By Rebecca Bresler, ACM Education Coordinator
“¦and into the driver’s seat as they join fellow young car enthusiasts for a fun-filled week exploring the science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) concepts used to design, build and race cars! Continue reading “8 Reasons Why ACM’s Summer Camps are the Best”
Read More
[PHOTO] This is a typical rally road during a timed leg: it is paved, but rural enough not to encounter a lot of traffic while you’re holding exactly 40 mph, or whatever the assigned speed is. We will both be looking for the next maneuver, which might be a ‘hard right 25’ sign to go down to 20 MPH: if so, it will be a while before we see it. The navigator can enjoy the scenery while the driver sees nothing but the speedometer.
By Steve Hedke, who will be representing ACM with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in The Great Race June 24 – July 2. They are posting regular updates on their adventure here.
Picking up where we left off, we brought our 1964 Studebaker Daytona hardtop home from the VCRA rally in Joplin Missouri with stuff wrong with it. After two Great Race events and thousands of miles of driving we’ve only experienced minor issues. But it is an old car, and stuff happens, especially when pushing it hard. That’s why you tow it there and back.
The first problem was a hard one to chase down. The car started to plow around corners, causing uneven wear on the front tires and a chattering in the steering wheel. Having checked all the suspension components, we found a lower A arm bolt that was loose. We tightened that in the field between rainstorms, hoping it would solve it. The next day’s rally was in wet conditions, and when I hit the brakes we did a 180! Fortunately we didn’t hit anything or anyone, so we gingerly completed the loop and rallied on. The next time we hit the brakes we snuck up on it, and it was squirrely but under control. The rally ended soon after due to flooded roads, and we were happy to cut it short and head home. Continue reading “The Great Race: Fixing Stuff”
Read More
By Steve Hedke, who will be representing ACM with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in The Great Race June 24 – July 2. They are posting regular updates on their adventure here.
Perhaps you’ve been interested in Great Race but didn’t know if you’d like it. After all, it’s a pretty big commitment in both time and money without really knowing what’s involved. It’s one thing to explain to someone that it’s a “Time-Speed-Distance Road Rally where you are given the time and the speed but not the distance.” That might make sense to you if you’ve run SCCA TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) rallies before, but many people enter Great Race with no previous rally experience at all.
[PHOTO] This is the official start of a timed ‘leg’, and there are usually 4 to 6 legs per day. We are lined up in our official ‘order of start’, determined by a random drawing the day before. We are behind Peter LaMountain’s beautiful ’64 Impala SS today: on the trunk it says ‘Caution: Rally Car-Quick Stops and Turns’. Ahead you can just make out the speed limit sign, which is the starting point, and a car pulling away on their exact minute less the time it takes to accelerate to the assigned speed. Each car leaves one minute apart. If everything goes correctly, you won’t see them again for a while. In Peter’s case, we saw him a few times, as he passed us to get back into his ‘minute’ after making a wrong turn or two. Note that there are no race officials to ‘flag’ us off: we must calculate our own start time. The leg ends when we pass the checkpoint at an unknown location an hour or more away. Continue reading “The Great Race: Practice is a Good Thing”
Read More
By Scot Keller, ACM Curator of Exhibitry
Without a shadow of a doubt, unveiling a new exhibit at America’s Car Museum is the zenith of months of hard work from staff, volunteers, advisors and collectors. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and in the case of creating a new exhibit, it takes a community of enthusiasts, collectors, designers and historians to shape an exhibit at ACM. Continue reading “High Energy Abounds at the Exotics@ACM Exhibit Unveiling”
Read More
By Renée Crist, ACM Collections Manager
On display now in the newly-opened Exotics@ACM – Seductive Supercars exhibit, the Mangusta is an Italian supercar designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro while he was at Italian design and coachbuilder Ghia. One unique feature is its gullwing doors over the rear engine bay. It is also the first production car to use different size front and rear tires. Continue reading “A Car To Kill The Cobra: The 1969 De Tomaso Mangusta”
Read More
With blue skies back and asphalt beckoning, thoughts naturally turn to the road and what’s around that next bend. If your lucky, that next bend is a stretch of America’s most iconic road, Route 66. I needn’t go into the historic record and cultural significance of “The Mother Road,” we all pretty much know the tale. What you may not know about are the efforts to preserve this important piece of the American pie. We came across this interesting item during our daily stroll through the web. It happens to be timely given our recent refresh of the “Route 66: Dream of the Mother Road” exhibit. It began with vintage station wagons in 2015. Hot rods entered the spotlight in 2016. This year, convertibles take center stage. Be sure to check it out on your next visit to America’s Car Museum.
Click here to read more in Hemmings Motor News.
Read More
By Jana Wennstrom, ACM Volunteer Coordinator
Today begins National Volunteer Week! Established by the Points of Light Foundation in 1974, it was created to recognize and thank volunteers giving back to their communities. National Volunteer Week also lines up with our biggest celebration of ACM’s many volunteers – affectionately dubbed the “Appreciation Shindig.” Coming up on Tuesday, volunteers and ACM staff alike will join together for a meal while recognizing volunteers with awards and a raffle dash featuring over $4300 in donated prizes! The “Shindig” is a great chance for staff members to celebrate those volunteers who have made a big impact over the past year by recognizing their hard work and presenting a certificate of appreciation with a small token of thanks. Continue reading “Let’s Celebrate Volunteers during National Volunteer Week!”
Read More
By Steve Hedke, who will be representing ACM with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in The Great Race June 24 – July 2. They will be posting regular updates on their adventure here.
Hello, fellow old car enthusiasts! My name is Steve Hedke, and along with my wife Janet and our special needs daughter Allison, you’re about to share in a once-in-a-lifetime driving adventure – The Great Race. You’ll “blog-ride” along with us as we rally from Jacksonville, Florida to Traverse City, Michigan, this summer, proudly representing America’s Car Museum. Oh, and we’ll also be gunning for the $50,000 grand prize! Continue reading “Join the Adventure! Introducing The Great Race with Steve Hedke”
Read More
By Megan Black, ACM Digital Marketing Coordinator
Drive the Blues Away is right around the corner on Friday, April 21! Featuring tastings from craft breweries, distilleries, & wineries, delicious light bites and local live music, you won’t want to miss this fun-filled evening! Still not convinced? Here are six reasons it’ll be a night to remember. Continue reading “Six reasons Drive the Blues Away will be a night to remember”
Read More
By Renee Crist – ACM Collections Manager
Legendary in the Pacific Northwest music scene, The Fabulous Wailers achieved national fame in 1959 when their song “Tall Cool One” rose to #36 on the national charts. The success of their debut single called the band to the East coast for special appearances, including the Alan Freed Show and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.
The Wailers have been credited for lighting up the 60’s rock explosion in the Pacific Northwest. Their rock arrangement of “Louis-Louis” propelled “The Kingsmen” into the spotlight, and Tacoma rock sensations “The Sonics” were produced and signed to the Wailers’ own label, Etiquette Records. Continue reading “A Cadillac with Musical History: The Fabulous Wailermobile”
Read More