On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, members of the NJ Region of the AACA gathered at the Long Valley (NJ) Brew Pub for lunch and conversation. These mid-week meetings started earlier this year and are chaired by Abe, one of our more active club members. While previous luncheons had started with a brief tour from a common meeting point to the destination, this one omitted the drive, which for me was a disappointment. However, the collection of special-interest automobiles, combined with the group’s camaraderie, made up for that deletion.
As many of you know, I love to drive my Alfa Romeo (15,000 miles and counting during twelve years of ownership), and I did get to enjoy a spirited run up and back on Route 517 between Oldwick and Long Valley. This was a road made for a lightweight sports coupe with a high-revving engine.
With the Alfa in third gear, at 40 to 50 mph the engine was turning between four and five grand. At this speed and in this gear, the motor responded instantly to the slightest touch of the accelerator pedal. Both hands stayed on the wheel with eyes glued forward, and I was “in the zone.” I could have driven back and forth on that winding asphalt all day long.
Where was I? Oh, lunch. We had over a dozen AACA members and significant others, arriving in a variety of mostly American cars of the ‘50s through ‘80s. The only other import besides my Italiana macchina was Doug’s immaculate 1991 Miata, a special-edition model in what Mazda called British Racing Green. Other cars included a ubiquitous ’57 Chevy, a Ford Granada, a downsized but still-large ‘80s Cadillac, a Mustang convertible, and an ‘80s Mercury Cougar.
A pair of greens
The restaurant was not crowded, and the service and food were exemplary. I’ve been to this Brew Pub many times before, and have always enjoyed the experience. I know that Abe, the event’s chairperson, has two more luncheons on the calendar for this year. I will do my best to join one or both of them before storing my steed for the winter.
Ford GranadaMercury CougarAlfa RomeoFord MustangBig Caddy1957 Chevy
Which cliché do you prefer? “Wait ‘til next year.” “We can’t control the weather.” “The show must go on.” “It is what it is.” “This is how we’ve always done it.” Frankly, I am out of explanations why the NJ Region of the AACA continues to remain locked onto the first Sunday in May as the day for our biggest and only official car show of the year, and does not consider a rain date. A little background: for as long as anyone can remember, this show, formally called the Spring Meet, had been held in the vast parking lot of the Automatic Switch Company in Florham Park. There was an understanding that the lot was there for the club’s use every year. In fact, I knew of the show (colloquially called “Automatic Switch”) years before I joined AACA. But 2015 was our last year there, as the company shuttered operations in the U.S. and moved offshore.
The scramble was on for a new location, and the Mennen Arena in nearby Morristown, an indoor sports venue, was selected. One issue was that we would be sharing the lot with people attending events at the Arena. The lot also was completely covered with solar panels, seen as an advantage should it be hot and sunny, as the panels would provide shade. This brings up the next issue: We were at the Mennen Arena for four years, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and it rained every year. The panels became a source of water dripping on our cars and ourselves.
COVID meant no shows for 2020 and 2021, but for 2022, we had a new location: a school parking lot in Denville. It was sunny that year and we had a decent turnout, but the lot was not visible from any highway, and I think the club wanted the possibility of “drop-in” attendees and spectators from those who were driving by. In 2023, for the first time, we used a car dealer’s lot. Nielsen Dodge on Route 10 in East Hanover agreed to host, which meant that dealer personnel spent all of Saturday evening moving cars from their front lot to provide room for us. The weather that year was sunny, and we had a such a good show that all parties agreed to return for 2024, which may have been the wettest Spring Meet I’ve ever attended. For 2025, the Nielsen franchise wanted to share the wealth, so they offered us the lot at their Ford dealer in Morristown (which is not located on a major thoroughfare). That show was yesterday, May 4, 2025, and it rained again.
