2018 SACC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Four Points Sheraton, Ventura, CA - Hosted by SACC’s Southern California Chapter

July 20 to July 22, 2018

Here's SoCal Chapter member Dick McClure with his '62 at the 
entryway to the hall that we commandeered for the convention.  He has
had this car for 10 years, he enjoys driving it, taking it to shows, 
participating in parades, etc.

I ran into John Wendel from Oregon with his '62 white pearl/burgundy cove car.
It has an LS3 crate engine, 6L80E automatic 6-speed trans, 

Plus ghost pin striping in the cove!

He has owned the car since 2004 and started the update right away.

Then I ran into Tom DeBold from Florida.  His red/white '60 came from Jacksonville, 
Florida, and it was a basket case, and that was 20 years ago.  It was restored in Chandler, Arizona  
All told, it was a 12 year restoration.  All the parts are 1960 parts.

It has won Top Flight, Duntov, Triple Diamond, and many more awards

Next up - Atlanta.

This Sateen Silver '62 brought Kevin Wilson to the convention, traveling from Seattle,
Washington.

In past days it was owned by Scott Spezio, major league baseball player.

Here is the National Board Meeting.  (L to R)  Bill Stalder, Western Regional Representative, 
Bruce Fuhrman, SACC Secretary, Brad Bean, SACC VP, Lucy Badenhoop, SACC Treasurer/Membership Chair, 
and Fred Hamilton, filling in for Ron Dill, Eastern Regional Representative.  Not shown is Jack Hollada (Holiday) DC, 
Central Regional Representative who took the picture.

But it wasn't all tire kicking and chit-chatting.

Here you see the National Board and Chapters meeting.

Here at the doorway to the hotel is Marty and Mary Meckler's '62.  They have owned
this car for 23 years.

They love driving it.

Behind the front wheel and under the emblem you can find Mighty Mouse!

And here's SoCal Chapter Technical Advisor Larry Pearson and his original Honduras Maroon
'60.  It actually sat in a garage for 20 years before Larry got the title and brought it home.

Larry is the 2nd owner.

On Friday night there was a welcome reception in the Schooner Room.

It was a good time go get re-acquainted with friends, or just acquainted with new friends.

And the convention was so well attended that the hotel brought chairs out in the lawn for the spill-over
people.

The lawn was lush and the temperature was just right.

Here's the hallway that we had commandeered for our convention.  There was merchandise sales,
handled capably by SACC VP Brad Bean (seated).

This is Marie and Michelle from St. Louis..

And here is the Display Room.  The reason there is nobody there is because everyone was out in the parking

area getting ready for the Road Tour.

This is some of the cars as seen before the Road Tour.

But before the Road Tour I did get a chance to talk to Bill Connelly from California.
He became the owner of this car in 2010.  When he bought it, the car was not ready for the
judges to award any honors.

He had a total frame off.  He drives it, enjoys it, and it has won plenty of trophies at shows.

Here's a shot of the cars lined up for the Road Tour.  The line went back into the hotel parking area..

We went to the Malamut Car Museum.  It is a private collection, by appointment only.

There were cars, cars, cars, plus all kinds of accessories, automotive products.

Then later on at dinner time, we went on a dinner cruise on the Ventura Harbor

The scenery was great and so was the food.

We sat at the table with Carole and Andy Blake, from California.  And
surprise to them, they got called up to be recognized for their 15th anniversary.

Here's part of the spectacular view..

And this group of seals had no interest in us in the slightest.

Now fast forward to Sunday.  Chip Werstein kicks off the tech sessions

Eric Hershkowitz kicked off the session with "Corvette Restoration for the
Novice Dentist".

He showed how dental tools can really help when working on a car.  Seriously, I learned
a lot.  Also, every one got a kit of tools and supplies to take home to your shop.

Then Larry Pearson, SoCal Chapter Tech Advisor, did a talk on fuel injection and the inspection stamps
and markings.

Once again, I learned a lot.

Then Donnie Caccamise gave a talk on transmissions especially power glide.

A lot of information was given.

Then after a lunch break Jim Gessner brought in champion racers for a round-table
discussion.

Jim is next to the laptop.

Then seated behind Jim is (L to R) Fred Yeakel, Joe Freitas, and Paul Reinhart.

A lot of non-public insider information was presented!  It was good!

And  here's the Paul Reinhart car.

Kathy Ilowiecki drove her '59 all the way from Mass.  She won the Farthest Driven Award.

Here's a view of the banquet and annual Business Meeting.

At the Business Meeting it was explained to the membership that President Max Brockhouse did not wish to run for re-election as president.  VP Brad Bean was elected President, and the other officers up for election this year were re-elected.

Let's close out this pictorial review with this beautiful sunset picture that Bill Connelly took
from the dinner boat cruise.  Thanks, Bill...

So that is my pictorial run-down of the 2018 convention in Ventura California.  The Southern California Chapter did an outstanding job in setting up and running the convention.  I got to converse with old friends and meet new ones.  Did I drive out there from Texas?  No.  I drove Southwest Airlines.

Next year's convention will be in Detroit, and it looks to be a chart-topper.  Stay tuned...

-Jack Hollada (Holiday), DC, SACC Central Regional Representative