From: gaw30@ccc.amdahl.com (Greg A Worth)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Handcrafted Auto Display - 4/26/92
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:46:32 GMT
Reply-To: gaw30@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Greg Worth  gaw32@amail.amdahl.com)
Distribution: ca
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

HANDCRAFTED AUTO DISPLAY IN NOVATO APRIL 26. 1992

Members of the Northern California Kit Car Club will meet on 
April 26, 1992 at the home of John & Marie Knebel in Novato 
to display their specialty vehicles and honor those members 
that have completed  building their cars during the past two 
calendar  years. Also recognition will be given to those who 
drive completed cars that have been acquired as completed or 
partially completed kit cars. The member get-together is 
sponsored by the Northern California Kit Car Club, a 
non-profit organization dedicated to organizing and 
assisting amateur automobile builders and promoting the 
family recreation value of this hobby.

Club President John Morrissey said he expects owners of ten 
to fifteen cars will be honored and said he optomistically 
hopes that all of the club's sixty-plus completed vehicls 
will be shown at the event. Approximately forty other cars 
are still under  construction by members. Morrissey 
emphasized  that all members are encouraged to attend even 
if their car is not completed. Replicas of legendary high 
performance sports cars, such as Cobras, Porsches, and 
Austin Healys, are expected to grace the member car display 
along with reproductions  of classics like the the 
Mercedes-Benz 5OOK, the Mercedes-Benz SSK, and the Jaguar 
SS-100. Many of these handcrafted vehicles have amenities 
not available in the original vehicles, such as stero, 
air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes and automatic 
transmissions.

Most of the cars displayed have been built by individual  
owners as a recreational craft project that allows the whole 
family to contribute their skills toward a finished vehicle 
they can all enjoy. Typically  a builder will purchase a 
"kit" from a kit car manufacturer. The kit usually contains 
essentially all the parts needed to assemble a complete 
vehicle,  with the exception of the engine, transmission and 
various accessories. By selecting a modern power train the 
maintenance is simpler and more economical than finding 
parts for a pedigreed original.

Some handcrafted cars are not built from kits but are built 
totally by their creators and owners. In

other cases the term "styling kits" is appropriate since the 
starting point for the project is a complete  production car 
such as a Pontiac Fiero, a Porsche 911,  or a Chevrolet 
Camero. The car body is modified to give it a different 
appearance, but the mechanical features are unchanged from 
the original car.

The club event starts at 12:30 p.m. on April 26, 1992 and 
will include a short business meeting followed  by a picnic 
lunch and barbeque hosted by John & Marie Knebel at their 
home, 212 Caribe Isle, Novato, CA. It is noteworthy that 
John Knebel, a retired test pilot, was one of the Charter 
Members when the club was formed in 1982. He still owns a 
Gasspar G-2, one of the earliest "Kit Cars", that was 
originally built in 1954. After it accumulated about 50,000 
miles it went into storage  in 1965, then emerged in 1991 as 
a restored vehicle with an updated power train featuring a 
Buick V~ engine with a Turbo-Hydromatic 350 automatic 
transmission.

Those who may be interested in joining the club are invited 
to attend the event and should call the event organizer, 
Paul King at 510-938-3035 for more information.

We haven't had a party like this since Bob & Melanie 
Schmiedeler sponsored a party when they completed  their 
Medcedes SSK replica. I couldn't even find a reference to it 
in the newsletters back asfar as January 1988. This rneans 
we haven't really had a dedicated event of this typefor 
aboutfive years. So lets make this a well attended event. 
Please let Paul King know if you plan to attend. (Leave a 
message on his machine (510) 938-3035, or call any of the 
other officers) We need to show our host the courtesy of an 
accurate head count - so p1ease don't forget. Do it today 
while you are thinking about it, but no later than April 
20th.