The NIRG Tour to the 2009 Central National Meet
Auburn, Indiana – August 28 to September 2, 2009
By Ken Bounds
 
Early Ford V-8 Club National Meets come around every year.  But sometimes they are extra special.  Not only was this year’s Central National Meet nearly in our back yard, it also was held in conjunction with the dedication of the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum.  An opportunity such as this is rare indeed.  Carolyn and I had another reason to be excited that the time for the Meet was finally here.  Not only had we registered and begun planning for the Meet over a year ago, we also volunteered our Northern Illinois Regional Group to print the Meet booklet and other supporting documents.  For the past few months we had been receiving information to be included in the booklet and sending various revisions to Foundation President Bill Tindall for review and approval.  We had also been working with Registration Chairman Pat Fenner to get the list of members and vehicles registered for the meet.  It was pretty neat to have a list of attendees before the meet!  After many revisions we completed printing of the final version less than two weeks before the meet.  We are grateful to Jerry Vincentini and Connie Francis for making a stop on their way to the meet to pick up and deliver the boxes of materials.
 
In a departure from our usual procedure, for this meet we skipped our traditional drivers’ meeting.  Instead we threw a surprise birthday party for Carolyn.  Nevertheless, all participants were provided with a detailed plan for our tour to the meet and some of the events planned while we were there.  On Friday morning, August 28, twenty members, spouses, and friends gathered at the Lincoln Oasis for our drive over secondary roads to Auburn.  At 9:00 a procession of gleaming Early V-8’s pulled onto the highway under cloudy but warm skies.  Our group included Carolyn Bounds – ’50 Crestliner, Ken Bounds – ’36 Roadster, Cliff Dixon with friend Gene Fehringer – ’46 Coupe, Earl & Gene Heintz – ‘51Mercury, Ernie & Terry Herzog – ’53 Coupe, Joe & Nell Kozmic – ’37 Coupe, Tom O’Donnell – ’40 Mercury, Joey Novak – ’40 Pickup, Dan & Diane Pudelek – ’53 Victoria, and Len & Irene Vinyard – ’39 Convertible.  Following the V-8’s in modern iron were Ron Blum, George & Betty Cech, and Neil McManus.
 
As soon as it was practical to get off the expressways, we made our way to U.S. Route 6, which provided a relaxing and scenic route most of the way to Auburn.  Our first stop was at Stauffer Park in Nappanee where we had reserved a shelter for a picnic lunch.  We had encountered some light showers along the way, but caught a break from the rain while we had lunch.  Then it was back on the road for a leisurely drive into Auburn, where we arrived about 2:00 p.m.
 
After checking in to the hotels, we made our way down to the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum for meet registration and for purchase of some raffle tickets.  It was a real treat for most of us to see the museum for the first time.  It has come a long way since last year’s Motorfest.  One very special treat in our meet bags was a participation plaque given to each registrant – a real touch of class!  We then took our cars over to the operational check area to get them approved for the concourse.  There we met with Northwest Indiana Group President Jim Brown.  Jim had earlier asked our group for assistance with the operational check because of the large number of  vehicles registered for the meet.  He told us that they had it under control Friday, but could use some help Saturday.
 
After spending a few hours visiting with V-8 friends from all over the country, our group went to dinner at a downtown Auburn brew-pub, Mad Anthony’s.  The verdict was split over the quality of the food, but the drinks were good!  On Friday evening and over the next couple of days, more NIRG members arrived at the meet:  Alan Wall trailered his ’32 Tudor; Garry & Joan Kelly arrived; our Oklahoma member Rick Claybaugh arrived with his brother Earl and his brother-in-law Joe, along with Rick’s ’34 Tudor; at the operational check we encountered Lin Stacey and were pleased to meet new members John & Barbara Slobodnik; joining us on the concourse was NIRG member Roger Hunz who had driven in the night before in his ’51 Tudor with son Bill; we also ran into members Doug Leicht and Paul Linzer on the concourse.
 
Saturday was a day filled with meeting more V-8 friends, cleaning up and detailing our Early V-8’s for Sunday’s concourse, checking out the fantastic swap meet and attending meetings.  Several from our group assisted in the operational check.  This proved to be quite interesting and enjoyable.  After the Foundation Meeting, the President’s Meeting, and the Owners/Judges Meeting, we all gathered back at the hotel for the drive over to the welcome party, which was something special.  In addition to a packed hall where 400 or so V-8 Club members enjoyed a terrific dinner, we also had run of the Auburn Cord Dusenburg Museum for several hours.  This museum is housed in an art-deco building which was the former Auburn Automobile Company’s national headquarters.  The collection is stunning.
 
Sunday – Concourse Day – arrived partly sunny, but very chilly for the end of August.  We drove down early to the display grounds adjacent to the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum, got our cars situated, and completed final detailing.  Several members of our group had volunteered to help assist other participants with parking their cars on the concourse.  Boy, did our feet get wet running around in the tall, damp grass.  The concourse was laid out very nicely, with judged cars in order at the front, all the Touring and Touring A cars, by class, next, followed by the Display Class.  The concourse field was huge with over 200 vehicles present.  What a terrific group of Early V-8’s.  One of the highlights was the stainless ’36 Tudor that many of us had seen, in very sad shape, on a trailer at Dearborn last year.  In just one year, this ultra-rare, one of four, V-8 had been restored to its former glory.  Owner Leo Gephart received a Dearborn award for the car.  It was a pleasure to talk to Mr. Gephart on the concourse and back at the hotel and to hear his many interesting stories.

