Greetings everyone, and welcome to the first edition of the Long Island Classic Cars.Com Newsletter!
This online periodical will be published
on a monthly basis. We will be bringing you news and updates of the
collectible, classic, and custom car scene, as well as interesting and
informative stories about events and happenings in our area. From time to time
we will offer guest writers and opinions from the collector car hobby. We hope
that you find this letter interesting, informative, and fun! That’s the idea!
Launched in mid August of 2003, Long Island Classic Cars.Com was an idea I conceived of over a year ago. I saw that there was a dearth of information for the automotive hobby on the local level. There was no centralized place for everyone to go in order to find out what’s happening, buy and sell cars and parts, and find information ranging from repair and restoration to insurance and financing.
That was the idea behind the creation of this site. To have a fun, friendly, and unifying place for hobbyists, collectors, dealers, and anyone else interested in cars to come and find what they need.
The feedback so far has been terrific! Everyone seems to feel that this is something that was long overdue.
I am delighted that the concept has been so well received, and I hope to continually improve upon it with your help and suggestions. Feel free to e-mail me at anytime with information you have about happenings in the hobby and any questions or helpful hints. If any of you would like to write a column or story please let me know that as well. You do not have to commit to anything long term or even more than one time, whatever you have interest in doing is just fine. Together we can make this grow into the place for the local car scene for years and years to come.
In our short time online (less than two months) we have already received over 91,000 hits in over 3,200 sessions on the site, and have over 170 ads that have been placed. There are some incredible cars of every variety that are listed, and in every price range! Cars from about $1,000 to cars over $80,000.
You can find Transport services from Al & Selwyn, Red Baron, and Abro.
Insurance from Alan Blay,
In the Clubs section you will find representation from a tremendous variety of automotive hobbyists, and one that will most assuredly suit you to a T. Or is that a Model T.
In the Restoration/Customizing/Repair section, we would like to welcome and encourage you to call on the following companies;
RESTO TRIM (Don Ness) A gentleman with decades in the hobby who can really help you finish off that vehicle of yours in fine detail. Don offers parts and services.
ELLIOT’S CAR RADIO (Bob Elliot) Most of us have some kind of need in the audio area of our machines, and Bob has the experience and parts you need.
AL & SELWYN SERVICE (Paul Memi) Paul worked for Chrysler back in the day and has over 30 yrs of incredible knowledge and working experience with these cars. If you got a Hemi…go see Memi!
CAMARO CRAZY (Anthony Abiusa) From repairs and parts, to full out restorations, Anthony will guide you along and make your car stand out above the others. He is a great guy to work with too!
AAMCO TRANSMISSIONS (Ken and Anthony) With two locations, they can serve your shifting needs. These guys have vast experience with older cars.
THE REFLECTED IMAGE (Scott Doolittle) From graphics to mirror repair and more, call Scott when things need a sprucing up or custom flair. His work is outstanding!
THE
HOT ROD SHOP of N.C. (Sean Vesely)
Sean is a former longtime Long Islander who has moved his renowned customizing
business down to the
BARNWELL HOUSE OF TIRES (Wayne Baylis) At Barnwell you will not have to worry about scratched rims or chassis parts. They take the utmost care when working on your vehicle. A super clean and neat facility! Get your tires at a great price too! Full service mechanical work also on premises.
You can also find Parts from individuals and vendors such as;
VINTAGE
GLASS
FORMULA 113 (Richard Spera) For that ultimate clean shine! 113 can quickly and easily prep and keep your car looking its best.
FAIR DEAL CARBURETOR (Tom DeMaria) Tommy is one of the most affable guys you’ll ever meet and he really knows his stuff. He has knowledge and experience beyond compare!
FIREFLY SALES & TRADING Indian Motorcycle owners delight! A vast array of parts and accessories for your bike! Also many parts for other bikes as well.
Also, don’t forget the really cool and fun stuff of the Automobilia area within the Parts section;
CARZIGNS
(
GEORGE’S PLATE HUT (George Barnes) This guy has a collection of vintage and special plates that are getting harder and harder to come by! Don’t miss it…check ‘em out.
Manuals & Literature (Ed Person) Over 30 years supplying the hobby! Ed has one of those collections that we dream of owning. Call him for what you need and what you need to know.