Nielsen Ford hosted this year
I heard an unofficial count of 33 show cars on the ground (including my Alfa, which I drove in the wet last year as well). In its heyday at Automatic Switch, I was told that the Region could regularly attract over 200 cars. The lower turnout can also be partially attributed to competition from an increased number of local car shows, and I will cite a lack of venue consistency (The Ford dealer is the fourth different locale in the last ten years) which may keep non-members and spectators away. Still, there cannot be anyone involved with the NJ Region who sees this as a successful trend. My personal suggestion would be to find a lot that does not involve moving automotive inventory, and schedule the show for a Saturday, with the following day as a rain date. There will be a postmortem at our June meeting. It should be an interesting discussion.
By mid-morning, some rows were filling in
Let me bring up some happy news about this year’s show. Regional members who volunteered to work the event were there in droves. I want to especially call out Chairperson Pete, Registration Chair Vince, Chief Judge Craig, Sarah at Registration, Trophy Chair Jerry, all 16 (!) volunteer judges, and the Admin Team who tallied the results. There were many other helping hands. The conditions on the ground did nothing to dampen the effort and enthusiasm they brought to the day.
Oh, and there were cars! I dodged raindrops to photograph as many as I could. Scroll down below to see the vehicles driven to the event by the brave souls who refused to let a little moisture dissuade them from participating.
PRE-WAR
1934 LaSalle
1936 Packard
1936 Chevrolet
1932 Dodge
1930 Ford Model A
MUSTANGS
1997 Mustang
1969 Mustang
1965 Mustang
EUROPEAN
Triumph TR6Triumph Stag
Ford Fiesta
My friend Andy next to his BMW Z4
My 1967 Alfa Romeo
CADILLACS
1973 Eldorado
1965 Eldorado
1973 Coupe DeVille
2014 CTS V Wagon
FIFTIES
1956 Fprd
1957 Dodge
MODIFIED MUSCLE
1961 Chevy Impala
1973 Plymouth Road Runner
THE REMAINDER
1995 Chevy Cavalier
1978 Ford Granada
1971 Continental Mark III1986 Chevy Camaro2000 Pontiac Grand Prix
The Ides of March seemed to be an ideal date for the Reinas to host an AACA judging seminar at our home. As we did last year, we opened the invitations to all members of the NJ Region, and eighteen replied in the affirmative. Instead of breakfast (my wife is still trying to clean the frying pan of scrambled eggs), we offered lunch, and relied on our local Wawa, all of two miles up the street, to provide an assortment of hoagies (heroes, grinders, subs).
Craig Kunz reprised his role as Chief Judge and motored to the event in his 1966 Oldsmobile F-85, although he expressed disappointment that the morning dampness and fog nixed his original choice of wheels, his 1929 LaSalle. But the Olds looked great in my garage! Dick and Bobbi Bettle arrived in their Lotus Elan, and along with my Alfa Romeo, this gave Craig three different cars to use for training purposes.
It fits! Just barely…
Instead of hanging out in the garage, yours truly headed up the all-female Administrative Team (lucky me) in our living room. Our challenges will be to help oversee the 40-point judging sheets for 150+ cars and help the judges tally scores to award first, second, and third place awards in all sixteen judged classes. As opposed to AACA judging at the National level, our Region adds its own classes such as Class 16, “Modified vehicles to (the year) 2000,” and Class 17, “Modern Classics, 2001 to current.” Another challenge is correctly identifying “modified,” so that was discussed with the team.
Looks stock, but in fact is heavily modified
By one o’clock, everyone’s stomach announced that training should cease and dining should commence, so into the kitchen we went, for the aforementioned hoagies, plus chips, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and hot and cold drinks. But we can’t forget dessert! Since the previous day was Pi Day, Bobbi Bettle brought not one, not two, but three pies in honor of Pi. Needless to say, the pies (along with two 12-cup carafes of coffee) were scarfed up in minutes. We had a great turnout, which we hope gives us a sufficient number of judges for our Annual Spring Meet car show to be held on Sunday, May 4, at Nielsen Ford, 170 Ridgedale Ave., Morristown, NJ. Put it on your calendar!
