2004 Eastern Meet

 

FGMCC Award Winners

Andreas’ thoughts about Woodward

Wow, What an event!

Th

ursday:

I left for Detroit on Thursday, August 19^th by plane. After a stopover in Cincy, I arrived safe and sound. My first question at the HERTZ counter was: ‘Got a Monte Carlo’? The lady behind the counter called someone outside and low and behold, 20 minutes later I drove off in a brand-new 2005 Monte with 5 miles on the odometer. It had 190 miles when I returned it, hehe…

Shortly after I arrived at my hotel, Pete (our FGMCC president) called me. He still had his Monte in storage, hmm. So I told him, let me pick you up and we get that Monte running. He said: ‘OK, see you in 20 minutes’. Yeah, right. The trip to his house through rush hour at 5 pm took one hour!

I did not mind, since Donna supplied me with some excellent spaghetti when I arrived at their house, yummy… We finally drove off to the place where Pete stored his Monte, which was at the other part of the town. When we arrived at around 7 pm, it was already starting to get dark.

Pete came prepared with a booster pack and a screwdriver. After a bit cranking, the Monte started up. We let it idle for a while and went for a smoke. When we returned, we realized a strong fuel smell. The fuel line at the in-line fuel filter had sprung a leak and spewed fuel all over the place, yuk! I told Pete: ‘Don’t light that cigarette now!’.

This was the first time that he said, looking at his Monte: ‘You are going to Woodward, and if I have to PUSH you!!!’

President Pete getting his Monte out for the first ride since October 2003!

The cheesy hose clamps at the fuel filter failed.

No auto parts store anywhere near. So we went to the local Meijers, which is like a WAL-MART. They had some good hose clamps. Looking ahead, Pete also bought oil & tranny fluid, just in case.

Back to the garage. New hose clamps. Started up. Now fuel filter leaks. Tightened fuel filter. Started up. Everything seems fine. Let the Monte idle for another smoke break. Pete gets in the car to pull it out of the garage. As soon as he hits the brake, the Monte dies. Twice.

This was the second time that he said, looking at his Monte: ‘You are going to Woodward, and if I have to PUSH you!!!'

I tell him there is obviously not enough juice in the battery to sustain the ignition.

So out we go (it is now 9:00 pm and pitch dark) back to Meijers to buy a battery. Back to the garage. New battery installed. Monte starts. Low tranny fluid. Thanks god we bought some.

At 9:30 pm, Pete pulls out of the garage in the Monte, ha! After filling up the tires at the gas station, we hit the highway and split later.

FRIDAY:

Met up with club members at the Drury Inn in the morning and we headed down to Woodward around noon. Cort gave me a lift in his 87 Monte.

Several Members admiring Frank’s Monte dual headlight conversion

Cars are cruising, but it is not too thick, since it rains slightly… We head over to the car show in Pontiac, just two blocks from where we parked. Back to the hotel around 4 pm. Then Gene and Lynn asked me if I would like to join them cruising in their 70 SS. Sure….. So off we go together with Billie and Alex in the Molly Monte and Les and Karen in their Monte.

Billie blasted by us on the freeway.

Pure Speed!

We cruised down Woodward until around 9:45 pm. Three FGMC in a row, cool. Many people on the sidewalks and on the road. The cops closed down Woodward around 10 pm and diverted the traffic. Back to the hotel. 

SATURDAY:

The big cruise is today! The weather was cooperating, sunny and 75 degrees!

We got out to the meeting spot after breakfast at 8 am. There were already some guys there from the 90’s Impala SS club, who parked next to us. The FGMCC banner was put up to show the cruisers we are here!

The parking of our Monte’s was right on Woodward Ave in front of the Oakland Press. So we could just bring out our lawn chairs and sit back, relax and watch the rods and musclecars go by.

Here we Are!

Early Saturday...

Cort, Billie and I walked down to scope out the car show in Pontiac and found a nice red Monte. The owner later dropped by our parking spot and signed up as a member for the club. Cool…

Around noon, Donna showed up with the grill and we made a quick run to buy soft drinks and hot dogs to keep everyone happy…

Donna made sure we had plenty of hot dogs! What would we have done without her….?

Eventually, a total of 31 first gen Montes showed up. A new record for our Annual FGMCC Meet!

Alex jumped around like a squirrel getting Montes parked and members signed up. We signed up 8 new members on the spot!. Way to go, Alex! As a result, he ‘earned’ the club officer position as our new secretary. Lisa resigned from this post after a splendid organization of this annual meet!

Some of us took off cruising for a while. Pete and Lisa announced the club awards around 5 pm. We will have nice plaques with the Club Logo this year.

Oops, looks like FGMCC member Dave slipped on the gas pedal…

Many, many, many rods and cars cruised by our spot. Chevelles, Novas, GTOs, Mustangs, Mopars en masse.

And if you cannot afford a muscle car, just take your barstool and a shopping cart with a lawnmower engine to go cruising…

Too bad our club’s founder Kevin Wiles could not make it up here. I am sure he would have loved this Olds Ninety-Eight cruising by:

Later that day, things heated up. Traffic got thicker and the first burnouts happened. As a matter of fact, I read in the Oakland Press the next day that the area of Woodward and Huron street where we parked was one of the ‘premier’ burnout spots on Woodward. Thanks God nobody got hurt because traffic was really dense at some times…

No, that is not a car on fire. Some members of the Impala club practicing tire-shredding

Most of us stayed until 10 pm and then we drove back to the hotel. The 10^th annual Woodward Dream Cruise and 5^th Annual FGMCC Meet were over. I think I can speak for all who attended that we had a really great time.

10 Things that I took from Woodward:

1. Pete would have pushed his Monte to the show!

2. Rob deserves a hard luck award

3. Billie and Alex did a heck of a job working on Molly (the car, that is)

4. Cort’s '87 rides just as comfy as a FGMC

5. Eighty Hot Dogs is just not enough to feed a bunch of FGMClers

6. Any FGMC can do an easy burnout, even if it’s a one-legger. Right, Tim?

7. 40,000 classic cars and 1.7 million spectators can put on quite a show!

8. Michigan can be a warm place in August

9. Alex is an organizational talent, might be his daughter’s influence…

10. Many nice people & many nice Montes = a good time

Photos

Click on the image to enlarge

Big J	Billie	Bob
Bruce	Cort	Curtis
Dave	Dave	Frank & Jane
George	Gene & Lynn	Jeff
Jim	Leo	Les & Karen
Lloyd	Marchie	Marty
Mike	Patrick	Pete & Donna
Richard	Rick	Rob
Roman	Roy & Marlene	Tim