May | 2021 | richardscarblog

After attending exactly one car show during the entirety of 2020, I vowed to myself that 2021 would be different, and would include greater participation in driving events. My vow got off to a grand start when I participated in my first NJ Region AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) tour on Friday, May 21, 2021.

The Region has traditionally hosted a multi-day “Spring Fling” just prior to Memorial Day weekend. While previous years’ tours included overnight travel, this year’s Spring Fling, capably hosted by club member Bill Pritchett, saw the event broken into three separate one-day drives. Those who wished to join in the fun could drive one, two, or all three days. My schedule allowed me to participate only in the first day’s drive on Friday.

We convened at the Hampton Diner in Newton NJ, with breakfast an option for those who wished to partake. There appeared to be about 10 tour cars in the parking lot, ranging from a 1930 Model A Ford to a ’67 Camaro, an ‘80s Mustang, a 1978 Ford Granada, several Mercedes-Benz SL models, and my 1993 Miata. A brief driver’s meeting revealed that the day’s destination was the “MotorcyclePedia” motorcycle museum in Newburgh NY. Bill handed out turn-buy-turn directions and said that the drive, plotted to be scenic, would take about two hours. Most vehicles had two occupants, so those cars each had a driver and a navigator.

M cars at the diner: Mustang, Model A, Miata

We departed as planned at 10 a.m. and I, riding solo, was the last car out of the parking lot. It only took a few red traffic lights for me to become separated from the rest of the conga line, and I missed a turn or three. Before I knew it, I was well off the intended path. I pulled over, pulled out the phone, hit up Google maps, and ended up finding an equally scenic route which landed me at the museum about two minutes after the rest of the group pulled in. Everyone else stated that the directions were ‘easy’ so I’ll chalk up my misadventures to operator error.

Miata, Granada, and Camaro liven up MotorcyclePedia parking lot

Motorcycles are not my thing; however, the inside of this museum was gorgeous! The lighting was superb, the displays were creatively arranged, the bikes were spotless, and there was the perfect mix of mechanical intricacy and historical perspective throughout. Of special note: one entire room, about half the museum, was devoted to the history of Indian motorcycles (that’s a brand for those not in the know). Gazing at machinery from the first decade of the 20^th century brought home the reminder that the first “motorcycles” were nothing more that “motorized bicycles”, with many of them still wearing a pedal-operated crank set and a human-powered chain powering the rear wheel.

This “A”, with modified engine, has no trouble cruising at highway speeds

Owner also has ’68 Mustang keeping company with this ’86

Several of us broke for lunch, and it was beyond wonderful to spend time in the company of fellow NJ AACA members again. The camaraderie returned almost instantly; it certainly did not feel like over a year since we had last spent time together in person. I headed home after lunch, while most of the rest of the group returned to the museum. If motorcycles or motorcycle history interests you, then “MotorcyclePedia” in Newburgh NY deserves to be on your itinerary. For me, I’m already signed up for the Region’s multi-day summer tour to be held in late July.

The MotorcyclePedia Museum

Since I didn’t document each motorcycle I photographed, and since I also know I have some blog readers who deeply enjoy motorcycles, I will post these photos without captions.

Success! Our informal Sunday Morning Breakfast Group, which last held a gathering in September of 2019, managed to put together our own Cars & Coffee-style event this past Sunday. As an unexpected surprise, the “CarParkers” drive event held the same day resulted in dozens of additional cars joining us in the spacious lot of the Dunkin’ Donuts on MacArthur Blvd. in Mahwah NJ.

In our own group, we had perhaps a dozen and a half friends show up with their cars. On one hand, it was overwhelming to think that we had not seen each other in over a year and half. On the other hand, like the long-term companions we are, we fell right back into our lively repartee and wasted no time in catching up with each other, while those who procured new rides since our last drive enjoyed showing them off.

Hagerty and CarPark co-sponsored the other drive event along with Dunkin’ Donuts, the basic concept centering around a morning of driving to and meeting up at several Dunkin’ Donuts stores, with the chance to win some giveaways. I had alluded to this event in our own Cars & Coffee invitation, but frankly was expecting at most 10 or 20 other cars. The actual turnout was 3 to 4 times that, with a nice mix of older and newer exotics, including rarities ranging from a Ford Model T fire truck to a Sterling 825.

The breakfast line got a bit long at times, but mask-wearing and social distancing appeared to be at 100% compliance while inside. Outside was much less of a concern; we became unmasked, but our usual bear hugs were on postponement until a later date.

There was no driving element on this occasion as we knew that time for us to mingle and swap stories would need to take precedence. What surprised me was how much more enjoyable I found this arrangement. Rather than be tied to a table, I was free to wander from subgroup to subgroup, and ended up chit-chatting with more of the guys than otherwise. My drive event co-planner and I are already intending to include a Cars & Coffee event on our rotating schedule for the Sunday Morning Breakfast Group.

I was so distracted by seeing old friends and meeting new ones (talkin’ about you, the young couple in the Suzuki Cappuccno) that I simply failed to photograph every car in the lot. However, the ones that did make it into my Sony are below. Final note about the photos: WordPress seems to have changed the method to see full-size versions of them. For full-screen versions, right-click on the picture, select “Open Image in New Tab”, and then click on the picture again.