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2024 Comet Central Gathering
The location of the 2024 annual IMOA car show has been announced and will be held in Springfield, Ill., Sept 26-28.
The show includes visits to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, National Corvair Museum and Ace Neon Sign Museum.
It is also in conjunction with the Route 66 Mother Road Festival in Springfield. The IMOA judged car show will be held in downtown Springfield during the festival.
The host hotel is the Northfield Inn and Suites in Springfield.
The show starts on Thursday, Sept. 26, with visits to the Lincoln museum and home. Explore Abraham Lincoln’s early life from his boyhood in a Kentucky cabin through his 1860 campaign for President of the United States. When he won the presidency, the country was in crisis – the Civil War would begin just weeks after his inauguration, and Lincoln would wrestle with the human toll of battle and slavery.
Family tragedy struck as well, with the death of son Willie in 1862. Cruel personal and political attacks that greeted the Lincolns when they arrived in Washington, D.C., gave way to an outpouring of grief following his assassination on April 14, 1865.
The Lincoln home site offers guided tours, giving visitors a look into the Lincoln family during the 17 years they lived in the house on the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets. Visitors will get a glimpse into Lincoln’s life as a family man, as well as explore his rise as a successful lawyer and politician through the context of the Lincoln Home.
Friday will take IMOA members to the National Corvair Museum, the officially designated Corvair museum by General Motors. The museum exists to celebrate, preserve and showcase the rich heritage of the Chevrolet Corvair. It is the pre-eminent collection of Corvair vehicles, memorabilia, and technical and historical information.
The next stop on Friday is to the Ace Neon Sign Museum. It has a collection of more than 85 historic signs from Springfield and Route 66. The collection is constantly growing and transforming as we strive to maintain some of the most memorable and iconic signs in the area. Experience the ambiance and character of the neon glow under wood-barreled ceilings alongside a state-of-the-art modern sign manufacturing facility.
After the Ace visit, members can take part in the Route 66 Mother Road show parade in downtown Springfield.
Saturday features the judged IMOA car show, to be held at a location to be announced in downtown Springfield, followed by the awards ceremony.
The show registration forms can be downloaded here: IMOA 2024 Registration
A more detailed tentative show schedule can be downloaded here: Show Schedule
More information on museum visits will be in upcoming issues of Quicksilver.
A big thank you to Wayne Miller, the show manager who helped put the show together for this year.
The IMOA has announced that next year’s annual car show will be held Aug. 3-7 in the Kingsport area of Tennessee.
One of the highlights is a Thursday, Aug. 4 visit to the Bristol Motor Speedway track, where members will be able to drive their cars on the racetrack, plus get a tour of the grounds.
The host hotel will be the Meadowview Marriott in Kingsport, Tenn., where the car show judging will be held Saturday, Aug. 6.
Registrations forms can be accessed here: IMOA Show Registration
Bristol hosts races in several NASCAR touring series, highlighted by two major NASCAR Cup Series weekends. The biggest names in NASCAR, including Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Bobby Allison have earned victories at the legendary track.
The short track is a 0.533-mile concrete oval with corner banking ranging from 24 to 28 degrees, and a pair of 650-feet straightaways. Also part of the complex, the adjacent quarter-mile dragstrip, Bristol Dragway, offers more than 50 events annually.
Work began on what was then called Bristol International Speedway in 1960, and it took approximately one year to finish. Many of the original ideas that facility founders Larry Carrier, Carl Moore and R.G. Pope came up with for the track were sketched on envelopes and brown paper bags.
Purchase of the land on which BMS now sits, as well as construction of the track, cost approximately $600,000. The entire layout for BMS covered a little more than 100 acres.
The very first NASCAR race at BMS, held on July 30, 1961, was won by Jack Smith with relief help from Johnny Allen.
The facility was held by several different owners in the early days, but eventually found its way back to Carrier ownership in 1985. On Jan. 22, 1996, Carrier sold the speedway to O. Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., at a purchase price of $26 million.
Other things to do in the surrounding area include:
* Coker Tire is 209 miles from Kingsport. Some members may want to order tires for pick-up.
* Gray Fossil Site, 1212 Suncrest Drive.
* Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium, 853 Bays Mountain Park Road.
* Appalachian Ghost Walks Tours, 490 Hemlock Road.
