2009 Tour - "The Catoctin Caper" 
An Afternoon's Driving Adventure!
By Jon Battle
Sunny skies and fair weather
greeted old car enthusiasts as the 20th annual Orphan Car Tour took
to the road on Saturday, June 6 inThurmont,
Maryland. Forty-two cars traveled a 54-mile route over
mostly-rural roads to the day’s destination inChambersburg,Pa.
The Tour – nicknamed the “Catoctin
Caper” for the area in which it got underway this year -- was teamed this year
with the Chesapeake Region AACA’s Spring Overnight Tour to form a two-day
excursion. The Orphan Tour comprised the
first day of the combined event, and the Spring Overnight Tour continued on
Sunday with a 64-mile run from Chambersburg to the William E. Swigart, Jr.
Automobile Museum inHuntingdon,
Pa. Participants had their choice of taking
either or both tours. Because of the AACA tie-in this year, non-“orphan” cars
were welcome to participate in the Orphan Tour.
(Normally it’s limited to “orphans”: automobiles built either by defunct
car companies or by the discontinued divisions of still-existing car companies.)
Although the area had been
rainy for the previous two days, with temperatures in the 50’s, the weather
improved greatly on Saturday morning. It
was in the mid-seventies and the sun was peeking out from between the clouds,
shortly after the first car pulled out of the Cozy Restaurant parking lot in
Thurmont at 11:30 A.M. As in past years, each driver
was given printed instructions and drove at his or her own pace. Interspersed among the directions were
questions designed to test the participants’ observational abilities regarding
sights glimpsed along the route, with the promise of fame and adulation
awaiting those who could answer the most questions correctly!
This year no less than nine
sightseeing opportunities lay along the 54-mile route – a new record for the
Orphan Tour. These included “The Devil’s
Racecourse”, a natural phenomenon;
historic Fort Ritchie, where a keepsake photo was made of each car; Pen Mar Park, with its astonishing vista of
2000 square miles; Renfrew Museum and Park, a historic farmstead; Select Vehicles, a company with 20-30 antique
and special interest cars for sale; the
Waynesboro Model Railroad Club, a series of indoor model train layouts occupying
two floors of an old mill; the Twin Kiss ice cream shop; “Older Car Restoration”, an antique car
restoration facility; the Fayetteville
Antique Mall.The driving tour concluded at
the Family Traditions Lighthouse Restaurant inChambersburg,
at 5:00 P.M., at which time 74 Orphan Tourists filed into a special banquet
room for a buffet meal.
After dinner, participants
graded each others’ answer sheets to determine winners of the “most observant”
contest. As the correct answers were
read out, Tom Kenney -- one of the Tour organizers – did a Power Point
projection showing photos of each roadside “clue”. First
Place was won by Phyllis Cherry and her team,
driving a ’60 Metropolitan convertible. Second Place went
to Buster Zimmerman and his team, in a ’58 Metropolitan. (Competition and “Mets”
run in the family; Zimmerman and Cherry are father and daughter!) Third
Place was won by Mel and Lee Clow (’54 Packard
convertible). Honorable Mention went to
Jerry and Holly Kurtz (’55 Studebaker Speedster). Competition was stiff, with the first three
winners having only one, two and three “wrong” answers, respectively, out of 56
questions! Third Place had actually proven a tie,
requiring a total of three tie-breaker questions in a row, to finalize!
The gigantic “Over Yonder” trophy,
given to the person who drives an antique car the longest distance, was
presented by Jon Battle to Robert and Carol Carlish, who drove their 1976 Bricklin
approximately 300 miles from Danville, Va.
This is a record distance for any “Over Yonder” winner in the three
years in which it has been presented by “Jewells”, a Packard Club member who donates
it in the name of his fellowWilliamsport,
Md. townspeople and car
enthusiasts. “Oldest Car” award went to
Bill and Josie O’Donnell, who drove a beautiful ’36 Ford roadster. “Hard Luck Award” went to Harley Smith, who
trailered his ’70 AMX to the tour due to a suspected electrical problem. (Fortunately neither his car, nor anyone
else’s, malfunctioned during the day.) A number of door prizes were
given out, which included not only merchandise, but gift certificates from the
Cozy and the Family Traditions Lighthouse restaurants. The evening ended on a sweet
note, as a large group caravanned to the nearby crossroads of Falling Spring
where, by special arrangement, the Windy Knoll Farm Market & Creamery threw
open its doors to the car folks. There,
delighted Orphan Tourists enjoyed frozen homemade dairy concoctions of many varieties
and flavors before adjourning for the evening.
On Sunday ten cars – most of
which had been driven on the Saturday tour – assembled at the Day’s Inn inChambersburg, where many of the first day’s participants
stayed. From there, they embarked onto
the second day’s tour, caravanning to the Swigart Museum in Huntingdon. This was the “Chesapeake
Region AACA” portion of the weekend. The
leisurely drive was simpler and more relaxing than Saturday’s, having but one
intermediate stop, and no contest of any sort.
After touring the museum, 19 members of the group drove to a nearby
Hoss’ restaurant for a hearty lunch together.
Then, a number of the travelers convoyed south to an ice cream shop inFt. Loudon,
after which they went their separate ways.
This year’s crop of tour cars
was wildly varied, to say the least.
Including “staff cars”, there were ten Packards, five Studebakers, fiveAMC’s (including two Metropolitans and two AMX’s),
four DeLoreans, three DeSotos, three Hudsons, two Bricklins, two Nashes
(including a Nash Healey), two Oldsmobiles, and a Cadillac, Corvair, T-Bird,
Mustang, Plymouth, Austin Cooper, Ford, late-model Buick Roadmaster -- and nearly-new
Toyota Solara! Breakdown by decade was
as follows: 1930’s -- three; 1940’s -- four; 1950’s -- 21;
1960’s -- six; 1970’s --
five; 1980’s -- four; 1990’s and 2000’s
-- two.
The Orphan Car Tour takes place annually in different
locations in the greater Baltimore-Washington area. The purpose of the Tour is
to encourage the driving enjoyment of antique “orphan” cars. It is sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Packards,
the Potomac Chapter of the Studebaker Driver’s Club, the Potomac Ramblers
Chapter of theAMC / Rambler Club,
the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club, and the Desoto
Owners Club of Maryland. Those working
on this year’s tour included Tom and Anne Kenney (of the Chesapeake Region
AACA), who coordinated both tours, and Rich and Debbie Miller, conducting
Saturday’s “photo shoot” as they have for many years. (The Millers were
presented with a plaque during the Saturday evening get-together, for their ten
years of service to the Tour.) Harley
Smith (of the Potomac Ramblers) served as this year’s treasurer. Susan and Bill Johnson (of Mid-Atlantic
Packards) and Jon Battle (of the Chesapeake Bay Chapter, H-E-T Club) filled in
with various jobs during the day. The
basic route for this year’s tour was created by Don Reedy ofHagerstown,MD. END.
Link to 2009 Tour Photo's
Thank you for your interest in the Orphan Car Tour!
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