Getting Their Kicks

By Rick Atkinson

Friday, April 27, 2007

Cool cars and the people who love them gather each Saturday morning at Eldorado Plaza, near U.S. 75, to share, remember and preserve a piece of the past. They’re the Morning Maniacs, an informal group with no dues or tedious meetings, just friendly car-talk and time spent admiring some special rides.

“We’re just a bunch of car buffs,” said Wendy Meagher, one of the Maniacs’ founders. “We all like classic and antique cars, and new cars."

Meagher said the group started a year ago after she and others learned of a club in California that started over one donut and a cup of coffee. Today that club is huge.

“So, we thought if they can do it in California, we can do it here in Texas,” Meagher said, “because we have a lot of hot cars out here.”

Last Saturday’s meeting drew about 25 folks and 13 cars. Some of the first to arrive were Joe and Carol Van Brunt of Melissa in their 1957 Thunderbird.

“She got her kicks on Route 66, in California,” Carol said of their red-and-white T-Bird.

C’est Bon!

As is their custom, the Maniacs piled into nearby la Madeleine French Bakery and Café for a hearty breakfast. There, they discussed upcoming shows, car parts and past adventures, while keeping an eye peeled for the next dazzling auto’s arrival.

“The nice thing about this club is that any car is welcome,” said Joe, 59. “When you’re sitting here having coffee, and looking out the window … you just don’t know what kind of car is gonna show up.”

|#IMG#|Boyd Hager of Van Alstyne, owns a ’68 Camaro. He said it’s natural for these groups to form.

“‘Old-car people’ just sort of gravitate towards each other. We can sit around and talk about cars all day and not get bored.”

Back outside, it was time for more talk and some detailed perusing. Trunks were opened, hoods were raised and smiles abounded.

Rob Wechsler, 43, of McKinney, cranked up his pearl black and platinum ’55 Chevy Bel Air and grinned.

“I love that sound,” he said as the 620-horsepower engine sweetly rumbled.

Wechsler’s Chevy has hydro-boost brakes and has been completely rewired. In the trunk are two, 400-watt speakers.

To beat the heat, Wechsler added a custom, cross-flow radiator which allows water to stay in the unit longer, cooling more efficiently than a standard down-flow model.

Harley’s Last

Gary Hamm and Alesia Douglas, of McKinney, have owned their ’60 Corvette for four years. Complete with convertible and hard top, it still has its factory engine. Hamm, 51, said he searched the Internet for a ’60 ‘Vette for some time before finding this one in Ohio.

“They’re harder and harder to find,” he said. “Plus, the price of them is going through the roof.”

“I just like the look of it,” Hamm said, noting the chrome and the taillight design. “It was the last car that [General Motors’ design guru] Harley Earl designed, before he retired in ’59.”

The ’60 Corvette was featured in the TV series, Route 66.

Douglas was asked if her ‘Vette was used for running errands.

“Oh, yeah,” she laughed. “I’ve never been allowed to drive it. Are you kidding?”

Graeme Cook, 34, originally from London, found his 1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo – with only 47,000 miles on it – on the Internet also.

“I had to jump at it when I saw it,” he said. “I’d been looking for about six months and I couldn’t find one in very good condition.”

Why the California connection with so many classic cars?

|#IMG#|“That’s where all the good cars come from,” Cook said, laughing. “I don’t know,” he said. “California’s a ‘rust-free state.’ So, it might be that portion of it.”

Pride And Joy

Joe and Carol told more about their T-Bird: “It was always my mom’s pride and joy,” said Carol, adding they’ve never considered selling it. Her mom is living but has Alzheimer’s.

“So, we’ve kind of taken over her baby,” she said.

Joe takes it out only on Saturdays – if it’s not raining.

“It was drizzling last Saturday when I pulled it out,” he said. “And I pulled it right back in the garage.”

Everything is original, he said, except for radial tires.

“[With the old bias-ply tires,] it would kind of wander all over the road,” Joe said. “Now … it’s like we’re floating on a cloud.”

Joe said he enjoys searching the Internet for parts.

“It’s a real challenge sometimes,” he said, adding he once waited a year for a heater temperature control.

Phil Rickert, 69, of McKinney, is originally from Southern California. He once worked for famous designer George Barris, who created the Batmobile for the ’60s television show, Batman.

Though Rickert currently has no classic car, he said he’s had plenty.

“It’s a nostalgia thing,” he said. “There’s no getting around it.”

Rickert said while older cars had their problems, they were fun to work on. “We all tore our engines down and rebuilt them,” he said. “You can’t do that today.”

But you can be a member of the growing Morning Maniacs.

“Everyday I go somewhere and run across a classic car … in this area,” Meagher said. “There’s a lot of them.”