* Allandale Mansion, Kingsport.
* Appalachian Caverns, 420 Cave Hill Road.
* Historic Jonesborough.
* Carter Family Fold, A.P. Carter Highway.
* Virginia Creeper Trail.
* Wahoo’s Whitewater Rafting Adventures.
* Kingsport Carousel, 350 Clinch-field St, Kingsport.
More information will be in upcoming issues of Quicksilver.
By Virgil Klein
With 66 Mercurys from all decades of production (except 1939), the 2021 IMOA show in Denver, Colo., was a great success. It was nice to see so many of our IMOA members in attendance.
The official show activites, organized by Chuck Clarke, began on Thursday morning, June 24, with a tour of the Forney Transportation Museum.
We divided into three groups of Mercury owners and were treated to guided tours of the facility. The Forney hosts did a wonderful job of leading these tours. As a special treat for our group, we were allowed to look around the storage area of future and past displays. This area is seldom opened to the public. Thank you, Forney, for a great experience.
Thursday evening saw the traditional “Circle of Friends” in the parking lot of the Marriott. Those who brought sweatshirts and jackets needed to use them, as the weather was quite cool.
Many thanks to Kathy Orcutt, the cookie lady, for the tasty treats.
Friday, June 25, saw IMOA visit the Colorado Railroad Museum. The museum made a special train available to us for a few laps around their loop track.
Afterwards, IMOA members were able to roam the grounds at their leisure. There was much interesting railroad equipment to view, at least to this rail fan.
Friday evening saw another “Circle of Friends.” IMOA members are the friendliest group of people, especially when free adult beverages are available. Did I mention it rained?
Saturday, June 26, was a bright, sunny morning with cars being parked for the show beginning around 7 a.m. I find it interesting how many ways car owners have devised to get their car ready for a show.
Judging began at 10 a.m. with a great judging crew. They finished their judging by 11:30. It was a good thing, as the skies darkened and lightning appeared with the always accompanying thunder. And, of course, it rained. Fortunately, no hail at IMOA’s location.
However, the rain only lasted a short time and IMOA was able to hand out awards at 1 p.m. The sun had returned and it was a very nice afternoon.
I would be remiss not to mention Judy Miller and all of her efforts selling hats, fender covers and 50/50 tickets. Judy has an endless supply of energy. In the end, all of the hats were sold and almost all of the fender covers. Thanks, Judy!
Many of IMOA’s members also attended the All Ford Show and Picnic at Arapahoe Park on Sunday, June 27, sponsored by the local Ford/Mercury/Lincoln car clubs. We all had a great time at this show, with several IMOA members winning awards. Once again, pending weather caused the trophies to be handed out early.
To summarize; this was a great show, with a great location at the Marriott in Westminster and great excursions. Thanks to everyone who participated.
I hope everyone had a safe and uneventful trip home. Look forward to seeing all of you next year.
The Rocky Mountains and the Denver area welcome the IMOA for its annual 2021 show, to be held June 23-27.
The dates include visits to the Clive Cussler Auto Museum, Coors Brewery and Colorado Railroad Museum. Attendees can also take part in the All-Ford Car Show and Picnic on Sunday, June 27, in Golden, Colo.
Of course, there is also the beautiful mountain scenery in the area.
The host hotel is the Denver Marriott Hotel in Westminster, Colo., which will also be the site of the actual IMOA car show on Saturday, June 26.
The Marriott is located at 7000 Church Ranch Blvd, Westminster, CO. 80021; phone (720) 887-1177.
The IMOA is keeping track of the Covid-19 situation and will do what is best to keep its members safe. It is hoped that a vaccine will be available in the coming months and that venues will be opening up.
Registration pages for the IMOA are here; 2021 IMOA NATIONAL SHOW Registration Form; the registration page for the All-Ford show is here: 2021 FOMOCO PicnicApp
The Rocky Mountains and the Denver area welcome the IMOA for its annual 2021 show, to be held June 23-27.
The dates include visits to the Clive Cussler Auto Museum, Coors Brewery and Colorado Railroad Museum. Attendees can also take part in the All-Ford Car Show and Picnic on Sunday, June 27, in Golden, Colo.
Of course, there is also the beautiful mountain scenery in the area.
The host hotel is the Denver Marriott Hotel in Westminster, Colo., which will also be the site of the actual IMOA car show on Saturday, June 26.
