Grand National 2006 introduced many "firsts"

GN-06 featured many firsts which included the moving of the special individual recognition awards to the Wednesday evening reception principally to enable all GN attendees to know who these special winners are at the outset of the GN and give them the opportunity to meet the winners.  The second reason was to shorten the Saturday evening Awards Banquet to a more reasonable total time, especially in view of the fact that the GN-06 Banquet featured appearances by Cadillac Division General Manager Jim Taylor, and recently retired GM Design Chief Chuck Jordan.

The Southern California Board of Directors, under the leadership of Tom Musson, also added some other "firsts" to this Grand National.  The now famous Cadillac Sixteen Concept car was shipped from Detroit for the four day convention and drew a great deal of attention from CLC attendees, the visiting public as well as the news media.

It was joined in the lobby by a maroon 1938 V-16 convertible owned by Aaron Weiss of Pasadena, CA, (an eventual first place winner in Primary Class), and a former concept car from the 1933 World's Fair, a deep copper colored 1937 version of the V-16 Aerodynamic Coupe, on loan to the CLC from the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, CA.

GN-06 featured drawings and designs of future Cadillacs, El Dorados and perhaps the re-introduction of the LaSalle, in the form of large mounted pen and ink, along with colored versions of the cars of the future which festooned the walls of he Grand Promenade leading from the lobby to the banquet area.  The winning designers, some retired and some current GM employees were induced to join the CLC at this Grand National by Ron Van Gelderen, past CLC President, now residing in Georgia.

First ever Commemorative Book and DVD

Another "first was a special SoCal CLC Commemorative Book project which resulted in a 76 page, all color "yearbook" type of publication which was well received by all the attendees.  The book features many pages of member cars from around the world, along with Cadillac related articles, photos and human interest stores.  This book will also be for sale to any CLC member desiring to purchase one while supplies last.

The entire GN-06, from registration day to the Awards Banquet, was filmed for release on a 70 minute long GN-06 DVD.  The disc features interviews with CLC people, the winning cars, the Newport Harbor Tour, the Los Angeles and Hollywood "Mega Tour", (including a special interview and demonstration of "correct" auto restoration at the Nethercutt Museum), the luncheon visit to Ed Cholakian's All Cadillacs Company, and the Awards Banquet, hosted by Tom Musson and featuring Jim Taylor, Chuck Jordon, and National CLC Directors Bill Edmunds, Andy Zizolfo, Glenn Brown, Ron Van Gelderen, and Carl Steig.

The final "first" was the first ever recognition of the idea that a growing number of modified Cadillacs exist in the hobby from all around the world.  Many fine examples of "tastefully" modified Cadillacs were on the field, including Dale Armstrong's now famous 1958 Brougham, Dave Callens 1948 "Tyrone Power" Cadillac convertible, John Altamura's 1941 Cadillac Convertible Coupe and Tony Hiller's now famous 1947 pale yellow Cadillac Convertible.

Thank you all for attending the 2006 Grand National in Orange, California 

We look forward to seeing you next year in Savannah, Georgia, August 1-4, 2007