Nostalgia Day, Livermore
Sep. 25, 2005
Dash plaque awarded Lynn and Bugsby for participation in the show
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It Just Came To Him
As you recall, Lynn unexpectedly discovered a flyer and application to participate in Nostalgia Day as he was unpacking from his first vintage car show. The flyer had been stuck in his display notebook by someone during the show. Lynn had vaguely remembered someone handing out a flyers, but he had been distracted with visitors and doesn't remember receiving the flyer. Maybe the individual saw that Lynn was busy and just thoughtfully left the flyer for him, hoping that he would find it later.
Well, it worked! Although he didn't know what Nostalgia Day was all about, Lynn thought it would be a good opportunity to further build his experience showing Bugsby in public. Lynn was keen to gain more exposure in the community as some of his longer term visions for Bugsby were to participate in the charitable events (Fourth-of-July or Livermore-Rodeo parades) and show the car at Concours d'Elegance. So Lynn needed some more experience and here it came knocking.
From the application, this looked like it might be more of a street-rod, modified or muscle car show. After reviewing the application, Lynn applied to participate in the "stock, Pre '50" category. Doing a web search, Lynn finds the web site for Altamont Cruisers, sponsors of the show. He is excited to see that the club has a large number of older cars, including four cars from the 1920s and eight cars from the 1930s -- the average age of the club cars is over 45 years. Bugsby appears to be four years older than the oldest car in the club, but he may fit in better than Lynn expected.
When Lynn calls the contact number for the Altamont Cruisers to ask a little more about the show, he is asked what kind of car he's entering. "A 1924 Kissel Speedster," Lynn tells the person on the phone. "What's a Kissel?" is the response. Lynn's starting to get used to this question since he gets it all the time, part of the reason that he created those business cards. After explaining a bit about the car, Lynn suggests "Look at my website, starship.org."
Bugsby, At A Glance
The tri-fold brochure that Lynn prepared for the show
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Business card prepared for the Sep. 15 show
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12-page presentation (PDF) prepared for the Sep. 15 show
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One of the lessons that Lynn learned from his first car show was that he needed a range of informational materials to cover the range of interests of visitors. For the first show, Lynn had prepared business cards and a notebook with detail information. Lynn would supplement these items with a short summary document. Following some work he had been doing at his day job, Lynn set out to create a tri-fold handout, printed on both sides of a single sheet of paper and folded in thirds. This handout would be intermediate in information content to his previous two items.
One thing Lynn had learned in developing materials for BlueGene/L was that it helped people understand something outside their normal experiences by relating it to something they did understand. With this in mind, Lynn would look for ways of relating, for example, the original price and performance of Bugsby to modern cars. How do you think it turned out? Lynn was pleased with the results.
The Day of the Show
Lynn and Jeanne rise at 6 am and Lynn is out of the door at 7 am. Althought the gates were advertised to open a 7 am, many of the participants must have arrived at 3 am. By 7:15 the streets are already packed with several hundred beautiful cars.
The morning starts with a Marine color guard and National Anthem
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Literally hundreds of superb vehicles line the streets of downtown Livermore
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Bugsby had a good location near the vendor tents
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Lynn dressed in his approximation for 1920's garb talks with any and all passersby
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Both sides of about 12 city blocks were lined with cars
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Bugsby's registration card
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From 9 am until 3 pm, Lynn stands near Bugsby and passes out his business cards and brochures to scores of spectators. Lynn and Bugsby had some repeat visitors. Some people who had stopped by the car earlier in the day returned later with friends or family.
In one sense, Bugsby was a little outside its element at the show. As Lynn suspected, although all the cars were of extraordinary beauty and finish, almost all of them were heavily modified street rods and race cars. Still, Lynn desparately needed some more experience showing the car and this show contributed to that end.
During the show Lynn thought up a joke that he told many of the visitors to his car. In many cases, groups or clubs of similar cars apparently arrived together at the show, and parked together. For example, there were clusters of Ford Mustangs, or 1950 Chevys. Lynn's joke was that all the Kissel owners had gotten together before the show and arranged to park next to each other. The weak "joke" was that Bugsby was certainly the only Kissel at the show and it formed a "cluster" of only a single car.
The information exchange was not all one sided. Many of the visitors had good suggestions for Lynn on how to
- Handle flaws in Bugsby's lacquer paint
- Deal with creaks in Bugsby's cast iron exhaust manifold
This second car show for Lynn and Bugsby was a rewarding experience and they'll certainly be looking for future car show opportunities.
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with your comments or questionsCopyright © 2018 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: May 24, 2009