The
1998 NCKCC Concours:
September 12 & 13th:
those magnificent men & women and their driving machines...
The
photographs for this photo feature were shot by Vern Hance
of the NCKCC, and by Curt Scott. Enjoy!
The
NCKCC's annual "Bash-by-the-Bay" handcrafted automobile
concourse takes place every September in San Leandro, on the
east side of San Francisco bay. The above photo is a tip of the
hat to El Torito Mexican restaurant, whose management
each year cheerfully provides their spacious bayside parking
lot for the event! Above: 7:30am before the show, with early-arriving
exhibitors visible in the distance.
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NCKCC
member Lynn Reed of Fairfield, California showed off his magnificent
1935 Auburn Speedster replica. |
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AHA
club member David Hartman's (of Mission Viejo, California) Fiero-based
GT40 Mk.II replica. |
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...and in the reptile department...
Marty
& Julie Krueger's Butler Cobra replica.
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The engine compartment of Tom
Piana's (Hillsborough, California) Contemporary Roadster. That's
a 427 side-oiler powerplant, thoroughly decked out in polished
aluminum... one of the nicest Cobras in existence!
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and
the engine compartment of Marty & Julie Krueger's (Santa
Ynez, California) Butler Cobra. There were dozens of splendid
Cobra replicas at the show.
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At
right: Close-up detail of Joel Heinke's (Castro Valley, California)
Classic Roadsters Guardsman Blue 427 roadster.
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NCKCC
member Bob Bohaboy's Classic Roadsters Marlene. |
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The
NCKCC's Vern and Carol Hance taking their turn at the show's
"Welcome" booth. |
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A
dazzling red Sterling; we took this shot early on Saturday morning;
belongs to NCKCC club member Tracy Spencer of Concord California.
If the seductive lines of this beauty catch your fancy, you can
visit the Solid Sterling website
on kitcar.com. |
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Ever-cheerful
Dave Podnar (Palm Desert, California) with his magnificent 1934
Mercedes 500K reproduction. |
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Ron
Santasiero's magnificent one-off, with unmistakable Ferrari-esque
body lines. He chose a Pontiac TransAm for his base platform. |
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Above:
Although Hummbug wasn't
there with a booth, Hal Underwood (Bethel Island, California)
had his dazzling red Hummbug off-roader there in all its glory.
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Above:
Fiber Jet Industries
was there with this gorgeous, robustly-constructed silver-metalflake
"Enos" dune buggy.
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This
1927 Typ 35 Bugatti replica was driven to the show by NCKCC club
members Pat & Anita Cooley of Livermore, California. |
Below:
Ken & Liz Williams' (Livermore, California) breathtaking Z-car
handiwork... and all-metal, no fiberglass! The car began life
over a quarter-century ago as a Nissan 240Z, which Ken and Liz
converted to a spyder version. The powerplant (below, left) is
a 1990 Lexus V8, neatly shoehorned into the Z-car's engine compartment.
This car is a crowd stopper in every respect.
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Above:
At another corner of the show, Mercedes 500K and Jag SS100 replicas
(and a Countach replica or two) predominate the scene.
Below:
5:30 pm Saturday. The crowd gathers for the club's ritual champagne
get-together prior to dinner next door at the El Torito.