The Marriott is located at 7000 Church Ranch Blvd, Westminster, CO. 80021; phone (720) 887-1177 .
The IMOA is keeping track of the Covid-19 situation and will do what is best to keep its members safe. It is hoped that a vaccine will be available in the coming months and that venues will be opening up.
Our web pages have registration forms for the IMOA show and the All-Ford Show, that can be accessed here: 2021 IMOA NATIONAL SHOW Registration Form
And the All-Ford Show: 2021 FOMOCO PicnicApp
The Rocky Mountains and the Denver area welcome the IMOA for its annual 2021 show, to be held June 23-27.
This year’s show was cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis and it was decided to keep the Denver area as the show site.
The dates include visits to the Clive Cussler Auto Museum, Coors Brewery and Colorado Railroad Museum. Attendees can also take part in the All-Ford Car Show and Picnic on Sunday, June 27, in Golden, Colo.
Of course, there is also the beautiful mountain scenery in the area.
The host hotel is the Denver Marriott Hotel in Westminster, Colo., which will also be the site of the actual IMOA car show on Saturday, June 26.
The Marriott is located at 7000 Church Ranch Blvd, Westminster, CO. 80021; phone (720) 887-1177 .
Registration forms for the IMOA and All-Ford shows follow this article.
Colorado Railroad Musuem
The Colorado Railroad Museum (coloradorailroadmuseum.org) has its origins in the late 1940s when Colorado’s narrow-gauge railroad companies started going out of business.
Robert W. Richardson began collecting rolling stock, railway records and other pieces of equipment in an effort to preserve Colorado history.
Bob’s collection quickly outgrew the available space at his museum in Alamosa and in 1958, with the help of his friend Cornelius Hauck, moved the museum to Golden.
Many Colorado railroad companies closed down in the late 1940s and ’50s, when falling ore prices and increasing operating expenses made business unprofitable.
The Uintah Railway Company closed in 1939, the Silverton Northern in 1942, the Rio Grande Junction in 1941, the Midland Terminal in 1949 and the Rio Grande Southern in 1951.
Once in Golden, Richardson built a replica narrow-gauge railroad station to serve as the main museum building.
With the help of volunteers, he started laying track for 50 pieces of equipment and built a motel to help fund the museum. The Iron Horse Motel was originally located where the roundhouse now sits.
Clive Cussler Auto Museum
The Clive Cussler Auto Museum in Arvada, Colo., features the vintage car collection of the late Cussler, the multi-million selling author of a series of books, with the most famous featuring Dirk Pitt, marine engineer, government agent and adventurer.
Cussler was also an underwater explorer, discovering more than 60 shipwrecks and founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency.
Cussler was born in Aurora, Ill. He served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, achieving the rank of sergeant and working as an aircraft mechanic and flight engineer for the Military Air Transport Service.
After his discharge from the military, Cussler went to work in the advertising industry, first as a copywriter and later as a creative director for two of the nation’s most successful advertising agencies.
He began writing in 1965, with the Pitt novels catching on with a format of sunken ships, lost treasures, exotic locations, dastardly villains and vintage cars.
Cussler established his car museum to preserve rare and vintage automobiles from 1906 to 1965.
Coors Brewery
In 1873, German immigrants Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler emigrated to the United States and established a brewery in Golden, Colo.
Coors was a penniless brewer’s apprentice who stowed away on a ship from Germany and arrived in the U.S. in 1868 before making his way to Golden.
In 1880, Coors bought out his partner and became sole owner of the brewery.
Coors was one of the few breweries to survive Prohibition. The brewery itself was converted into a malted milk and near beer production facility. Coors sold much of the malted milk to the Mars candy company.
However, the company relied heavily on its porcelain, cement and real estate companies to keep the brewery operating.
The company sold it beer mainly in the western U.S., but reached nationwide distribution in the mid 1980s.
It introduced Coors Light in 1978, known as the “Silver Bullet,” and it remains one of the most popular beers in America. Other Coors brands include Blue Moon, Icehouse, Keystone Light, Molson’s, Hamm’s Henry’s Hard Soda and Crispin ciders.
John and Cindy Sedan, of Galena, Ill., received the Participant’s Choice award for their 1951 M1 truck.
