Midwestern Imperial Meet, Columbus, Nebraska

May 1, 1999

Jeff's report:

Hi All,

Just thought I would write a few words about the 1st annual Nebraska Spring Fling held Fri and Sat in Columbus NE. The first thing I would like to do is to thank Bob Hoffmeister and his lovely family for all the great grub and hospitality! It was really nice putting faces to names. It was great talking to everyone and spending the day among the cars at Imperial Heaven. Thanks to everyone attending!

Next year I hope it is much bigger and my goal is to drive my Ghia instead of my 68. On another note, my 68 daily driver has always driven wonderfully and I did a tune up on her last week just to make sure the trip to Columbus would be a fun one. Well she started off ok, but by the time I got to Columbus she was chugging and missing and dying and generally running like HELL! Well the good news is that she started running great on the way back so I am wondering about some bad gas or perhaps a temporarily clogged passage in the carb. Any thoughts? P.S. did anyone else at the spring fling come home with a bad sunburn? I will post pictures soon!

Jeff

P.S. My dog who was the official mascot of the spring fling is now called tick in honor of the 150+ (found so far) that he brought home. Oddly enough it is 3 A.M. as I write this and the reason I am awake is because I felt one of the little blood suckers eating me and had to get up to kill it.

Bob's report:

Well the spring fling is now officially over and WHAT A GREAT TIME!!!!!!  Headed to the Imperial canyon a little after 11:00. Got there and my wife Janet was already there cooking burgers. After eating, the Imperial talk and hunting for imperial parts continued until after 6:00PM. We were an hour late for supper. But they still had plenty of Prime Rib left. And yes I worked up a tremendous appititte. And yes, I eat too much. And it was really good.

Terry and Andree Hoeman showed up around 8:30. They had been to a swap meet in Kansas. And glad they could make it.

To make a long story short, after supper we went to Terry & Andree's home and toured their fantastic Mopar collection. Didn't leave their place till 1:00 AM in the morning. Everyone had a super time and saw some really beautiful Mopars. Wish you all could have been there, but I am sure the IML'ers who were there will fill in the blanks. A BIG THANKS to all who came. There were many pictures taken and I am sure they will be put on the IML club. Contact Gale and Wayne Jorgensen for pictures. We had a blast Nebraska style

THANKS Bob H.

Gale's report:

Hi ya - Jen and I just pulled in - WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME in Nebraska - thanks to Bob and his family, esp. his wife for grilling and having the picnic, the heaven was just that, and a special thanks to Terry H. for showing his wonderful car collection -- between the 2 my heart hasn't stopped racing

Clay and Deb's report:

Thanks to Bob Hoffmeister, his wife Janet and their children for a great time at the Imperial Canyon. They were very gracious hosts, including making the weather perfect. It was a great weekend and very fun to put faces with names. I'm sorry I missed the clinic on windshield removal but I did thoroughly enjoy the impromptu Imperial rear bumper removal seminar.

Thanks again Bob.

Clay and Deb Smith

Dale's report:

Jeff,

You are not the only one that had a little too much sun! I would also like to thank Bob and his family for their efforts in hosting the meet. I would also like to thank Terry for the opportunity to visit his home and see his collection of Chryslers.

Nebraska was a great time and I look forward to next years event. My '68 coupe ran well even though the exhaust shop did a hideous job on the new exhaust system. Its at the shop getting reworked and I am hoping it will have that wonderfully quiet Imperial drive.

Again, thanks to the Hoffmeister family for a great week end!

Dale
'68 Crown Coupe

 

Southern IML Meet, Atlanta

May 1, 1999

Elijah's report:

The Southern IML Meet took place on 1 May 1999, with 18 cars in attendance. The beautiful spring weather and the sumptious surroundings of the Southern Center for International Studies were the perfect setting for an Imperial gathering.

