07 Racing Collectibles Show.
A sultry day greeted us this
past Saturday as we prepared
and hauled our iron to Tom
Schwarz's 07 Racing
Collectibles shop on main
Street in Endwell, NY. It
makes no difference if you're
going to a show or to a race,
you still have to get the car
ready, hook the trailer, load
and prepare. Flathead cars can
be a bit persnickity, or -
difficult at times in that they
don't always respond as you'd
wish. Mike Newell worked for
four hour getting brakes
working, points firing and a
stromberg pumping to get the
#65 Brooks Bar-B-Que Spl.
ready. My own #24, usually
dependable as an early morn.
constitutional, took an hour
itself to fire up and act itself.
No matter, Saturday Morning
and we're off. Dropped off the
Teardrop first, this car could
have a set of lights and I
could've driven it there. Back
to the shop and load the 24,
no problem and back up 17C.
The problem came when I
backed it off and hit the
'brakes'. To the firewall went
the pedal, and the engine
hasn't got 'a lot' of
compression either if'n you
know what I mean - at least
the switch worked. Shortly
afterward John Mason and
Mike Newell pull in with the
#65 and Pink Panther, a nice
group of cars to have on hand.
The Panther fires immediately
but the Mott 65 is feeling
cantankerous, "it ran this
morning" Mike related. Oh
well, we have one that won't go
and one that won't stop - no
matter when they're parked
for people to appreciate. And
they did, immediately. I
overheard one young man (I
believe it was Lee Sherwoods'
son) relate that "I like these
old cars, there isn't one that's
the same." Amen.
Steve Bronson, who has
contributed his collection to
our site, is setting up his
picture boards, which are truly
remarkable. People like Steve
do it for the love of the sport
and share their collections
with everyone. His is
impressive, and includes
racers from all classes and all
walks of life in the Southern
Tier. He believes, like many of
us, that these memories
should be shared with all
instead of rotting away in
some musty basement. He
adds to any show and I was
pleased to see him this day.
Tom Schwarz, former racer
and current proprietor of 07
Racing Collectibles is another
die hard racing fan. His shop
is immacaulate, and if you're
interested in racing, worth the
trip - even if you don't buy
anything - but you will. There
is something here for everyone
interested in racing,
memorbilia, diecasts, posters,
models, books, apparel. You
name it, Tom will find it for
you, happily. He provided all of
us with cold drinks
throughout the day as well as
some good Nirchi's Pizza for
lunch. Joe Buchek made a
visit and then brother! did the
BS fly. I love seeing Joe, there
isn't a time we've talked that I
didn't have a good belly laugh,
he brings it out of you. And
not only that, but there isn't a
time that I haven't learned
something as well, guys like
Joe are rare today - not only
did he race and live during the
golden years of the era in the
Southern Tier, he remembers
it as well. Quite well. "I was
helping on Bill Stroshals' car
and they had gotten an engine
from Ted Kessler from Buffalo,
you know who I'm talking
about." (I did, Ted Kessler was
a well known sprint car racer
and engine builder, his stuff
was top notch.) "Bill was
unbeatable in that car with
that engine, won everything.
We're talking 50's here, next
year they decide to build
another engine but do it
themselves, just like that one.
It was beautiful, Olds 88
valves, 404 Isky cam, that's a
radius you know, stroker,
beautiful. We get to the track
and the thing won't
start..AHAHAHA and so, they
start towing it around, three
laps and they split the whole
block right in half
AHAHAHAH! They never put
the keepers in for the lifters
AHAHAHA!" Tough way to
learn, the 404 has radius
lifters which require a keeper
fit in the lifter bore to fit the
keyway of the lifter - to keep
the radius of the lifter in line
with the camshaft - no wonder
it split in half..
