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
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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 .
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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
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…”
A group of students from the Merriconeag Waldorf High School (www.merriconeag.org/highschool/index.cfm) in Freeport, Maine chose what must have been one of the coolest electives ever at a Waldorf school — “Introduction to Auto Mechanics” taught by Portland Motor Club owner and muscle car enthusiast (and Merriconeag parent) Bill Waldron.
How did this get to be part of the Merriconeag curriculum? Waldron answers, “After a development meeting where the conversation turned to high school age kids and driving and cars, I was approached about the idea of doing a practical hands-on class about cars for the high school. I figured that some of the kids were probably like me when I was their age and might like working with engines and machines and getting their hands dirty. For me, it was the beginning of a lifelong passion. Hopefully this class really made a connection for some of them.”
The class ran eight weeks and the eight students were transported weekly back and forth from the New Gloucester, Maine high school campus to state-of-the-art Portland Motor Club facility on Presumpscot Street in Portland (www.PortlandMotorClub.com). The curriculum covered a lot of ground from the engine components and basic workings of the motor including the fuel system and spark plugs to wheel, tire and brake care. Students got practical experience with changing the oil, working on the brakes and even learning how to detail (professionally clean) a car’s exterior and interior. Topics related to safety and roadside emergency were also covered.
When the students are saying things like, “class was too short” and “it’s fun to participate”, you know you’re on the right, well, road. They liked the hands-on aspect of the class, taking things apart and putting them back together, and learning useful things that will come in handy some day (on the side of the road).
If anything students would like to have had more time in class and even suggested that they’d like to “take an engine apart and put it together”. That may be a whole curriculum unto itself!
One of the most practical items learned in class? “Don’t stand under the oil filter while you unscrew it!” Good advice for us all — literally and metaphorically.
Portland Motor Club was very pleased to be able to produce this pilot program for the Merriconeag High School.
Special thanks to Yearbook Photographer Margie Ciolfi, a 9th grader in the class of 2013, who took these (and more) great photos.
Portland Motor Club was designed to be a fairly social place with a members’ lounge, meeting room, computers w/ WI-FI and HD-TV, but now we’re virtually social, too.
You can become a fan of our FACEBOOK by clicking on the FaceBook link just to your left below “Contact Us” on the navigation strip — it’s right there — go ahead… just click it!!! Or you can find it by searching under groups for “Portland Motor Club” while you’re on FaceBook another time.
You can quip clever and useful things to us via TWITTER (www.Twitter.com/mainecarstorage). We are using @mainecarstorage because using our name was too long and who is going to search for “mtr” instead of “motor” and we’re more about cars and storage than motors and clubs, on some level. Our business name is great for our business but different thinking needed to go into our Twitter strategy. Who ever thought we’d be discussing things such as “Twitter strategy” — but then, who ever thought we’d be discussing it on something called a “blog”?
Below is the link to our first (of many?) YouTube video. Why it’s our own Jason Michel demonstrating how easy it is to install and use both an easy on/off battery switch and trickle charger! Great solutions for short-term and/or long-term battery care when the car is off the road.
We would certainly appreciate your comments and links and sharing this information with your virtual friends and fellow car enthusiasts. We have more video coming including a walk-around the Labor Day Car Show last fall. And please put Monday, September 6, 2010 on your calendar for this year’s Toys-for-Tots Labor Day Car Cruise-In & Show at Portland Motor Club. We’re very pleased to be able to host it again at our amazing facility and can only hope that we would be granted another beautiful day on which to hold it.
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!
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.
TOYS, CARS & MUSIC make for a great Labor Day TOYS-FOR-TOTS BENEFIT CAR SHOW at PORTLAND MOTOR CLUB
(see TV station video links below)
By the time the car show officially started at 10 AM, the main lot was almost full. Eventually, show cars ended up in a side lot, in the back lot and in the neighbor’s lot!!! What a great day at Portland Motor Club with an estimated 175+ show cars stopping by and perhaps 500 or so people passing through during the day. The U.S. Marines were taken by surprise (which doesn’t happen often) by the great toy turn-in which filled up a Humvee as well as a trailer. And the audience was energetically entertained by music from the Monday Night Posse, an area garage band.
Organizers Stan and Cheryl Page, members of several local car clubs including Knucklebuster’s as well as members of Downeast Street Rodz and Portland Motor Club Membership Director Kal Rogers were all overwhelmed by the support and the turn-out. Rogers’ assessment: “It couldn’t have gone any better — a huge assortment of truly amazing cars, some literally filled with toys; tons of other toys that actually took the Marines by surprise; a nice array of vendors including Cruise Maine Magazine, Downeast Street Rodz’ food cart, a local t-shirt maker, the AMVETs and the great DJ JP all added a lot to the event.” Adding, “And, much to everyone’s pleasant surprise, the local live music turned out to be a great and lively addition. And the weather certainly didn’t hurt — this amazing weather streak we’ve been having helped everything to come together perfectly. We certainly hope to be able to do this again but we may have to put cars on the roof!”