Imperials and NYBs at the meet included:

1956 Imperial Sedan -- Donald Taccone
1964 Ghia Crown Imperial -- Cecil McCall
1966 Imperial Crown Convertible -- Chris Hawkins
1966 Imperial LeBaron -- Chris Hawkins
1967 Imperial LeBaron -- John Muller
1971 Imperial LeBaron -- Elijah Scott
1976 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham -- Patrick West
1978 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham -- Christoper Conway
1981 Imperial -- Christopher Conway
1983 Imperial -- John McCall

Other attendees:

1956 Lincoln Pioneere Station Wagon - Phil Schaefer
1960 Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country -- Chris Hawkins
1960 Chrysler New Yorker 4-door sedan - John Pastor
1965 Chrysler 300-L Convertible - Murray Vise
1966 Thunderbird Town Coupe - Darren Adair
1966 Thunderbird Landau - David (Patrick's friend)
1968 Riviera - Robbie Thompson
1970 Cadillac Fleetwood - Paul Gillis

Many people made it to the show without Imperials, but still enjoyed the gathering of Imperial enthusiasts.

My thanks to everyone who attended -- it was a great afternoon, and one of the best Imperial gatherings I've been to.

My especial thanks to Chris Hawkins for providing use of the SCIS grounds -- his generous support for these meets is greatly appreciated.

Kudos also go to Chris Bunthoff and Patrick West for helping with refreshments and other arrangements.

Most of all, THANKS to EVERYONE who attended -- the cars were fantastic, but it's definitely the people that make these gatherings so enjoyable.

At this meet, we also raised $38 to forward to Manuel Alvarez in support of his efforts with the IML web site. I encourage everyone on the list to remember that Manuel provides and maintains the web site and technical aspects of the IML for FREE -- without this guy, we wouldn't be here, so if you haven't already shown your appreciation, send along some $$$$$$$ to:

Manuel Alvarez
Box 222
Montclair, CA 91763

Thanks Manuel!

Again, thanks to everyone who attended the meet. Pictures will be forthcoming soon on the IML web site.

Imperially,

Elijah Scott

 

Three reports on the

16th Annual Imperial Owners Statewide Meet

APRIL 30, May 1 & 2, 1999

VISALIA, CALIFORNIA

Boyd Kooij's report:

(Note: Boyd's pictures of the meet and his trip are at:

http://www.kooij.demon.nl/imperial57/visalia/visalia.htm )

Hi,

I wanted to sent a mail each day to the IML but the problem was the telephone lines. First day, I tried from the Hotel at the airport in LA, I got a message that the line was slow and a retry after 45 seconds. It failed. I tried for 4 more times. It just didn't work. Next morning, I got the bill, ouch, 4 times $25!!! That was it, no more e-mail. I tried again in Visalia, but no luck.

Here we go, April 28. My son Randy and me left this morning for the Amsterdam airport. We went by cab of course, because I own a cab company. Passing the customs for non European flights was a new experience for me. Lots of questions were asked, like if I did lent my camera lately to anyone and did I take any packages for another person with me and lots of more funny questions. Of course, this is for maximum security. Our flight, US Airway's, was delayed for 45 minutes and we took of at 01:00 PM (Dutch time). It wasn't possible for booking a direct flight to LA LAX, so, we have to step over in Philadelphia, what takes 2 1/2 hours extra. We arrive in LA at 08:20 PM (US local time), so that's 7 hours PLUS the 9 hours time difference, totally 16 hours.

Right now, we landed on the airfield of Philadelphia. It's 02:20 PM local time.. We start looking for the next plane, which takes us to LA. First of all, this is not pleasant for me, I'm a smoker and I see, you're almost not allowed to smoke! It's hard to find a place to smoke, but at last, I found a place where smoking is allowed. After 9 hours it's nice to have a smoke. And this is where it's all about, outside, only American cars, stretched limos, pickups, cool.

