The 4th Annual First Generation Monte Carlo Club Meet

Branson, MO
August, 2003

We had a great turnout and a great time at this year's FGMCC meet deep in the Ozark Mountains of Branson, Missouri at the Shepard of the Hills Car Show.  What a beautiful setting for nearly 15 70-72 Monte Carlos who came from all over the US to be with us.  We had a lot to show from the extremely original, to the extremely modified, and everything in between; and, this had to be the most colorful assortment of first gens I've ever seen.

I really enjoyed seeing the USA in my Chevrolet, as I spent 14 hours driving to this event.  I met with the club's event coordinator in Knoxville, TN and we drove the rest of the way in a "2 Monte Convoy" pounding the pavement through the dark night.  (Did you know that a High Performance 454 can get better gas mileage than a stock 350?  Yes, when the 454 has a 5-speed manual and the 350 is paired up with its original turbo 350 automatic.)

When we arrived, there were a few members there already enjoying the sights, sitting in the shade, shooting the breeze.  This was Thursday. Friday and Saturday would prove to be the day that provided the stunning image of 15 or so First Generation Monte Carlos all lined up perfectly in a rainbow of colors.  When you have flame orange, lime green, and black cherry right next to each other, it sort of catches your eye.

Some of us were really looking forward to the "midnight cruise" that is put on by the show.  They actually close down the main strip for all the cars in the show to cruise.  People were standing by the road as if the Macy's Parade was going by.  I'm talking thousands and thousands of people.  It was fun to hear the comments or see the expressions on peoples' faces to see 4 Montes in a row. (Where were the rest of you people by the way??, snoring in bed I'll bet.)  One person on the side just about wigged out and started fumbling for their camera when they saw us coming by.  They must have had a First Gen of their own at home.

On Saturday morning we got up early so that we could all line up at the same spot.  I believe that it was this day that we raffled off a few club items including two of these:

Unlighted

Lighted in the dark

It is a FGMCC Edgelit. Sort of like a neon sign but it's vinyl graphic on a glass plaque that is being lit by LED lights in its base.  After those two were raffled off, one was given to our Event Coordinator, Andreas, for his 4 years of putting together these events!

Club Award Winners

We gave out the same kind of trophies as we did last year...and the year before that.  They seem to be a crowd pleaser!  Not your normal cheap plastic trophies, no sir.  We Monte enthusiasts have a lot more class than that, huh?  Below is a picture for those of you who haven't seen them before.  They are simply Saico's 1/24th scale metal models with the name of the event, the name of the award, and the club logo, all in a nice clear plastic display case.

Members' Choice - James Konkright

President's Choice - JR Kulikowski

Best Paint - Ren Briggs

Best Engine - Jon Howell

Best Interior - James Conkright

Longest Distance - Ren Briggs of AZ

Longest Distance Driven - Mike Godburn of TX

Best Original - JR Kulikowski

Best Modified - Ren Briggs

Best Unfinished - Steve Anderson

The show itself had a big award ceremony too and one of the highlights of the whole weekend was seeing JR Kulikowski finish in the top 20 out of hundreds and hundreds of show cars.  But wait, that's not all.  JR's car was selected as Club Choice by the big club that sponsors this event.  That's right, they chose JR's Monte as their favorite out of over 500 classics!!  Wow!  Below is a picture of JR's factory fresh restoration 1970 SS454 Monte in the show awards ceremony.

We all had a great time that weekend for our 4th annual meet.  I really enjoyed meeting new faces and seeing all my friends from past FGMCC meets.  It is always a pleasure.  We have such great people as members of this club and I'm sure anyone who was there would tell you that it was very enjoyable.  If you missed out this year, there's always next year, so don't miss it.

Event Photos
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