TUMBLEWEED CLUB OF NEW MEXICO JANUARY 2013
RG #79, EARLY FORD V-8 CLUB OF AMERICA, PO BOX 21538, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87154-1538
MEETS FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, 7:30 P.M., OLD CAR GARAGE, 3232 GIRARD NEJANUARY
PROGRAM – PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR CAR
Bill Reider will demonstrate the art of automobile photography, including backgrounds, lighting, angles and
exposures. See Jay’s President’s Message for more details.
PLEASE NOTE: All meetings include Show & Tell. Members are encouraged to bring items to share.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, January 8, 7:30 p.m., Old Car Garage. (Please note new address, 3232 Girard
Blvd. NE).
BREAKFAST GROUP: The Breakfast Group will meet Saturday, January 5 at 8:30 a.m. at Rich Ford’s Mustang
Café, Wyoming and Lomas.
JANUARY ACTIVITY: January 20 – Tour of Ray Calderon’s house and a garage tour at Art & Betty Leupold’s.
See Jay’s January Activity article in this newsletter for more details.
CLUB WEBSITE: Be sure to check out our website at http://abqfordflatheadv8.com/
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, January 15, 8:00 p.m., Jay Hertz’ home, 8704 La Sala Del Sur, NE. Jay’s
home phone number is 296.3137. See article in this newsletter for details. All members are welcome. This will
be a planning session for 2013, so anyone who has an interest in Club activities is welcome to attend, along with the directors.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE FOR JANUARY 2013
Jay Hertz, President
Hello, All. We have a lot of cool activities planned to help make your January enjoyable.
We begin with Joe Abbin’s traditional New Year’s Day party from 1:00 until 5:00 p.m. Joe’s fantastic garage will be available for viewing, a treat not to be missed. Joe’s posole alone is worth the trip to his house, but he
always comes up with so much more. Hope to see all of you there.
Next, let’s all get together for breakfast on Saturday, January 5, at the Mustang Café at Rich Ford, beginning
at 8:30. It’s a good opportunity to discuss anything related to Fords and our club, and to visit with other old car enthusiasts. If you haven’t been to a breakfast at the Mustang Café, please join us and you’ll want to come back month after month.
Our next business meeting will be Tuesday, January 8 at Bob Agnew’s new facility, 3232 Girard N.E. The
program that evening will be presented by Bill Reider who will discuss and demonstrate the art of automobile
photography, including backgrounds, lighting, angles and exposures. Bill may be well known to some of you,
since he has been active in the old car restoration hobby for over 30 years in Albuquerque. You may not know, however, that Bill made his living in Chicago as a professional photographer, doing layout and photography in the auto industry. He is an engaging speaker. I don’t think we have ever had a presentation on car photography in our club before, so this is a chance to pick up some valuable pointers.
Our January activity will consist of touring two members’ homes/garages, both on Sunday, January 20.
Beginning at 1:00, we will gather at Ray Calderon’s house, 3113 Vermont St. N.E. to see his great collections
of auto-related memorabilia. Ray has the best collection of car-related literature and objects I have ever seen,
and he just keeps adding to it. I promise you will see things there you have never seen before. Then, around
2:00, we’ll drive to Art and Betty Leupold’s house, 4500 Piedra Blanca N.E. Art and Betty are always great
hosts, and their garage houses some fine treasures. In addition to a huge collection of Ford products, you can
see the state’s best collection of New Mexico license plates, not to mention Art’s Parts, tools, and historical
items.
Finally, anyone interested in helping plan the upcoming year’s activities and programs is invited to join the
officers and directors meeting at my house (8704 La Sala Del Sur, N.E.) at 8:00 p.m. on January 15.
Looking forward to a great year!
From the Club bylaws: The general purpose of this Regional Group shall be to preserve and authentically maintain Ford motor cars of the years 1932 through 1953 inclusive.
NOVEMBER 2012 MEETING MINUTES
by Larry Williams for Mark Williams, Secretary
The meeting was opened by President Jay Hertz.
Treasurer’s Report: Larry gave the report. Balance in Cash on Hand: $20.00; Balance in Checking Account:
$354.06; Balance in Savings Account: $5,294.34.
Swap Meet: Joyce said the swap meet was very successful. She said the Car Council will not be doing two
swap meets per year.
