May/June AMC S Ramble To Lancaster To Capture Club attendance award

Transcription

1 May/June 2002 AMC S Ramble To Lancaster To Capture Club attendance award 1

2 OFFICERS CORNER MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT NEWSLETTER EDITOR Jeff Kennedy Steve Halstead Casey & Christine McGowan 7100 S.R. 142 SE 250 Conner Lane 3267 Raccoon Valley Rd. West Jefferson, OH Lewis Center, OH Granville, OH or 879-SAVE TREASURER ART DIRECTOR HEMMINGS WEBSITE MASTER Dave Haugh "Javlynn" Sue Leair Richelle Dabe 4370 Lewis Center Rd Edsal Drive P O Box 159 Galena, OH Lyndhurst, OH Lewis Center, OH ohioamc@hotmail.com The Ohio American X-Press is the official publication of the Ohio American Motors Classics, Inc. and is published on a bi-monthly basis. Special editions are published on an as needed basis. Subscription is free to all club members in good standing. All comments, opinions and articles are encouraged and may be submitted to the newsletter editor. Gary & Susan Walker Rob & Debbie Rose 4630 Lilly Chapel Opossum Run Rd 7856 Dorsey Mill Rd SE London, Ohio Newark, Ohio James Eberhard Howard Joseph 8187 London Groveport Rd Center Village Rd Grove City, Ohio Galena, Ohio Jerry Pogue 9372 County Rd 25-A Sidney, Ohio Our membership is currently at 93. Our goal is to increase it to 100 by year s end! If you meet anyone who has or loves AMCs, encourage them to join our local club. 2

3 SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2002 by: Casey McGowan, Events Chairman, OAMC The 39th Annual Lancaster, Ohio Old Car Club Spring Festival has a new addition for 2002, an AMC class. This historic show was founded in 1957 with the goal of attaining as much club participation as possible. Other clubs have had good attendance through the years. As you can see from the photos, the Hudson Club is present, the Kaiser-Frazier Club, the Corvair Club, and others have always turned out in numbers. Lancaster Old Car Club has always been a gracious host to Orphan Marques. AMC attendance has been very low in the past, possibly because we did not have a class. Things are different now. OAMC has secured class 42 for AMC s 1958 to Newer AMC s can be displayed, but won t be judged. Registration is only $6.00 at the gate. You must be registered and on the field by 11:00 AM. The fairgrounds is five blocks east of Route 33 on Fair Avenue in Lancaster. Help OAMC capture the $25.00 prize for best attendance by a club. I know we can do it! 3

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7 MESLER MOTORS DRIVE A LITTLE, SAVE A LOT by: Casey McGowan Many AMC dealers started out as teenagers with a fondness for cars, and Myron Mesler was no exception. He started driving at age 14; his car of choice was a Studebaker. After graduating from Fairfield High School in 1947, he went to work in his uncle s body shop. Two years later this shop closed, so Myron took what he had learned and purchased a garage and body shop business in Millville, not far from the town of Hamilton in southwest Ohio. He opened the business in 1949 as a body shop and operated it himself until That s when the Chevy /Pontiac/Buick dealer in Oxford asked Myron to help them out by managing their shop for them. This lasted only one year when Myron returned to Millville where an employee had been keeping the shop open while he was away. During this year, Myron had learned much about how to run a new car dealership. Upon hearing Hamilton had lost their Hudson dealer recently, he contacted the Hudson Motor Car Co., and secured a franchise for Millville. The first cars sold at the new dealership was the 1955 line of Hudsons. Myron ran the store with the help of only one employee. They did it all, from sales to cleanup to delivery. They sold only 5 new cars this first year, but 1956 brought them the new Hudson Ramblers and Myron sold enough of these to earn him and his wife a trip to Hawaii. The Millville location, being only four miles from Hamilton, offered something of great value low overhead! Myron was able to sell at least 10 cars per year, which was good for a small dealer. Local factories such as Champion Paper, Fisher Body, and others kept the buyers coming in. When Hudson ceased production in 1957, the Millville location automatically became an AMC/Rambler dealership. Business was so good in 1958 that Mr. Mesler, with the help of his Cincinnati zone manager, became friends with the owner of Dayton Rambler who supplied him with as many cars as did the factory. This helped fill the demand for the exciting new 58 Rambler line. Millville Motors was on the move and so was AMC. It was mutually agreed upon that a move to a larger building was needed. AMC was also feeling heat from nearby Holt Rambler in Hamilton. Millville Motors was stealing too many of his sales due to the price advantage they had by being four miles out of town. AMC gave Myron the choice of being the second dealer in Hamilton, or move to another market. In 1960, Myron found an empty Kroger grocery store building in Oxford, Ohio (25 miles north of Millville) and secured a lease with an option to buy and the move was on. In early 1961, at the age of 31, Myron moved to Oxford where renovation of the old Kroger store began. An overhead door and a lift were added to the rear of the room, and a partition wall was put up for the showroom. It was topped off with a 12 foot high Rambler neon sign out front. The new location was large enough for 5 new cars in the showroom, 7 cars in the service area, and had space for 15 cars alongside the building. 7

