Hi ya folks! Its me, Enzo, your favorite feline.

It’s sooooooooo cold outside and the snow is up to my a……. a……. ahhhh really high! So here I sit in my house, pen in paw, to again bring you up to date with some of the goings on in my life. As I begin to write this the AACA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia has just concluded. Mom and Dad are back home and yes, it was another year that they didn’t consider taking me. I don’t understand why they won’t take me. I’d behave and everything and I really want to meet so many of you folks. I heard I have a new friend. A Ms. Edwards lady was asking about me. Now with my good friend Mrs. Beauchamp and now Mrs. Edwards on my side you’d think I’d be able to make mom and dad understand that I need to start attending these functions. In fact I’m gonna go right in to dad’s office now and ask him why I can’t go. Be right back……..

I’m back folks and I’m not a happy kitty cat right now. I went up to dad, rubbed up against his leg all cute and point blank asked him. I said, “Dad why can’t I go to some of the AACA functions?” Dad’s face went real blank for a moment and I figured I had him for sure. Then he looked right at me and said “Enzo, you don’t have a suit!” I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. What does he think, us cats have closets full of spare furs like they do? How dumb is that? I just scampered right out of the room. I’ll have to devise another plan.

Here in northwestern Pennsylvania we have a special day on February 2nd. Its called Ground Hog Day. It’s a big ceremony a bit north east of us in Punxatawney. They have this big ole ground hog named Phil. On February 2nd the whole town and a zillion visitors gather around Phil’s house about five in the morning to see if he sees his shadow when he comes out. Can you imagine that? Here I am, Enzo the Cat, well-known author and extremely handsome, and single by the way, male cat. Then there is this Fat, fuzzy rodent who gets national TV coverage once a year. Well, this year Phil didn’t see his shadow. That means that spring is right around the corner. Two days later we had a massive snow storm. You see that goofy ground hog doesn’t know anything. Its me, Enzo that should be getting the coverage on national television. Ahhh someday I will be recognized for my true genius. As I worship those famous felines before me; Sylvester, Morris, and Garfield, the cats we all strive to be just like.

So whats new in your world? I bet those of you who live in climates much like mine are anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring. Soon, my friends, then you will be able to take your cars out again and enjoy the weekend rides, the shows and the tours. I think the tours are the most fun. Sometimes the tours even come to my house. That’s real fun because mom and dad hurry and try to clean the place up. They even put clean towels in the bathroom! Its like the President was coming or something. For me its fun to see all the neat cars. I try to match up the people visiting to the various cars but it never works out. Its like if someone comes over in a VW Beetle I expect them to be young or perhaps at least smaller in size. Never works! You just cant predict who is going to drive what kind of car. I guess all cars are fun.

Dad says sometimes people end up with cars they didn’t really want. I have trouble with that one sometimes. So dad told me a story about one of our cars that we have had for a very long time. It seems that dad was away working at one of the trade shows when a friend called him up and had him paged at the show. Dad hates to get paged when he’s away. Anyway this fellow had another fellow offer him this car in a trade for some collectibles. He wanted dad to tell him about what it might be worth so he could figure out if it was worth doing his deal. Dad told him and the fellow asked dad if he would want to split it with him and have dad sell the car since he knew car people and the other fellow didn’t. So my dad agreed. My dad gets a little goofy sometimes when it comes to making deals. He likes to do every deal that ever comes before him and often ends up with more work than the deal is worth. But hey, that’s my dad, he’s never gonna change.

Anyway, the fellow does the trade and has the car shipped to our house. When dad sees it for the first time he gets sick. This car wasn’t anything like what the fellow described it over the phone. It’s a fancy British car and it has no brakes! Dad says that means an expensive repair is ahead. Anyway my dad figured out most of what the car was going to need and called the other fellow up to give him the news. In the meantime, dad had already paid for his half of the car. Dad’s partner didn’t understand. He figured a set of brakes might be a hundred bucks not a few thousand! So the other fellow decided he didn’t want to sink any more money in this four wheeled British beast and told dad to sell it for as much as he could without having any of the work done. Dad didn’t like that idea and told his friend that people were not going to buy it the way it was. They did try however to sell it, ads were placed, a few responses but generally when the prospective buyers heard what was needed they quickly walked away. The other fellow finally got really frustrated and just had dad make him an offer for his half of the car. Dad did that and ended up buying the fellow out. So now it was our car, well mom and dad’s car since I wasn’t born yet.

Dad slowly got the car fixed. It took quite awhile but it did get done. Dad knew once it was fixed that he could sell it to some collector who would like to have it. When dad went to get it he had already written a nice ad to send in to one of the car magazines. Dad got in the car and drove it home from the mechanics shop. It rode so nice that mom and dad decided to keep it. Just what we needed right, another car. That’s as bad as a few months ago when they took in that scrawny cat they found outside. We didn’t need another car back then and we surely didn’t need another cat now. Anyway, that was sixteen years ago and the car is still here (so is the cat). Mom and dad enjoy the car and have even had it to a few AACA meets in the Driver Participation Class. Dad says that’s a great class because the judges for that class aren’t as nosy as they are in the regular classes. I think he just means the requirements are not as strict but as many of you know, my dad has a way with words.

