Seasons Greetings to all our readers!
As the song says; It
Well, here we are at the end of 2003. I hope
all of you had a great time with your automobiles, logged some miles, and got
"that much closer" to finally finishing off your car
Unfortunately just yesterday, my
71 R/T sprung a leak in the heater control valve. Just as I thought I got
through the season without any breakdowns, this one came up and bit me in the
rear on the last day of November while I was pulling into the driveway to put
the car away for the winter! Ironic isn
All in all I guess I am grateful
of the R/T
This year provided the usual activities we all enjoy albeit in a somewhat wetter that normal environment. Many people sat out a lot of weekends and left their cars at home while they did other things since Mother Nature kept raining on us almost every Sunday. I wonder if Ralph Nader had anything to do with it?
It seemed like a conspiracy to
keep us from driving our cars! Hopefully next year
For 2004 people have been talking about finding some new venues for cruising during the weeknights.
Don from East Coast Restorations
suggested the old Tri-County Flea Market parking lot on Hempstead Turnpike.
They have a large lot in the rear and room in the front too. He says that it is
empty when they are closed and would be a good spot. Let
PS Let
If anyone
acts in a manner that jeopardizes things for all of us, let
what is at stake. i.e.: the loss of the use of that particular facility as well as a bad reputation in the area which will
further limit places we would be welcomed! If a lot of people approach them together, perhaps it will sink in.
Keep it
peaceful though. If they refuse to comply, call the authorities and let them
handle it. They
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Die
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products for someone but do not know which vehicles to purchase. Just get
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GUEST WRITER COLUMN
In this newsletter we are delighted to offer you the insight
of guest columnist Lou Refano. Lou writes a story about a character we have all
seen on television, but do not necessarily know the history of. Lou will set
the record straight on that and enlighten us as to this character
THE MAN IN THE HAT
by Lou Refano
Have you noticed those new Buick ads that feature a ghost of a man wearing an
old-fashioned suit and hat? He is obviously someone from
the 30
who is he exactly? Well
this ghost haunting the Buick styling studio is named Harley Earl--one of the
most influential car designers of all time. It
He was one of the first to embrace car design as an
art form, not merely as an expression of transportation. He emphasized
art, rather than just function, in the design of industrial products.
This was a great benefit to car fans like us who appreciate style as well as
what
Before this, style was not given a lot of
importance. You can tell this by looking at any pre-1930 automobile…they
by and large followed the same boxy format. But when you put a 1930
automobile next to a 1940, that
airplanes or rocket ships.
One of the finest examples of the Harley Earl approach was the
1951 Le Sabre concept car, which is shown here in two pictures
taken at the Motor
Trend Auto Show in
This car was radically low and wide for its time, and had huge
tailfins years before they came into vogue. This car was
definitely the work of a visionary, and in 1951 it cost a
staggering $1,000,000 to build it. It wound up being used by
Mr. Earl for many years as
his personal car. He was a man of six-foot four but he loved
sliding into a low, sexy sports car. Did you know he was responsible for
the look of the first Corvette in
Yes, Harley Earl had a romantic vision of
cars. And he helped build GM into the world
to Mr. Earl.
"Out of the merger of art, science, and industry have come new techniques that have within themselves the ability to create an entirely new pattern and setting for the life of the world."
- Harley J. Earl (1893-1969)
Sources: classiccar.com, carofthecentury.com
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Here is where you can access
previous editions of the Long Island Classic Cars Online
October 2003 http://www.liclassiccars.com/Newsletter/Oct03.html
November 2003 http://www.liclassiccars.com/Newsletter/Nov03.html
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I hope you enjoyed reading this
issue of the Long Island Classic Cars.com newsletter. We welcome all writers
who would like to share their stories or opinions. Please have your story
submitted by the 25th of the month for inclusion in the following month
In closing, I would personally like to thank each and every one of you that has helped Long Island Classic Cars.com take off so quickly. That includes the advertisers, car owners, designers, car clubs, viewers, readers, and everyone else. Since our launch at the end of this past August, we have received such tremendous positive feedback. It is most encouraging and bodes well for a terrific future. We look forward to even more features for the new year!
Thank all of you once again,
We wish all of you a Very Merry
See you in January!
Pete