Hi, This was a bad moment. Trying to get out of LA was not that easy. A lot different as in The Netherlands. So many lanes and a lot of traffic, whouw. But first thing this morning, we changed our rental car. I got a Mitsubishi conv., such a small car. Only 1 bag in the trunk and it was full. On the inside, it was narrow. I thought, this is not a nice car for driving around. Now I've a Olds 88, plenty room and more safe too. But finally we managed it, and went on driving on the 101. I made the first stop at Jay McKee's office for a cup of coffee. So now I saw Jay personally and he showed us his Imperial, very nice car. Next stop was at Bruno Bornino's place. We had lunch with him and his lovely daughter. Bruno showed us his cars, like a Jensen, Maserati and a Caddy conv. We had a nice conversation, but finally, we had to move on. In the evening, we wanted to be in Visalia.

We drove about 350 miles today and we are in Visalia now. Four Imperials were already present. Tomorrow, I'll hope we see a lot more of them. If we look around, we noticed, that there are so many pick-ups here, amazing that is. Also, we constantly keep looking to the huge trucks, what a sight that is. In my country, you hardly see such trucks. And everything is big around here. My son ordered a coke and it was such a big glass. On top of that, he could get 3 refills ! We are not used to such voluminous drinks, so he passed for the refills. It's bed time now I'll try to sent more tomorrow, I hope the mails will get to the IML - Bye

This was the best day ever happened to me. At least 40 (!) Imperial's showed up in Visalia, and the show starts to morrow. More cars will come....... There was a tour and I could take place in a blue '67 conv. Well, that was an experience. I really had the day of my life. The owner was Charlene Quin and she was with her sister-in-law, I believe, Bernice Hackney. She is not that young, but she drove as if she's a teenager. We had a very nice tour, went up a big mountain and had a view, unbelievable. You could see the entire valley. We stopped at a place called Exeter. A very small town, with a lot of wall paintings. We talked with almost all Imperial owners, because after we told the first people we had spoken to, that we came from The Netherlands, in no time everybody wanted to meet us too. Hope to see some of you here. Leslie should come, but so far no Leslie. Leslie, where are you????

I bought some things like a goldplated Imperial belt buckle, pins, license plate holders with Imperial on it and an original goldplated black ignition key. Things you never can buy in my country. I had planned to leave tomorrow, but we have to stay another day, because we are invited for Sunday's brunch at Bill's place, one of the members. And we must come with them on Saturday evening for a hamburger in a restaurant which should be the best in town as they call it. There are '55, '56, '57, '60, '61,'62, '63, '64 etc. Most of them are in very We took a lot of pics and shoot film with a VHS player. So, at home, I can review the whole meeting.

Today was the show. I was woken up at 07:00, when the first V8 was cranked up, just before my window. I took a peak outside and oh, everybody was already there. They were busy lining up all cars and give the cars a last wash and polish service. That explained, why everyone went to bed so early ! I did good business here, I got a memory plate with the date of this meeting, bought me a an real nice Imperial polo shirt, got some magazines etc. I also met our leader, Tony and some other members, like Bob Schmitt and Hans Schoor from Switzerland. It's a pity Leslie, you were not here. I have met and spoken to all competitors and it was really very nice.

At 6:00 PM a informal cocktail party started and I was even invited for the banquet which started at 7:00. This was thanks to Bill MacPheeters, who introduced me to a lot of people. Anyway we are one day behind schedule now, because we had planned to leave this morning but now we saw the whole show. Now we wanted to leave first thing in the morning, but no sir, no luck in leaving early. We were not allowed to leave because we have to go to the breakfast, which is at Bill MacPheeters place. So, I will be off at around 10:00, instead of 07:00. To morrow, we drive to Las Vegas. That's where I'll keep you posted for the next story, bye....

We stopped in Barstow for a quick burger. No problem about that. The city is about 5 miles long and restaurants as many as you like. This time, the choice was Jack in the box. (because of their commercials on telly we saw) Because of the time, we skipped the mall and the shoestore that's build as a boot. We did went to the mall, but there was a traffic jam that's why we skipped it.