Hundreds of visitors were able to get a glimpse into the Portland Motor Club facility to see (from a respectful distance) some of the fine cars in climate-controlled (heated / humidity) and secure storage there as well as to get an up-close-and-personal view of one of the state’s finest MOPAR (Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth) muscle car collections — if not the finest.
Portland Motor Club owner Bill Waldron noted, “It was really great to help out the kids with all the toys and and a great day for everyone who came. And it was a chance for us to show off our beautiful car storage facility with its club lounge for members and on-site professional detailing at our Motor Club Auto Care shop. I think people were excited to see what goes on in here. I love cars and know that they need a good home to stay in good shape. Basically we’ve created that — a good home for good cars where they’ll be safe from all the things that damage and ultimately destroy vehicles — critters, clutter, condensation and cold. The four “c’s”, I guess. Oh, and crooks, I suppose. That makes five.” He added, “Every year you hear about this barn collapsing on a bunch of nice cars or that garage catching on fire — it kind of breaks your heart if you love cars. We have a super-reinforced building that is wired top to bottom for anything that can go wrong.”
Special thanks to all the folks who contributed all the wonderful toys as well as cash from the nickels to hundred dollar bills to the raffle prizes including membership/race passes from Maine Indoor Karting (www.MaineIndoorKarting.com) and a complete auto detailing from Motor Club Auto Care (www.PortlandDetailing.com). And, of course, to Maine’s Marines who are the great folks behind Maine’s Toys-for-Tots program. At the end of the event, it was suggested by the Marines that they may need help sorting out all the toys as they get towards the holiday season. To find out how you can participate in this program, go to www.ToysForTotsMaine.org.
And now, take a look for yourself at these video links and you’ll see what a busy and amazing event it really was. We’d love your comments, especially if you were there. Also, please feel free to send photos and videos that you’ll allow us to use to <info@PortlandMotorClub.com>
Providing a marina-like approach, some dedicated vehicle storage facilities offer car owners the freedom to come and go as they like while enjoying peace of mind that their vehicles are protected from the elements, damage and worse While it is certainly possible for a private owner to create the ideal environment for protecting the condition and value of a collectible car, it requires a serious investment into designing and building a sufficient facility that will take into account many factors such as temperature, humidity, security, access and cost. Usually some sort of compromise results that either consciously or inadvertently jeopardizes the condition, value or safety of the vehicle. Seasonal storage usually means that the vehicle is unavailable for up to six months at a time while often cold temperatures, humidity, critters and other factors can do their worst on your four-wheeled friend.
Professional collector car storage can be the affordable solution that addresses all of the storage concerns of a car collector. By garaging with a company that has designed a facility that specifically addresses all the specific security, environmental and safety concerns of car storage, car owners gain the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their prized possession is getting the care that it truly deserves.
For the auto enthusiast, it is heart breaking to hear about the seemingly annual garage collapse or burned-down chicken barn housing irreplaceable cars. Imagine the sense of security that comes from knowing that one’s vehicular pride and joy is locked away in a fortified facility featuring smoke and heat detection, a sprinkler system, and continuous visual monitoring and video recording. It’s a bit like car storage heaven!
For certain vehicles, these are not seasonal issues: proper year-round care and housing is vital to protecting the condition and value of cars that have significant worth. Even if the owner lives at a distance from the storage facility, proper care and storage trumps convenience. Oftentimes such a vehicle is only used or shown occasionally anyway. For those who do live relatively close to a year-round storage facility, they can consider such a place a marina-like service where their car receives secure storage, care and maintenance, and it is prepared and ready to go when they are, any time of year.
Car owners might also like to know that their batteries are tended to regularly, that someone is watching out for leaking fluids and other problems, and that while the car is in storage, its condition can be maintained via reconditioning and restoration services. Also, concerns about the safe and proper transportation of vehicles to and from such a facility can be handled by professional covered transportation services that certain facilities may offer. A professional car storage facility can also cater to custom care concerns and requests such as specialized mechanical work or upholstery replacement.
Some facilities even offer a members’ lounge where one can talk shop with fellow enthusiasts and can enjoy the camaraderie of gathering with other collectors, or they take a meeting with a business associate. In some cases, they might have access to the facility for special business or social occasions. In many cases, other collector car events such as car club meetings, educational events, rallies, shows and even auctions can take place on the premises. For a relatively reasonable annual fee, collectible and special vehicles can get the home they deserve and their owners can get the protection they really want and need for their valued investment. It’s nice to know that there are a few places out there that are providing car storage done right.
Kal Rogers
Marketing Director
Portland Motor Club
Portland, Maine
