It's been a while since I (Lurch) did any public speakin', but I just HAD to tell ya about the 30th Annual VCCA 4 Cylinder Tour in Porterville, CA. Man, what a blast! This is the FIRST VCCA National event that I've been to. Loved it!
First and foremost, this event was a tribute to Tom Meleo (VCCA member number 34), who started the Four Cylinder Tours 30 years ago as a call to action from a discussion he had with legendary Fred Upshaw. They wanted to get more of these era vehicles back on the road and Tom rose to the challenge. I want to thank Tom for having the vision and the courage to follow through on this idea. Here's a great photo of Tom courtesy of Seiber Photos: Photo of Tom Meleo
Dean, the poor schmoe, has been dreaming of getting me to one of these shindigs for years! In preparation for this momentous event, he's been working on me to get in shape (me, in shape?? Give me a tall drink of 10-30W and I'm in GREAT shape for anything!). Here's some info about my recent upgrades:
I decided that I wanted to get to Porterville one day early, so Dean loaded me up on my magic carpet ride (trailer) and we took off Saturday morning, 4/30/2022, from our house in San Leandro, CA (SF Bay Area). See pic number one below.
Our first stop was in Livermore to pick up a friend of Dean's, John Butterweck, who recklessly volunteered to ride shotgun on the tours. Hee hee, no seat belts, no windshield, no doors, just hang on for dear life! I'm gonna have some fun with him! ;-) At least he had enuf sense to bring a hat that buckles under his chin and a pair of goggles.
Our second stop was in Lathrop, CA, where a bunch of out-of-towners were having a convention. They were nice little fellers who needed some vittles for their trip. After we visited with them for a spell, they decided to form a Lurch Fan Club Chapter back home (where ever that is!). Now that's what I call diversity in action. They don't hold my looks agin me and I don't hold their looks agin them. ;-) Besides, we're both shades of green! See pic numbers two and three below.
Next we stopped to drop off a pair of running boards for a '27 Chevy one ton truck (Wilford) that John Thorpe is working on. He's re-creating his Great-Great-Grandfather's dry goods truck. John's in-laws live in Stockton, CA, which was not too much out of our way. Dean was happy to get rid of another couple of things that he won't ever use. John's story can be found here: https://thorpeandsons.wordpress.com/
OKAY, on to the real party! We turned south on Highway 99 and headed to Porterville! By the time we arrived, it was late afternoon and I was tired from all the excitement of the day (it doesn't take much to get a 95 year old excited and tired!). Dean and John covered me with a blankie (tarp) and I slipped off into dreamsville for the night. See pic number four below.
Monday morning, Dean woke me up and I got off the trailer. Boy oh boy! Old Chevys everywhere! Most of them looked like they could be in a museum. A few showed their wear and tear, but no rustbuckets like me! Hee hee. I always stick out in a crowd and love every minute of it! Here are a few pics of the arrivals. See pics five and six below.
Towards the late afternoon, I was wondering where Ed and Karen Archer were. They are Dean's friends that were driving their 1924 Chevy one ton truck to the meet (260 miles on side streets - a 6+ hour drive!!). Very adventurous souls! They drive their vehicles everywhere and wear period correct clothes to match! I like it! Here's a pic from a local car show of their truck with a 1915 Model T racer on it's back. See pic number eight below.
Dean called Ed and it turns out that they had a catastrophic transmission lockup around 30 miles from the hotel. ;-( They didn't get back home until 5am the next day! Major bummer!! More about them later.
After registering for the meet and ogling at all the wonderful old Chevys, we went on the first official tour that led to the Ice Cream Social at 6:30pm.
Now, each Chevy owner received a booklet with info and directions for all the tours of the week. Dean and John were so excited to get on the road that they could not decipher the instructions to the location of the field where the Ice Cream Social was being held!! Yup, we got lost! We finally arrived close to 7pm and parked in the back of the pack. Then Dean, John, and a couple of other guys unpacked and set up my cattle cage and brought out the 'girls' so I could shine in all my glory! See pic number nine below.
When the crowd started going back to the hotel (and the sun was dipping below the horizon!), Dean decided it was time to take down the cattle cage and head back too. By the time the cage sides and girls were laid flat and strapped down, it was getting dark and Bud (Ray Morey's 1928 LP one ton truck) and me were the only ones left on the field!
Guess what? We got lost again!!! At one of the intersections where we were supposed to turn, there were NO street signs so we blasted through and keep going straight. Now it was dark and getting cold. The cooler weather is really great for helping me maintain my cool, but Dean and John were shivering by now. Dean was surprised how well my 32 candle power front lights actually lit up the road! He shoulda knowed better. I've always been a guiding light. ;-)
After a while, they had the sense to pull over and plug the hotel's address into John's phone. We were 14 miles too far south! We stopped at a gas station to fill up and the guys put on sweat shirts. We finally pulled into the hotel parking lot at 9:30pm. I was rarin' for more, but Dean was wupped. So I went to sleep under my blankie and he hit the sack.
