LABOR DAY TOYS-FOR-TOTS BENEFIT CAR SHOW… Well, another huge success! At least a couple hundred cars were on hand and several hundred people to enjoy a truly impressive selection of all types of vehicles. See photos.

Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we sent the Marines back to their secret hide-out with hundreds of toys which will be distributed actually in the very near future to needy families in Maine — and there are lots of them these day, let’s not forget. Our huge lot filled up before the opening bell and they kept coming. At one point, almost all of Presumpscot Street was lined up with cars from one area club as they arrived en masse to support the event.

Many thanks to all who joined us and helped out in many ways — especially Stan and Cheryl Page who tirelessly promote the event all through “cah season”, the United States Marine Corps to receive and organize the toys, Portland Motor Club for providing the space (it’s not really “our” event — it’s the combined effort of all the clubs that participate), the toy donors and money-for-toys donors, the Monday Night Posse (MondayNightPosse.com) for making some great noise, the vendors and especially the folks who brought out their amazing vehicles to support the event. It wouldn’t be nearly as impressive without the cars!

Plan on it for next year.

FERRARI & EXOTICS CRUISE… Less than a week after the Labor Day show, we had a very exciting special event in collaboration with Ferrari of New England. It was our first annual (?) Fall Exotics Cruise. We had fun appreciating each others’ cars and enjoying a light Italian lunch in honor of the Ferraris (including a rare SuperAmerica model), Maseratis and Lamborghinis that were the centerpiece of the event, but other more-than-fine vehicles were represented including an Aston Martin DB9, a Bentley, a Mercedes SL 55 AMG, a customized BMW, a Corvette Z06, a new Dodge Challenger, etc., etc.

The group then lined up for a cruise over to Kettle Cove Beach in Cape Elizabeth (Two Lights was out because of the gravel road and maneuverability issues). It was a beautiful day and we certainly made the day for some unsuspecting young guys who happened to be in the lot at the beach – that is not something you would expect on a Saturday afternoon in September at the beach – several handfuls of the finest automotive eye candy!

SOUTHERN MAINE MOTORS CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP SUPERSTORE… If you’ve ever been to Portland Motor Club – and our Labor Day Car Show is the one day of the year that we actually open up the facility (somewhat) for the public to take a peak – you might have noticed the very impressive MOPAR muscle car collection – well, it would be hard to not notice. The owner of Portland Motor Club is what you might call a “true believer” in the Church of MOPAR. One his automotive dreams came true this fall when he had the opportunity to purchase his own Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership.

We can now all say “Goodbye Jolly” and “Hello Southern Maine Motors”. The well-known Jolly John’s dealership in Saco, Maine has been sold and is the proud new home of a renovated and rejuvenated Southern Maine Motors Chrysler Dodge Jeep Superstore at the same address. Next year, there will be a complete remodeling done there to build a top-of-the-line Chrysler Dodge Jeep facility. And we have enjoyed bringing some of the oldies-but-goodies down from Portland Motor Club to the Southern Maine Motors showroom to visit with their modern-day descendants.

So, please visit us online at our great new website at SouthernMaineMotors.com to see all the great stuff that is happening there. Even better, stop by to see the handsome new showroom and other improvements and the lot FULL of Chryslers, Dodges, Ram Trucks and, of course, Jeeps. It’s a great sales and service crew there — we were fortunate to discover an enthusiastic and talented team already working there!

We do expect to have some classic car fun down at the dealership next summer, too!

WINTER STORAGE SEASON… is upon us. With snow in the forecast for this weekend, there’s no use in pretending that that isn’t winter knocking on your door. We did have an amazing summer with near-perfect cruising weather. The fall was more of a mixed bag but with still plenty of vehicular enjoyment opportunities. But now it’s time. If you need to store your special car with us for part or all of the winter, we will make space for you (without crowding anyone). Heated, climate-controlled, secure car storage is available by the month or by the season. We can even provide shorter-term storage if you are going on vacation and want your car to be garaged in our great facility rather than at the less-than-great airport parking lot. And why not get that long-overdue thorough detailing done while you’re gone by our fantastic Portland Detailing crew (PortlandDetailing.com). Be in touch and we can help you coordinate all that. And speaking of Portland Detailing, we will now be offering our car care expertise at our Saco Southern Maine Motors location as well.

Sorry to throw all that at you at once but it’s been a busy fall, especially with getting our new dealership off the ground. If you’re more of a Volvo or Saab type, please check our PortlandVolvo.com and PortlandSaab.com websites if you’re in the market.

Yes, it’s cars, cars and more cars around here – and that’s the way we like it!