Thanks: Jay thanked the following members:
• Joe Abbin for his newsletter articles;
• Jeff and Beth Jackson for setting up the very impressive Club web site; and
• Mary Gorenz for coordinating the Christmas dinner party.
Bosque del Apache Tour: Jay reminded everyone of the November 24 Club activity, the tour to Bosque del
Apache.
Chimayo Tour: Joe reported, saying it was a great day, a nice trip and the Oviedos were good hosts.
Website: Jay said we need a manager for the web site. Jeff said that gathering information is more difficult
than inputting it. He volunteered to manage the web site, but he said he will need a contact person to answer
questions, especially emails. Joyce volunteered to be the contact person.
Old Car Garage Address: The Old Car Garage is moving to 3232 Girard Blvd. NE. The Club’s meetings will
resume in January at the new location.
Election of Officers: Nominated were Jay Hertz for President; Jeff Jackson for Vice President; Neva Coffee
for Secretary; Larry Williams for Treasurer; Joe Abbin, Dee Patterson and Max Glover for Directors. Those
nominated were unanimously approved and elected.
JANUARY 2013 CLUB ACTIVITY
January 20 – A House Tour and a Garage Tour
By Jay Hertz
Our January activity will consist of touring two members’ homes/garages, both on Sunday, January 20.
Beginning at 1:00, we will gather at Ray Calderon’s house, 3113 Vermont St. N.E. to see his great collections
of auto-related memorabilia. Ray has the best collection of car-related literature and objects I have ever seen,
and he just keeps adding to it. I promise you will see things there you have never seen before. Then, around
2:00, we’ll drive to Art and Betty Leupold’s house, 4500 Piedra Blanca N.E. Art and Betty are always great
2 hosts, and their garage houses some fine treasures. In addition to a huge collection of Ford products, you can see the state’s best collection of New Mexico license plates, not to mention Art’s Parts, tools, and historical items.
JANUARY 15, 2013 BOARD MEETING
By Jay Hertz
Hello, All. This is to let you know that we will be holding our January directors’/officers’ meeting on Tuesday,
January 15, at my house, 8704 La Sala Del Sur, NE (phone 296-3137) beginning at 8:00 p.m. It is near
Wyoming and Candelaria. From that intersection, go east and take the second left-hand turn bay, which is
General Stillwell. Go to the end of General Stillwell, which is only about four blocks. Where it ends, the house
on the right is mine. It is a corner house with a stop sign on the property. The entrance is on General Stillwell
even though the address is on La Sala Del Sur. I will serve refreshments. All members are welcome at our
Board meetings.
This will be a planning session for 2013, so anyone who has an interest in that is welcome to attend, along with the directors.
Next, we will be carrying over the following items as reported in the December newsletter that we discussed at the last directors’ meeting:
1. We will bring up for a vote in January the idea of purchasing a magnetic sign advertising the club, which we
can apply to any of the tour cars on upcoming tours.
2. We will bring up for discussion the creation of a video library to be housed with the printed club materials.
This would give members the ability to store their favorite car-related videos in a location that would be available to all members to check out.
3. We hope to have a professional photographer attend one of our next meetings to discuss how to best
photograph your cars, and upload them to our website. We earnestly solicit your photos to enhance the visual
appeal of our website and let viewers know the size and calibre of our collection of great old Fords.
4. We made a donation to the Early Ford V8 Foundation to honor Dick Precit’s memory. We will discuss at an
upcoming meeting the idea of doing that for other club members who pass away, such as Bert Loring.
2013 OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
President: Jay Hertz (jdhhag@comcast.net)
Vice-President: R. Jeff Jackson (jbjaxun@gmail.com)
Secretary: Neva Coffee (marvin.coffee@comcast.net)
Treasurer: Larry Williams (l-m-williams@comcast.net)
Directors: Joe Abbin (roadrunnerengr@msn.com)
Dee Patterson (patdcar@aol.com)
Max Glover (mfgjlg1995@aol.com)
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
Happy Birthday to:
14 Helen Hertz
15 Arlene Rimson
NEWSLETTER NOTE
Members are encouraged to submit articles and ads for inclusion in the newsletter, but please remember we
have space limitations. Article submissions may be reformatted for newsletter purposes, but they will not be
edited without the author’s approval. The deadline for submissions is the 20th of the month. Please contact
Micki Hughes, newsletter publisher, 505.359.3227, or email: tumbleweednewsletter@gmail.com.
