Redneck Rumble, 2011...

Yesterday, Monty Love and I drove up to Lebanon, Tennessee, to attend the Redneck Rumble.  This is a car show that has taken place at a local fairground for the last 5 years.  I expected a lot of traditional hot rods and was quite disappointed.  Most of the show was taken up with so-called Rat Rods, which I find pointless and ugly.  Ah, well.  You can't win 'em all...

We did see a 1950 Chevy Sedan Delivery, the same model that Monty uses as a daily driver, that was exquisite!

Autumn at Ebabe's...

Pascagoula Incident...



I saw this news article today: "

..(Reuters) - Charles Hickson, the Mississippi man who claimed he was abducted and probed by aliens while he was fishing with a friend in 1973 and never backed off the story despite the ridicule he endured, has died.

Hickson, 80, died last Friday of a heart attack, his family said on Tuesday.

Hickson, then 42, was fishing with 19-year-old Calvin Parker Jr. on a pier near Pascagoula, Mississippi in October 1973 when they said a cigar-shaped UFO with flashing blue lights suddenly appeared above them.

A door opened up, the two men later told authorities, and they were pulled into the craft by aliens, who paralyzed them, examined them on a table and then let them go.

Although Hickson was reluctant to share the story -- he said all he and Parker wanted to do "was go fishing" and he feared people would "laugh me out of Jackson County" -- he and Parker eventually went to local police and reported the incident.

"They weren't lying," the chief investigator for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department told reporters at the time. "Whatever it was, it was real to them."

As word of their claims leaked out, Hickson and Parker became minor celebrities, celebrated by believers in extraterrestrial life but derided by skeptics.

In 1974, after wire services picked up the story, Hickson appeared on a number of national TV programs, including The Dick Cavett Show.

In 1983, Hickson wrote a book about the incident called "UFO Contact at Pascagoula" with William Mendez. (Reporting by James B. Kelleher in Chicago)"

I happened to be working for Ingalls Shipbuilding at the time of the UFO incident.  My office was in the refurbished "port warehouse building" that was only a couple hundred yards from where Hickson and Parker were fishing.  And one of my colleagues, Jerry Shaver, had gone to school with Hickson.  According to Jerry, "Charlie Hickson is one of the finest men I've ever known.  I promise you that he would never tell a lie."

I always thought the story was fascinating.  I still do.  There's a more complete description of the incident in an interesting article in Wikipedia.

Winston Gets a New Oil Filter!

The picture above is of the type of oil filter that the 1932 Plymouth was originally equipped with.  It was the first year that oil filters were standard equipment on the Plymouth.  The whole canister is disposable.  There are brass pipe fittings that go in both the upper and lower ends of the filter.  These attach to steel tubes that attach to a supply point and a discharge point on the engine's oil system.  And the whole thing was held in a clamp on the driver's side of the engine.  When I bought the car 49 years ago, these filters were readily available and cost a couple of dollars.

The last time I was able to buy one in a car parts store was about ten years ago.  Wix still listed the filter in their catalog at a cost of about $26.00!  I bought one and then they were gone.  I started buying them on eBay, but the price kept escalating.  You have to change the filter every 1,000 miles, so even if you don't drive the car a lot it can still add up.

Last year, I read the following ad in the Plymouth Bulletin, the magazine published by the Plymouth Owners Club:

"Oil Filter: Cast aluminum, replaces the old tin throwaway type that has a 1/8" NPT fitting at each end.   4-1/4 diameter 6" long; unscrews to replace neon filter inside;will work with any engine that filters just the bypassed oil.  $165 plus shipping.  Joe McGinnis, 234 Deer Foot Road, Blairsville, GA 30512, Tel: (706) 781-2805, email callent.beefalo@hotmail.com"

  Now, Winston sports a brand new filter with the same old appearance.  What a concept!

Great Race 2012 Has Been Announced!

According to the Hemmings Motor News blog,  "Not only will the Great Race return for 2012 after its successful relaunch earlier this year, but it will also go international, with a tour of the Great Lakes that will take participants north of the border into Canada."

The precision rally for vintage cars will start in Traverse City, Michigan, on June 23rd.  It will end a week later in Detroit.  According to the Great Race Website, "it will run north along Lake Michigan to the Upper Peninsula, cross into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie (where locks join lakes Superior and Huron), then travel east along the north shore of Lake Huron, south toward Lake Ontario and east toward the crossing back into the United States at Thousand Islands, then back west along the south shore of Lake Erie and toward its finish line in the Detroit area.  In all, the race will cover 2,000 miles, cross four states and one Canadian province, and afford sights of all five Great Lakes.  

Scheduled stops along the way include the Pierce-Arrow Museum in Buffalo, New York; the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio; and the Automotive Heritage Museum (the last Hudson dealer) in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The Great Race is open to all vehicles from 1969 and earlier.  The entry fee for the Great Lakes Great Race will be $4,000 for private entries and $5,000 for corporate entries.  A $500 discount is available to any team that pays a $2,000 deposit by Sept. 18, 2011, and the balance by Dec. 31, 2011."

Here's my guess on a possible route:

Frog Follies 2011...

If you've ever read through my Great Race Web site, you might have seen the following entry from June 20,  2001 (the year we went from Atlanta to Pasadena): "In Evansville, we had a greeting party!  It seems that Analda Anglin’s parents live not far from Evansville, and they had been waiting patiently for our arrival.  They even had cold drinks and snacks!  The four of us ate together and had a nice chat, after which we had to leave for our next timed segment.  Our thanks for the great Evansville fan club!"

That day, Analda's mother mentioned to me that I might enjoy coming back to Evansville in August for something called the Frog Follies.  She said it was a car show that had been hosted by a local hot rod club for a number of years.  I recall thinking that the last thing I was going to want to do when I got home was to drive a couple of hundred miles to attend a local car show!!

Fast forward a few years.  I got involved in the design and building of a hot rod.  I became a frequent visitor to several hot rod related Web sites.  I began to read reviews of the Frog Follies by many attendees from several states.  They all raved about the hospitality, the setting, organization, size, variety and quality of the cars.  It turns out that this is a car show of importance, especially to folks with pre-1949 vehicles.  So this year, after careful consideration, I and Monty Love (faithful sidekick) decided to attend.  We didn't decide to go until early August, but we were fortunate to find a few rooms still available.

It is a terrific event.  We will undoubtedly try to attend again in the future.  I wish I had listened to Analda's mother back in 2001...

A Real American Hero...

Chip Ramsey, a few days ago, in Afghanistan (photo courtesy L. Dowling)

For several years, I worked with Chip Ramsey.  He was a hard working, competent fellow and a helluva nice guy.  He was also a member of the Army National Guard and a card-carrying patriot.  Some of you may remember that when Mary Ann and I participated in the 2006 Great Race, we carried an American Flag.  At every stop, we asked people to write notes of thanks to our service men and women on the fabric and to sign them.  We got hundreds of notes and signatures.  The flag was sent to a unit in Iraq where it was proudly flown in the war zone.  That was Chip Ramsey's idea and he made sure the flag made it to Iraq.  He was that kind of American.  He left last November for his second tour in Afghanistan, after having previously served in Iraq.

I heard today that on August 4th a sniper's bullet ended his too-brief life.  He was 41.  He leaves a widow, Mary, and two small children behind.  And our nation is much poorer for his passing.  Good bye, Chip.  We will miss you.  There are no words to express our gratitude for your sacrifice.  Rest in Peace, my friend.