On our way to Vegas now.  I wondered, along the sad way to Las Vegas we saw rubber all over the shoulders. Most of it came off truck's, I think. Do they have that bad or cheap tires so they'll blow up so often? Suddenly, in the middle of no where, a merry-go-round, a hotel, big advertisement in neon and a gas station. By the time I realized it, I was back in the desert again. Funny. How do they supply water and energy ? But it was getting more weird, in the middle of the desert, golf-links showed up ! If you want to go there, the nearest (little) town is almost an hour's drive ! Why not build this on the outside of Vegas? Hmmm. Must be some explanation for.

By the time, we reached Vegas, in the evening, we saw lights all over the place. Driving on the highway which goes trough Vegas we kept thinking where to take a slip road. We had no idea where to go to.  After about 30 minutes and still not reaching the other end of town, we went off the highway and the first thing we did was buying a map. Now we could locate ourselves and try to find out where to go. After studying the map, we saw that the 'strip' was the place to be for us.

Well. guess what, only two more intersections to go and we were there! (how about luck)

On the map we also noticed the Imperial palace. Of course, if you own an Imperial, you sleep there. Only 39$ for a night and free entrance in the auto museum. Valid parking inside the Imperial hotel but there was a lot of storm. The entrance works like a tube so hold on your cloth's and hat's. After booking a room, we went to the casino. So many slot machines we never saw before. Of course I gave it a try but I ran out of luck. So I wasted $20 ! :). I'm not much of a gambler. On the street again a lot of wind. We decided to hit the sack early, so we could go on a tour on the strip, next early morning.

Ceasars Palace is right across the hotel, nice place to be, lot of shops, all indoor and the roof is painted like heaven. It almost seems that you're outside. On the crossings there are beautiful performances e.g. about aqua-land and others. Treasure Islands has a great performance too but when we came there it was canceled, because of the storm. Later in the evening we finally saw the show, fantastic, even one ship sinks.

La Mirage hotel has each hour or quarter after sunset a show. A burst out of a volcano. For the makers of it, well done. There's so much to see, too much to tell it all. Anyway, we walked from Treasure Island to MGM, which is almost at the end of the strip. In MGM we wanted to a park which is in the back and a 10 minutes walk but it was closed at 4 PM. We were there at 4:01! Bamm, door closed right in front of our face.

When we walked through the hallway's, we saw a Viper to win. Well let's try another $10. You guessed it right, I'm not a Viper owner.  I'll never forget that walk, my legs hurt and my son's feet hurt also. We took the bus back to the hotel and had a nice dinner.

After dinner, we went to the museum. A lot of beautiful cars there. Two Imperial's. One was the presidential car. I think it's a mix of a '55 and '56. Two compartments, one in front and one in the back. Color beige/white. The other imp is a '65?, color black.

So next morning the direction is Grand Canyon. 

Today's trip is to the Grand Canyon.  From Las Vegas we drove to the Hoover Dam. Fantastic to see how that's build.  At school, we learned about the Hoover Dam, now we saw it in real.

Then we took the old road 66 from Kingman to Seligman. Not much to see out there, only the last couple of miles there was a little town with some shops. A pink Edsel is in front of the shop with a 'lady' beside it and a 'man' in the car. These were just doll's but it looked nice.

Can you imagine, inside the shop there was a guestbook and I noticed, that that day, there were also three other Dutchmen! On the highway 40 to Williams. It was already round 4 PM. After filling the rental up, I found out it was still a two hours drive to the Canyon. Well, because of the extra day in Visalia, we decided to go there now anyway, so we could make up that day.

