MAY 2021 TUMBLEWEED CLUB OF NEW MEXICO
RG #79, EARLY FORD V-8 CLUB OF AMERICA, PO BOX 21538, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87154-1538
MEETS FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, 7:00 P.M., LOCATION TBD
PLEASE NOTE: All meetings include Show & Tell. Members are encouraged to bring items to share.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, May 4th, 7pm, Joiner Museum in Rio Rancho
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, May 11, 7pm by Zoom
BREAKFAST GROUP: Saturday, May 8, 8:30 am at Hello Deli - Journal Center on Jefferson
CLUB WEBSITE: Be sure to check out our website at www.abqfordflatheadv8.com Updated “current Information and calendar” is on the current information page. More club pictures are on the website.
FORD V8 FOUNDATION WEBSITE: Another interesting website to check out is www.fordv8foundation.org
EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICA WEBSITE: www.earlyfordv8.org
MAY MEETING
Hurray!! We will have an in-person meeting on Tuesday, May 4th at 7pm at the Joiner Museum in Rio Rancho. The address is 3650 State Hwy 528, Rio Rancho and is near the intersection of highways 528 and 550. Masks and social distancing will be the rule. In addition, for those not able to attend, we will also be airing the meeting on Zoom and will send that link by email before the meeting.
May Birthdays
Bob Napier (6) Betty Leupold (21)
2021 OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
President: Joe Abbin (roadrunnerengr@msn.com
Vice-President: R. Jeff Jackson (jbjaxun@gmail.com)
Secretary: Beth Jackson (jbjaxun@gmail.com)
Treasurer: George Abernathy (gabernathy@sunriseveterinary.com)
Director: Demetrio Lee (dmost_1@yahoo.com)
Director: Chris Joiner (amy2001tweety@hotmail.com)
Director: Larry Bost (LBost11@gmail.com)
Director: Vern Willan (willan10@msn.com)
Director: Roger Wilbur (rogerwilbur88@gmail.com)
Breakfast Group
For breakfast this month we will meet again at Hello Deli near the Journal Center on Jefferson on Saturday, May 8, at 8:30 am. Good food, fair prices and very nice indoor and patio dining. See you there!
President’s Message for May 2021
Joe Abbin
Hooray! We will have an in-person meeting on May 4! The Covid numbers have greatly improved, many of us have been vaccinated, and the restrictions for Bernalillo and Sandoval counties have eased. The Joiners have graciously offered their former museum site for our May meeting. We will give that a try and decide on suitability for future meetings. The location of the museum is 3650 State Hwy 528, Rio Rancho, 87144 (near the intersection of highways 528 and 550 in Rio Rancho/Bernalillo (turn east on Montoya - between Walmart and McDonalds - and then left on Christopher Way). Masks and social distancing will be the rule. In addition, Zoom board meetings have worked well and we will also use that format at our in-person meeting to better include our out of town members (thanks to Vern Willan). Wow! We are so modern.
The program subject is “Buying and Selling a Collector Vehicle”. It will be a panel discussion featuring the Joiners discussing live auctions, the Clements discussing eBay and Craig’s list and Kathleen McCaughey discussing Hemmings and Bring-a-Trailer online auctions. Instructions for joining the meeting will be provided beforehand. If we have time, we will have a slide show from the January Scottsdale Worldwide auction.
As always suggestions for future speakers and activities are welcome.
We will have a Zoom board meeting on Tuesday, May 11, at 7:00 pm. Instructions for joining the meeting will be provided beforehand.
NEWSLETTER NOTE
Members are encouraged to submit articles, ads and photographs for inclusion in the newsletter. Please understand we have a volunteer Newsletter Editor so try and submit typed and proofed articles, comments, and new want ads. The deadline for submissions is the 20th of the month. Beth Jackson, 505-908-7564, or email: JBJaxun@gmail.com
Minutes of the V8 Club Board Meeting - April 20, 2021
Joe Abbin, Vern Willan, Jeff and Beth Jackson, Larry Bost and Demetrio Lee formed a quorum for the meeting.
The club meeting on May 4th will be held in person, using masks and following social distancing guidelines. It will be held at the Joiner Museum building in Rio Rancho.
After some discussion, it was decided to have the program on Buying and Selling cars at an auction, using a panel of members and friends who have actually used that option to buy and sell. Joe also has videos from the latest auction he attended. Chris Joiner, Kathleen McCaughey, Joe Abbin, the Clements family and Kenny and Karen Campbell were all mentioned as possible panel members. Joe will do some contacting to find willing participants. It was also suggested that members might talk about how they have survived the past year during the pandemic.
Joe also has some videos from Ford Racing that would make a good program sometime.
Joe mentioned that he and Gary will have a couple of Flathead engines on the Dyno this weekend (April 23 and 24).
The second Saturday in May, we will meet for breakfast at 8:30 am at Hello Deli at 7600 Jefferson. Joe will check with Roger Wilbur to see if Larry Icerman is up for a garage tour in Santa Fe which would be a nice outing for the club. Also, David Malcolm has a nice museum which might be a good location for an outing.
