Whats on next year in the U.S.A.

[Crownking <crownking62@xxxxxxxxx>]

Keith and all:
The irony of this post has me experiencing deja vu all over again. 
Flint.  In 21 years there, I saw one Imperial and one '78 NYB. The
NYB was an incredibly bright orange affair with a root beer vinyl top
that languished into the '79 model year on the showroom floor at
Chinonis Chrysler Plymouth on Clio Road. (I loved it but could not
afford it.)  I heard tell of one other NYB but never saw it.  Keep in
mind, other than a junky '57 Chevy I bought on speculation fifteen
years after leaving Flint, I have only owned Mopars and was always on
the lookout for cool Chrysler stuff.  In Genesee County where even
Fords are rare birds, Chrysler products are merely an intellectual
curiosity.

Flint is the birthplace of GM--home of its colorful founder Billy
Durant who is one of those great men of the past I feel a need to
stay connected with.  Alas, he was no Henry Ford.  Flint's residents
sat down at Fisher One in the mid '30s and forced that GM to
recognize the UAW and gave that stellar organization a toehold in our
beloved industry.  Flint is a ghetto without an outskirts to flee to
other than the high-brow metropolis of Grand Blanc where my sister
resides in her double-wide.  There are some little towns twenty miles
out, like the one we moved to in '69 population 1700, where the
inhabitants farm nights and weekends and work the "shops", the Flint
term for the many GM factories still there, during the week.

Yikes, Keith.  I hope your impression of the U.S. will not be based
on what you experience in Flint. If you really make it up there, my
Uncle, William David Cook, will no doubt be in attendance since he is
an officer in the Flint Buick club and has a nice example of an early
'50s Buick.  I put William David because he always went by Uncle Dave
when I was around but folks at the shop where he was a machinist
called him Bill.

You can't go wrong heading down to Dearborn and taking in the Henry
Ford museum although their Chrysler artifacts are pretty much limited
to a representative minivan.  Not the Smithsonian but it can take
several days to wander through. Great Presidential limo section
including Kennedy's last ride.  The nearby Greenfield village is an
excellent trip to the past, too.  I've not visited it, but some folks
on the list have talked up the new Chrysler Museum that the Benz
folks put together.  Some have said that their exhibits are no better
at conveying truth than was their deceitful representation to our
government and the stockholders, though.  The smallish Sloan Museum
in Flint is a kick, too, but it is all about Alfred P Sloan, Doc
Kettering and GM--cool dream cars there.

While so offensive I have refused to watch it, I'm told the movie
"Roger and Me" by Roger Moore about Flint, GM and CEO Roger Smith
pretty well captures the overall Flint experience.  

You must really love Buicks.....




> From: "Keith Hopping" <oldhop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: IML: Whats on next year in the U.S.A.
> Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 17:23:16 +1300
> Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> How about a bit of feed back on what might be worth seeing Imperial
> wise =
> in July August next year. I am planning a trip to the BUICK  100th
> =
> birthday in Flint Mich July 25 2003. just setting an itinerary at
> this =
> stage Would be rude of me to come all the way up from New Zealand
> and =
> not have a drink or two with fellow Imperialists .At this stage we
> will =
> be up your way for about 8 weeks and have only the Flint thing as a
> set =
> time and place.I'm sure there must be something Chrysler happening
> some =
> where in that time frame.Regards HOP



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