By the way, the first time. I had to fill up the rental, I had to learn how the system works. Different then in The Netherlands. First pay inside, then gasoline, if you pay cash. In The Netherlands, credit cards are not that common to pay with credit cards. Almost everybody pays cash. Only in hotels etc. you pay with credit cards. And how cheap the gasoline is! I heard, prices went up almost 50% in CA, but not in Arizona. $1.20/gallon. But $1.80 in Calif, is still 1/3 of the price we pay here! So, don't you border about that!

At 6 PM we reached the Canyon, boy it was cold out there ! I didn't notice we were up that high. (prox. 6400 feet) We took a view on one of the view points. Marvelous view it was, never saw anything like it. Next viewpoint was about 20 minutes drive north-west. It's the only road, so we have to make a choice, drive up north or return. Driving up north would be about 180 miles, if I recall correct, so we returned and had a large steak in the nice steakhouse at the entrance of the park. Although it's possible to make trips down the canyon, we went back to Williams. I'm not that much interested of social history to make such a trip.

In Williams we took a motel. Again no telephone to hook up my computer. It needed a phonecard, but for international call you to go through an operator and answer some questions. My comp cannot do that!

Next morning we took the secondary road to Phoenix. Passed the red mountains and the old Indian caves. Now it's time to visit Mr. John Rosen himself. He's not hard to find, fortunately, he lives in the North of Phoenix, so it took us only 1/2 hour to locate him. He opened the door, only in a short and after telling him who I was he was kind enough to show us around. He owns about 8 Imperials and wanted to sell me his '60 for $3000.

One garage was filled with chrome. In his 'house' there's the rest of the store. Hard to tell if he lives there. I did see a bed between parts. The former kitchen is his office. No computer around but I saw a copy of my e mail to the IML where I asked for his address lying around. He told me, that a friend of him gave him the e-mails if it concerned mail about him. In a corner of a room he has piled up NOS seat upholstery, in plastic. Even the same of my '57. Came out of the Detroit factory, he said. I didn't need any part, but when I was in Visalia, a member had a bolo around his neck with a silver Imperial eagle. When I asked him where he had it from, he told me he made it of a grille emblem of a '67. I thought, I want also a bolo like that so I bought the same emblem.

But then we had to go to his yard, 15 minutes up north. There are about 80 imperials, most of them without engine and parted out a lot. So that was John Rosen.

Now we went to Scottsdale, where the Rawhide ranch is. It's an old western town. It's located on Scottsdale Rd, so that close from John's place. In Rawhide there was a nice shooting fight and a real rodeo. We had a lot of fun there.It was late already, round 10 PM so I drive on south on Scottsdale Rd to find us a motel. But I only saw huge hotels and I figured out that Scottsdale is THE rich part of Phoenix, so no room here, too expensive.

Well, I thought I'll drive to the south of Phoenix and get me a motel there. Again I made a mistake about the distances in the US. It took me 1 hour to reach the south part of Phoenix! We stayed in the Super 8 motel which seemed to be next to the highway 10, we had to take the next morning, so lucky again. There was not time to visit Phoenix but we knew that, our 10 day visit didn't allow that.  So, until the next day.

Hi -

This day we drove to Tombstone, the old part. The weather was beautiful again and we did some shopping.  I had a t-shirt made with my Imp on front. Also bought some stuff for my other children. The worst part was to find a swimming trunk for my son with the American flag all over. We did visit a lot of shops but we had no luck at all. He liked it so much but despite all our efforts, we didn't succeed. How's that possible? Don't they exist?

Anyway, we had a very nice day in Tombstone and watched the shootout at the OK corral. The exact place is marked with epoxy made figures of doc Holiday and the Wyatt Earp brothers. At the end of the day, we drove back and took the highway 8 to San Diego.  While driving we saw a beautiful sunset in the desert. Around 9:00 PM, we took a motel and hit the sack. This was an exhausting day, due to the heat also. Next morning, after a big breakfast, we went on to San Diego. Now we had to make a choice, stay in San Diego for a day, or drive on to LA and spend an extra day there. We did the last.

