Antique Automobile Club of America Appalachian Region
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APPALACHIAN REGION

ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA

Bristol, Tennessee–Virginia

The Spark Plug                              Volume XXIX, No. 11                                 November, 2008

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Monthly Meeting at Fishtales

Tuesday, November 18 ________________________________________________________________________________


MEETING TUESDAY NIGHT

Our regular monthly meeting will be this Tuesday November 18, 2008, at the Fishtales Pigtales Café on the Volunteer Parkway.  We will eat at 6:30, and begin the meeting at 7:15.  Remember, we now meet the 3rd Tuesday of each month  Please make it a point to attend and enjoy the fellowship and support our club.

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Message from the President

  

My Friends, Fall began Sept. 22.  Sadly, the cruise nights and car shows have come to an end, but there’s still time to enjoy a tour ride on a Sunday now and then in good weather.  Our year of fun ended the last weekend in October, with Halloween festivities that took place at TriSummit Bank on the 31st of October.

Appalachian Region AACA and the Early Ford V-8 Club had a Halloween party at the cruise-in night in the TriSummit Bank parking lot on State Street in Bristol, VA…an event we hope to continue year after year.  The weather was great, and the turn-out was better than expected – lots of children trick-or-treating, and even car owners came in costume!  Troutdale Bistro gave out trophies for best costume and best theme car as well! The car show season has been a blast and the Friday Night Cruise-ins have been a great success.  We have been well received by downtown Bristol merchants and they have supported us all summer long.  It’s nice to see a few non-member cars have popped up as well, who are interested in becoming part of the cruise-ins.  Appalachian Region AACA, as always, is welcoming new members.

I personally want to thank everyone, from our club members to sponsors, for all their help, kind words and e-mails.  I’m glad the “Cruise-in Fridays” mean so much to everyone in the Bristol area.  I really enjoy helping make it possible for all of you.  On behalf of myself and all the sponsors and individuals that helped this year, by raising needed funds through are car shows and cruise-ins, and especially those relentless 50/50 sales people (you know who you are) – thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.  …Hey, why not get on a committee next season and be a part of this great feeling?!!

Oh, and before you put that beauty of yours away for the winter, send a photo and a few words about it to Buzz Helms, or to me so your ride can appear on the pages of the Spark Plug.  Visit www.appalachianregionaaca.org and click on the email box to send stories and photos.  (Next big event: The Christmas Party!)

See you all on November 18 at Fish Tales for our meeting to plan an exciting 2009 season!

John W. Rice


Scenes from 2008 Trunk or Treat Cruise Night




  Oil Facts:

How big is a barrel of oil? Answer: 42 gallons…so, when crude oil hit $140 a barrel, it amounted to $3.33 a gallon.

   What nation supplies the most crude oil and petroleum products to the United States? Answer: The United States.  According to the Energy Information Agency (www.eia.doe.gov), our country supplied 41% of the oil we consumed in March of this year.

   What nation, other than the U.S., supplies the most crude oil and petroleum products to our country?  Answer: Canada.  Our northern neighbor accounts for 12% of our nation’s oil, and 20% of all the oil we import.  The rest of the top five include Saudi Arabia (7 & 13%), Venezuela (6 & 11%), Nigeria (6 & 10%), and Mexico (5 & 8%)

   How much oil do we import from Persian Gulf countries?  Answer: Persian Gulf countries accounted for only 16% of our foreign oil imports each year from 2005 to 2007.  In fact, our Persian Gulf imports declined most this decade, from a 15-year high of a little more than 1 billion barrels in 2001, to 791.9 million barrels in 2007.

   What products are made from crude oil?  Answer: gasoline, diesel and jet fuels, heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas, lubricants, asphalt, plastics, synthetic fibers, detergents, fertilizers, ink, crayons, bubble gum, deodorant, tires, and heart valves.

   How many gallons of gasoline does a barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) yield? Answer: 19.6 gallons (the other 22.4 gallons goes for the products identified in the previous question.

What products do you buy on a regular basis,  that are sold with the tax included?  Answer:  Gasoline.  For everything else, you pay the sales tax at checkout.

   One final thought, at $4.00 a gallon, the price of crude oil accounts for about 77% of the cost of gas.  The rest goes for refining, federal and state taxes, and distribution and marketing.

Special note of condolence

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bowman’s, who lost Roscoe’s mother, the Harlow’s, who lost Tony’s brother, and to the family of Kyle Reedy.  We are saddened by these October losses..

FEATURE CAR OF THE MONTH

This sedan is the 39th of 51 samples the Tucker Corporation built in 1948. Preston Tucker intended to mass-produce a "car of the future" with advanced safety, styling, and engineering features. The automobile has its engine in the rear, an area where the front passenger can crouch during a collision, and a center headlight that turned with the steering wheel.

     The sedan's most striking feature is its avant-garde styling, developed by Alex Tremulis and J. Gordon Lippincott and Company. Its features-- including pop-up tail lights and irregularly shaped windows--give it a futuristic appearance even today. The Tucker never went into actual production because a federal investigation into the company's management practices led to its collapse.

The Tucker Dream
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Remember! You do not need to own one to enjoy an Antique Cars and join AACA