1949 FORD TIMES ARTICLE
by Joyce Clements
From the June, 1949, issue of Ford Times comes this article about the new body shape
for Ford. A number of other manufacturers worldwide were also producing the new
“smooth fenderless” bodies. The factory and others called the new Ford, “The Car of the
Year”!
The World Changes Its Mind About Body Design Newer cars tell the story of a worldwide swing to a new body design in which front and rear fenders are incorporated into the body, allowing more passenger room and cleaner lines. Why did we wait so long for the mudguard to go the way of the whip-socket? Designers
have been trying desperately for years to make the fender something besides an eyesore
by giving it every shape known to nature and man – without success. The chief obstacle
was the cost of the huge presses capable of turning out a whole body as one unit. The old patchwork body
could be made in sections on smaller presses and then pieced together. Another obstacle was the scarcity of
service facilities for smoothing out dents and for patch-welding cuts and gouges in the body without too much costly hand labor. Before the days of the wrap-around bumper, fenders were really used as bumpers – and often wastefully junked because it cost more to repair them than to replace them.
Today hydraulic hammers are available that will reach the most un-get-atable places and, like the thumbs of a
22-ton Paul Bunyan, straighten out dents. New developments in welding are even more exciting. A new
portable electric welder, the result of cooperation between Ford service engineers and an independent
manufacturer, is about as big as a table radio and priced about the same. It can be plugged into any household electric outlet, and it’s such a fascinating gadget that you will be seeing it in home workshops as well as Ford and Lincoln Mercury service stations. The average overall cost of body repairs on the 600,000 '49 Fords now on the road is running about the same as for previous models. Our service engineers estimate that this cost is coming down about 25% with the use of the new equipment. Some designers feared that the public wasn’t ready for the new fenderless body design, but its reception has proven such fears groundless. In fact, the “new look” cars are now on the highways in such numbers that the others are beginning to suggest grandmother’s bathing suit. Most significant is the enthusiasm of the two groups which will have most influence in future public taste – the style-wise professionals and the younger generation. The attitude of the former was expressed in the Fashion Academy Award to the Ford as the “Fashion Car of the Year.” The attitude of youth was expressed by a 10-year-old boy: “If it’s got fenders, it’s a grandma.”
EARLY FORD V-8 FOUNDATION & MUSEUM
by Joyce Clements
Henry Ford III to Chair New Advisory Committee for the Early Ford V-8 Foundation
From the Sept-Oct, 2012 issue of Foundation News
The Foundation is honored to have Henry Ford III, the great, great grandson of Henry Ford, accept the honorary chairmanship of our new National Advisory Committee. Henry Ford is 31 years old. He has been a teacher, and began working for Ford Motor Company in 2006 in labor relations and also in purchasing. He went on to earn an MBA, then went to work for Galpin Ford in Los Angeles, to learn more about the business from a retail perspective. He is presently working in Ford’s Southern California District. An interview with him can be seen on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vulT5eBxcRg. It shows just what a good natured, down to earth guy Mr. Ford is. A real asset to Ford and now to the Early Ford V-8 Foundation.
Don’t forget the Foundation is seeking to increase membership. Individual memberships are $25 per year, and for the remainder of 2012, if you join, a buddy can join for free. It’s a two-for-one special! Find out more about the Foundation at www.fordv8foundation.org.
OTHER NEARBY ACTIVITIES
January 12 – Los Lunas Cruz – Wells Fargo Bank, Bosque Farms – 1:00pm – Bill Schofield (505)565-2105 or
vintagegasser@aim.com.
January 19 – Car Show/Swap Meet – Sun City, AZ – Sponsored by Automotive/Restoration Club of Sun City
West – Show entry $10, swap space $25 – Vehicles 1987 & older – Trophies, prizes, live entertainment –
lkmatley@gmail.com or www.scwclubs.com.
January 20 – Commemorative Holiday MLK March/Parade in Albuquerque – Starts 2pm – Cheryl Yazzie, 242-
6466.
For information/flyers about area events: http://nmcarcouncil.net/events-2/
2013 GRAND NATIONAL GOLDEN JUBILEE
The Early Ford V-8 Club will celebrate its 50th Anniversary at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, June 17-21, 2013. This is
the site of the first meet held by the founding members of the Club. It will be a big event, and the only National
Meet for 2013. Start thinking about attending, and get your Ford ready for the road. A registration form is in
this newsletter, or registration forms and information are available at www.earlyfordv8.org.