So, in the afternoon, we arrived in LA again. On the last day, we went to Beverly Hills, Hollywood Blvd., and we went to the Paramount pictures. That was a very nice place to be. Especially my son liked it, because he's fond of movies.

Driving back to the hotel was a piece of cake now. I was fully used to the busy traffic and we had a map, so I knew which way to go.

Well, this is the end of my story and I sure think, I'll visit the US again.
Maybe next year.....

Boyd Kooij, daily driver in my '57

Alison's report:

We got home from the California Statewide Meet today. The whole family had a great time!

We met up with Bob S. on the way up for a caravan. Along the way we picked up two more cars going up to Visalia. A '55, '63, '66 and '67 rolling through California farmland together.

Saturday morning it seemed everyone was up early to wash their cars. Tony was out at first light taking pictures and video so anyone that missed the event will be able to see it!

It was great to finally get to meet Jim Martin, Dan, Bob, and Tony. I know there were other IML members there also. I just didn't get a chance to find out who they were.

Thank you so much Jim for letting my daughters ride in your '39 limo. It was the highlight of their weekend, they couldn't stop talking about it!

Thanks Tony for giving them the ride and taking pictures so they can always remember it! For those that haven't seen Jim's car it is incredible!! Also, thank you, Jim for helping win my Chevrolet loving husband a little bit further over to the Chrysler side!

Dan, I expect to see you and your new '63 next year in Modesto! There were six '63's this year. It gave me a great opportunity to see what things needed to be improved on my car. This was the first time I had even seen another '63, let alone so many!

Congratulations to everyone who won an award for their cars. There were so many beautiful cars in attendance I can't begin to describe them all.

The only down side to my weekend was that someone must have decided they needed a piece of my interior trim more than I did. If anyone has a '63 parts car with a Claret red interior please let me know...... Hopefully, this was the one exception to an otherwise perfect Imperial weekend!

Did anyone in attendance happen to pick up the number for that '63 that was for sale? If so, will you please let me know, there was a man at the hotel Sunday that was very interested in contacting the owners.

Alison, '63 LeBaron

Bob's report:

The caravan up was great fun - we started off in Valencia at 8:15 am Friday with 2 cars.  Alison surprised me by stopping in Bakersfield, where Nannette Clark-Cook's spectacular '55 4 door sedan was waiting for us in a Chevron station just off 99. A few miles up the road, Chris Hoffman's '67 snuck up behind up and he and passenger Roger Irland (flew in from Phoenix) cruised up & down the line of Imperials - only 4 Imperials, but that's a good bunch.

It was raining when I left Burbank at 5:30 am and we had some "real" rain after leaving Valencia over the Grapevine (Tejon Pass), but the Imps took it in stride, but it spoiled the shine on all the cars.  (Note that 3 of the 4 cars won best of class anyway and Nannette's '55 was even better!)

We got to Visalia about 11:15 and got an impromptu tour of the town because of a closed road in from of the motel. The Lamp Liter Inn was very nice and the management went out of the way to help us with washing cars, rooms, special requests, etc.

Imps were all over the parking lot (about 50 total by Saturday), but at 1 pm we started out driving tour (15-20 Imperials) to an overlook hill (Badger Hill Estates - wretched excess and bad taste, but nice view) and then to Exeter, a small farming community with old buildings, antiques, and wall murals with town history. A nice tour, capped by a water tank that had been specially painted to recognize the 16th annual meet. Cool!

Don Steger, one of the guys who arrived at the meet on Friday with his '63 Imp, had a mishap south of Modesto when a hubcap (!!) come off a boat trailer in front of him which flew across 2 lanes and smacked his windshield on the passenger side (where his girlfriend was sitting). Fortunately, the safety glass held and it did not come through, but glass sprayed the inside of the car, again with good fortune, no injuries but scared both of them. Needless to say, Don got the "hard luck" award at Saturday's banquet.

