Spring AutoFair Update!

[Ooooner]

The 2008 Spring AutoFair has been a good success! The weather did not cooperate with us but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The speedway officials were kind enough to move us to a sheltered area and out of the rain.
We had eight Opels show up this Spring. Those attending were, Tony Holcomb, Roy Bell, Vickie Gage, Harold Collins, Keith Lundholm, Ed Dingo, Helmut Ghur and his fine lady, MaryGrace, Stephen (OldOpelGuy), Bill (PeugeotBill), Tom Adkins and Tom Cavataio, Laurie and Floyd Schwartz. Also, some German guy we think was called Alex, was there. You will need to confirm this with Harold Collins!
The awards went to the following owners: Most Unique, Helmut Ghur with his 72 red Manta, People's Choice Award went to Laurie Swhwartz and her red and gold 72 GT, Honorable Mention, Ed Dingo with his white 70 GT, Second Place went to Tom Cavataio and his orange 72 GT, Tom Adkins took home the first place award with his 69, 1.1L green GT and finally, the Best In Show Award went to Keith Lundholm and Vickie Gage with their 1969 white Kadett LS with the rare 1.1L and an automatic transmission. This car has only 9,000 original miles! Great looking car! Keith sold this car to Vickie at the show and she is to drive back to Ohio from North Carolina on Sunday!
Some of the pictures of the weekend are here:

[Ooooner]

More pictures of the 2008 Spring AutoFair! These are some of the people with their Opels!

[Ooooner]

Here is Keith transferring the keys to Vickie at the 2008 Spring AutoFair! It sure was strange that Keith took the "Best In Show" trophy home with him instead of Vickie taking it home with her! The other picture is of Vickie admiring her "new" original 9,000 miles 1969 1.1L Kadett!

[Ooooner]

Everyone has now left and I feel lonely... But I know that I will be seeing my friends again in a few weeks at Carlisle!
A great time was had by all involved and now we will turn ours heads to the upcoming 2008 Opel Nationals at the Fall AutoFair in September here in Charlotte.
I hope everyone has a safe trip home!

[opelspyder]

I arrived home at 5:00am, so I was on the road for 10 hours, I ended up taking a 4 hour detour to get Harold home due to other incidents beyond control, but to get home to bed was a nice feeling. I placed my hard earned trophy ( basically cleaning the car 4 times and spending about $500.00 round trip) on the kitchen table-wife not too pleased. Roy it might not have gotten down there if I hadn't brought it, and the trophy case is looking a little slim?????? I had a great time, its nice to show a car there of any caliber, and I encourage everyone to come for the Nationals and compete for the #1 Best of Show trophy...which will be the 2008 Opel Nationals Best of Show Trophy. When there is only a few cars to compare against, its always fun to win the top prize...actually I have been trying for 5 shows or so now. But I will have to say whomever wins this next one, you can believe that it is an incredible honor, as I know the competition and car quality will be unbelievable, and hard to judge.

So on that note, now that the Mini-Brute is going to its new home, I will have to find something in the mix to bring for the Nationals, as I am a little empty at the corral. We'll see what comes up

Thanks again Roy for everything you do to make this a #1 event

Keith

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by opelspyder I placed my hard earned trophy ( basically cleaning the car 4 times and spending about $500.00 round trip) on the kitchen table-wife not too pleased. Roy it might not have gotten down there if I hadn't brought it, and the trophy case is looking a little slim??????

Keith,
I was just "busting your chops" about the trophy. I know you and Vickie had worked it out before the show as to what would happen if the car won a trophy! I know Vickie was extremely happy that you got the trophy. Of course, Vickie got a pretty good trophy, too! The 1969 1.1L Kadett LS with only 9,000 orginal miles!
I am glad you got home safe and sound. It must have been a long 10 hours but helping Harold out was a good thing you did.

[Ooooner]

I forgot to mention that we all went to Quaker Steak and Lube for dinner after the show Saturday night. A few "Brews", Soft Drinks, Sweet Tea and good food made for a great ending to the show. Most of us went back to my home for an evening of just good ole' socializing and kicking back and taking it easy. The next moring, coffee and breakfast was giving to those who wanted it for the trip home.
I think we all thought that the Quaker Steak and Lube was a great place for dinner and it was suggested that we use this restaurant for one of our dinners for the Nationals in September. I will work on that and hopefully, the restaurant will be able to accommodate us!

[opelspyder]

Roy, I believe we are missing one picture of a special member here. Seems like Hotel Oooooner might not have been comfortable enough????? Can you post that one as well
Keith

[peugeotbill]

water soaked feet, and dragging that ol' lady shopping cart in the rain, and harold's bad directions made for a great, but interesting time. went home with a few treasures, (thanks harold) met the gang and yes, we need more recruits. there's plenty of opel people that need to be brought into the fold. i second the motion on the steakhouse, my buddy clyde, and lil' bro had steaks and were impressed, however i saddly signed the release for the suicide wings, and now me and the "white wishing well of life" are on a first name basis. i'll be ready for work tomorrow. roy, some time carlisle, we need to travel downeast for a show and try some seafood! wink, wink, nod, nod!

bill

[saxybiker]

Odette, the mightly little Mini-Brute was put to the test on the 500 mile trip home through the Appalachain Mountains today and she came through like a trooper! We might not have been the fastest vehicle but we were consistant "I think, I can, I think I can..." The little 1.1 never overheated, never needed oil or transmission fluid and ran like a top.

