Finally, my summary of the NABCC 1 meet

I’m a bit late on posting this, for no sooner than I got back there was Thanksgiving, putting up Christmas decorations, blowing leaves, and a host of other duties. But I wanted to get thoughts down about a lot of details about this meeting that not everyone has touched on. It was part car meet, part model car meet, and part seminar in one.  

For me it was a long drive – about 640 miles – and I’m not sure I want to do that again. But a friend in Hagerstown MD has assured me I can stay with him if I do and that will break the trip up. Plus I heard there are a lot of good toy shows in PA which I may need to look into. I got in to Allentown in time to have dinner with the Kuvakases, the Schnelles, the Johnsons, Tom Kinney, John Styles, and others.

At breakfast Mo Brown surprised me with an in-person delivery of his second ELMo model, the Buick GSX in yellow. I gave him a ride to the NB Center since I was a late volunteer and initially helped with putting registration bags together (seems like Hagerty Insurance bags are at every car meet these days!)  

I got the lay of the land via the map in the registration packet. BTW, note the “movie screen” on the map – this property was formerly a drive-in movie theater and the screen is still there.

I met the folks from Brooklin who were involved with model box construction. The models, on bases, are made at Bath and shipped in an inexpensive carton. These had been removed (on Thursday?) and placed on display along the west wall. The NB Center collection boxes are the “collector” box type made in Italy, consisting of sleeve, box, ribbon, and acrylic cover (the latter shipped separately). So, volunteers had to remove sleeves, open the boxes, place the ribbon (used to remove the model) place the cover in the box, and sleeve it up again. But no model – those were all in display cases along the wall of the Tile building.

Several cars were on display in here, with ballots that could be cast for the next group of NB Center models for 2022. There were also four covered cars whose shapes hinted they were the 1:1s of some of the new models.

In a back area there were a few cars that didn’t look like they belonged here – a Ferrari Testa Rossa next to an ’84 Chrysler minivan? I would later learn that this space was leased to the National Historic Vehicle Register and that the Ferrari was the replica used in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. The minivan, if I heard correctly, was the first made by Chrysler, starting a trend that brought the near demise of the station wagon and ushered in what we now refer to as SUVs (real SUVs are Jeeps and Land Rovers, we all know that!)

Also in here were numerous toy and model cars and planes, including two tables full of 1/43s. I recognized a lot of Dinkies from my own collection. I realized these must have been removed from the cases where the Brooklins had been put on display.

I did not stay for Sunday’s critique (did I mention the 640-mile drive?) but I hope one of the items that came up was the lack of lunch planning for the volunteers. By 11:00 it dawned on us that a food truck was only coming on Saturday, so Tom Kinney quickly located a nearby pizza place that could get five pies in the oven. I drove TK there, which was conveniently in a shopping center with a supermarket where we could get drinks. This also allowed me to get a particular brand of birch beer soda for my ex-boss back in Tennessee. The registrants were already showing up when we returned and had to endure the smell of fresh pizza which we partook of. By this time sheets were already covering the display cases containing the models, in preparation for Saturday’s big reveal.

Friday afternoon consisted of a tour of two restoration shops and two car display buildings. In the body shop were a 1934 Nash Ambassador Eight sedan and a ’37 Nash Lafayette business coupe. Our guide went through some of the laborious processes involved, especially the multi-step plating process.

In the display areas I was clicking away, especially where I recognized one that I had in 1:43. Crown jewel of the collection must be the ’33 Marmon V-16 Convertible coupe. Mr. Bulgari has a mezzanine apartment in one of the collection buildings, from which he can look out at the collection.

By mid-afternnon we were off to the America on Wheels Museum, where I stopped at the gift shop first. In a cabinet I saw a few Brooklins and – what the heck? – some were priced at a mere $75. I spread the word and several of us snapped up some bargains. I got the ’33 Graham Blue Streak (in a collectors box, no less!) and a ’35 Nash 3-door. The museum was worth the visit too, highlights including a 1914 Metz, a 1922 Detroit Electric, a fully restored Mack AC “Bulldog” dump truck, and a very pretty Auburn Boattail roadster.

Mo Brown and I headed off to dinner at a brew place Tom Kinney found. It being a Friday night, the only large space to be had was a porch, with portable heaters and extremely crowded conditions. I sat with Karl & Marjorie, and Christian Braun. The company was much better than the food I have to say. And in retrospect, as a retired fire protection engineer, the area where we sat would have been a death trap in an emergency.

Saturday was model intro day along with various talks and rides in some of the NB cars. There was supposed to be a swapmeet, but this got canceled, leaving one or two folks with models out in their parked cars. Mikhail Bashmashnikov showed up with a couple of display pieces he had acquired: an astoundingly detailed 1908 Benz made by Car Maniac (I think) in the former USSR – Mikhail was a little cagey about just which republic it was. He also had one of his own new models, a blue Bugatti Type 59, which he was holding for a customer. I couldn’t resist getting another version of this one, in green with a light blue tail, out of his trunk.  

Lunch was provided by food truck, offering a few Greek dishes – quite good I thought. Four NB cars had been brought out for rides, and lucky raffle winners could actually drive them around a circular track on the premises. The cars included a 1957 Lincoln Zephyr, a 1948 Chrysler Town & Country convertible, a 1951 Hudson convertible, and a Kumho-shod white 1963 Buick Riviera. I rode in the two oldest cars and really enjoyed talking with the NB Center staff members, one of whom is restoring a 1960 Bugeye Sprite for himself. One thing I learned is that there is a nearby community college offering a degree in automobile restoration, good news for future craftsmen in this field.

Around noon was the BIG REVEAL of the six new NB collection models, complete with videos, music, and covers removed from the display cases and four of the six cars present in 1:1. John Kuvakas was emcee, and his presentation would make PT Barnum proud. Then it was off to the sales tables. At least nine customers went for all six. I searched through the display cases to find the Chrysler with the most perfectly aligned roof rack (more on this model later). Besides this one, I picked up the replica Sinclair gas pumps and sign that were also on sale.

Talks were held in the Lodge, a beautiful structure made from the stone and heavy timber recovered from two Pennsylvania barns. The large fireplace was welcome on the crisp November day.

Christian Braun gave a presentation on the new partnership between hobbDB and Brooklin, known as Brooklin Garage. This will result in all Brooklin products being listed there, with help from Gianluigi Cappi.

Later there was a roundtable discussion from Simon and Keith (Brooklin/SMTS) and Daniele of the Fondazione Nicola Bulgari. More drives were raffled off between and after these talks.

L to R: John Kuvakas, Simon Elford (BRK), Keith Williams (SMTS), and Keith Flickinger (NB Center curator and head of restoration)

Closing remarks were back in the Tile building, and after 5:00 the NB Center was getting ready to close, so it was all hands on deck to package up the unsold models from the display cases. Within an hour all the models had been boxed up. A lot of folks were tired, some headed for home, and I don’t think there was a group dinner. Mo and I ate at a Carrabbas near our Holiday Inn. In one last activity, we traded a couple of Brooklins we had brought with us.

Then came the long drive home.