Later Friday we kibitzed over the cars and had a few drinks at the hospitality tent. This is a good point to mention that the Northern California Imperial Owner's Club and its president, Roger Selby, did a great job organizing this event. Each segment of the weekend went very well.  I
strongly suggest that all Imperial owners and fans join one or more of the California Imperial clubs - these clubs and their members have been "doing" Imperials long before the Internet was a figment of someone's imagination and they are the best bunch of car people I've ever met.  (see California Imperial Clubs)

Early during the weekend, I ran into Boyd Kooij & his son from Amsterdam and on Saturday I met Hans Schoor & Gabriela from Switzerland. At the banquet I found that Ed Trenn was in from DC and Ed Ferrara from Orlando - but I couldn’t find these guys later in the crowds.

Sometime late Friday I washed my '66 and I was up early on Saturday, with Dawn's help, to do a "Final Detail" spray, work on the tires, glass & chrome and tidy up the trunk & interior.

At 10 am the show kicked off - from then to mid-afternoon we were roaming up & down the row of cars, admiring the big iron and chatting with the owners. It was a great spectacle. All the cars were great fun and nice to see - I’ll let the pictures tell the story when they are posted.

Right after the show, Don Steger presented a tech session on Imperial electrical systems and passed out summary schematics of the most common electrical sub-systems, such as starting, charging, A/C clutch circuit, etc.

The awards banquet was held in a great outdoor tent by the motel’s pool - a nice setting. The food was good and the other members were entertaining. The raffle featured gifts from many vendors and club members - Hans Schoor was kind enough to donate a bottle of "Imperial" wine from Spain - and little chocolate bars for Sunday's breakfast! 

The dinner was also a well-organized event. Each year of Imperial had first, second, etc. place awards, as voted on by the participants. Nannette’s ‘55 won best of show and it was my choice also.

Sunday morning was a breakfast at Bill & Jan McPheeter’s house in Visalia. He’s got a 2 acre spread in an older neighborhood and it was a great setting for more cars, conversation and visiting.  The breakfast was great!

After breakfast, we cruised Visalia - truly a nice town and well worth a tour again. Then we (alone) headed my ‘66 up towards Sequoia National Park, about 35 miles east of Visalia. It was a nice drive, but we should have looked more carefully at the clouds hanging over the mountains. The first part of the drive through the park was nice, but after 10 miles and a few thousand feet up, we were in the clouds and rain! We pressed up to see the big trees and 21 miles from the entrance, at 6700’, we made it to the “General Sherman” - very impressive and slightly dry near the tree. It was easier going down - twisty & foggy, but the Imp carried us through very well.

Right outside the gate we stopped for a late lunch at the Gateway Inn overlooking the rushing Kaweah River - pictures on the wall showed the flood of ‘55 that washed away the approaches to the 1922 bridge, just about where we ate.

We drove back through Exeter on Highway 65 and continued down to Porterville and through “oil county” to Bakersfield, - a nice drive with rolling hills, green this time of year.

We were then back on 99, cruising in light traffic (right lane, 65 mph) to Interstate 5, over the Grapevine, into the San Fernando Valley and returning Dawn to Culver City about 8 pm.

Used a load of gas and got about 12 mpg, but the “Blue Baron” gave us 550 miles of nice riding. I’m ready to do it again! The 17th annual meet will again be early May next year, sponsored by Imperial Owners Association of Sacramento Valley, in Modesto. See you there!

Bob. '66 LeBaron (back in Burbank)

This was the March 17 mailing with final details!

Northern California Imperial Owners Club

16th Annual Imperial Owners Statewide Meet

APRIL 30, May 1 & 2, 1999

VISALIA, CALIFORNIA

REVISED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Welcome!

The 16th annual Imperial Owners Meet is an opportunity for all Imperial owners to get together with each other for an "Imperial Weekend". These annual meets started at Morro Bay, California in 1984. The annual meet is now rotated among the three sponsoring clubs - the Northern California Imperial Owners Club, Inc., the Southern California Imperial Owners, Inc., and the Imperial Owners Association of Sacramento Valley, Inc. This year's meet is sponsored by the Northern California Imperial Owners Club.

