Posts Tagged ‘Classic car’

MOTOR CLUB NEWS… Late-Summer Edition

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

We wanted to connect with our members and friends with this seasonal e-update to let you know what’s happening at Portland Motor Club these days…

Don’t miss our LABOR DAY CAR SHOW: Portland Motor Club will happily host the Labor Day TOYS-FOR-TOTS Car Cruise-in again this year. Cruise on in anytime after 9 that morning for a 10am to 2pm event on Monday, Labor Day, September 6, 2010 — our main lot was almost full by starting time last year (our first year hosting it)! There was a truly extraordinary assortment of quality cars. See photos from last year at . Any and all types of vehicles are welcome to come by for some fun, some food, some great live music by Monday Night Posse , prizes and, of course, a lot of awesome cars. The U.S. Marine Corps will be on hand to handle the onslaught of toys for kids. Entrance “fee” is a new unwrapped present for a deserving child. Portland Motor Club will also be opened up that day for visitors to see the facility (from a safe and untouchable distance). Members are encouraged to be on hand to meet some of the other members and to help to share the excitement about Portland Motor Club.
* all Maine car clubs are encouraged to participate

[singlepic id=75 w=320 h=240 float=]

[singlepic id=73 w=320 h=240 float=]

WINTER STORAGE RESERVATIONS: You really don’t have to get your car off the road until the very last minute if you don’t want to, but you might want to make sure it has a good winter home waiting for it. After all, we pretty much filled up last winter! You can store your car at Portland Motor Club anytime from October 15 through Memorial Day weekend for one flat fee. Please call Membership Director Kal Rogers at 207-233-9970 to work out the details and to save some space for your vehicle. You can read more on our blog at .

[singlepic id=120 w=320 h=240 float=]

VIDEO TOUR: If you haven’t seen our video tour/interview online on our homepage , you really ought to take a few minutes and watch (if we say so ourselves). It gives anyone interested in professional car storage or just curious about what goes on here a really good idea of what Portland Motor Club is all about. Just click to go to the homepage… www.PortlandMotorClub.com

CALENDAR of EVENTS: There’s still lots going on with the car show circuit and weekly cruise-ins — don’t miss the fun! And, of course, you’ll want to get out for some foliage hunting later in the fall (if it ever comes — what a summer, eh?). Why not make it a cruise event of your own and invite a couple other cars to make a day of it? Visit the CALENDAR & EVENTS section of our website to find out what’s going on where and when, including regular cruise-ins taking place all over the state. If you know of an event taking place that you don’t see on our calendar, please forward that information on to us so that we can update our site. We want our calendar listings to be as complete and accurate as possible. Here’s the list… www.portlandmotorclub.com/blog/?page_id=183

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Calendar And Events, Charity Events, Classic Cars, Fifth Gear, Muscle Cars, Photos, Supercars | No Comments »

Owls Head Transportation Museum 33rd New England Auto Auction on August 21

Monday, July 19th, 2010

The 2010 edition of the New England Auto Auction will feature a new extended preview period running for three-plus days from August 18 through the morning of the sale. This means that anyone selling a vehicle through the auction will need to get their car up to Owls Head earlier than usual — not great for the last-minuters out there but great for those who want to spend some time selling themselves on buying someone else’s car!

As usual, there will be 200+ cars for sale on August 21 covering a lot of automotive ground. The museum will have some of its own stock on hand for sale, as it always does, to help to fund its expansive operation which spans the history of mechanical personal transportation. Many vehicles get donated to the Museum for this purpose which serves as a write-off for the donor and a boon for the organization. Plus there is the fantastic “Barn Fresh” program which assists individuals in selling vehicles directly to the museum’s visitors as well as the auction crowd. Of course, Owls Head gets a slice of the proceeds, but it’s a great way to move a worthy vehicle. You can see the vehicles in the Barn Fresh program which, I believe, go into the auction automatically if they haven’t sold directly through this program by Auction season. Here’s that link: <http://www.ohtm.org/gallery/album683>.

