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On Saturday morning, January 20th, 2007, 24 members of BAMA took the tour of Vic Hubbard’s Auto Supply in Hayward. Gary Light & Mark Savage were great hosts and gave us the tour, provided doughnuts & coffee, showcased some great new products, answered any and all questions and generally put up with us for a couple of hours.

Remember folks, Vic Hubbard’s & BAMA are reciprocal partners, so the next time you go there for parts for any of your cars, introduce yourself as a BAMA member and you’ll be taken care of. Keep in mind that Vic Hubbard’s will be having some “Midnight Madness” events during the summer so look for them when they are announced. Vic Hubbard’s Auto Supply has also signed on as a vendor/sponsor for the June ’07 Wild West Mustang Nationals MCA show.

I brought a Mustang toy and a couple of catalogs to the June meeting. The toy was a 1:32 scale ’66 GT 350 complete with engine sounds and a clock. I also mentioned a Mustang throw and a Mustang Monopoly game.

I brought Herrington and Betty’s Attic catalogs. There seemed to be enough interest that both catalogs disappeared in short order. For those of you that may be interested in the Mustang items but didn’t move fast enough to get to the catalogs, here is how to find them:

For the GT 350, go to www.herringtoncatalog.com. Use their Search feature in the upperright hand corner of the home page and perform a search for "Mustang", it will take you right to item
#M720

For the throw and the game, go to www.bettysattic.com. To find the throw, click on “Home Décor” and find item #44854. To find the Monopoly game, click on “Eras” and then “The ‘60’s” and find item #60296. If you want to get these items, I hope this helps.

Smog Checks and You
by James Weston BAMA Vice President and Licensed EA Smog Technician

Please click HERE to read the full text of James' comprehensive and informative article regarding the current state of affairs regarding California smog emissions policies and certification requirements. Thanks James, great job on the article and thanks for a great presentation at the last general meeting!

Mustang News

New Members Corner

Many of our new members probably joined BAMA for the same reason that I did. I had cherished Mustang sitting in my garage gathering dust and I wanted to meet some other people that shared my interest in Mustangs. I joined the Club back in 1995 and am now more fully enjoying my classic car. However, in the beginning I was a little unsure of what I could do with my daily driver. New members can enjoy a variety of activities with their cars depending on your specific interests and the amount of time you have to prep your car. For a quick run down, look over this listing and then feel free to contact any BAMA member for additional details:

What to do with your Mustang and examples of suggested events:

1) Socialize with it - many of our events are not car related but just an opportunity to get together. This is a good start for new members - examples include the Wine Tour, Club Meetings and Miniature golf. Our most popular social event is the Poker Run held every summer. One excellent car related event was our tour of Vic Hubbard's. After coffee and donuts we had a great tour of this parts store and we were able to select as many catalogs from a whole wall of vendor catalogs.

2) Tech Sessions/seminars - This is an opportunity to learn how to complete a specific job on your car. In the past, we’ve had sessions where we learned how to detail a car and a weekend session where we detailed the engine compartment in my car. They are great learning opportunities.

3) Car Displays - These are non-judged & informal opportunities to meet other car enthusiasts. They involve a minimal amount of preparation (wash your car) and usually only take up a half day. They provide great opportunities to ask questions and see a variety of cars. Our Club’s annual display held at Jack London Village in June. Other displays we participated in this year were Rodders nite out, Frodo Joe's, The Auto Enthusiast, “RINGS”, the Pasta Festival, & Fun Ford Sunday. Some of these events are Mustangs only and some include a variety of cars. Events can range greatly in size from a dozen to several thousand participants.

4) Peer judged Car Shows - a peer judged show means that anyone entered in the show can pick their favorite cars for each category. An entry fee is usually charged and the participant often receives a goody bag, dash plaque and/or T-shirt. These events usually require a little more time to prep the car and usually run for most of the day (9 - 4). However, if you are like me, I’m usually prepping the car at the start of the show unless I can talk my Honeydo into helping me out. Several BAMA members attended this years VMOA Mustang show in June. Awards are usually given to the top 3 winners of each category.

5) Judged Car Shows - There are a variety of judged shows for the serious car enthusiast where “judges” look over your car and compare it to a set of standards. For some categories like “daily driven” and “show class”, points are deducted for anything not original or meeting the standard. For the “modified” class, points are added for the modifications that are done to your car (like shaving the door handles, modifying the body style, etc). BAMA has several experts that can provide a much better explanation of judging criteria and what is original for your car - just ask. My suggestion is that you attend one of these events. I recently entered the Golden Hills point judged show, just so that I could get the judging list. This showed all the areas where I lost points. I plan to use this list for my winter detailing projects.

6) Autocross - This is a venue that several BAMA members recently tried out (Chuck & Phil Wiltens - ask them about the rocks). These events are inexpensive (around \\$25) and are set up in parking lots where a series of cones define a course. Drivers enter the course at staggered times and run against the clock.

7) Open track - are you more interested in speed and testing your driving skills or watching classic cars run on the open track? Then this may be the event for you. There are several organizations that sponsor open track events (Norcal Shelby club, Green Flag Racing Association, NASA) on tracks within California (Sears Point, Laguna Seca, Thunderhill in Willows, and Buttonwillow). The cost to participate in these events usually runs around \\$150/day. Run groups are divided up by level of experience. Specific equipment requirements vary depending on the skill level (e.g. advanced groups must have a driving suit). However, you may choose to just watch one of the many race events specifically for vintage cars (like the Monterey Historics in Laguna Seca or the Wine Country Classic at Sears Point). One great event for new members is to attend the Norcal MiniNats - it combines a car show, open tracking, parade laps for anyone, and a wine tour all in one great weekend. It’s usually held on Labor Day weekend.

Still need more ideas of what to do with your car? Then come to a meeting and talk with other club members. I am out of space and am on my way to the meeting.