2012 Glenmoor Gathering

Ok, I don't live under a rock. I've known of the Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Automobiles in nearby Canton, Ohio for several years now. But I might has well been living under a rock as I have never been to the famed concours d' elegance. All I can say is that if you have never been. Plan on going in 2013. This is an event that is a must attend for any car enthusiast. It doesn't matter what you like, there is a little of something for everyone at the Glenmoor Gathering. Set on the grounds of the beautiful Glenmoor Country Club, the Gathering hosts, I would guess around 500+ of the nation's finest collector cars there are to offer. Each year there are themes This year there were four. Supercharged Autos, Trans-Atlantics (European styling/bodies with American power), The cars of Sydney Allard, and lastly (and the one I was most excited for) Tucker.

Now I have seen a handful of Tuckers in my travels as a car guy. But I have never seen a Tucker outside of the security of an indoor museum and barriers. At this year's event there were 9 Tucker's on display. 7 of which were real honest to goodness members of the original 51 Tuckers built in 1948. These cars take on a whole new life when seen outside in the sunlight. Some highlights included a Tucker from the Gilmore Museum in Michigan which is essentially a brand new car. Tucker #47 has only 53 original miles on the odometer, this Tucker is all original with the exception of one tire. It had just enough patina to look like an older restoration, but once you got up close, well there's that originality vibe. Another standout was Tucker # 48 which came from Wisconsin. This car was interesting because of the numerous accessories added to the car which included wire wheels and a large sign on the back alerting motorists that they had just been passed by a Tucker. Also on display was a fiberglass replica used in the production of the 1988 film, Tucker: The man and his dream. This car sits on a Ford LTD chassis and looks the part far away. And the wildest of the bunch, the Rob Ida Concepts, Tucker 48 continuation. We'll do a feature on that car separately.

Moving to the supercharged cars class, we found a stunning 1938 Mercedes 540k, a 1930 Stutz Model M, a 1927 Hudson Super Six which had a interesting similarity to the the famous Bentley 4 1/2 liter. On display in other classes were a 1948 Davis 3 wheeler, and a 1935 Hoffman X8. The later sporting a X8 mid rear mounted motor. This one had many collectors, including Jay Leno confused as to exactly what a Hoffman was as there was only one ever made.

Probably for me as a car guy, the car that caught my fancy was the 1935 Duesenberg Model SJ "Morman Meteor". This is a car that I have only seen via specials on TV, so to see this famed Duesey in person was a real treat. The car was specially commissioned by David "Ab" Jenkins who was a world renowned test driver. Producing over 400 horsepower, the Mormon Meteor was driven by Jenkins to a world record average of  speed of 135.47mph for 24 hours covering 3523 miles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935. In 1936, with upgrades Jenkins broke his own record with an average speed of 153.823 mph. In 2007, the car was honored with winning Best of Show at the famous Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance.

As I said above, I must have been living under a rock to have never gone to the Glenmoor Gathering. Check out our photo album of all the pictures we took.  Glenmoor gallery.

Hot Rod of the Day: 1932 and 1930 Ford Model As.

Here's a sort of old meets the new. A relatively stock looking 1930ish Ford Model A, with a very much traditional 1950s look 1932 3 window (deuce coupe) Model A.

Circle yer wagens!

We've all seen dummy spinners. But how about dummy wagon wheels for your early hot rod?

New for 1957!

There's no denying that the 1957 Ford Fairlane is a seriously cool car with the right set of wheels.

The Brooks Walker Fifth Wheel

 You think about the advancements today with self parking cars and it makes you wonder what took so long. Truth is, the idea of making parking cars easier has been around since at least the 1950s. 

A few years back we spotted this 1953 Packard at an area car show with a similar invention by a gentleman named Brooks Walker of San Francisco, Ca. It may very well have been created by the same gentleman that crated the Cadillac in the video above.

We did a Google search and were able to turn up some patent designs from Mr. Walker that date back to 1928. There are a few other similar patents out there, however Mr. Walker's seems to be the most thought out and engineered example. This patent from 1932 seems to be the most similar to the one in the video, but the application seems nearly identical to that on the Packard we saw. We also found this Life magazine article showing off Walker's invention.

Now the big question. How does it work? The spare tire is mounted to s separate frame that connects to the drive shaft that can be lowered from inside the car electronically or hydraulically. This lowers the spare tire to the ground lifting the drive wheels of the car off the ground. This allows the spare wheel the drive the car in to a parking spot.

Simple as that. It's a very cool idea in theory even if it may not be the most practical. Since there's little info on Brooks Walker's Fifth Wheel, we hope this will help to serve as a memory to his idea.