Once again, Portland Motor Club will serve as a major sponsor of the auction. It’s our kind of crowd — serious car enthusiasts who know that cars only maintain their value and their condition through proper storage and care. In fact, Motor Club owner Bill Waldron is on the board of the Owls Head Transportation Museum, so it’s a very good fit for both organizations. There is plenty of good information on the Owls Head Auction website including the results from the past ten years! And, of course, the catalog of vehicles going on the block this year is online as well… <http://www.ohtm.org/*NEauction10.html>.

The New England Auto Auction is pretty much the highpoint of the classic and vintage car calendar here in Maine. Why not plan to stop by and see what happens — you never know what vehicle might call out to you!?! Even if you just want to watch and see how it’s done, there is room for spectators, as well. By the way, that’s an especially good start to a story about how you bought your new special vehicle… “I only went there to watch, but…”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Auto Advice, Calendar And Events, Classic Cars, Fifth Gear, Muscle Cars, Photos | No Comments »

0 to 60 in Just a Few Months!

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Cars, that is. And that’s a rough number but early interior shots of Portland Motor Club certainly showed lots of room to grow (well, fill, actually). It totally makes sense, of course — we had just opened and we needed customers. Well, customers we have now! We’ve filled up the “Ground Floor” and soon will need to start using the “Mezzanine Level” (via heavy-duty lifts).

Seems that those that stop by pretty much fall in love with the place — the handsome amenities (hi-tech lounge & conference room), polished radiant-heated concrete floors, classic car gallery, onsite expert car detailing shop, professional staff and of course, state-of-the-art security system.

From Ferraris to Things, Mopars to Minis, we have a great random assortment of Classic cars, Muscle Cars, Sports Cars and even some everyday drivers that don’t need to be driven right now.

Thought you’d like to see the place with some color and some metal and rubber in it — enjoy!

[nggallery id=4]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Classic Cars, Fifth Gear, Muscle Cars, Photos | No Comments »

Crikey! Tornadoes Wallop Scottsdale, Arizona during Auction week

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

While getting my daily dose of professional car storage and classic car auction news from the Google machine, I came across these shockers — what horrible timing! Of course, good to keep this in perspective with the true horror of the earthquake disaster in Haiti, but within the car collector universe, this is certainly bad news for the likes of Russo and Steele and Barrett-Jackson and their many buyers and sellers. I do hope the car enthusiast community can think of some ways to make a difference by combining their special passion with a desire to help those in critical need in Haiti. It’s great to see how many folks are finding unique ways of doing something to help. My ten-year-old son’s Cub Scout troop is holding a yard sale next week to raise money (indoors, of course, it is Maine in winter, after all — supposed to below zero tonight).

from the folks at About. com (and see the next one from AZ Central. com)…

Scottsdale on Tornado Watch During Classic Car Auctions

Thursday January 21, 2010

Arizona has been hit hard by heavy storms causing havoc at the Scottsdale’s Annual Classic Car Auctions.  Earlier today, two tents at the Russo and Steele Car Auction collapsed due high winds and sent debris into the nearby Highway, the Loop 101, shutting down both direction for a time.

Barrette-Jackson staffers have been doing their best to dry off cars before coming up on the block in the main tent while concession stands outside are being blown down.

At 8:45pm, Barrett-Jackson’s President, Steve Davis asked that everyone leave the staging lanes and come inside to wait for a dangerous storm cell to pass.  The National Weather has issued a tornado watch for southwest Arizona, which includes the Phoenix metro area, to be in effect until 10 p.m. Thursday night.

Heavy rain and winds are expected to continue through Friday and then clear up for Saturday and Sunday.  We will be curious to see how much damage the storms do to the week’s auction total sales numbers.

And here’s the other one written by Peter Corbett from The Arizona Republic

Russo and Steele car auction estimates $1.5M in damage

Russo and Steele officials assessed damage Friday after an 800-foot-long auction tent blew onto the Loop 101, snarling traffic and leaving hundreds of valuable collector cars uncovered in a pounding rainstorm.

Heavy tent poles struck some cars and uncovered convertibles were pelted with rain in the ongoing storm that has blasted through the state this week. A collector-car insurance executive estimated damages to the vehicles could exceed $1.5 million.Russo and Steele announced late Friday morning that owners would not be allowed to inspect their cars until at least Saturday morning because the Scottsdale fire marshal has not declared the auction site safe.