'98
Awards: NCKCC
Handcrafted Automobile Concourse
Kit
Car Editor's Choice:
Tony
Goncalves....Mini-Cooper/MR-2 #69
Best
of Show:
Jay
& Geri McCullough....Mercedes 500K replica #38
Best
Manufacturer:
Hummbug
(represented by Hal Underwood)....#39
President's
Choice:
David
& Jerry Depew....Club Member Assistance
Vice-President's
Choice:
Dale
McCormick....Ferrari Testarossa #17
Show
Chairman's Choice:
Mel
Coffin....Desoto/Ford #59
Ladies'
Choice:
Chris
& Olivia Schmanski (Central Point, OR)....Mercedes SSK
Cobra:
1st
Tom Piana.......Cobra #24
2nd
Fred Forgnone...Cobra #20
3rd
Dave Jones......Cobra #56
Classic
(over $20,000):
1st
Mel Coffin.............Desoto/Ford #59
2nd
Al Bohr..................Mercedes 500k #10
3rd
Jay & Geri McCullough...Mercedes #38
Classic
($10,000 to $20,000):
1st
Bob & Barb Bohaboy....Marlene #33
2nd
Hans Kiel Jr...........Jaguar SS-100 #14
Classic
(Under $10,000):
1st
Chris & Olivia Schmanski...Mercedes SSK #30
2nd
Pat & Anita Cooley.........Bugatti #19
3rd
James & Wendy Wagner.......Bugatti #7
Sports
(over $20,000):
1st
Brinton Jones....Manta Montage #35
2nd
Andre Capella....Ferrari Spyder #29
3rd
Dick Lager.......Lambo Countach #57
Sports
($10,000 To $20,000:
1st
Myron Sahleen.....Sebring #57
2nd
Jim Standiford....Jackrabbit #23
3rd
Tony Goncalves....Mini-Cooper/MR-2 #69
Sports
(Under $10,000):
1st
Ken & Liz Williams....Datsun 240z/Lexus #60
2nd
Alan Grace............Sterling #43
3rd
Dave Mireles..........Frazer-Nash #48
Best
Paint:
Mel
Coffin....Desoto/Ford #59
Best
Interior:
Jay
& Geri McCullough....Mercedes 500K #38
Best
Engine:
Tom
Piana....Contemporary Cobra #24
Most
Unique:
John
Rank....'23 Ford T-Bucket #40
The
NCKCC thanks all those who entered their cars. This year the
club had a total of 72 replicars entered in the show. The high
quality of these vehicles reflected the devotion and labor put
into these vehicles by their builders.
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After-show
commentary by the NCKCC's Vern Hance:
The
16th annual show held september 12th and 13th has come and gone.
It was a very good show and from all indications the spectators
and exhibitors thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather and after-show
champagne tasting and cuisine was tops and the Saturday night
dinner (over 70 diners attending) was the biggest and smoothest-running
that we've ever had.
We
had some outstanding one-off creations this year. The Tony Goncalves
Mini-Cooper built on a Toyota MR-2 chassis was a crowd pleaser.
The Ken Williams Datsun (Nissan) 240Z convertible with the Lexus
V8 under the hood looked as if it came from the factory that
way. The John Pritzo's black Z-car based Tomahawk with the 350
corvette engine even sounded like a Shelby Cobra.
Thirty
five of the cars were from NCKCC members; the rest of them were
non-member cars which came from distant places, ranging from
northern Oregon to southern California. Several manufacturers
displayed their cars; Hummbug
from Vancouver, Washington, was represented by NCKCC member Hal
Underwood who just completed his off-roader a couple months ago;
Solid Sterling (of St.
Helens, Oregon) arrived with their dazzling lavender Sterling;
Fiber Jet Industries
was there with one of the firm's many VW-based dune buggies (a
silver metalflake Enos); West Coast Exotics showed
their Pontiac-based Ferrari F-50 replica, and Ken Levine of Walnut
Creek (California) had his Dri-Wash-n-Guard products on
display. Additionally, Jonathan Barlow/Barlow Insurance
hosted a booth for the company's specialty car insurance program.
We
were honored to have in attendance Jim Youngs, the editor of
kit car magazine. Dan Burrill attended representing several car
magazines. Curt Scott of Crown Publishing was also present and
has done an outstanding job of covering the NCKCC show on the
kitcar.com and cobracountry.com websites and having it online
within days after the event.
We
thank all the club members who worked hard to make this show
the best it could be. Some of the people to whom we are saying
'Thank You!' include those who did the "night security"
duty, those who ran the admission gate, those doing the "At
Show" registration, those who sold club merchandise and
drinks, those announcing, those who solicited drawing prizes,
those who arranged for trophies, tents and the sound system,
those that worked on the advertising and mailings and those who
pitched in to help "set-up" and later "tear-down"
the show site.
And
of course, a major 'Thank You!' to those NCKCC members and others
who brought their cars, the basic attraction of the show!
Vern
Hance
This
year (1998) a high percentage of the attendees reported that
they learned of the NCKCC show right here on kitcar.com and cobracountry.com
and streetrodcountry.com!
 The
NCKCC official website... your invitational tour du
jour!
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