Antique Automobile Club of America Fall Meet

Pat and I attended the AACA fall meet this past weekend.  Last year I was there as a judge and was busy working.  This year since it was Pat’s first year I decided not to judge and just enjoy the show with Pat. 

If you enjoy old, old cars Hershey PA is the place to be in early October each year for this meet and car show.  It is exciting to see a car that is 100 years old, but at this show you can see numerous cars that are 100 plus years old.  We saw at least 5 or 6 that dated back in the late 1800s.  And they were still running!

The Car Corral was our first stop on Friday morning.  This is a show in itself.  If you are a serious buyer you should be able to find something that fits your taste and budget in the Car Corral.  Hyman LTD had numerous cars there for sale and one the one that really caught my attention was a 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt (pictured above) for sale for a mere 1.3 million.  A car that until this show I had only seen on TV shows.   I did see one car in the corral that I wanted to drive home and it was within my budget.  It was this little red three wheeler.  It looked like a Morgan but I do not think it was one.  Pat and I would look good cruising the streets, me in the Lomax and her in this.

After the Car Corral we spent a lot of time in the large flea market.  I believe you could buy enough parts there to build a complete car and drive it home.  Pats favorite car of the weekend was this Fascination Car that we saw on the grounds of the flea market.  My favorite car/motorcycle within the flea market was this old rusted motorcycle, a 1911 Reading Standard.  Check out the price tag on this old rusty thing.  Another interesting car on the flea market grounds was this NanoCar that was built by some vocational school students at Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School.  You start it with a cell phone by sending it a text message – but no texting while driving.  It is powered by an electric engine.  With a biodiesel generator used to charge the batteries. The body is literally a Dodge Durango that the students sliced in half and narrowed to fit their car.

After we walked and walked the flea market it was time to go back to our motor home and unload all of the stuff we purchased and take a little break.  Our evening out was spent at the AACA Museum looking at what else more cars and motorcycles.  The museum has a great motorcycle collection.

Early Saturday morning we were off to the big car show.  And what a show it was.  My favorites were the three wheel cars and motorcycles.  Yes I have a thing for three wheel vehicles whether they are a car or a motorcycle with a side car, I just like them.  We saw what is perhaps the world’s smallest motorcycle with a side car, a Skat Kitty.   I could put this little thing in the trunk of my Lomax and use it instead of a spare tire.  One that was most interesting was this Trihawk by Harley Davidson

Here is what I could find online about this vehicle:

The Trihawk was originally envisioned by Lou Richards, and further design and development was accomplished by a core group including Bob McKee, David Stollery, Dick Kleber and Bill Mozon. The Trihawk was first manufactured in 1982 by Design Lab, Inc. at a facility in Mokena, Illinois. After completing a preproduction run of 10-12 units, manufacturing and sales were moved to a new facility in Dana Point, California under the new moniker of Hawk Vehicles, Inc. where full production began in 1983. Production ceased at the end of 1985, after company interests were purchased by Harley Davidson. Between 90 and 100 units were produced.

The vehicle is powered by a 4-cylinder, air cooled 1,299cc boxer engine that drives the front wheels. The engine and transmission came from the Citroën GSA. Suspension components were utilized from the Renault R5 (Le Car) whereas Honda was the choice for the dash board instruments. Due to its extremely low centre of gravity and wide front track, the Trihawk was capable of attaining upwards of 1G force during skid pad testing, matching the Corvette and Countach of the day.

If you enjoy 3 wheel vehicles and want to read more about them I am starting a three wheel owners group dedicated to 3 wheelers – Three Wheel Association or TWA.  Please contact me for more information.

It was a busy two days but enjoyable.

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1 Comment to Antique Automobile Club of America Fall Meet

  1. by Jerry

    On October 11, 2010 at 7:52 am

    Great post and great photos. I loved the ‘Fantastic’ but there were some other great cars and bikes also. Looks like it was a fun weekend.

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