Although there were a number of no-shows in the nearly 250 vehicles registered for the meet, I counted at least 214 on the concourse:  125 in the point-judged and Rouge divisions, 64 in the touring divisions, and 25 in display class.  This was one large Central National Meet – maybe the largest ever – and the quantity of cars was only outdone by the quality.  Photos taken from an airplane flown over the field recorded this great concourse for history.  We spent the day looking at and taking pictures of all the great V-8’s, enjoying conversation with fellow club members, and voting for our favorite touring cars.  Some had a little time for visiting the adjacent Kruse museums.  As the concourse was close to wrapping up, some of the ladies arrived by bus from their luncheon at the Bridgewater Country Club.  There they had a delightful presentation about the history of ladies undergarments.  They sure had some interesting stories to tell the guys.
 
After driving back from the concourse, we had a little time for tire kicking and relaxing at the hotel.  Actually, we did a lot of this at this meet – one of the best parts of every National Meet.  Most of us went to dinner at the nearby Ryan’s Buffet, then went back to the hotel for more storytelling and problem solving.
 
On Monday we were finally able to sleep in a little later before gathering for a driving tour to Shipshewana.  This was a relaxing, roughly 100-mile drive to visit the Eldon Hostetler Hudson Museum and have lunch at the Blue Gate restaurant.  The Hudson Museum was fabulous and is worthy of an article all by itself.  We were honored to have Eldon Hostetler himself as our tour guide.  The family-style lunch at the Blue Gate was terrific and the large dining room was jammed with hundreds of V-8 Club members.
 
After our drive back to Auburn and the now-familiar “hanging out” time at the hotel, we drove as a group to the Auburn Courthouse Square for a show & shine cruise-in.  Dozens of Early V-8’s were proudly displayed on three sides of the square, which were closed off to traffic.  A special feature of this event was a presentation of a certificate and medallion by National President Jerry Reichel to the owner of each ’34 Ford present as they celebrated their cars’ 75th anniversary.
 
Tuesday we had most of the day on our own.  Around 9:00 we drove down to the Foundation Museum to see if we had won any raffle prizes – several of our members did.  Next, Tom O’Donnell arranged for a private tour to V-8 Club member Greg and Sandy Rice’s collection near the Museum.  Several members of the Northwest Indiana group heard of our tour and drove along with us.  Greg & Sandy were gracious hosts and we were impressed with the number of his V-8’s that would have looked great on Sunday’s concourse.  From there we toured back downtown to see the auto and memorabilia collection of member Dick Foster.  He has a super collection, including several Early V-8’s, and was a pleasure to talk to.  Finally, most of us drove to a nearby restored gas station for a photo opportunity.
 
Tuesday afternoon brought a long-awaited event:  the dedication of the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum.  What had been only a dream for nearly two decades was now standing before our eyes.  After presentations by the dignitaries we entered the museum for a look around.  Of course, we had been here for several days, but now the museum was really open for business.  Our congratulations to Foundation President Bill Tindall, Architect Bill Fox, the Foundation Trustees, all its members, and to Jerry Windle whose vision is now a reality.
 
After the dedication we moved over to the nearby rotunda of the Kruse National Military History Center.  Several hundred V-8ers enjoyed a great meal, presentations by the meet hosts, followed by the awards presentations.  As the major raffle prizes were announced, we were happy that Cliff Dixon won a neat ’32 Ford hot rod pedal car.  The concourse awards were then presented, beginning with the Touring classes.  As former National President Tom Johnston called the winners, they were handed their trophies by National Chief Judge and Meet Co-Chairman Jerry Vincentini.  Each winner had a photo opportunity with National President Reichel.  We were delighted that each vehicle shown by a NIRG member came home with a trophy!  First place in Touring went to Ken Bounds, Rick Claybaugh, Cliff Dixon, and Joe Kozmic.  Second in Touring went to Dan Pudelek.  First place in Touring A went to Joey Novak.  Earl Heintz received a first-time Dearborn Award for his ’51 Mercury – congratulations Earl!  Ken Bounds and Tom O’Donnell received Dearborn Medallions while Len Vinyard received a Dearborn Emeritus Medallion.  Last, but not least, Ernie Herzog, Roger Hunz, and Alan Wall received Rouge Medallions.  What a haul!
 
A year of planning and anticipation comes to an end all too quickly.  After the last award is presented and the owners of point-judged cars scramble for their tally sheets, there is never enough time to say goodbye to all your V-8 friends.  But the time had come and say goodbye we did.  We hope to see many of them again next year, but the 2010 Eastern National Meet in Charlotte is only a glimmer and no meets are yet scheduled for Central or Western.  We would like to say “Thank You” to all the folks who worked tirelessly to put on a terrific National Meet.  We know that it takes a lot of dedicated people to pull off an event of this magnitude.  Your efforts were quite successful and are greatly appreciated.
 
Wednesday morning we loaded up the V-8’s and headed for home.  The 200 or so mile trip over the same route we had traveled to Auburn was quick and uneventful.  It was nice to know that our Flatheads had performed flawlessly over the entire trip.  Many of us were home by noon.  We probably need a little rest, but Charlotte is less than 10 months and 800 miles away!