Things of beauty - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
John Walters cranked a lever in the front of his shiny red 1910 Packard, throwing some weight into the turns to get the engine to start.
The antique beauty with gold trim and a black canopy over two little seats was having a hard time starting on a warm Saturday afternoon.
"Come on, baby!" Walters said to the car, as a dozen onlookers crowded around.
Eventually, the engine throttled to life, and the spectators cheered as Walters, from Cote de Caza, swiftly drove the antique car away.
"Boy, that's a beautiful car," said B. Wayne Parsons, 87 of Santa Rosa, one of the founders of the Packard Club, a national group dedicated to preserving the cars.
Walters' was one of more than 100 antique automobiles that were part of the Annual Grand National Meet on Friday and Western Divisional Fall Meet on Saturday, organized by the Antique Automobile Club of America's Redwood Empire chapter.
"The quality of the cars out here was absolutely astonishing," said Terry Bond, national director for the Antique Automobile Club of America based in Virginia. "We all felt like, Wow. If we had this kind of a show every weekend, we'd fly out every weekend."
For many, restoring cars is a labor of love. When Richard Bianchi, 72, of Calistoga, got his marina blue 1967 Corvette in 1979, he disassembled the whole car, refurbished the frame, and repainted the vehicle.
"It was a drawn-out affair over 30 years," Bianchi said. "I guess it's kind of a way to re-find your youth."
Bianchi's Corvette won an award in the Grand National competition on Friday, he said.
"We missed an earthquake in Virginia, we missed a hurricane in Virginia, but if you had to evacuate, we found a great place to do it," Bond said. "We had a blast out here."
28 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHktQLBBFtlOlaHD1jxtvZ9T9K_nA&url=http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110827/ARTICLES/110829550/1350?Title=Things-of-beauty
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