CALLING ALL CARS AND CAR SHOWS…… 2011 Maine Car Show Calendar in the works

February 22, 2011

We’re starting to put together our calendar for the 2011 Car Show and Cruise season and just want to remind anyone and everyone to send in your listings for any type of car-related event to us at info@portlandmotorclub.com. We’d like to think that we have the most comprehensive listings in the state but if we don’t know about it, we can’t let others know! So get ’em in here and we’ll get ’em out there! Looking forward to another great car events season.

We’re hoping to have one new car event this season (in addition to our 2011 Labor Day Toys-for-Tots Car Show/Cruise and perhaps a 2011 Fall Exotics Gathering) — an event organized by the Portland Police Activities League (formerly “Athletic” League) — a Youth-Oriented Car Show & More especially designed for teens and other young people. We expect to have some sort of People’s Choice Car Show, some cool late model cars, some old and new police cars, some special educational and safety activities (a texting-and-driving danger demo, mechanical and detailing demos and contests), prizes, raffles, music and more! The crew from Portland Detailing (http://www.PortlandDetailing.com) will also be on hand to teach some detailing and cleaning tips.

This is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 25. The success of this will depend on getting the word out to young car enthusiasts — kids who are interested in classic and the latest hot cars, mechanical skills, car care, public safety, and more. Something special to do with the right young person — your child, your grandchild or a friend of the family. We are also looking for volunteers to help out with this event. If you are particularly interested in cars and young people showing an interest in them, please be in touch with Portland Motor Club via our website (http://www.PortlandMotorClub.com) or by phone (207-775-1770).

Filed Under: Calendar And Events, Car Shows, Charity Events, Classic Cars, Muscle Cars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Owls Head Transportation Museum 33rd New England Auto Auction on August 21, 2010

July 19, 2010

The 2010 edition of the New England Auto Auction will feature a new extended preview period running for three-plus days from August 18 through the morning of the sale. This means that anyone selling a vehicle through the auction will need to get their car up to Owls Head earlier than usual — not great for the last-minuters out there but great for those who want to spend some time selling themselves on buying someone else’s car!

As usual, there will be 200+ cars for sale on August 21 covering a lot of automotive ground. The museum will have some of its own stock on hand for sale, as it always does, to help to fund its expansive operation which spans the history of mechanical personal transportation. Many vehicles get donated to the Museum for this purpose which serves as a write-off for the donor and a boon for the organization. Plus there is the fantastic “Barn Fresh” program which assists individuals in selling vehicles directly to the museum’s visitors as well as the auction crowd. Of course, Owls Head gets a slice of the proceeds, but it’s a great way to move a worthy vehicle. You can see the vehicles in the Barn Fresh program which, I believe, go into the auction automatically if they haven’t sold directly through this program by Auction season. Here’s that link: <http://www.ohtm.org/gallery/album683>.

Once again, Portland Motor Club will serve as a major sponsor of the auction. It’s our kind of crowd — serious car enthusiasts who know that cars only maintain their value and their condition through proper storage and care. In fact, Motor Club owner Bill Waldron is on the board of the Owls Head Transportation Museum, so it’s a very good fit for both organizations. There is plenty of good information on the Owls Head Auction website including the results from the past ten years! And, of course, the catalog of vehicles going on the block this year is online as well… <http://www.ohtm.org/*NEauction10.html>.

The New England Auto Auction is pretty much the highpoint of the classic and vintage car calendar here in Maine. Why not plan to stop by and see what happens — you never know what vehicle might call out to you!?! Even if you just want to watch and see how it’s done, there is room for spectators, as well. By the way, that’s an especially good start to a story about how you bought your new special vehicle… “I only went there to watch, but…”

Filed Under: Auto Advice, Calendar And Events, Classic Cars, Muscle Cars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

MAINE CAR SHOW & CRUISE-IN LISTINGS UPDATED for 2010!!!

April 12, 2010

What an amazing car season we can look forward to in 2010! Thanks to our friends at CruiseMaine magazine and cruisemaine.net sharing their listings and adding some of our own, we have (hopefully) the state’s most comprehensive listing of Maine Car Shows & Cruise-Ins throughout the state. Kind of like that joke about Maine weather — if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute… if you don’t see a car show or cruise-in you like, wait a minute or a day, anyway. There’s something going on every day of every week this summer for cars and their owners. So, get out there and show it off and have some fun. It’s almost too bad that there aren’t any this April because it’s been so beautiful — hopefully a good sign for the summer season.

Here’s the link to the Cruise-in schedule which is also on the website under CALENDAR & EVENTS on the sidebar: 2010 CRUISE-IN LIST

And here’s the link to the Car Show 2010 Season in Maine or go to the CALENDAR & EVENTS button on the sidebar on the Portland Motor Club website: 2010 CAR SHOW LIST

And, by the way, we will be hosting the Labor Day Toys-for-Tots Cruise-In at Portland Motor Club again this year on Monday, September 6 — hard to imagine topping last year’s event but we’re game! We expect we’ll see and hear from our friends at the Monday Night Posse again this year — there’s actually music footage from last year’s show online on their website www.MondayNightPosse.com.