8 Myron remembers his first sale in It was to Professor H.H. Stevenson who purchased an American sedan. The customer had been to the Chevy dealer first and was disturbed when the salesman commented don t buy one of those Ramblers they won t even be around in a year. He knew then that was exactly what he wanted to do. In 1961, Rambler was selling car to car with Chevrolet and out-sold Plymouth to become America s third best selling marque. I thought being on the campus of Miami University would net many sales to students, but Myron said most sales went to faculty who liked to save money. Most students brought a car with them. Only upon graduation did a student get a new car to drive. Mesler Motors for years had the highest percentage of area penetration in their zone. During the early 60 s, their price advantage brought 75% of new car sales from Hamilton, Ohio, the very town he was asked to move away from. Holt Rambler failed anyway and was replaced by Motzer AMC run by a very successful former Studebaker dealer. Myron s price advantage gradually lessened and sales became a little harder to make. In 1967, Friman Motors, the local Oldsmobile dealer across Main Street from the Kroger building became available when the owner retired. Oldsmobile declined to issue another franchise so Myron was able to secure the location for Rambler. The new store was designed as a new car dealership and was twice the size of the existing lot. The showroom only held 2 cars, but the open lot and undercover canopy held 30 cars. The shop was also larger and had more overhead doors. AMC was very happy with the move. Myron had a large family with several boys included. His favorite demo was the Cross Country Wagon. I saw a snapshot of Myron with a very large fish in hand from one of his many fishing trips. I m sure the kids liked the third seat option. Mesler AMC also sold International Trucks, Indian Motorcycles, and Nimrod travel trailers to pull behind those Travelers and Cross Country Wagons. The Scout was sold because AMC did not yet have Jeep, nor did they build pickup trucks. In 1970, Jeep came on board and International was out. Hornets, Gremlins, and Pacers sold in numbers to the faculty who like the economy. Many years saw sales in the 150 car range. Many customers purchased factory official cars in the 70 s due to the price savings, and Myron sold as many official cars as he did new ones. A trip to Detroit was made every two weeks, cars were driven home by college students anxious to make a buck. Yes, many new Javelins were sold as well as six new AMXs not bad for a small town dealer. (Remember AMC basketballs?) (New car introduction day features Mod local band and draws a crowd of potential customers) 8

