Micke Grove NCOC Show
July 22, 2007

Dash plaque given to participants in the show.

It is the day of the Northern California Oldsmobile Club's (NCOC) annual car show, held in Micke Grove Park outside of Lodi. Lynn leaves the house a little after 6 AM for the 50 mile drive from his home in Livermore. From his past experience at other car shows, Lynn expects that many participants will arrive early, well before the stated starting time of 9 AM.

A couple of shots of Penny in Micke Grove Park before the show.

Rolling into the park a little after 7 AM, Lynn is surprised to find himself to the first to arrive. Just as well, it gives him some time to explore the park and take some pictures of Penny.

For a relatively modest sized park, Micke Grove hosts a number of attractions. There's a zoo, a Japanese garden, an amusement park as well as a large number of covered picnic areas.

New for this event is a bug screen that sits in front of the grill.

Lynn is dismayed to discover that Penny has suffered some damage on the drive to the show. She arrives missing her left-front hubcap. Lynn now realizes that this was the noise he heard while going over the Altamont Pass outside of Livermore. He had heard a sound like a two-foot piece of wood had fallen from the car. He glanced in his rear view mirror expecting to see it tumbling and rolling on the road behind him, but he saw nothing at the time.

He also recalls noting an unusually long duration to the sound. It was not the quick, sharp noise he expected from hitting something in the road while moving at 60 MPH. Lynn now realizes that the hubcap was travelling along side the car, initially rolling at the same speed he was. Perhaps he was fortunate that the hubcap hadn't jumped up and damaged the side of the car.

This is a significant loss. Oldsmobile changed hubcaps almost every year and it isn't easy to find replacements. Fortunately Lynn has a second set at home. He was planning to restore the second set to a high quality for shows while using the first set for daily driving. Now he'll be looking for more hubcaps to complete the second set.

Penny threw a hubcap while crossing the Altamont Pass in I-580.

By 8 AM Lynn finds fellow NCOC members congregating at the show site so Lynn joins them. One thing becomes apparent to him as the day wears on — the natives selected spots in the shade while Lynn parks Penny in the sun. Happily the temperature only reaches about 95 °F and there is a breeze so that it is bearable. Others tell Lynn that the temperature was over 105 °F at last year's show and everyone was very uncomfortable.

By Lynn's count there are 22 Oldsmobiles at the show. Penny is the only pre-World War II car; the next oldest are some 1949 Model 88 cars.

Here's three shots of Alan Marsden's beautiful and rare 1949 Oldsmobile "Rocket" 88 convertible.

Penny on display at the NCOC show.

Lynn is happy to renew his acquaintance with a number of NCOC members, especially Alan and Jeanie Marsden from Mantica. Lynn shares some of the food that Jeanie brought to the show, including some cake in honor of Alan's 75-th birthday. Alan has agreed to sell some of the spare parts off a couple of 1938 cars that he's rodding. Lynn has a new reason to take Alan up on his offer to sell the hubcaps!

Penny receives a "Best in Class" award.

Penny is awarded "Best in Class" for Class 2 (~1927-1939). True, she is the ONLY car in Class 2, but there just aren't that many pre-WWII cars that compete these days. Lynn is very pleased with his discussions and interactions with the other NCOC members and spectators at the show. This is the real reason he goes. The award is just the icing on the cake of another a great day with fellow car enthusiasts. Thanks NCOC!

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Micke Grove NCOC ShowJuly 22, 2007

Micke Grove NCOC Show
July 22, 2007