As they did last year, the Bettles of Florham Park hosted around two dozen members of the NJ Region of the AACA at their home for a seminar on the finer points of show car judging. There were several twists compared to 2024. First, the family 2000 Saturn station wagon is now, at twenty-five years of age, AACA-eligible, so it was moved into the garage and used as the target vehicle. And in addition to the vehicular judging, a separate seminar was conducted upstairs on the administrative side of the judging juggernaut.
Our Regional V.P. Craig, as he did last year, assumed Chief Judge duties while we wait for a dear Regional member to recover from an extended illness. Craig had this to say at the end of the technical session: “… repetition of the discussion of what and how to judge is always beneficial for judges. My eyes were opened a bit because judging the engine compartment of a car only 25 years old car is not the same as judging a 60- or 90-year-old engine compartment…. There’s a lot of technology stuffed under the hood, and … recognizing authentic is a lot more complicated now.”
Is it all original? How is a judge to know?
Meanwhile, yours truly helped oversee the administrative brainstorming, which focused on doing a better job of keeping the registration line moving, accurately identifying which cars belong in which class, and ensuring that those cars are correctly parked in those classes. The biggest issue will be the tallying of the scores. The Region has 17 AACA classes, plus classes for modifieds and moderns. Each class potentially has a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. Within the space of three hours or less, the entire judging team must correctly identify up to sixty trophy winners, based on numerical scores assigned by the team.
Craig and I agreed that the biggest takeaway of the day was the greater number of Regional members who expressed a willingness to volunteer on show day. At the conclusion of the separate meetings, we all headed toward the kitchen for a delicious self-serve lunch of ham, lasagna, meatballs, sausage and peppers, and dessert. As our President Paul has pointed out more than once, we get a better turnout at these things when food is involved!
The crowd arrives and signs in
Craig (facing camera on right in light blue shirt and cap) is about to start the meeting
John P, using Saturn door as armrest, ably assisted Craig with his deep knowledge of AACA judging
“The ‘judged’ stickers go on the placard, NOT ON THE CAR’S HEADLIGHTS!”
Although it wasn’t used for judging, our host owns this very nice Lotus
The lady of the house generously provided more than enough food for all
Dining Room #1 held these hungry campers
The folks at Dining Room #2 were smart enough to sit close to the food
To quote Mark Twain, “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” And he didn’t live in New Jersey! A few days ago, we hit a daytime high of 89 degrees F; on Sunday May 5, the day of our one and only judged car show (The Spring Meet), it was 50 degrees F and windy, with intermittent showers. The inclement weather resulted in a less-than-ideal turnout of show cars, yet the good members of the NJ Region were there in significant numbers. For the first time ever, it appeared that we had more judges than we had cars to judge!
We were expecting most of these spots to be filled.
I had pre-registered my ’67 Alfa Romeo, and spent most of the week detailing it, so I was determined to make the 40-mile drive to East Hanover no matter what the forecast. As was done last year, the dealer on Route 10, Nielsen Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram, hosted the show for us, and shuffled their considerable inventory to make room. Upon my arrival, I was directed to park in the class I had registered for, HPOF (Historical Preservation of Original Features), which by the rules of the NJ Region is a “Do Not Judge” class. But it quickly became apparent that of the 17 or so classes, many would remain vacant, while the other classes had only one or two cars in attendance. Within a few minutes, the Chief Judge asked me if I would be willing to move my car to Class 7, where my Alfa would be the only judged car. I agreed with the request; there was another car in that Class (coincidentally belonging to the Chief Judge) but it was labeled as a “Do Not Judge” car.
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and … Cadillac?
Given the small number of vehicles and the large number of judges, many judging a show for the first time, it was decided that ALL of the judges would move from car to car together and judge via consensus, with final point values resting with the Chief Judge. This turned out to be a fun exercise, very similar to the two Judging Schools that the Region conducted earlier this year.
Class judging, meaning, the whole class judges together!
An eye-opener for me occurred when several vehicles which were alone in their class were awarded a “Second Place” trophy. The rationale given was that the point deduction totals were large enough that at a National level, the car would not have attained a First Place award. (Without diving too deeply into it, at AACA National events, cars are not judged against each other; rather, cars must meet a certain point threshold to earn a First or Second place showing. This also allows more than one car per class to earn a First or Second.)