Tom Mitteer is also on hand,
with his son and their nice '37
sedan legends car. Tom raced
at Shangri-La as well as Joe,
and like many in the area,
knows many a intersting
story... we're talking of Joe
Norton and his driver Benny
Stephens - no this is the stuff
you don't get when you
interview a fellow..."I was at
Trenton when Benny went
out, it was a horrific crash,
wonder he didn't get hurt.
Now Benny's wife has really
got him straightened out now,
but at the time, well, we were
all a little wild. They get him
out of the car and he's got this
big black eye, they said they
wanted to take a look at that
and Benny told them, 'Hell,
I'm OK, I got that last night in
the pits.." Roars of laughter. I
hope guys don't mind me
relating these stories, it was all
in good fun and there was
plenty of it going on Saturday.
Tom Schwarz comes out with a
package of photos from his
personal collection - great
stuff. We're going through
them and there's Stan Lupka -
"I lived just up the hill from
him and we spent a lot of time
in his cars playing race car
driver. One day the clutch got
pushed in and the car rolled
and hit the garage. We didn't
go back for two weeks...." And
that's the kind of stuff you get
at these shows, all fun, no
arguments, just relaxing.
Leads too, one lady has a Mike
Zopp album, she has my
number. Another fellow
rembembered having two big
flatheads - one went with the
car when they sold it, the
other was in his cellar. "It was
a 304 (that's big ) with a 400
Jr. cam (a good one) haven't
seen it in years." Asked him to
look around a bit.. Buchek's
got some wheels - Mike's
interested - but doesn't bite.
Wants me to check on them -
"Ahh, I always have to give
them away to him" Joe relates
- yep, I do drive a hard
bargain...
The clouds filled and a nice
cooling rain came, Chemung
cancelled saving Tom Mitteer a
trip while Lee Sherwood
loaded up for Paradise where
his son is racing his
micro-sprint. We loaded too, a
few extra hands helped slow
the 24. And we all left with
handshakes and smiles. A
good day for all and
re-affirmation that all is well
with racing as it is always
more about the people you
meet and enjoy the sport with
than the racing itself.
A sultry day greeted us this
past Saturday as we prepared
and hauled our iron to Tom
Schwarz's 07 Racing
Collectibles shop on main
Street in Endwell, NY. It
makes no difference if you're
going to a show or to a race,
you still have to get the car
ready, hook the trailer, load
and prepare. Flathead cars can
be a bit persnickity, or -
difficult at times in that they
don't always respond as you'd
wish. Mike Newell worked for
four hour getting brakes
working, points firing and a
stromberg pumping to get the
#65 Brooks Bar-B-Que Spl.
ready. My own #24, usually
dependable as an early morn.
constitutional, took an hour
itself to fire up and act itself.
No matter, Saturday Morning
and we're off. Dropped off the
Teardrop first, this car could
have a set of lights and I
could've driven it there. Back
to the shop and load the 24,
no problem and back up 17C.
The problem came when I
backed it off and hit the
'brakes'. To the firewall went
the pedal, and the engine
hasn't got 'a lot' of
compression either if'n you
know what I mean - at least
the switch worked. Shortly
afterward John Mason and
Mike Newell pull in with the
#65 and Pink Panther, a nice
group of cars to have on hand.
The Panther fires immediately
but the Mott 65 is feeling
cantankerous, "it ran this
morning" Mike related. Oh
well, we have one that won't go
and one that won't stop - no
matter when they're parked
for people to appreciate. And
they did, immediately. I
overheard one young man (I
believe it was Lee Sherwoods'
son) relate that "I like these
old cars, there isn't one that's
the same." Amen.
Steve Bronson, who has
contributed his collection to
our site, is setting up his
picture boards, which are truly
remarkable. People like Steve
do it for the love of the sport
and share their collections
with everyone. His is
impressive, and includes
racers from all classes and all
walks of life in the Southern
Tier. He believes, like many of
us, that these memories
should be shared with all
instead of rotting away in
some musty basement. He
adds to any show and I was
pleased to see him this day.
