Randy, a good friend of mine said the exact same thing after giving some kids a ride in his Model T as their mom looked on at a local event. The reaction was priceless!

One thing my local VMCCA chapter is doing this summer...we printed up business-sized cards with club info and phone numbers for interested folks to follow up when we are approached at club events. We're hoping to grow in numbers as our group is literally "dying away"...

Here is one more photo from a tour my local club hosted last year. It was a "Kodak moment" with our '41 Clipper and a fellow Packard guy who traveled several hundred miles to tour with us! We had a great week. NICE!

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Personally, I hate car shows. They are usually hot and always boring. And I got tired of trying to explain that Packard was NOT a division of GM, Ford, or Chrysler to people that have never heard of the marque let alone driven one!

We enjoy driving our cars on local, regional and national tours, usually VMCCA. I guess the tours become "rolling car shows" because we do create a lot of interest with hundreds of thumbs-up. As to the "vitals" of our cars...they're in my head, for interested people to glean from me personally.

Believe me, communing with fellow tourers, sometimes under the hood of a car that won't go, is the coolest part of the classic car experience.

Or, have you ever sat around a campfire on a fishing trip, "discussing" the day over a couple of cold ones, and bragging about the ones that didn't end up in the fish well...its sort of like that!

Below are two photos I took last summer...one from a tour and one from a show. You be the judge!

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MH 30 (antique but not restored, purchased new by my father new in 1951)
MF 65 Dieselmatic and MF 3525 FWD diesel. I'm a hobby farmer with 240 acres of cropland.

If you have a Massey Ferguson tractor dealer close by, the MF engine gray is an almost exact match. Save the shipping and EPA charges....

The Ohio Department of Labor claimed a small town Packard mechanic was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to investigate him.

Agent: "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them."

Shop owner: "Well, there's my trainee who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board."

"Then there's the mentally challenged worker. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night so he can cope with life. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

Agent: "That's the guy I want to talk to... the mentally challenged one."

Shop owner: "That would be me."

I've got a red one too, still in the dash of my parts car. Its all there and in nice shape. PM me if interested.

One other option might be senior living centers. I know a lady who lives in a such a place with a garage, but she no longer drives so it was empty. She rents it out (I think $25/mo.) to a fellow with an old car. He just stores it there but I'm sure, if need be, he could work on it there too. If you're in the "land of seniors," something like that might be available. Just a thought...

OMG I love my Packards!
After a looong cold winter stored inside my enclosed hauler inside my old car garage, I thought today was the day to wake up the '41 Clipper. Usually after such a long state of hibernation, I'd give her a little "encouragement" in the carburetor, but being in the trailer that tactic would be difficult. So, I thought, "what the heck" and I just pumped the gas a bit, held the pedal to the metal while I hit the starter. Vaaaarrrooommmm! Wow...she shocked me! I let her warm up a bit, backed her out, and took a spin around a "country block (two miles)."

I then thought I'd push my luck and try the Mayfair. Same procedure (only not in a trailer), same results. Vaarroommm! She wanted to go for a spin too, so I suprised my neighbors with a spontaneous March parade of Packards!

When I got home, I looked in the corner of the garage and studied the '27 Pontiac a few seconds...nah...don't push it! I polished a Packard bumper. Another day, another "P" car!

Here is a nice pair on eBay right now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1937-packard-rear-bumper-guards-/220756190917?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item33661826c5