Judging started about an hour earlier than scheduled and moved along at a rapid clip. Tallies were completed by 12 noon, announcements were made, trophies were awarded, and the official closing curtain dropped on the 2024 NJ Region Spring Meet by 1 p.m. The Alfa won two (uncontested) awards: first in its Class, and an NJ Region Membership trophy for “Best Unrestored Car” in its class. Despite the lack of competition, I was honored and humbled to be so recognized. Only at the end of the show did the pace of precipitation pick up, and the ride home on Interstate 287 was less than fun (but not lacking in thrills). Yet I made the 40-mile trek in just under an hour and was able to safely tuck the Alfa away until next time.
The NJ Region of the AACA holds its biggest event of the year, the Spring Meet, every year on the first Sunday in May. This is a judged car show which at times has seen up to 250 vehicles in attendance. The cars are put into classes, and volunteer members of the Region perform the judging. Judges are arranged in teams of two, and with a dozen and a half classes to judge, the Region would ideally have 30 or more volunteers. As someone who has judged our Spring Meet for the last few years, I’ve seen how woefully short of that number we usually are.
In years past, our chief judge, Ed G., would hold a judging seminar a week or two before the Spring Meet. While well attended, the club still lacked the requisite number of volunteers. Several club members, including our new chief judge Anthony C., decided last year to expand the number of judging seminars. As covered in this recent blog post, the first such seminar was held at Dick B.’s house in late January. This month, your humble blogger agreed to play host. We started with a 9 a.m. breakfast (assembled by my most gracious wife, who allowed a dozen NJ Region members into her dining room), followed by a 10 a.m. start in the garage.
The seminar was again ably led by our “pro tem” chief judge Craig K, with my two cars, the ’67 Alfa Romeo and the ’93 Mazda Miata, as the objects of our collective scrutiny. The focus of the training exercise was “class judging”, with cars evaluated for correctness and condition in 4 areas (exterior, interior, engine compartment, and chassis). However, both of my cars are HPOF, “Historical Preservation of Original Features” and would not normally be subject to a point-by-point evaluation. Still, it was good practice for the Region members to analyze the cars on a 40-point scale (10 points for each of the 4 areas). I kept my lips zipped as horrors such as faded paint, door dings, a dirty bellhousing, a semi-opaque convertible window, worn upholstery, window decals (!) and other atrocities were critiqued. Still, on a 40-point scale, the group reached a consensus that each car earned a total point score in the low-to-mid 30s. Similar to what we learned last time, each “defect” would result in only a ½ or 1 point deduction out of 10 available points. The goal should not be to deduct as many points as possible, but to treat each deduction relative to the 10 available points. A car would need to be in very poor condition for it to earn a loss of 7 or 8 points out of 10.
We finished up around 12 noon, and Craig and I were pleased to see a number of new faces in the crowd. Attendance at a judging seminar is not a commitment to judge, but it certainly is our hope that with 2 training sessions done and a third one scheduled for April, we should see an uptick in volunteers at our May Spring Meet.
Craig (in blue jacket) begins the session
The Alfa was judged first
Each participant was invited to judge each section of the car
Craig reminds the crowd to not touch the car without the owner’s permission!
Chassis judging requires someone willing to get down on all fours
Points were lost for “non original” window decals seen here in upper left
Trainees correctly noted that in some areas, newer Miata lost more points than older Alfa
Correct judging position requires that convertible top be up
The NJ Region of the AACA participated in a display of special interest cars at the Bright View Senior Living Facility in Warren NJ on Sunday Oct. 22, 2023. The Region has hosted or co-hosted a number of these type of events throughout the Garden State. Facility residents are invited to come outside and enjoy viewing the older cars, while the facility supplies lunch and snacks for car owners and residents alike.
1933 Pontiac at front of facility
The car count was strong at this one: 22 vehicles in all, most of them AACA-original spec cars. Several custom, modifieds, and “hot rods” were also displayed. As usual for an AACA showing, there was a wide spread of makes and model years. The oldest vehicle among the stock cars was a 1933 Pontiac, closely followed by a 1938 LaSalle. A beautiful 1953 Cadillac was also on display, as were a large number of models from the ‘60s through ‘90s.