Tom Schwarz, former racer
and current proprietor of 07
Racing Collectibles is another
die hard racing fan. His shop
is immacaulate, and if you're
interested in racing, worth the
trip - even if you don't buy
anything - but you will. There
is something here for everyone
interested in racing,
memorbilia, diecasts, posters,
models, books, apparel. You
name it, Tom will find it for
you, happily. He provided all of
us with cold drinks
throughout the day as well as
some good Nirchi's Pizza for
lunch. Joe Buchek made a
visit and then brother! did the
BS fly. I love seeing Joe, there
isn't a time we've talked that I
didn't have a good belly laugh,
he brings it out of you. And
not only that, but there isn't a
time that I haven't learned
something as well, guys like
Joe are rare today - not only
did he race and live during the
golden years of the era in the
Southern Tier, he remembers
it as well. Quite well. "I was
helping on Bill Stroshals' car
and they had gotten an engine
from Ted Kessler from Buffalo,
you know who I'm talking
about." (I did, Ted Kessler was
a well known sprint car racer
and engine builder, his stuff
was top notch.) "Bill was
unbeatable in that car with
that engine, won everything.
We're talking 50's here, next
year they decide to build
another engine but do it
themselves, just like that one.
It was beautiful, Olds 88
valves, 404 Isky cam, that's a
radius you know, stroker,
beautiful. We get to the track
and the thing won't
start..AHAHAHA and so, they
start towing it around, three
laps and they split the whole
block right in half
AHAHAHAH! They never put
the keepers in for the lifters
AHAHAHA!" Tough way to
learn, the 404 has radius
lifters which require a keeper
fit in the lifter bore to fit the
keyway of the lifter - to keep
the radius of the lifter in line
with the camshaft - no wonder
it split in half..
Tom Mitteer is also on hand,
with his son and their nice '37
sedan legends car. Tom raced
at Shangri-La as well as Joe,
and like many in the area,
knows many a intersting
story... we're talking of Joe
Norton and his driver Benny
Stephens - no this is the stuff
you don't get when you
interview a fellow..."I was at
Trenton when Benny went
out, it was a horrific crash,
wonder he didn't get hurt.
Now Benny's wife has really
got him straightened out now,
but at the time, well, we were
all a little wild. They get him
out of the car and he's got this
big black eye, they said they
wanted to take a look at that
and Benny told them, 'Hell,
I'm OK, I got that last night in
the pits.." Roars of laughter. I
hope guys don't mind me
relating these stories, it was all
in good fun and there was
plenty of it going on Saturday.
Tom Schwarz comes out with a
package of photos from his
personal collection - great
stuff. We're going through
them and there's Stan Lupka -
"I lived just up the hill from
him and we spent a lot of time
in his cars playing race car
driver. One day the clutch got
pushed in and the car rolled
and hit the garage. We didn't
go back for two weeks...." And
that's the kind of stuff you get
at these shows, all fun, no
arguments, just relaxing.
Leads too, one lady has a Mike
Zopp album, she has my
number. Another fellow
rembembered having two big
flatheads - one went with the
car when they sold it, the
other was in his cellar. "It was
a 304 (that's big ) with a 400
Jr. cam (a good one) haven't
seen it in years." Asked him to
look around a bit.. Buchek's
got some wheels - Mike's
interested - but doesn't bite.
Wants me to check on them -
"Ahh, I always have to give
them away to him" Joe relates
- yep, I do drive a hard
bargain...
The clouds filled and a nice
cooling rain came, Chemung
cancelled saving Tom Mitteer a
trip while Lee Sherwood
loaded up for Paradise where
his son is racing his
micro-sprint. We loaded too, a
few extra hands helped slow
the 24. And we all left with
handshakes and smiles. A
good day for all and
re-affirmation that all is well
with racing as it is always
more about the people you
meet and enjoy the sport with
than the racing itself.