9 Mesler Motors did well with fleet sales also, selling International trucks to the city as well as buses to the school. The largest single sale was a garbage compactor truck. Nice profit margin on that one! The police department helped out by using the Matador Police Specials. In 1975, Myron opened a second dealership in Connersville, Indiana, but kept it only three years as AMC sales were dropping off and the commute had become too much to handle. It was a great store, but the timing was bad., said Myron. As with many AMC dealers, the early 80 s were hard times. Eagles alone could not sustain the business and only about three new Alliances sold. Myron closed the doors in In 1985, sons Mike and Mark opened a very successful body shop at the location which is a state of the art facility today. Mark is the AMC fan of the family. He owns a nice Mark Donahue Javelin, and a 67 Ambassador slated for restoration. He has been an active member of Ohio AMC for many years and his father, Myron, is a new member. Ohio AMC thanks Mr. Mesler for relating to us his great AMC story. We hope that folks in western Ohio will remember the friendly dealer with the slogan Drive a Little Save a Lot for many years to come. SPRINGFIELD 2002 Don t forget to attend the Springfield Swap Meet and Car Show, May 24 26, Friday, May 24 is Race Day at National Trails Drag Strip, Kirkersville, Ohio. Saturday, May 25 is the AMC ALL Family Meet, with Red, White, and Blue cars being the feture. KENOSHA 2002 Plans are well under way for the Kenosha 2002 International event. Most clubs have scheduled activities for the entire week. If you haven t already secured a hotel room, you may be out of luck unless there are cancellations. Hotels are reporting they are booked solid for the week. Also, you should register quickly for the show and banquet. You certainly don t want to be shut out of one of the most exciting events concerning American Motors for years to come. Imagine, an event that may claim 1000 or more American Motors vehicles participating. What a thrill! It doesn t matter what club you choose to participate with, just be there and have fun, fun, fun! In fact, if you are smart, you ll enjoy some of the benefits of all the clubs, whether it be AMO, AMCRC, World Club, Nash Club, or any of the others represented in the fabulous event. AMC you there! CLASSIFIED ADS Please help Bob Childs find good homes for nearly 100 deserving AMC s. Some are restorable, some are for parts, all are priced right. Phone Bob at (937) and take a ramble out to South Vienna, Ohio to pick out the AMC you want or need AMX, Rally Green, tan interior, 343 auto. Ps, older restoration. Many NOS trim parts on the car and mechanically 80 % restore9d. Needs partial repaint. New headliner needs adjustment. Runs great! $ takes it. Casey (740) , Granville 9

10 2002 MOPAR NATIONALS Once again, Ohio AMC will be a major part of the Mopar Nationals at National Trails Raceway in Kirkersville, Ohio. We will have a club display at a highly visible location near the car corral and swap meet area. This event is a primary fundraiser for the club. Our club members help with the event and in return, Ohio AMC receives a donation from the Mopar Nationals organization. Last year, we received $850. In addition, any member who works a 6 hour shift for just one day gets to attend the event with their classic AMC at no charge for the entire weekend! Those who work will also be able to park in our reserved display area (and that s a blessing!). Gate fee is normally $60! We also urge our members to have their car judged on Friday or participate in drag racing. A worker will pay only $25 to have their car judged or $15 to race. If you ve never attended the Mopar Nationals, Ohio AMC is responsible for monitoring the swap meet and car corral areas. We need to keep the aisles clear, help vendors find their spaces, make sure only for sale cars park in the car corral, etc. We have the use of two golf carts and walkie-talkies to keep in touch throughout the weekend. It s fun and it exposes our AMCs to many new people. We have had many, many folks come to our display in past years, including several magazines and even My Classic Car TV show people! If you would like to be part of this club fundraiser and huge event, do the following: 1) Contact Jeff Duff ( ) to confirm which day and shift you can work (even if you signed up at or after the banquet, contact Jeff Duff). A final list must go to the Mopar Nationals folks. 2) If you are having your car judged on Friday, or racing, fill out the Mopar Nationals entry form included in this newsletter, include a check or money order made out to Jeff Duff for the proper amount - $25 per judged car or $15 to race. Send all entries to: Jeff Duff 701 S. Pears Lima, OH ) HE MUST HAVE THIS INFORMATION BY JUNE 15, Entries must be to Mopar Nationals by June 30, 2002 so it is imperative we get these in as early as possible. THERE WILL BE NO LATE ENTRIES ALLOWED. Remember - Free weekend pass, a $60 value Club fundraiser, $850 in the club treasury last year alone! Special club display and reserved club member parking Golf cart transportation Major exposure for our AMCs at a national level Some AMC items for sale cheap in the swap meet area! All good reasons to sign up NOW! 10

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12 Gotta Go AMC Ya in Lancaster! Ohio American Motors Classics 3267 Raccoon Valley Road Granville, OH DATED NEWS - - RUSH 12