Baltimore CC Meet-Up Postscript: Cars and Car Lovers

By
– Posted on August 7, 2018

The Baltimore area CC Meet-up in Hunt Valley on this past Saturday was terrific. There were ten of us that showed up for car watching and car talking. The names (and some of the cars) after the jump:

From left to right: Constantine, Greg (or Craig?), RetroMustangRick, M.D. Laughlin, yours truly, Tony, Brian, Eric703, Ed Snitkoff (who drove down from New York), and Carlo DiTullio. (My apologies if I messed up on the names.) The first order of business was to check out some of the more interesting cars (from a CC perspective).

I was attracted to this Citroen Mehari, the first one I’ve seen in the US.

This one has received a complete new body, as these reproduction ABS plastic bodies are available for this purpose.

Appropriately enough it was next to another air cooled boxer car, but one with twice the cylinders as the Mehari. This Beetle is a ’66 1300, which is my favorite year thanks to the lively yet economical 1300 engine.

Sweet Jeep wagon, next to an equally sweet Model A.

A couple of Shelby GT 350H Mustangs. I was attracted to this one because it obviously gets raced, and it shows it, in a good way. I hadn’t paid attention to that unusual rear window that has somehow been lowered or cut down. I’m assuming it’s to let the air that comes in through the side windows escape. Or?

Full roll bar.

Race-ready engine. Someone will tell us about that tall distributor.

The other side of the A. Both sides are its good side.

 

A very fine example of a Mercedes 300 SEL 4.5 (W109). This is the significantly more expensive trim version than the more common W108, with air suspension and other upgrades including more and nicer wood on the interior and such. The 4.5 version was a US-only model, as in Europe only the 3.5 and 6.3 V8s were available. The 4.5 version was only available in the second half of MY 1971 and the final 1972s.

At first glance, I thought this was just a nice ’66 Plymouth Satellite. I should have known better.

That thing’s got a hemi. And 1966 was the first year it was available as a regular production option.  The styled steel wheels are from a later Mopar, as these cars came with full wheel covers originally.

 

The build sheet on this one is long and interesting, as it’s loaded, with Torqueflite, power steering, disc brakes (I forgot they were available already in ’66) and a raft of other options (no a/c, though. NA with the hemi).

Now here’s its polar opposite and actually more CC-worthy: a stripper Rambler American 220, from presumably 1967.

I thoought this was one of the $1998 versions that had its price lowered to be sub-$2000 and compete against the VW, but it turns out that came in 1968/1969. But this one was essentially the same, unless the interior was somehow stripped even more. Obligatory three-on-the-tree.

 

The engine would be the 199 CID AMC six. The wheels are not stock, unfortunately.

This big fuselage ’73 Chrysler Town and Country wagon was probably the favorite of our group. It’s very original, and shows its age; a genuine survivor, and currently a daily driver. It was found and bought by its owner about a year ago.

 

Unusual tail pipe extensions. This T&C is unusual, as it has the “wood” delete option, as that was standard on the T&C.

As was the big 440 V8.

This shot is soft, unfortunately. It’s essentially a New Yorker wagon.

This ’71 or ’72 Chevy C10 pickup was in almost showroom condition. But it’s all original.

 

It has some 54k miles on the odometer. The original owner undoubtedly was a very careful one, and probably had seat cover stoo, as the upholstery is like new.

A nice 280SL W113 Mercedes roadster. I suspect it’s originally a European car, as it had a four-speed stick. The overwhelming majority of US market 280SLs had the automatic. I asked the owner what year it was, and he said he didn’t know. Seriously??

Actually, this ’64 Continental convertible may well have vied as the other top attention getter for our group. Later, as the owner got in to leave, it suffered the exact same malady as the Mark III I shot a while back: the starter would crank for a brief second or so, then disengage with a moan. It took him over 20 tries before it finally cranked long enough for the big 430 to catch.

There were a number of other interesting cars too, but I didn’t shoot them all. As is typically the case, we were too busy talking. After most of the cars left, we got ourselves an early lunch (or late breakfast) and sat chatting up all sorts or car-related subjects until about noon.

It was a treat to get to meet all of you that showed up. Our readers are all such interesting and knowledgeable, not only on cars but a wide array of subjects.

Thank you all for showing up, and thank you Rick for suggesting the location.

After the meet-up, it was time for the Niedermeyer family meet-up to celebrate my mother’s 95th birthday. The guaranteed best way to get her eyes lit up is to be with her three great-grandchildren. The best present of all!