So what's the moral of the story friends? Well I thought about it for awhile and decided that you should never buy a car that you haven’t seen unless you have someone who is really qualified describe it to you. I mentioned that to dad and he said “You know Enzo you’re right.” I was astonished because dad doesn’t tell me I’m right very often. He went on to tell me about the three cars he bought on Ebay. Two of them he said were not nearly what they were purported to be, not even close. The third one he said was a great vehicle but he couldn’t get it bought for his Ebay bid either. When the Ebay auction closed, dad had the highest bid but it didn’t meet the seller’s reserve.

What's a reserve? Dad explained that part and went on to say that since he really wanted that vehicle and since the seller was only about a six hour drive that he would go and see the car before making any further commitment. Once dad saw it and realized it was everything the seller said, dad paid the extra money and bought it. Dad said it was a good thing that vehicle was on Ebay because no one would ever have paid that much for it without seeing it, but once you saw it you knew it was the right one.

Well being a cat I was still pretty confused by all this but very interested nonetheless. Dad went on to say that sometimes cars or anything for that matter seem like a bargain price wise. You hurry out and buy them and then usually in the not too distant future you learn that they weren’t such a bargain after all. You may or may not be satisfied with them but probably wouldn’t have spent your money if you hadn’t thought it was a bargain. Dad says its much more important to find the car you really want in the condition you really want it to be in. Then when they tell you the price, and you have negotiated the best deal you feel you can make, you reach into your pocket, get your money and pay the seller. He says the car you cringe over what you paid and keep telling yourself, I cant believe I paid that much for, will be the best you ever make and give you many years of pleasure.

The bargain car may also become what you want down the road but by the time you’ve finished chasing its needs you will have spent as much or more than the one you wanted in ……….in the first place. Dad likes to call fixing cars “chasing them”. Even Enzo knows that as fast as he can run chasing a car he can never catch it. Well it seems for you humans that fixing them is often the same way.

Mom and Dad are getting ready for the show in Punta Gorda. Florida. They like the Florida winter meets cause it gets them out of the house and out of the bad weather for a bit. Of course Enzo has to stay here and be in charge. Dad says those Florida folks always put on a nice meet. Then the next week I understand they are going to the meet in San Juan, I figured they meant California cause California has a San everything, but it wasn’t. It was Puerto Rico. Wow I never knew about that. Closest I came was the cat down the block named Rico.

Dad says the folks from Puerto Rico have worked as hard as anyone he has ever seen to make a nice meet for the AACA members. It sounds like it will be great. I wish they would take me. Please folks, hound (for lack of a better word) my mom and dad and tell them that they need to bring Enzo along. If I am gonna be the unofficial official AACA cat then I need to meet the members. Maybe I could even get business cards made. Really though folks I want to meet all of you. I’ll even be happy to put my paw print on your programs for you. Do they have programs at AACA events? I’d even be glad to speak at your banquets but I guess I wouldn’t be able to reach the microphone.

Well that’s it for this time folks. I’ll be looking forward to pawing out some more helpful hints for you in future issues of the Rummage Box. Say did I get a contract yet? Where’s my agent?

So till next time I wish you all great times and great fun as the spring and summer driving seasons arrive.

Your pal
Enzo the Cat

Greetings to my fellow Editors!

Despite many lingering doubts it would ever happen, warm weather has arrived (at least intermittently) in many areas of the country. This means an increase in old car activities on both the National and Region/Chapter levels. Such increase in activities provides an increased amount of material for the Region and Chapter newsletters. Every event in your Region or Chapter is important. People work hard to plan, organize, and put on these events and members look forward to attending them. Be sure to give these events the coverage that they deserve. Events need plenty of informative advertising prior to their happening and then detailed reporting once the event has occurred. Sufficient advertising will help to generate interest among the membership and increase participation. Include all the pertinent information; what, when, where, why, etc. Also be sure to include a point of contact for more information with their phone number and/or email address. A small map of the event location is also useful.

Good reporting after the event gives lasting memories to those who attended and informs those who were unable to participate. Don’t forget to include some photos if you can. It is also a good idea to recognize those who worked so diligently to put on the event. Everyone likes to see their name published in the newsletter and they appreciate being recognized for their efforts.

For National news, don’t forget to use the material right here in the Rummage Box. It is a direct news source between AACA and the Regions and Chapters. Vice President of Regions Terry Bond has some great ideas for using different themes in each Rummage Box this year. This should provide an interesting assortment of new articles that will be both informative and enjoyable to share with your newsletter readers. Also remember that usage of Rummage Box material will earn you points for the Newsletter Achievement Award Program (NAAP)!

Between working on your newsletter and any other obligations you may have, be sure to get out and enjoy the weather and some old car activities this Spring. It is a hobby to enjoy; and you can spread that enjoyment with your newsletter.

And as always…..
Happy Antique Motoring!
Bruce