Drew and Josephine Alcazar, Russo and Steele owners, hoped to resume the auction Saturday, but there was still a lot of cleanup to do.

“By no stretch of the imagination are we down for the count,” Drew Alcazar said Friday as tent crews worked to clear away the damaged tents.

Public safety officials cleared out people from Russo and Steele’s two display tents late Thursday when the high winds threatened the structures, and the auction continued in the main tent, Josephine Alcazar said.

High winds lifted the north tent high off the ground about 6:15 p.m. and it crashed down on the freeway east of Scottsdale Road, she said.

Russo and Steele shut down the auction and cleared the site. The south tent then blew over, but did not go onto the roadway.

Chuck Favour, Hagerty Insurance vice president of claims, said his company has insured about 125 of the cars at Russo and Steele.

After viewing the auction site from the Loop 101, he estimated that as many as half the 600 cars on the lot were damaged with dents and scratches from tent poles and debris.

Among the cars that were stranded on the site Friday was a 1948 Tucker convertible that could draw bids of more than $1 million.

A 1913 White Gentleman’s Roadster was struck by a pole and an uncovered 1916 Ford Model T Fire Chief car sat out in the rain after a flimsy tarp blew off of it.

Favour expected the claims would average about $5,000 per car.

That works out to claims approaching $1.5 million.

He said he would be surprised if Russo and Steele was able to resume the auction.

Favour said a previous auction in Carlisle, Pa., sustained damage when a much smaller tent collapsed a few years ago.

Other Valley auctions continued on Friday. Barrett-Jackson had to move everyone into its main auction tent as a precaution Thursday night, but otherwise the event continued without major disruption.

Craig Jackson, Barrett-Jackson chairman, said his staff circled the tents with tractor-trailers to deflect the high winds that were rattling the structures.

As a car guy, he said, it was very sad to see what had happened at the Russo and Steel auction site.

RM Auctions reported the highest sale of the week so far on Thursday night at the Arizona Biltmore. A 1963 Aston Martin DB4 sold for $1 million.

On Friday morning, the Arizona Department of Public Safety closed the eastbound on-ramp to the Loop 101 at Scottsdale Road because of the cleanup efforts at Russo and Steele.

The freeway was closed in both directions between Scottsdale and Hayden roads for several hours after the tent landed on the roadway.

Russo and Steele, a Valley-based company, is in its 10th year of holding car auctions in Scottsdale.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fifth Gear | No Comments »

2010 CLASSIC CAR AUCTION CALENDAR

Friday, January 15th, 2010

As an automobile enthusiast, you might like to keep an eye and ear on the upcoming classic and vintage car auction season. There’s practically a year’s worth in January alone! From most accounts, last year was a good one with auction sales records broken so it seems that car collecting has weathered the Great Recession pretty well. We’d like to keep you up-to-date on car auction-related info, so keep in touch. Happy to hear any of your reports on auctions you watch and/or participate in — just post a blog entry. Also, please let us know of any major auctions that are missing from this list and let us know of any corrections. Going, going…

Kruse 39th Annual Scottsdale Collector Car Auction
January 16-17, 2010
Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa, Glendale, Arizona
www.kruse.com

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2010
January 18-24, 2010
WestWorld of Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona
www.barrett-jackson.com

RM Auctions Automobiles of Arizona
January 21-22, 2010
Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa Phoenix, Arizona
www.rmauctions.com

Kruse South Florida Collector Car Auction
January 22-24, 2010
Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center, Miami, Florida
www.kruse.com

Mecum Kissimmee, FL Auction
January 28-31, 2010
Osceola Heritage Park, 1875 Silver Spur Lane, Kissimmee, Florida
www.mecum.com

Leake Oklahoma City Car Auction
February 19-20, 2010
Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, Cox Pavilion, 3212 Wichita Walk, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
www.leakecarauction.com

Atlantic City Classic Car Show & Auction
Feburary 26-28, 2010
Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
www.acclassiccars.com

RM Auctions Automobiles of Amelia Island
March 13, 2010
The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida
www.rmauctions.com

RM Auctions Collector Cars of Fort Lauderdale
March 26-28, 2010
Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.rmauctions.com

Leake Auction in partnership with Dan Kruse Classics
March 27, 2010
Alamodome, 100 Montana St., San Antonio, Texas
www.leakecarauction.com

Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach 2010
April 1-3, 2010
The Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds, Palm Beach, Florida
www.barrett-jackson.com

Mecum Kansas City, MO
April 9-10, 2010
Auction Bartle Hall – Kansas City Convention Center, 301 W. 13th St., Kansas City, Missouri
www.mecum.com

RM Auctions Classic Car Auction of Michigan
April 24-25, 2010
The Rock Financial ShowPlace, Novi, Michigan
www.rmauctions.com

RM Auctions Sporting Classics of Monaco
May 1, 2010
The Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
www.rmauctions.com

Dana Mecum’s Original Spring Classic Auction – 23rd Year
May 19-23, 2010
Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 E 38th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
www.mecum.com

Kruse Auburn Spring 2010 Collector Car Auction – 19th Annual Auburn Spring Motorfair
May 20-23, 2010
Kruse International Auction Park, Auburn, Indiana
www.kruse.com

Leake Tulsa 2010 Auction
June 11-13, 2010
Quik Trip Center at Expo Square / Tulsa Fairgrounds, Tulsa, Oklahoma
www.leakecarauction.com

Mecum St. Paul Auction / the MSRA 37th Back to the 50’s With the Minnesota Street Rod Association
June 18-19, 2010
Minnesota State Fairgrounds, 1265 North Snelling Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota
www.mecum.com

Bloomington Gold Corvette Auction / Bloomington Gold Corvettes – USA Premier Corvette Auction at America’s Premier Corvette Show
June 25-26, 2010
Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street St., Charles, Illinois

Barrett-Jackson Orange County 2010
June 25-27, 2010
OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa, California
www.barrett-jackson.com

Mecum Des Moines, IA Auction
July 16-17, 2010
Iowa State Fairgrounds, East 30th & East University Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa
www.mecum.com

RM Auctions Vintage Motor Cars of Meadow Brook
July 24, 2010
Shotwell Gustafson Pavilion at Meadow Brook Hall, Rochester, Michigan
www.rmauctions.com

RM Auctions Sports & Classics of Monterey
August 13-14, 2010
Portola Hotel & Spa and Monterey Conference Center, Monterey, California
www.rmauctions.com

Mecum at Monterey
August 13-14, 2010
Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course, 1 Old Golf Course Road Monterey, California
www.mecum.com

Kruse The Auburn Auction 2010
September 1-7, 2010
Kruse International Auction Park, Auburn, Indiana
www.kruse.com

Mecum St. Charles Auction
September 16-19, 2010
Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street, St. Charles, Illinois
www.mecum.com

RM Auctions Vintage Motor Cars of Hershey
October 8, 2010
Hershey Lodge, Hershey, Pennsylvania
www.rmauctions.com

RM Auctions Automobiles of London
October 27, 2010
Battersea Evolution, London, United Kingdom
www.rmauctions.com

Mecum Kansas City Auction
December 3-4, 2010
Bartle Hall – Kansas City Convention Center, 301 W. 13th St., Kansas City, Missouri
www.mecum.com

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fifth Gear | No Comments »

SECURE HEATED WINTER STORAGE AVAILABLE

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Portland Motor Club was designed as a “good home for good cars”, a place where cars live most of the time unless they’re out for a drive or a season. However, while we search for all those vehicles to find their permanent homes (there are 140 spaces, afterall!), we can offer seasonal storage which, for the most part in Maine, means WINTER STORAGE. Although our winter storage plan does not come with the kind of access our members enjoy year-round, winter-stored cars do enjoy heated, climate- and humidity-controlled accommodations with advanced security and monitoring systems to protect them. Check around — a lot of winter storage is vastly inferior with crowded conditions (leading to dings and dents), free-range critters gnawing on wires (we hear it all the time), and condensation occurring from cold floors and warmer air (a death-sentence for the integrity of metal). You might save a few hundred dollars by storing your car in a chicken barn or jammed into the corner of a warehouse, but the risks and costs associated with cutting corners can often come back and bite you in the bumper! We’re just saying… we were built to take the very best care of your very best car. We are still accepting month-to-month or over-winter storage. Please call Portland Motor Club about securely storing your vehicle with us this winter. 207-775-1770.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fifth Gear | No Comments »