If you have any additions or corrections, please be in touch right at at <info@portlandmotorclub.com> or call us at 207-775-1770. We want this list to be absolutely accurate and could really use your help if you know that something’s not right on it — and thanks!

Filed Under: Calendar And Events, Car Shows, Charity Events, Classic Cars, Muscle Cars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HUGE TURN-OUT at Toys-for-Tots Car Show at Portland Motor Club

September 10, 2009
Toys, Cars and Music make for a great event at Portland Motor Club

TOYS, CARS & MUSIC make for a great Labor Day TOYS-FOR-TOTS BENEFIT CAR SHOW at PORTLAND MOTOR CLUB

(see TV station video links below)

By the time the car show officially started at 10 AM, the main lot was almost full. Eventually, show cars ended up in a side lot, in the back lot and in the neighbor’s lot!!! What a great day at Portland Motor Club with an estimated 175+ show cars stopping by and perhaps 500 or so people passing through during the day. The U.S. Marines were taken by surprise (which doesn’t happen often) by the great toy turn-in which filled up a Humvee as well as a trailer. And the audience was energetically entertained by music from the Monday Night Posse, an area garage band.

Organizers Stan and Cheryl Page, members of several local car clubs including Knucklebuster’s as well as members of Downeast Street Rodz and Portland Motor Club Membership Director Kal Rogers were all overwhelmed by the support and the turn-out. Rogers’ assessment: “It couldn’t have gone any better — a huge assortment of truly amazing cars, some literally filled with toys; tons of other toys that actually took the Marines by surprise; a nice array of vendors including Cruise Maine Magazine, Downeast Street Rodz’ food cart, a local t-shirt maker, the AMVETs and the great DJ JP all added a lot to the event.” Adding, “And, much to everyone’s pleasant surprise, the local live music turned out to be a great and lively addition. And the weather certainly didn’t hurt — this amazing weather streak we’ve been having helped everything to come together perfectly. We certainly hope to be able to do this again but we may have to put cars on the roof!”

Hundreds of visitors were able to get a glimpse into the Portland Motor Club facility to see (from a respectful distance) some of the fine cars in climate-controlled (heated / humidity) and secure storage there as well as to get an up-close-and-personal view of one of the state’s finest MOPAR (Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth) muscle car collections — if not the finest.

Portland Motor Club owner Bill Waldron noted, “It was really great to help out the kids with all the toys and and a great day for everyone who came. And it was a chance for us to show off our beautiful car storage facility with its club lounge for members and on-site professional detailing at our Motor Club Auto Care shop. I think people were excited to see what goes on in here. I love cars and know that they need a good home to stay in good shape. Basically we’ve created that — a good home for good cars where they’ll be safe from all the things that damage and ultimately destroy vehicles — critters, clutter, condensation and cold. The four “c’s”, I guess. Oh, and crooks, I suppose. That makes five.” He added, “Every year you hear about this barn collapsing on a bunch of nice cars or that garage catching on fire — it kind of breaks your heart if you love cars. We have a super-reinforced building that is wired top to bottom for anything that can go wrong.”

Special thanks to all the folks who contributed all the wonderful toys as well as cash from the nickels to hundred dollar bills to the raffle prizes including membership/race passes from Maine Indoor Karting (www.MaineIndoorKarting.com) and a complete auto detailing from Motor Club Auto Care (www.PortlandDetailing.com). And, of course, to Maine’s Marines who are the great folks behind Maine’s Toys-for-Tots program. At the end of the event, it was suggested by the Marines that they may need help sorting out all the toys as they get towards the holiday season. To find out how you can participate in this program, go to http://www.toysfortots.org/donate/toys-city-county.aspx?txtState=MAINE.

And now, take a look for yourself at these video links and you’ll see what a busy and amazing event it really was. We’d love your comments, especially if you were there. Also, please feel free to send photos and videos that you’ll allow us to use to <info@PortlandMotorClub.com>

CHANNEL 8’s coverage… http://www.wmtw.com/family/20780622/detail.html

CHANNEL 6’s coverage… http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108863

Also, click on our Photo Gallery to see some more great photos from the event.

Marines collect hundreds of toys from Maine's generous car club members and visitors to Portland Motor Club

Marines collect hundreds of toys from Maine’s generous car club members and visitors to Portland Motor Club

Portland Motor Club's parking lot was full to overflowing into the neighbor's lot!

Portland Motor Club’s parking lot was full to overflowing into the neighbor’s lot!

Filed Under: Charity Events, Classic Cars, Muscle Cars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,