Well here we are now at the end of what I call “The Summer That Wasn’t”. This year we had more rain than Seattle and it put a damper on many people’s spirits. However, the automotive enthusiast is a hardy breed, and thousands of us spit into the wind and took our cars out for drives and to shows anyway!
It seemed as though every weekend rained, and constantly shows and meets were being rescheduled. I think all of this led to an even greater desire for us to have time to get into our cars and enjoy them!
Now in early October, show attendance is tremendous in what is usually a month where things start to taper off. I attribute this to the fact that we didn’t have enough nice weather this year, and nobody wants to see the season come to an end! Everyone wants to get out there and make up for lost time!
More power to you folks! Let’s keep it going into November! So what if your heater doesn’t work……. we own coats!
Get out there and make it last!
As far as the cruise scene went, Bald Hill in Farmingville was tremendous as always. The guys out there work real hard to ensure that we have a nice place to gather. They even provide food for a modest fee!
Sears in Hicksville was great…while it lasted. They built a bank in the parking lot, and that, along with some management concern, forced us out of there.
There was a one week sojourn of the Sears crowd to K-Mart in Syosset that didn’t last, and then the gathering moved to Jillian’s in Farmingdale. That really took off! But, we were unceremoniously kicked out of there after a few ultra successful weeks that saw the volume of attendees quadruple!
It would have and should have been great.
People wondered what happened.
Well, according management and the police, there were several causes for our forced dispersement.
First off, the enormous growth of the event in such a quick fashion led to some concern about parking room for the shopping center’s customers. There was also concern about cars and bikes being parked on the sidewalk in front of Jillian’s that impeded foot traffic…or so they say. The Harley guys are always a good bunch and they didn’t get in anyone’s way.
But what sealed our end was one eventful night in which one person of suspect intelligence and his buddies decided to block off an aisle and do screaming burnouts and wheelies with their high performance Japanese motorcycles! Neither a wise nor a considerate move. Also, for several nights the patrons complained to store management (who complained to center owners, who called the police) that the volume of booming rap music with curse laden lyrics was an affront to their ears and senses. C’mon people, use judgment…families are walking by, do you want your little kids hearing stuff like that? On the final night, that same group also had some “lovely” young female screaming and cursing at her (boyfriend?) with words that would make a sailor cringe. She didn’t seem to care that families were strolling by nor about the obscene spectacle she was making of herself.
Time after time it always seems that one or two individuals or groups ruin it for everyone else doesn’t it?
Let’s hope this coming year people use better judgment. Let’s try and remember that is by someone’s favor that we have a place to gather. Be cool, enjoy the night, and save the burnouts for the track.
We are hoping that this coming season we will be back at Sears again. Stay tuned for updates in that area.
One suggestion though fellas….how about scheduling Sears or whatever Nassau County venue on a different day than Tuesdays at Bald Hill. There is no reason for these dates to conflict! Schedule them so that people can attend both events. That was the most oft heard lament of the masses at the cruise nights.
All in all it was another nice year to have a cool ride, to hang with folks and share a common interest, to drive and “make the scene”. Many cars changed hands, some people got their first taste of the hobby, and friendships were made. I hope that this site will help to prolong the seasonal involvement in the hobby into one that lasts all year round. And perhaps help make the “withdrawal symptoms” we endure and the winter doldrums that much less dreary.
Enough waxing poetic!
For the future: Long Island Classic Cars.Com plans to expand to include a WANTED section for parts and vehicles, a MESSAGE BOARD for people to seek help from the community at large, and possibly a larger and more independent motorcycle section. It all depends on feedback from you. Let us know what you would like to see. The ASK A QUESTION button on the main page will enable you to submit your comments.
The E-MAILING LIST button, also on the main page, is the place to go to be placed on the..…you guessed it……. e-mail list.
Also remember to send in all your CLUB, CRUISE, and SHOW information to us through the EVENTS button for posting on the site.
If you would like to contribute a column or story
to the site, you may do so by contacting me through the ASK A QUESTION
button or by e-mail at newsletter@liclassiccars.com
Thanks for a great first two months!
Pete
Long Island Classic Cars
PS
I would like to thank Jim Packard who through his supreme talents got this site
up and running.
You
can contact him for your programming needs at jpackard@ghostlight.com