| |
Fall Tune-Down and Chili Party
Sunday, November 2, 2014:&mbsp; 11 am - 4 pm
82 King Drive - Streamwood, IL
 Do you know what your winter project will be? If not come by and I am sure we can find something that should be done before next year’s driving season. I have a low-lift hoist so we can do some underbody inspection or brake work. End of the driving season is time for oil changes, some tune-up work or minor repairs. Bring your own parts, oil and a jug for oil disposal (and yes, you will take your own away).
Chili and drinks will be provided.
dbralich@sbcglobal.net (Home: 630-289-7915 Cell:630-222-3571).
|
|
Cruise to the Rock
November 27, 2014
The annual Cruise to the Rock commemorates the Times-Herald Race of 1895. Few Chicagoans are aware that the first automobile race to occur on this continent was held from a site in Jackson Park, just south of the Museum of Science and Industry, to Evanston and back, and was second only to a race held in France in 1893. Herman H. Kohlsaat, publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald foresaw that such an event could generate interest in the automobile in this country. In July of 1895, he announced that the newspaper would sponsor a race in Chicago with $5,000 in prizes, including $2,000 for the winner. Various accounts state that between 60 and 80 entrants applied, but the race was postponed twice because few were ready, and was finally held on Thanksgiving, following an overnight snowfall of 6 to 8 inches. Even with the postponements, only 6 vehicles were able to start the race. Nearly 8 hours later, the winner was a car designed, built and driven by 25-year-old J. Frank Duryea, born in Washburn, Illinois, northeast of Peoria? The only other car to finish the race was one of two Benz vehicles brought from Germany. Nevertheless, many credit this event with proving that these vehicles were, in fact, a match for horse-drawn carriages.
In 1995 a centennial commemoration was held,
with a retracing of the route by approximately 100 antique and vintage automobiles and the placement of a plaque in the park where eastbound Midway Plaisance meets S. Cornell Avenue. In the years since the centennial celebration, a number of automobile enthusiasts have met at the site each Thanksgiving morning to observe this moment in Chicago's history. Among the first to mark the observance were members of the Chicagoland MG Club.
Join us this Thanksgiving between 9 and 10 am to commemorate the event. The Rock is located at the northwest corner of S. Cornell and eastbound Midway Plaisance. From Lake Shore Drive take E 57th Street west, then Stoney Island south to east-bound Midway Plaisance. We gather around 9 am and then, when everyone has had enough of the cold, many of us will go to brunch. For a more detailed account of the 1895 race, see a series of 3 articles in the Driveline archives from 2007.
|
November 2014
