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Kev and all my friends,

Not only do we wish that we were there, now that the pics are showing up, we REALLY WISH WE WERE THERE!!! Show us all that you can, we'll be captivated for some time. I know that we'll be there for next year's event! (that is if it's before December 2012)

Had a nice tour today. The weather held, overcast and cool, but very nice. Tour headed out today at 10am and traveled 25 miles from Laughlin, NV on the Colorado River up to the former mining town, now Ghost Town/Tourist Trap of Oatman, AZ which is up in the moutons between Laughlin and Kingman, AZ along the original (pre-WWII) route of Route 66.

Pictures were taken by me and JIm. We road up to Oatman with me sitting in the back of Jim's 1939 Super 8 Touring Sedan with Jim driving, and his wife Debbie running shotgun. Jim set the pace on the tour. We left with the cars that had arrived for the tour at that point.


First picture is out the back window of the 1939, and is a shot of the cars lined up behind us. First we have Jim's 1940 Convertible Super 8 160 Sedan which was being piloted by one of his buddies from AZ who came along for the meet. Behind him we have Robert (PI AZ Prez) 1954 Patrician. Following closely by Duane Gunn's 1955 Clipper Custom. A little further back we have Paul's 1956 Executive sporting a Caribbean hood, and side trim. Finally we have Andy's 1941 110 Deluxe.

Next picture is out the front of the 1939 showing the road to Oatman, and the Flying Lady pointing the way.

Next picture is the "Traffic Jam" we hit on way into Oatman. Apparently the Burros are demanding a toll to allow cars to pass.

The next two pictures are the Packard lined up in the parking area at Oatman.

Next few pictures are into town and of the wild burros that roam it.

And finally a couple of pictures on the return trip. This time Jim switched cars and lead the way way driving the 1940, with me sitting in the back seat, and his buddy driving the 1939 this time. These pics shows the 1939 following behind us in the 1940 back while driving back down the road from Oatman.

One the way back we stopped at the Colorado River Museum for about an hour, and then continued on to the hotel. The car were on display for a couple of hours in the evening for the public and also so the curator of the Don Laughlins Auto Collection could come out and made choose "Don's Pic" for his favorite car.

More updates to follow tomorrow.

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Great pics! Looks like you all are having a grand time there in Oatman. I'm green with envy. HAVE FUN.

Great pics! Looks like you all are having a grand time there in Oatman. I'm green with envy. HAVE FUN.

It looks like a fine time! I had planned on coming to it from the time it was first discussed. However I got called in to work this weekend. And, in the tough economy, I just couldn't bear the expense of the trip plus losing 3 days work.... Was that 6 cars the total number of Packards that came for the event, or just the 6 that went to Oatman?

8 cars today in attendance. We are hoping for triple that next year and have plans already in the works to do a joint event/tour with 1 or more of the local PI Chapters. We had lots of foot traffic from the general public coming out of the casinos to come view the cars.

Here is the breakdown of the events of today with pictures:

The cars were lined up this morning, and ready for public inspection. We had ballots made up and handled those out to the general public so them could choose the cars they liked in a "People Choice" type award. We had best Pre-War, best Post-War and Best of Show categories. We had over 60 votes cast by the general public. Jim excluded his vehicles from the awards since he was co-hosting. Also since I didn't have my Clipper with me, I instead brought my stash of parts with me for sale at rock bottom prices.

Towards the end of the car show, both Jim and Craig did a tech session on two related topics. Engine oiling. Jim's from the perspective of the 356 motor and the various "fixes" Packard recommended to the 356 motor before finally changing the oil pump to a High Volume one in 1947 and also as recommended retrofit to any prior 356 motors upon rebuilding.

The difference in the teeth in between the 1940 356 pump and the 1947 version is deja vu all over again when you look at the Packard V8 Oil Pump, and the HV Olds Conversion Kit that is now available. Just comparing the teeth between the pumps you can see the exact same difference between the 1940/47 356 ones, and the V8/Olds ones.

With the tech session done and the car show wrapping up we all went off site to have a group dinner. While we only had 8 vehicles in attendance, we have over 30 Packards owners/spouses/friends in attendance to support us. 22 of them going us for dinner.

During dinner we announced the award recipients which are as follows.

Longest Distance Traveled To Car Show - John, Bremerton, WA
Longest Distance Packard Driven - Duane Gunn - Chandler, AZ
Peoples Choice Pre-War - Andy 1940 110
Peoples Choice Post-War - Duane Gunn - 1955 Clipper Custom
Peoples Choice Best of Show - Paul Cornwell - 1956 Executive
Don Laughlin Award - Robert McAtee - 1954 Patrician

Congrats to everyone, and also thank you to everyone that came out to support the event. The planning for next years event had already begun!

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The "People Choice" awards themselves were constructed thanks to parts provided by The Packard Parts Fairy (tm). Yes, those are '54 Clipper "Dig Dish" caps that worked out very well as nice awards. I think Jim has a picture of the Don Laughlin award, and I need to get that from him.

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BigKev,

Thanks for posting these pictures and for sponsoring this meet. I personally had a great time with both old and new Packard friends. I think that this meet is the start of something much bigger. Next year my 55 Pat will be there!

Craig

Very kool trophies. Looking 4ward to the next meet in Laughlin with you all.

As promised...here is the picture of the Don Laughlin award:

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