August 17, Friday – Marti’s Day; AACA Museum, Conclusion; Amanda Is Visiting

What in the world was that sound so early in the morning?  Could it be?  Unfortunately, it was.  An alarm clock.  Perish the thought.  It would not be denied so might as well get up.  We needed to be up and out early since Marti needed to be at the groomer in Hagerstown by 8:30 am.  The ride would take an hour and a bit.  So, time to get going.

We made it in time and now Marti has a whole new look.  But he was not done.  We also had an appointment for him with Amanda’s vet.  We needed to find out what was really going on with him.  Long story short, he is in pain due to his arthritis and appears to have an anxiety disorder. In so many words he is getting old and his age is beginning to catch up with him.  In terms of the vet bill, he beat out the bill for the transfer switch.  Difference is I’m getting money through my extended warranty for the switch.  Wonder if I could submit some type of claim for him?  I guess to do so I would have to get really creative!  Ah well, it is what it is.

The day proved to be as bad as yesterday, that is hot and humid.  Later in the day the rain once again came down by the bucket full.  As of now there is a lull in the action but not for long.  More thunderstorms are on the way according to the weather report.

Today we have company for the weekend.  Our daughter Amanda has come for a visit.  She lives only an hour away from where we are right now so whenever we are in this part of the country she tries to spend a few days with us.  We really enjoy her company and look forward to her visits.  I think.  Only kidding.

Let’s go back to the AACA Museum and finish it up tonight.  We begin with this 1968 Mustang named Eleanor which is the only Mustang to receive star title credit in a movie.  The movie was the 2000 film Gone in 60 Seconds.

Begun in 2006 it took 4 years to complete with an investment of over 3,000 hours.  It features a custom fiberglass body with steel side scoops and is painted in pepper-grey Glasurit.  The interior is fitted with custom leather and has an honest to goodness 200 mph speedometer.

Power is from a 427 engine developing 571 HP using an aluminum block plus a long list of special performance features.  Glad I don’t have to change the spark plugs on this one!

Next up was a 1938 Autocar 1200 gallon tanker.  It had a six cylinder 38 horsepower engine.  The company started in 1897 and added commercial vehicles to their lineup in 1907.  In 1911 they discontinued their pleasure cars and built trucks from then on.  The company is still around and is the oldest surviving nameplate in America.

Here is one for you.  It is the Tucker Tiger.  Built by the Tucker Company it had a Packard V-12, a weight of 10,750 pounds, a 37 mm Machine Gun and a top speed of 114 MPH.

The gun turret moved up and down and through a complete circle.  Our government

declined to offer a contract because they stated it was too fast.  What?  The gun turret, though, was ultimately used in a number of wartime applications.

Moving to the next floor we began our tour of the The Museum of Bus Transportation.

The first auto on display was the 1941 Lincoln Zephyr Custom Ambulance.  This vehicle began life as a four-door, 7 passenger limo.  This is the only surviving ambulance of the 295 that were built.

Next up is a 1912 White Truck.  This is the oldest running motorcoach in the world and the first motorcoach purchased by Trailways.  It is 20 feet long, about 9 feet high, and hasa seating capacity of 21 plus the driver.

This is a 1924 White Bus and was originally operated by the Yellowstone Park Company.  The park started buying these open touring cars in 1917 and a large number were purchased for touring in the park until White went out of business.

Then how about this? Hostess Service on a Bus!

We move now to the Museum Storage Shed called Jim’s Place.

Here is where they store recent donations and cars that will be moved eventually out on the display floor.  They rotate cars on and off about every six weeks so the display is constantly changing and always fresh. This is what you see as you first walk into the building.

One of the first and really interesting cars here is this 1912 Cadillac Model 30 Touring

This is the year that Cadillac introduced the first production car with an electric self starter.  This car features the original leather seats and had only two owners.  Another interesting feature, check out the tires below.

One of the more unusual vehicles here was this 1955 Flajole Custom Coupe built by Bill Flajole who transformed a Jaguar XK-120 engine and chassis into his vision of the future.  The car had a retracting tinted Plexiglas roof, headrest bucket seats and fender coves which Chevy later used on the corvette.

By the way note the rear view mirror.  When the clear top was on you had to look through the top to use it.  Here is a picture of the interior, really nice.

Here is a rather interesting vehicle, a 1924 REO Funeral Hearse.  It is rumored to have been cleverly used to secretly transport alcohol during Prohibition.  At some point it was beautifully restored as a mobile party vehicle with the coffin inside serving as a wet bar.

We end with this a 1910 Brush Model D Runabout that was powered by a single cylinder engine with coil springs at each corner and a wooden frame.  It climbed Pikes Peak in under eight hours, crossed the American continent with no problems and finished the 2,636 mile Glidden tour in good shape.  This was a barn find which after restoration received numerous AACA awards.

Once again I’ve only touched on just a few of the more unusual vehicles in the storage shed and the museum as a whole.  There are just too many to post in a blog.  Again, let me encourage you sometime in the future to take the time to visit the museum for yourself.  You will not regret the decision to do so.  Caution, leave at least 2 hours for a visit, even more if you are going to the storage shed.

So night is here and it is time to wrap things up.  Since Amanda is sleeping in the living room, which is just off the computer room I need to finish up so she can get some sleep.  Again, thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoyed the tour of the museum with us.  We had a great time, more so because like always we did it together, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.  In closing I leave you with this thought to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before