February 2018 Indy Miata Club Officers 2018 President Dave Phares president@indymiata.org Vice-President Jim Seebeck vicepresident@indymiata.org Treasurer Ben Hecht treasurer@indymiata.org Secretary Sonya Cady secretary@indymiata.org Membership Director Dick Cady membership@indymiata.org Website Editor Sara J McBride webmaster@indymiata.org Newsletter Editor Steve Crouse editor@indymiata.org The President s Squeak, cont. two-door, blue in color. All this car needed for it to look cool was a set of chrome rims. On went the chrome rims! These particular rims was called Astros. During this particular time, I was living at home, so I stopped by the house for what was going to be only a few minutes. I left the keys in it while I went inside. No one steals cars in Shelbyville, right? My little sister says Dave, did you loan someone your car? My answer was No. My little sister says, Well, someone just drove it down the alley. The car was found later that evening, setting on blocks with those gorgeous chrome rims nowhere to be seen again. During this same time frame, I ran across a 1949 Chevy Business Coupe. I think the year was 1965. Back then most of the cars were painted with lacquer, especially black cars, which was the case with this one. All this car needed was to be rubbed out with rubbing compound, and a good wax job, which I did. There wasn t much chrome on this car, except for the bumpers, due to the fact that it was the business coupe,. They were spotless. One particular evening I had parked this car across the street from where we lived, thinking it would be safe there with no other cars on that side of the street. Well, I was wrong! I was in my room next to the street, with the window open. I hear a crashing sound! I go to the window and look out, and my car was gone. I look up the street and there it was, 60 feet from where it had been parked. The person that hit it was driving a 1957 Chevrolet 327 with 3 deuces. She didn t see my car until it was too late. When she did see it, she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, kicking in the3-deuces! The 1957 was a total loss, as was as my car. This was the second time she had totaled her husband s car! But wait. There is more to tell, but not this time. We ll continue next month, including a 1950 Ford, a garage fire, a collision with a culvert, and more. Indy Miata Club Clothing Looking for clothing with the Indy Miata Club logo? We ve got two stores to help you out at the IMC Clothing tab on our website. For digitally printed casual wear, head over to our Spreadshirt store How about an embroidered shirt or jacket? Our Lands End store can deliver the goods to your door. Polos, jackets, sweatshirts and more with the IMC logo embroidered on the item. CLASSIFIEDS For Sale: A stock radio from a 2014 Miata. Asking $35. Email davephares47@gmail.com if interested 2004 MazSpd Velocity Red, Many extras, 93K miles, $12000, Details on club Classified webpage. Contact John @ jceaw@sbcglobal.net The Open Road is published monthly for the members of the Indy Miata Club. The Indy Miata Club assumes no liability for any information contained herein, or injury or damage resulting from the use of this information. The ideas, opinions, maintenance or modification tips expressed are to be used at the reader s discretion. Individual contributors and/or the editors express no approval, authentication, or endorsement. Thank you. A stock dual-exhaust muffler for a 2007 Miata MX-5, in good condition to give away. Call Rick Rosado at (317) 319-6438. IMC logo stickers: Three sizes! The stickers are printed on white vinyl. Only $2.00 each. Contact Sara J via email or see her at an event. More information on our website Classified.
Page 3 Open Road February 2018 Tentative 2018 Event & Rally Calendar If you are planning to enter a club event onto our calender, please report the date & info. to Event Coordinator, Jim Seebeck. Contact him at events@indymiata.org. Breakfast & Classics Mingle February 17, 2018 See information on page 4. Register on the EVENT page of website. The Post-Tax Blues Rally April 21-22, 2018 Information on page 5. Make your room reservation before April 7! Quarterly Board of Officers Meetings April, July, October Dates, Times & Locations To Be Announced Spring It On! weekend trip May 4-6, 2018 See page 6. More information will be posted soon, on our website and newsletter. Marietta Madness weekend? Again this year? Please! The Night Before the Indianapolis 500 Mingle Saturday, May 26 Event Organizer needed! Time & Location TBA The Night Before the Brickyard 400 Mingle Saturday, September 8 Event Organizer needed! Time & Location TBA The Hidden Drives Rally November 3, 2018 Details TBD Annual Christmas Party & Election of Officers December, Date TBD
February 2018 Page 4 Open Road Gee. This looks familiar. How about another Breakfast & Classics Mingle, and a visit to Ray Skillman s Classic Cars We ll meet on Saturday, February 17th, 9:00 A.M. YiaYia s House of Pancakes, at 1694 West Main Street, Greenwood, IN 46142. Then, after breakfast, move on to Ray Skillman Collector Car Sales 1280 US-31, Greenwood, IN 46143. (1 block behind Ray Skillman Ford) Be sure to register on the EVENTS page of our website so the Minglemaster knows you are attending.
