2000 N0RTH-S0UTH WRAP

Commemorative dash plaque—Those who drove up for the day can buy one for $8 postpaid (5 available).

Number 37 proved to be one of the more successful All-California Meets in recent years. The weather was perfect, the Madonna Inn inviting, the garage tour fascinating, the car show sensational, the banquet delicious, and the presentations by the authors of the new LaSalle book very illumining.

This year forties and fifties cars predominated in the field of forty-some participants at the Saturday afternoon exhibition. Although most folks stayed over both Friday and Saturday nights, a number of day trippers motored over in vintage iron to be part of the Saturday afternoon car show. Missing from the lineup due to of mechanical glitches were the Parrino's '58 Biarritz (lost trans), the Forslund's '59 Biarritz (blown air bag) and the Golden's magnificent '57 convertible (last-minute cooling system repair).

This was SoCal's turn to host the event. Director Roy Schneider had help from two San Luis Obispo area CLC members, Bill Hart and Al Kelly. Coincidentally, both are '40 LaSalle aficionados —Bill drove a 52-Series sedan to the Madonna, and Al his pride & joy 52-Series convertible. Al Kelly put together the Saturday morning garage tour which proved to be the perfect start to a perfect day. One stop was his hilltop shop building containing several LaSalles, a 1939 Cadillac convertible and a '40 Ford cabover.

Special thanks to Lorry Fredericks and Hollis Weihe, and their ladies, for manning the hospitality suite over the two day schedule. Our deep appreciation and admiration go to Ron VanGelderen and Matt Larson, authors of the LaSalle book, who headlined the banquet program.

Participation-wise, it was nearly a dead-even split between North and South, with San Diego and others bringing the banquet number to just under 100 persons. In terms participating Cadillacs and LaSalles, the northern group had the edge in terms of both quality and quantity.

The view from Al Kelley's LaSalle shop, as the morning haze lifts and the AM garage tour gets underway.

Members cars posed in front of another stop on the garage tour, Jack Dewar's reproduction old-time gas station.

The lineup at the Madonna Inn around noon. Soon there would be three times as many cars as folks got back from lunch and the garage tour.

The banquet at the Madonna Inn was excellent. Steak eaters outnumbered the chicken crowd 3 to 1.