Ice Cream & Cars

What a great combination, ice cream and a car show, all in a local setting. Earlier this year, while trying to find out if our favorite ice cream place in Ticonderoga was open yet, I discovered that the Wind-Chill Factory had opened up another restaurant in Ballston Spa, which is close to home. They advertised that they also have a mini-golf course and would be holding weekly Wednesday evening car shows! Yesterday was the first time we went and there were about 50 cars to look at, along with munching out on our favorite ice cream and even some really good and reasonably priced food. It doesn't get better than this! 😉 Here are a few of our favorite vehicles:

This caught our eye first, and the flame details were throughout this 1930 Model A 2 door sedan, including the interior and the mufflers.

This show-stopper VW Beetle was amazing with its original trunk engine replaced with a V-8 under the front hood.

This truck was almost a rat-rod and we had a laugh with the containers that were used to hold the antifreeze and liquids.

At first glance we thought that Barry and Barb from Florida were here when we noticed this white Impala, but it was a 1962, instead of  Barry's '63. I liked the red accent stripe down the side that matched the interior, and Dave thinks only the SS models came with that (however, I like Barry's wheels better!).

"Let's rumble" in this classic car. My mother often said that she wanted to ride in a rumble seat.

We followed this 1956 Crown Victoria into the parking lot, and it was perfect, right down to its curb feelers. Note the A&W serving tray with food on the driver's window.

One of these times we may bring our Mini-Cooper up to join this one. Dave is still working on 'Bitsy', but making headway.

Look at this 1933 Dodge's fantastic hood ornament!

A replica of a Daytona Shelby Coupe of which there were only 8 made...

Last, but certainly not least, our Kewl '39 Plymouth Road King along with Jim Rulison's yellow Alfa Romeo... 

It was a very nice country drive in these cars up to one of new favorite spots. Although we don't plan on going every week, it is a fun venue to attend when we are home during the summer and the weather allows. This was only the second time the Wind-Chill has had car night, and I am sure as the season progresses, it will be a big hit.

Lakeside Antique Outboards

One of the Mohawk Hudson Chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club's members was kind enough to host a meet at his camp on Algonquin Lake in Wells, NY, this past Saturday.  It wasn't a large turnout (about 25 people), but it was a beautiful setting, and we met lots of enthusiastic boaters, along with seeing some outboards and boats that we had never seen before.

We even got to go out in Mike's boat for a spin (1st photo taken by Don Hay). It is a 1960ish Raveau with a 1958 Johnson Super Seahorse 35 engine.

Dave also took a quick tour in host Tim's pretty wooden boat that he made, complete with Gopher outboard (made by engineering students in the 1920's... each one they made was a little different). To start the motor, you have to turn the flywheel on the front of it. To go in reverse, you have to shut it off and turn it the other way to start it again. It's not an easy feat and definitely a good workout! 

Outboard displays were on land too. 

One member even had a rare inboard motor.

I was more interested in these adorable small motors, which would look great in our collection. 😉

The tiniest one had the tiniest sparkplug too.

What a nice day's outing and not far from home. The ride out and back in the Thunderbird with the top down was an added bonus too. Our route travelled along the Sacandaga River and Great Sacandaga Lake. Since the temperature was hitting 90 degrees, we passed busy launch ramps with many boaters gearing up for Memorial Day weekend. It certainly feels like summer, at least for now. 😎

 

Return To Rhinebeck

 It has been quite a few years since we have gone to the car show and swap meet at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, so we figured it was time to return. The temps were in the 50s with a brisk wind, but we bundled up and had a good time. First, we checked out all the vendors, of which there were many...row after row of them. Then it was time to head to the fields to see the vehicles, and it was a huge event! The photo below shows only about a third of the size of the area that we walked around, all of the vehicles neatly organized by brands and models.

It was really fun to see the cars that my sisters and I had when we first started driving.... a Javelin, a Gremlin, and I had a Vega (mine was orange though).

Here is a tiny sampling of the other cars we saw:

There were two of these red Buick LeSabre Convertibles at the show. Buick really outdid themselves by having fins on the front and the back of the car.

This cool 1935 Buick had a great hood ornament and horns, plus gigantic headlights.

This was a 1953 Buick Special Station Wagon that symbolized the end of the woody wagon era. The wood was strictly cosmetic over a steel body.

A real woody wagon with matching trailer.

Another matching combo rig with the VW being towed by the 5 window Chevy pick up truck.

Here is a tiny post war Crosley station wagon. These were the lowest priced cars in the U.S. at the time.

A 1961 Buick LeSabre family truckster, all decked out with period luggage on the roof, ready for vacation...

There was an extensive line up of Ford Model A's of every year and model.

There was also a row of pre-war open touring cars, commonly called Phaetons.

Vehicles were being judged. This was a 1925 International C-Cab. Note the solid rubber tires.

Some day we would like to own one of these German made Amphicars. This one was spectacular and ready to swim!

Our favorite of this meet was this 1934 Morgan 3 wheeler. It was powered by a V-twin J.A.P. engine with exposed valve train. Pre-war British at its finest.

A 1958 Plymouth shows off its fins. It was a show stopper!

This 1970 Plymouth Barracuda resto-mod powered by none other than a Viper V-10 engine...

This was a hand-made 3/4 replica of an AC Mack truck with chain drive and solid rubber tires. It is going to be for sale after the summer season on display.

Dave thinks this was a mid 30's Auburn and it was gorgeous!

Hopefully the next car show, albeit much smaller and more local than this one in Rhinebeck, will have our '39 Plymouth in it, or maybe even the Divco milk truck! We are looking forward to the monthly Malta shows and a new addition may be a weekly show at an ice cream shop and mini golf course in Ballston Spa. Stay tuned for more fun adventures of these two old goats. 😎

Outboards & Antiques

Saturday was our first day of events that we like to participate in up north each year. First was the Outboard Swap Meet held locally in Burnt Hills. Although not a huge gathering, it was Dave's first opportunity to display the 1960's British Seagull outboards that our good friend Scott in Florida, gave Dave to display here in the northeast. Dave already had one of his own, so with Scott's, he now has a lucky 7 of them to make a "Flock of Seagulls" to bring to shows. Since there hasn't been much time to get everything set, he used his cart to at least bring 4 of them this time around. The cart itself is old and has great iron wheels on it. 

Here are a few other people's displays that day...

We may end up with this Atco Impellar outboard. It is also British, with a small motorcycle type engine, and has a long shaft with a protected propeller, that can be used in marshes. Plus, it folds up as you can see in the photo below. It is for sale, but no price has been determined yet, so we shall see what happens. 

Dave cut the show short (it was only 40 degrees out anyway), and we raced to the Washington County Fairgrounds for their bi-annual Antique Flea Market. The place was busier than we have ever seen it before with lots of garage sale type items too. Amazingly we ended up not buying anything at all this time (no photos either). Perhaps next time, but meanwhile this was a great start to our summer season of events. Now all we need is summertime weather! 😉