A nice variety
The day was sunny if a bit breezy; in other words, a great autumn day. The event ran from 12 noon to 3 p.m., and the instant feedback from organizers was that the cars were greatly appreciated by the residents.
The NJ Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) held its “annual” car show on Sunday May 1, 2022, at a new location: the Lakeview Elementary School in Denville, NJ, immediately off Route 10. The word “annual” is in quotes because the last few years had proven to be a challenge to actually hold the show, either due to poor weather or due to Covid. My blog posts clearly document the lousy atmospheric conditions in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The pandemic wiped the 2020 and 2021 shows off the calendar.
The 2016 to 2019 events were held at a new location for us, the Mennen Arena in Morristown, and I had, on multiple occasions, made it clear to those who would listen that this was not a great spot for a car show. As much as I’m not superstitious, I also began to wonder if the spot was jinked.
The queue to enter the show field
There were no weather jinxes in play for this one. The day was near perfect: sunny, warm but not hot, with a few stray clouds high overhead. Compared to the wet years, when turnout barely got above two or three dozen, there were well over one hundred vehicles at this year’s event. Most of the vehicles were in classes numbered by decade and were judged to AACA standards (25 years or older, in stock, as-new condition). There were also classes for HPOF (Historical Preservation of Original Features, a non-judged class), as well as trucks, two-seat sports cars, Mustangs, modified vehicles through 1997, and ‘modern classics’ 1998 and newer. (Some of these classes are not officially recognized by AACA and are added to bring additional vehicles to the show, making all feel welcome.)
A partial view of the show field
FoMoCo chrome grilles glisten in the May sun
I was especially pleased to see the strong turnout of pre-war and immediate post-war (WW2 in both cases) vehicles. Despite what many think, interest in vehicles from this time period continues to be strong. For example, I had a delightful conversation with the owner of a 1929 Packard, who to me looked like he was perhaps in his late 30s/early 40s. He told me that this generation Packard had been his dream car since he was seven years old!
Registration Chair Vince had plenty of help this year
My 1967 Alfa Romeo, which ran without an issue, got me safely and soundly to the show and back. This was the first AACA event for my beloved Italian stallion since the Buffalo Farm Car Show in Flemington NJ in June of 2019. (It was the following month when the brakes failed, necessitating a complete overhaul, followed by a necessary carb overhaul.) My good friend and fellow club member Ed Geller, who owns multiple Alfas, parked his HPOF ’69 Spider next to my car, and we made for an attractive 1-2 Alfa punch.
A treat for the club this year was the addition of a new member who goes by the name “Gup” (don’t ask because I don’t have a clue) who has his own DJ business. He parked his heavily modified Ford rig about center stage, and spun the tunes all day. His ability to mix styles and genres meant that there no complaints that I heard about the music! In previous years, we broadcasted SiriuxXM “Forties on 4” or “Fifties on 5” through the PA, and it got monotonous. Gup was a great addition to this year’s festivities.
The Gup and his sound system truck
Below are photos of show cars which captured my attention. Since AACA requires judged cars to have open hoods and trunks, obtaining quality images can be a challenge. When the opportunity presented itself, I also tried to snap photos of cars which by virtue of their locations in the parking lot would allow a better framed composition.
1937 Buick
1940 Cadillac
1931 Lincoln
1985 Olds 442
1971 Chevrolet Camaro
1966 Olds F-85
1967 Buick Riviera
1968 Chevrolet Corvair
1969 Plymouth GTX
A brace of pre-war Fords
Featured car #1: 1929 Packard Phaeton
The Packard’s owner, a man perhaps in his 40s, told me that he wanted this style Packard since he was seven years old. His car had been restored in 1951, and was an award winner at that time, but then had been put into storage. When he bought it, the car required a thorough recommissioning, but he assured me that I was looking at paint that had been applied 71 years ago.
