First…a wonderful Happy Birthday to my (i)ncomparable niece! She graced us with her presence yesterday. We have not been able to see her very often because of the damn virus; she lives in New York City.
We went to a local restaurant for lunch, although I actually ate breakfast. That was the first time I have eaten inside a restaurant in the area in which we live since early March. The last time I ate inside a restaurant anywhere was in mid-March during our trip to Arizona. Dining in was not a comfortable experience for me yesterday.
Here are some notes of a different kind:
******************
The Mecum “Spring” Classic auction began on Friday, about two months after it was originally scheduled. The first NBCSN telecast from the auction was yesterday. To be honest, the energy seemed “off” for the first 15-20 minutes, but then the broadcast hit its stride. I commend everyone involved for wearing face protection. Dana Mecum, among others, actually wore a clear plastic face shield instead of a mask. My wonderful wife and I quickly ordered two face shields for ourselves.
Reminiscing about our March trip to Arizona to attend the Mecum auction, here is a picture of a beautiful car offered there.
This is a 1956 Lincoln Premiere convertible. The body style reminds me of a Packard 400 or Caribbean from the same period. The Premiere convertible was Lincoln’s most expensive offering for 1956 at $4,747, remembering that, technically, the Mark II was a Continental and not a Lincoln. Only 2,447 of these were built for 1956. This car sold for $33,000 all in at the March auction.
Some of the homes we’ve “liked” during our online search in the desert have an RV gate and an ample side yard, usually consisting of a gravel surface, presumably for parking an RV. No rule says that “RV” couldn’t be a car like this Lincoln. Because of the arid climate, cars don’t rust away. However, to prevent the sun from destroying the interior, the car should be covered. Anyway…that’s all speculation; one must crawl before they walk and walk before they run.
******************
I have an odd request, but consider the source. If you’re reading this after a search engine led you to Disaffected Musings, can you share with me the search term you used? You can comment or use the Contact form. I appreciate the desire to respect the privacy of those using the Internet by privatizing search terms, but I am very curious about what terms lead to this blog. Yesterday saw a healthy number of views/visitors, powered by a lot of referrals from search engines.
#NotesForASunday
#MecumSpringClassic
#1956LincolnPremiereConvertible
#SearchTerms
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.
Disaffected Musings 
Due to the fact I travel, a lot, for my work (I’ll be flying out this afternoon for a meeting tomorrow), I “enjoy” far too many meals in restaurants. The game has changed considerably in the last 4 months. With the social distancing required, there are 1/2 the seats available leading to longer waits for those seats. Condiments that used to be at the table, salt, pepper, sugar, etc, are now brought to you only if you request them. Menu options have changed, due to the cost and availability of certain foods and many places limit the size of a group that can be seated together.
Be it for better or worse, families are now having more meals together. I suspect this will be the new “normal” for some time to come.
Yesterday Phillip asked about my race cars. These days due to decreased reaction times and lower stamina, I only drag race. In years past I did race sports cars semi seriously, but cut back a lot after a bad wreck in 2005. My Triumph Spitfire had a tire let go going into turn 12 at Road Atlanta sending me into the tire wall at about 65 mph. Broken left ankle, broken left clavicle, 3 broken fingers on my right hand, and a pretty stout concussion kept me out of commission for a month. These days I will occasionally take one of my Shelby Dodges out to a track day, but thats it. I have 2 drag cars; S-limeball my 68 Valiant which has a 451 (400 block bored .030 over with a 440 crankshaft) Mopar wedge now running a Holley EFI, 727 Torqueflight with manual valve body, on 10″ tires. The chassis and cage are certified to 9.90 second specs, but the car runs mid 10 second passes with a best of 10.21 at 127 mph.
My other drag car, now all apart, is a 1949 Dodge business coupe, built as a gasser, named High Times. The engine is a blown 472″ Ray Barton Hemi. I’m changing the transmission from a 4 speed to whats called a “clutchflight”. It’s a Torqueflight with a clutch instead of a torque converter, but retains the Torqueflight internals. They were popular for a while in the 60’s during the heydays of the gasser class. I’m also putting a CalTracs rear suspension in. The chassis and cage were certified to 8.90 seconds with a best time of 9.33 at 142 mph. When I get it back together, maybe later this year, it’s due to be recertified. I might have to detune the engine to maintain the same certification. Otherwise I will have to build a new cage and upgrade parts of the chassis.
Thanks for asking.
LikeLike
Many thanks, sir. I am glad to have someone with your automotive knowledge and experience reading and commenting.
LikeLike
DDMcG, Your stable of race “toys” is substantial.and must keep you occupied. Where do you do your drag racing? The gasser sounds very interesting. I’m glad you have recovered from you shunt at Road Atlanta.
My son-in-law and his car club friends go out to Inde Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, AZ. I’ve been out with him on one of their track days and it is a fun place to run their road course. It is interesting as I spent part of my growing up years in Willcox, from 1957 to 1961. Link to their website here: https://indemotorsports.com/
I grew up spectating at the drag races at Tucson Dragway and at Beeline Dragway both in Arizona. Until this year the Indy 500 was always a must see event. My favorite racing to follow is the land speed racing at Bonneville. My son-in-law follows the Formula 1 series faithfully.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing, Philip.
LikeLike
Phillip,
My “home” track is Atlanta Dragway but I’ve been as far north as Bristol Virginia, as far west as Dallas Tx but mostly Ga, Al, Fl, and the Carolinas. I participate with the SE Gasser Association with High Times and run S-limeball just for fun. It’s always been a a problem of not enough time, but as I’m slowing up some with my work I will probably spend more time at it.
Sounds like you were fortunate with quality drag strips to attend in your younger days. There was a famous Studebaker that ran at those strips known as The Whistler. It is a blown, R-2, Lark that did quite well in its day. Maybe you got to see it make a few runs.
Again, thanks for asking.
LikeLike
Thanks again for sharing, sir.
LikeLike
My wife and I meet with friends weekly, sit in their back yard with social distance spacing and share a dinner picked up from a local restaurant. This has become a new normal for us.
I recently traveled to Montana for a celebration of life and need to go to Minneapolis this week for another, so I have experienced meals in a restaurant for the first time in months. So far, we have been comfortable with the protections afforded, but most of our home state and where we were in Montana have very few COVID cases. That makes things easier. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about the trip to Minneapolis. We may just skip the dine-in and order pizza on our evening stay, then head back home right away after services eating take-out.
LikeLike
Montana and the Dakotas have had a much lower per capita rate of cases than most of the rest of the country. Low population density can be a wonderful thing.
LikeLike
My local cruise used to see an older couple who attended religiously. They were Lincoln collectors, I believe he had 9 or 10, including a Continental Mark II (yes, not a Lincoln). But he also had at least one of these Lincolns (can’t recall if it was a Premiere or Cosmopolitan – he may have had one of each).
I sometimes wonder if these Lincolns aren’t underappreciated. They’re nice, certainly not as overwrought as the next generation, though not as clean as the 1960s cars. I can definitely see the Lincoln Futura influence.
LikeLike