Santa Maria Meet

Hello Tom.
I did not sign up to stay or attend the meet. I only had part of Saturday to spend up there. So I guess I was a lurker at this event. I'm simply a Cord owner since around 1975. Before that I saw my first Cord when my father bought the car I now own. He and his long time partner bought it in Jan.1961 for $150.00 each so for a price of $300.00 they got a complete rust free 1937 Cord Beverly Sedan. It had a spare engine and front drive line but all those parts are gone now. Most were lost in a fire where the car was stored formany yeasr. The car was never is danger from the fire. Henry Portz is the only ACD member that I know of thats seen the car but it was reported to Ron Irwin so someone has seen it before. Dad passed on in 1997 and I now own the car. Its all I really have left from my father so it means a lot to me. I don't know what it is about the car that has me so interested in it. In 1961 I was 10 years old and fell in love with the style of the Cord right then and there. No words can describe the feeling. I guess the best way to describe the feeling is when I first was intruduced to my wife. I was 18 years old and just knew my search was over for Mrs right instead of Mrs right now... The car was owned by a Mr Donald E Finnicum of Upland Ca from Jan.9th 1952 till my Dad got it in 1961. Before that it was owned by Mr W.B. Hamlin of Ontairo Ca. He was well know for the Tucker cars he owned. His ownership ran from March 1949 thru Jan. 1950. These dates are from letters I have with each owner talking to Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Co. directorof sales a Mr. E.C. Bartels and Mr W.T. Hinschlager service sales manager.

Gary,

I'm glad to hear that you had a great time. It is a lot of work to put this event on and nice to know that it was appreciated. Looking thru our registration forms I didn't see your name. I want to apoligize if I met you but I don't remember meeting you. Did you come as a guest with Don and Denise? Next year it will be Andrea and Richard Hannon who will be the chairpersons and I'm sure they will do just as good a job as we did the last two years.
I'll be there next year and hope to talk much Cord with you.

Well after many years of Cord ownership I finally got to attend a club meet. To just say I was impressed makes it sound like no big deal but it was one of the best days of my life. I have never seen that many Cords at one place so it was great. Being welcomed to the fold was nice too. I really enjoyed seeing Henry Portz once again. I have been waiting to see his car for soo long and it was well worth the wait. Meeting Randy Emma was a special treat too as was talking to Josh about Moonshadows paint color. That is the color my car was painted from the factory so I now know what it will look like when done. I was a painter many years ago so I will be doing my own paint work. I have very little body work to do so that wont be too costly. I'm still learning how to do the body work. I wont finish the car till its done correctly. I will be attending more meets as they come up. I personally want to thank everyone I talked with because everybody made me feel welcome. Thank you all for a great time... Gary