1952 Hudson Hornet
1953 Cadillac
Bob Smith with his 1950 Ford
1956 Dodge
1958 Nash Metropolitan
1967 Chrysler Imperial
1964 Ford Galaxie
1997 Ford Mustang
1988 Pontiac Fiero
1957 Ford Thunderbird
1974 Dodge Challenger
Featured car #2: 1993 Lotus Esprit
One does not see Lotus Esprits at many AACA events, so the appearance of this gorgeous white one grabbed my attention. Presuming that it had a V8 mounted amidships, the owner corrected me and said that the engine was a Lotus-engineered V4, and turbocharged to boot.
1961 Willys Jeep Station Wagon
1958 Chevrolet Corvette
Richard and his 1964 Buick Riviera
1963 Chrysler 300
1956 Chrysler
1950 Ford
1950 Buick
1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 Spider and 1967 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr
The New Jersey Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) has had a long tradition of holding summer tours. A tour, as compared to a rally such as the New England 1000, is conducted under much more relaxed circumstances. Tours typically involve leisurely drives along country roads to visit local attractions. Tour participants have the option to caravan together or to follow their own timetables. Planned stops will include sights like museums, parks, and of course eateries. (Rallies require more spirited driving and may encompass TSD [time, speed, distance] measurements of your ‘performance’ versus your fellow competitors.)
Having never partaken of a NJ Regional tour before, and continuing with my pledge to make up for the lost year of 2020, I signed up for my Region’s summer tour, which was held from July 29 through August 2, 2021. A trend I’ve noticed in recent years with both tours and rallies has been to conduct them as “hub tours” or “hub rallies”, which is to say that participants stay at the same hotel for the duration (the hotel effectively operating as the hub), with daily drives heading out in different directions and returning to the same hub each evening. So it was with this event: the Hampton Inn in Sayre PA (a stone’s throw from the NY border) served as the hub hotel, while our daily drives took us into the Finger Lakes Region of NYS each day.
The weather was outstanding for all but one of the days we were in the area. Unfortunately, the one rainy day occurred on the same day as a planned boat ride on Lake Cayuga, which necessitated the cancellation of our water outing.
There were about 25 people on the tour, mostly Regional members; some folks brought along friends and family members, which was nice to see, and made for an even more diverse group. Of the approximately 12 couples that I counted, 6 drove modern iron, and 6 drove AACA-eligible cars. Excepting the 1930 Ford Model A driven by my friends Dick and Bobbi, the other AACA vehicles were all from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including my 1993 Miata (NOT the newest car on the tour!). A personal thrill was my first ride in a rumble seat, which was offered to me when Dick and Bobbi drove to dinner. (It was easy to get into and less easy to get out of; agility with one’s limbs is a helpful trait when entering and exiting such a conveyance.)
The tour ended on a Monday, and I skipped that morning’s visit to a windshield frame restoration shop as I needed to scoot home a bit early. Would I tour again? Most certainly I would. It’s an additional and wonderfully relaxing way to indulge in the hobby. I would wish for a slightly more varied lineup of activities (not everyone prefers five museum visits in 2.5 days), but having helped organize and having participated in dozens of one-day and multi-day tours, I have great appreciation for the amount of work involved in planning such ventures. The NJ Region put in significant effort to make the event as enjoyable as possible for all.
The Corning Museum of Glass parked this Chevy pickup in its lobby and filled its bed with flowers made of glass; the flowers were available in the gift shop.
This automotive-themed display is from the Corning Glass Museum
A room from the George Eastman House
An engine-powered plane takes off from the Soaring Museum’s runway
This ’30s-era GMC pickup from inside the Soaring museum was used as a tow vehicle to bring gliders up to speed. Its winch held a rope attached to the glider, and there was a mechanism to disconnect the rope from the plane. In the event that failed, the guillotine was deployed to sever the rope!
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, Miata1978 Ford Granada1967 CamaroMercedes-Benz 500 SL
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 20th 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.
1971 Olds CutlassA 60-year span of automotive historyThis “A”, with modified engine, has no trouble cruising at highway speedsOwner 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.
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