I have quite a few thank yous but the first is to Tom Cavataio (mach1tom) for driving me down to the show and being patient enough to rein in his 2.0 to follow the little Kadett up all those mountains. Tom remarked that he was very pleased with his 36 mpg from going about 60-65. But, my favorite comment was when he said... "I think this is the first time I've ever been passed by Everyone!" O.K, I'll admit it.... I was not pushing her. Thanks Tom, for helping me get her home. (I've attached a picture of what made me feel safe and secure on this trip home every time I looked in my rearview mirror.

Also a BIG thank you to Roy (Ooooner) and Yvonne (his waaay better half). What great hosts! Thank you for putting up with all of us and providing us with great company, food and a place to stay. I'm looking forward to seeing both of you again, soon.

And, Keith (opelspyder).... thank you, thank you... What a great find!

Also to Stephen (oldopelguy) and Tom Atkins (greenopelgt) and Tony (Phoenix) for all the help getting me acquainted with the Kadett and ready to head out. This was truly an example of how our Opel Community helps each other. What a great group of people!

Vickie

P.S. She has 10,250 miles on her now

[Phoenix]

The Phoenix had no problems getting up there or back. I baby-ed the trans because it was leaking pretty bad. I'm VERY glad that I did call things off becuase of my trans woes. But after getting about 8 hours of sleep in about 3 days just so I could change the trans out for one that would at least stay in 4th gear, there's no way I woud have missed it. What's your reason for not showing, Charles?

If you didn't come you missed out and I do mean missed out. Roy's All-You-Can-Eat BBQ is awesome. Bottomless beer barrel (though I don't drink beer). Or Yvonne made sure that everyone else was well lubricated with Rum and Cokes.

[neuropel]

Hey! Roy is wearing an App State shirt! My alma mater!

Todd

[Phoenix]

The Auto Fair is a great show to go to. Very large. The cars for sale is a show in itself. It's always good to see such nice Opels come out. All the cars look so good.

[Phoenix]

I LOVE cars but there were some very special cars there, some very unique ones. Grand Nationals, Regal Ts, Typhoons, a Syclone, a Yenko Deuce, a Yenko Chevelle, an NSX, a 90s ZR1, a GLHS, a Cyclone Spoiler and a King Cobra, a Cobra 350H, an RHD RX7, a Viper RT/10, GTS, and SRT10, and this very special Camaro. Look in my gallery for more pics of the other cars.

[Phoenix]

Saturday night we ate at the Quaker Steak and Lube which I had never been to before. There's one on the otherside of Atlanta but I never even knew that the chain existed. The food was great, the mozerella cheese sticks were the best that I've ever had, the onion rings were good, the Lube Chips were good, the Lube Burger was excellent (2 patties, bacon, hot sauce, cheese, and blue cheese on a toasted bun). I'd love to go there anytime. If you love burgers, come eat there with us at the Nationals at the Fall Auto Fair.

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by neuropel Hey! Roy is wearing an App State shirt! My alma mater! Todd

Todd, when did you go there? My Alma Mater, too! Go App State!

[Phoenix]

Last, but not least, I'd like to give a big THANK-YOU to Roy for putting the whole thing on, for his hospitality, food, letting me stay at Hotel Ooooner, and making me feel wecomed both at the show and his house. I'd also like to thank everyone else who was at the show for a good time, the information, and comradery.

I was bringing up the rear on the way back to Roy's after the QS&L dinner and had a really cool view of all the Opels driving along a nice winding road. Too bad that I had taking so many pics that I only had enough video to capture 5 seconds of it.

Winding Road

[greenopelgt]

Just rolled in to Cincinnati after another great time at the Spring AutoFair. It really is the way (aside from the rain) I like to start off the Car Show season after a long dreay winter here in Cincinnati.

Great hosts (Roy and Yvonne), Opel friends, food, and a new car this year.
Think about this - 40% of the Opels pulling out of Quaker Steak and Lube were 1.1 Liter Opels.

You guys and gals are in for a treat at the 2008 Opel Nationals. To me, the Lowes MotorSpeedway and the car culture in this part of the country is an ideal match for our event. The two things this venue has over any other I have attended is the total number of cars, vendors, people and the heavy flow of traffic seemingly going nowhere fast.

Thanks again for the memories.

[Ooooner]

Here is a picture of Tony (Phoenix) in his GT at the AutoFair. Like Keith said, I guess Hotel Ooooner wasn't comfortable enough for him. Either that, or he thought the AutoFair was boring!

[Gary]

Hmm... Not unlike this photo from the 2000 OMC picnic.

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by peugeotbill roy, some time carlisle, we need to travel downeast for a show and try some seafood! wink, wink, nod, nod! bill

Bill,
Sounds like a good idea to me! I suspect I can get a few of us Opelers up here to caravan down your way sometime. Set up a time and date and let's see if we can work out a show or attend a show that is already set up. Brian Quick (BQ97) lives down your way. I am sure he would be glad for a bunch of Opel's to show up in his neck of the woods, too!

[neuropel]

Originally Posted by Ooooner Todd, when did you go there? My Alma Mater, too! Go App State!

I was at App from 1983 to 1991 - some of the best years of my life!
Todd K.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Gary Hmm... Not unlike this photo from the 2000 OMC picnic.

I was alright with the pic until I was compared to Charles.

I's tired.

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by Phoenix I was alright with the pic until I was compared to Charles. I's tired.

Hee Hee Hee... There is a resemblance!

[Ooooner]

Originally Posted by neuropel I was at App from 1983 to 1991 - some of the best years of my life! Todd K.

I was there from 1974 to 1977! Man, time flys....