2018 Grand National Meet Report

By Ken Bounds

Early Ford V-8 Club Grand National Meets are something special; they only come around once every five years.  With two exceptions, they have all been held in the hometown of Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan.  June marked the 115^th year of Ford and the 55^th Anniversary Homecoming of the Early Ford V-8 Club.  After nearly two years of planning, the time was finally here in mid-June to head for Dearborn.  The Northern Illinois Regional Group did so in a big way with over 40 in attendance bringing 16 Early V-8s.  (See full list of our group’s attendees at the end of this article.)  We were part of the 345 registrations, 677 attendees, and 186 vehicles at the meet.

This Road Chatter article about the Grand National Meet is a little different.  For past National Meets with such a large participation by our group, the Road Chatter article is typically about a long, gleaming line of Early V-8s heading for the Meet, along with tales about what we all did at the Meet.  With the deep involvement that Carolyn and I had with the meet, we didn’t get to travel with many members and did not spend much time together with our group on site.  Therefore, this article will mention just a couple of highlights and show a few pictures. 

As far as we know, all of our Early V-8s made it to and from Dearborn without incident, except for Tom O’Donnell’s balky Mercury.  A highlight has to be the incredible showing by Scott Gilday of his 1947 Station Wagon that we recently witnessed the restoration of in pictures.  I’m proud of our ten local members who stepped up to be judges and for those who submitted their vehicles for judging.  I hope both were rewarding experiences.

We heard many stories of great times our members had at Ford’s Garage, the Piquette Avenue Tour, the Greenfield Village Picnic day, the Rouge Factory Tour, and other opportunities to see “Ford” sites in Dearborn.  I’m sure there was plenty of tire kicking in the parking lot as well.  We were happy that we got to spend a little time with our Oklahoma NIRG family.

We would like to thank the incredible group of volunteers from across the country who helped Carolyn in registration and in the tab room.  Special thanks to NIRG members Robin Emmering, Dawn & Gary Osborne, Dee & Pat Maroney, Marisa Claybaugh, Paula Baughn, Este Scheve, Colleen Steck, and Dawn Zulas.  Also thanks to Jeff Trilling, Dawn Zulas, and George Zulas for assisting with the Operational Check.  Jeff even took a shift in merchandise sales.

Perhaps we can all get together in the near future and discuss meet experiences.  Better yet, maybe someone will submit an article about the Grand National Meet from their perspective.

Congratulations to NIRG Award Winners, Shown Below

Scott Gilday, 1947 Ford Station Wagon - Dearborn (998 points!); Dan Pudelek, 1950 Ford Crestliner  - Dearborn Medallion and license tab; Ron Steck, 1941 Ford Station Wagon - 1st Place Concourse

John Emmering, 1951 Ford Ford Fordor - 2nd Place Concourse; Pat Maroney, 1936 Ford Fordor, 2nd Place Concourse; Carolyn Bounds, 1951 Mercury Sport Coupe - Dearborn Emeritus; Ken Bounds, 1950 Ford Crestliner - Dearborn Emeritus;

Dick Livingston, 1938 Ford Standard Coupe - Rouge Medallion; Joe Baughn, 1946 Ford Coupe - 2nd Place Touring; Ron Steck, 1940 Ford Pickup - 1st Place Touring;

Frank Koeder, 1939 Ford Convertible - 3rd Place Touring A; George Zulas, 1940 Ford Tudor - 3rd Place Touring A; John Scheve, 1947 Ford Coupe - 1st Place Touring A. 

Not present at the banquet - Sam Van Bruggen, 1940 Ford Standard Coupe - Dearborn Emeritus; Jeff Trilling, 1952 Ford F-1 Pickup - 1st Place Touring A.

 Full List of Attendees from the Northern Illinois Regional Group

Joe & Paula Baughn - 1946 Ford Coupe, Carolyn Bounds - 1951 Mercury Sport Coupe, Ken Bounds - 1950 Ford Crestliner, Rick & Marisa Claybaugh - 1934 Ford Fordor, John & Robin Emmering - 1951 Ford Fordor, Scott & Nicole Gilday with daughters Reese and Cienna - 1947 Ford Station Wagon, Frank Koeder - 1939 Ford Convertible, Paul & Joanne Linzer, Dick & Linda Livingston with son Joseph, daughter Sara and friend Alex - 1938 Ford Standard Coupe, Pat & Dee Maroney - 1936 Ford Fordor, Tony Mireles, Tom O'Donnell with son Steve and granddaughter McKenna, Gary & Dawn Osborne - driving Ron Steck's 1941 Ford Station Wagon, Dan & Diane Pudelek - 1950 Ford Crestliner, John & Este Scheve - 1947 Ford Coupe, Joe & Delice Serritella, Ron & Colleen Steck - 1940 Ford Pickup, Jeff Trilling and daughter Maya - 1952 Ford F-1 Pickup, Sam Van Bruggen - 1940 Ford Standard Coupe, and George & Dawn Zulas - 1940 Ford Tudor.