Meet Coordinators: Roger SeIby (650) 347-1157 and Lud Indihar (408) 262-0377

Treasurer: Pauline Yetter (650) 697-1399

Location and Events

The Statewide Meet will be at the Lamp Liter Inn, 3300 West Mineral King Visalia, CA 93291, (800) 662-6692, fax # (209) 732-1840. Registration headquarters and lodging.

Room Reservations

The hotel has saved 40 rooms for us and will hold these until April 15, 1999. Please make your reservations by that date and mention Imperial Owners to receive your special price. Our prices range is from $57.00 on up. Please call (800) 662-6692.

April 15 - Car registration deadline to be eligible for Class parking and voting awards.  HELP US order an adequate supply of your awards and enter by April 15!

April 30 - Friday

            12:30pm  - Assemble at  at Lamp Liter Inn, cottage #284 for drivers meeting.

           1:00 pm- Tour begins at 1 pm of the surrounding area, including the town of Exeter with its murals. Tour leader Bill McPheeters (559) 627-3185.


           5:00 - 7:00 pm - Meet registration at hospitality center

            5:00 - 7:00 pm - No host cocktails - finger food supplied by NCIOC.

May 1 - Saturday

            7:00 - 10:00 am  - Car wash and preparation

            9:00 - 10:00 am - late meet registration

            10:00 am - and cars in place for show

            11:00 - 1:00 pm - Car show and judging

            1:00 pm - Voting complete and ballots turned in

            Afternoon - Leisure time

            7:00 pm - Banquet dinner with awards presentation at the Lamp Liter Inn.

May 2- Sunday

            8:00 - 10:00 am - Breakfast hosted by Bill and Jan McPheeters at their home. Followed by a tour of their antique tractor and farm engine collection.

 


1999 Imperial Meet
VISALIA, CALIFORNIA

Please RSVP before April 15,1999

Name(s) _________________________________________  Guest (s) ________________

Address _________________________________________   ________________________

City/State _______________________________________   Zip Code ________________

Phone ( ) ____________________

Car(s) Entered:

Model __________________________________________   Year ___________

Best of Show Candidates must be shown with their hoods and trunk open.

Number of people attending Friday afternoon tour   _______________

Car Show entry fee $20.00 1st car; $10.00 ea. add'l car   $ ______________
Awards Banquet Dinner (Saturday night) $ ______________

Baked Red Snapper $18.00 x #____ =

$ ______________
Breast of Chicken Cordon BIeu $21.00 x #____ = $ ______________
Prime Rib of Beef $24.00 x #____ = $ ______________
Prime Rib of Beef Large Cut $26.00 x #____ = $ ______________
Sunday Breakfast $5.00 x #____ = $ ______________
(Prices includes tax and tip)

Grand Total

$ ______________

1999 Imperial Meet Entry and Application Form: Release of Liability

In consideration of participation by the undersigned in any Imperial Event, I agree to forever protect, save and keep the Northern California Imperial Owners Club, Inc. or any other organization paricipating in the event, and host of the event, their members officers, agents, employees, volunteers, and assigns, holding them harmless and indemnifying then against and from all clalms, demands, whatsoever arising directly or indirectly out of, or in connection with my participation in this event. I further release and discharge the producers and participants, persons and entities referred to herein from any claims, demands, losses, and/or liability of any kind or nature, resultting from any acts of the aforesaid in connection with this event.

I have read the above and accept the terms and conditions

_______________________________________         Date ___________________
Signature of Participant (Must be signed to participate)

We must receive this form by April 15, 1999

PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO AND MAIL TO:

NCIOC
c/o Pauline Yetter
630 Hillcrest Blvd.
MiIIbrae, CA 94030