Playing Hooky With The CCCA
When my father and I left early Friday morning, I had no idea how much fun I was going to have! First we stopped at the New Hampshire traffic circle for breakfast at the famous Roundabout and that was really good. Then we ventured to the woods of Maine to see Chris and Heidi Charlton (at Classic Car Services). On the way my father told me they had a model T snowmobile at their house.
Published
Publisher: New England Classic Quarterly
Publish Date: Second Quarter 2013
On Page: 5,6
When we arrived at their shop I saw a red 1928 Mercedes-Benz S Saoutchik. I and learned the S stands for Supercharger. The lizard skin interior felt really weird as rubbed my hand across it. Then I looked a little left and saw a beautiful wood body car. It had a windshield and glove box for the backseat. I learned that in the U.S. this was called a (dual cowl Phaeton). The back of the car had a very small boat tail that was really cool.
Then I saw Chris’s Vintage collection of Snap-on tools and toolboxes, one set was from the late 20s early 30s. I was very surprised that these tools were not just for show, that he actually uses them when he works on classics.
When I looked up, I saw the best picnic basket collection ever. Baskets from the 20’s through the 60’s were really kind of neat to see. To me, it seemed that everywhere I looked I saw something interesting that caught my eye.
Then Chris’ dog, Joey, came in for a treat. After that, we had a nice lunch at their local pizza shop with Chris and Heidi. As we were pulling into their driveway, first thing I saw was the Model T snowmobile. “WOW that’s amazing! “ I exclaimed. Chris gave me a tour of the Model T explaining all the levers, peddles and handles. We then took it for a spin through his back fields. To my surprise he let me drive it! On top of all that, Chris even let me take my dad for a drive in a Model T! It was amazing.
The next morning we headed out to see the best radiator shop in the country, American Honeycomb Radiator! It is Chuck Niles’s shop. Chuck gave us a tour around his shop and I was very impressed at how many of the radiators belonged to very famous cars. He gave both my father and I an education about all the different types of radiators. He had some from Rolls Royce’s, fire trucks, Mercedes Benz and many others. During the tour Chuck showed us a huge vat of green anti-freeze. It looked like a big cauldron full of potion from Harry Potter!
We learned about the care and craftsmanship that Chuck puts into each and every radiator that he works on. I was also amazed to learn how many of the radiators that Chuck restored have made best in show at Pebble Beach!
Overall, it was a fun couple of days playing Hooky with my father and the CCCA!!
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About The Author
Christopher DeMarey
When I was just seven years old I started judging at the world-renowned Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. Since then I have become a regular contributing author to the Classic Car Club of America New England Region magazine and I have been published nationally on multiple occasions. I am now fifteen and on the board of advisors for the Classic Car Club of America NER. From Amelia Island to the Boston Cup I have attended many car shows, tours and events along with helping in the process of planning the Classic New England CARavan for this coming September. I look forward to one day owning my very own classic and I hope to enter my vehicle in one of the various events I have attended throughout my childhood. E-mail - chris@demarey.net