Philip Lovato is hosting a Feed New Mexico Benefit on Saturday, May 1. Meet at Philip and Sons Shop, 2501 Aztec NE at 7:30 am with food or cash donation and depart at 9am for Mountainair and lunch at the Mustang Diner.
Demetrio suggested that the club might join with the Drifters for some events. The Drifters are a young group who do lots of community charity events and could learn a lot from the experts in our club.
Our club was asked to join the local VCCA chapter on a tour of northern New Mexico from 9/30-10/2 based in Taos. It will be called the Jay Hertz Memorial Area 6 Fall Tour. The board agreed it would be a good event and it will be suggested to the club to support this event.
The meeting was adjourned. Thanks to Vern for setting up the Zoom meeting.
Secretary, Beth Jackson
Motor Trend 1955 vs. 2021 Joe Abbin
I have a mini-collection of magazines from 1955, including Motor Trend and others. I also received my May 2021 issue of Car and Driver. Both the Motor Trend and Car & Driver magazines are focused on auto enthusiasts with what’s new articles, road tests, ads, etc. only published 66 years apart.
In 1955, the big news was the phasing out of flathead and inline engines and the options of overhead valve V-8’s, automatic transmissions, and air conditioners in American cars. There was little info on imported cars, but photos of Porsche, Austin, Allard, Lagonda, Vauxhall, and MG occupied a few pages. 300 horsepower, 8:1 compression ratios, 100 mph top speeds and 20 second quarter mile times were big deals. The ads were mostly for performance and money saving “gizmos” and essentials like tires and batteries. No event ads, but some classified ads.
In contrast, the 2021 Car and Driver features mostly import brands including BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Kia, Volvo, Maserati, and Infiniti. Only American car getting space was Tesla in this issue. Some heavy tech info was presented on hydrogen cars, direct gas injection, and pre-chamber combustion systems. The disappearance of manual transmissions and V-8’s was lamented. 1000 horsepower engines, 11:1 compression ratios, 8-speed automatic transmissions, 200 mph top speeds, all-wheel drive and steering, electric cars, hydrogen fueled cars, all no big deal. Many ads were not really auto related, including knives, watches, jewelry, coins, and clothes. Advanced radar detectors were featured in a big ad. No classified ads.
VULCANIZED TIRES
ELECTRONIC VULCANIZATION is a war-born development that gives promise of 100,000 miles of life to postwar civilian tires, according to Popular Science. Heating time has been cut from some two hours to an average of 10 minutes, thus eliminating the danger of overheating outer portions of the rubber while bringing the inside up to the required temperature. As now designed, the device is a 500-pound portable military unit, but it may be used for civilian cars on the road. The vulcanizer consists of a ram and a frame, the former having an electrode coupled to a high-frequency generator. It applies “internal heat” for spot or section cures. Filler bags fitted in the ram and frame adjust themselves to tire contours and make molds unnecessary. The research was done by Lt. Col. C. W. Vogt of the Transportation Corps, and Eina Laska of the Lasko Company of Fitchburg, Mass.
From: Ford Times of February, 1946 Submitted by Joyce Clements
RECIPE OF THE MONTH SUBMITTED BY JOYCE CLEMENTS
OZARK LODGE, MISSOURI
This mountain resort is at Rockaway Beach on US 65, southwest of Springfield, on the shore of Lake Tanycomo, and is open year-round for hunters, fishermen, and other vacationers. Below is a recipe for a specialty of the Lodge.
Roast Opossum (stuffed)
1 opossum ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 chopped onion 1 hard-boiled egg
1 Tbsp fat 1 tsp salt water
1 cup bread crumbs Bacon
Rub the cleaned opossum with salt and pepper. Brown the
onion in the fat, add the opossum liver and cook until tender.
To this add the bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, egg and
salt water. Mix these ingredients thoroughly and stuff the
opossum with it. Then truss the opossum like a fowl and put
it in the roasting pan with bacon across the back and pour a
quart of water into the pan before placing the opossum in a
moderate oven. Roast uncovered, basting it every 15 minutes
until the opossum is tender (about two and a half hours).
The chef at the Lodge has found that this specialty of the
house is most popular, and he always serves his roast
opossum with ample helpings of sweet potatoes.
From Ford Times of April, 1947
NOTE: Gourmets say that the flavor of opossum is much
improved if it is caught live, caged, and fed peaches and
persimmons for a few weeks before cooking.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MAY
May 1 – Feed NM Kids Cruise to Mountainair – Phil Lovato – See flyer elsewhere in newsletter.
May 22 – Goldstar Memorial Car Show – Borman Autoplex, Las Cruces – Rich Lewis – (575)525-4556
JUNE
June 4-5 – 22nd Classic Car Show – Brandenburg Park, Red River, NM – RR Tourism Dept. (575)754-3030
JOKES OF THE MONTH
I never use turn signals, it’s nobody else’s business where I’m going.
I see people around my age mountain climbing, I feel good getting my leg through my underwear without losing my balance.
I’m so old I remember when Multiplication was called “Times Tables.”