Page 5 Open Road February 2018 The Post Tax Blues Overnight Rally April 21-22, 2018 Event details are, mostly, in place. Check the EVENTS page of website for updates. We'll meet around 9:30am at Kroger (530 S. Indiana St.) in Mooresville with all cars off at 10:00 LATEST! Caravan down to French Lick with the last 30-45 minutes of the trip on "Miata roads"! Meet up at the El Compadre Mexican Restaurant in West Baden approximately 12:30-1pm. Group lunch until about 2pm or so. Following lunch, break into smaller groups (if necessary) and drive about a 2-hour rally which ends at our lodging, Comfort Suites, French Lick around 4pm. Kick back, relax, take a swim in the pool, go to 5pm mass for the Catholics amongst us, and then meet at Ohana Hawaiian Grill & Bar at 6:30pm for a group dinner. After dinner, the evening is yours to explore the resorts at French Lick and West Baden, or relax in your room at the Comfort Suites. Sunday morning have a full hot breakfast (included in your room cost), then attendees have activity options: 1) Explore more in French Lick and West Baden 2) Short rally to Jasper and group lunch* at Schnitzelbank Restaurant, and return home via IN-231 north to I-70 or go south and pick up I-64. Or, possibly even better, take the new I-69 to Bloomington and home. *If we have enough interest, we could reserve a room and get a "group" family style lunch. Want to make a room reservation? Contact Comfort Suites, French Lick, IN 812-936-5300 Please specify if you'd like a king or queen beds. Group discount ends April 7th, so please reserve before that date. When making a reservation, be sure to mention you are with the Indy Miata Club to get the group rate ($105/room; Need 10 reserved rooms to get this rate!) And don't forget to REGISTER on our website so the rallymaster knows you re coming.
Page 6 Open Road February 2018 The Spring It On! Weekend Gathering We re working on the details for the spring weekend IMC outing. A lot has to be done yet, but here is what we can tell you so far. The chosen dates are the weekend of May 4-6, 2018. We are working on staying at the Spring Mill Inn @ Spring Mill State Park, outside Mitchell IN. We need to contact the Inn yet, to arrange for a block of rooms for our group. A bulletin will be emailed when that information is available, probably by mid-february. By having the event location closer to Indy this year, members that may not be able to travel on Friday evening might consider coming down to Spring Mill Inn on Saturday morning, and staying Saturday night only. Friday evening has always been flexible, with no specific group activities. Other ideas that are being floated are (1) the traditional Saturday morning drive, (2) a visit to the Spring Mill village Saturday afternoon, (3) a group dinner Saturday evening and, possibly, (4) another group drive heading homeward on Sunday morning. (A lot of the usual stuff.) So, we hope you will place these dates on your calendar, and join us for the weekend. We think it will be enjoyable.
Page 7 Open Road February 2018 2018 Regional Miata Events See links from Non-IMC Events page on our website, or search Miata.Net. April 26-29, 2018 Miatas at Myrtle Beach XII Myrtle Beach, SC Again at Ocean Dunes Hotel. June 6-10, 2018 Zoomin the Mountains of East Tennessee Johnson City, TN Another year of Zoomin fun! August 2-5, 2018 Miatas at the Gap Deal s Gap NC September 14-16 Rockies Rendezvous Alberta, Canada September 20-23, 2018 Hot Lava 2018 Hood River, Oregon Registration will open in early Spring 2018. 2018 October 11-14, 2018 Texas Miata Roundup Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Page 8 Open Road February 2018 In Case of Emergency A few months ago, at the beginning of one of our club rallies, we had a member collapse, injuring himself. Luckily, a couple of our members were on top of things, calling 911 immediately and caring for the injured member until Emergency Personnel arrived. However, during the emergency process, we discovered it would be very helpful if personal medical information were more readily available for the EMTs. Our club officers decided that it might be a great benefit to have members carry basic emergency information in their Miatas, not just at events, but full time. Therefore, we have composed the form on the next page which we ask all members to fill out and keep in their Miata glove box. These forms will be for the use of Emergency Personnel ONLY! They will not be for club use. Bright burgundy envelopes, as shown below, will be available to members at future events, along with extra information forms. We sincerely urge all members to complete the form, seal it in the emergency envelope, and keep it in your car at all times. We believe they will be a benefit if we encounter another member medical situation. Thanks for your cooperation.
Page 9 Open Road february 2018 IN CASE OF EMERGENCY Driver/Name: Emergency Contact (Local): Name: Relationship: Ph. Number: Current Drugs: Drug Allergies: _ Medical appliances: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Passenger-Navigator/Name: _ Emergency Contact (Local): Name: _ Relationship: Ph. Number: Current Drugs: _ Drug Allergies: _ Medical appliances:
Page 10 Open Road February 2018 Funny Stuff?
February 2018 Page 11 Open Road Hughes Insurance Group is an Independent Agency representing over 35 insurance companies. Our ultra-competitive rates assure that you receive the most value at the best price for all of your home, auto or business insurance needs. For a limited time, I m giving away a $20 gas card with an insurance review and quote for your home, auto or business with no obligation! If I m competitive, consider allowing Hughes Insurance Group to write your business. If I can t provide you with a better value, you ll have the peace of mind knowing you re properly insured at a fair price. Tom Lewis INSURANCE GROUP Call or e-mail Indy Miata Club member Tom Lewis today! 317-984-9228 tom@hughesinsurancegroup.com Have a few dollars invested in upgrades? Ask about Agreed Value Coverage for your Miata! Benefits for Indy Miata Club Members -First year dues to the Indy Miata Club after purchase of any Mazda -S-Plan Pricing to Current Members -15% off All Parts & Accessories -15% off Labor Rates -Maintenance for Life with the purchase of Any Mazda -Saturday Service Hours 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM -Free Cookies!! Contact Lauren Auld for more information.
February 2018 Page 12 Open Road Now celebrating 40 years! Exclusive Discounts for Indy Miata Club Members Tom Roush Mazda, Indiana s first Mazda dealer established in 1972 has not only the most experienced sales and service staff in town, but also is the highest volume dealer in Indiana. We hope to serve you in our next 40 years as Indy s premier Mazda dealer. In support of the Miata Club member s we would like to offer the following benefits: 15% off regular door labor rate 15% off any accessory purchase S-Plan pricing to eligible customer s Extended Saturday service hours 7:30 3:30 US 31 North @ 169th Street Feb. 2 Feb. 19 Westfield, IN 46074 800-891-3056 Feb. 14