This weekend, I was able to attend the Fall picnic of the North East Imperials Owners' Club (NEIOC), near Boston Mass. A Glorious fall day it was, but 170 miles away over the Berkshire Mountains (Hills to you Westerners). No Matter! Although Subtle XS remains unready for prime time (and has been put on waivers until Spring), Pinkie the Parts Car NOT has a new set of Ujoints and so, on Saturday, I waxed her up, did the fluids (where DOES all that ATF go?), and called two locals to meet for a CONVOY on Sunday!

Sunday dawned bright, but you nver would have known it for the river fog that shrouded the whole of the Hudson (that's a river, not a car), but I met Clayton Russell and his gorgous 1960 Crown (Black/gray) in Troy at 7:30 AM. I didn't know Sundays had 7:30 AMs, and from the lack of traffic, not many other people know it either, but Clayton is a gentleman farmer and old habits are hard to break, so there we were. Now, I couldn't get the rest of the family up that early, so I stalled til they showed up (in Sue's new purple PT Cruiser!) about 8AM. Clayton left just before, to tell our third convoy member we hadn't forgotten him, out at the Interstate exit where we planned to meet. WE all piled in Pinkie and caught up to Clay and Bob Mittnight about 40 minutes along, near the Mass. line. Bob Has a MOST unusual Imperial. It's basically a 62 Crown convertible, but the back end was smashed and he had this 1960 coupe with sill rot..... It is a Beautiful Car, with the pod-light front and the high strainer lights on fins behind, all perfectly finished in deep maroon with maroon leather and top.

Well, I neglected to mention that Pinkie came to me without a speedometer, and the previous owner said the cable gear was broken. I had recently bought a cable and on Saturday went to install it for this trip. WHOOPS! This cable does not fit this car! Where the new cable has, at its tranny end, an o-ring & flange (like the shift cable) with a clipped on gear, the original cable has a thread on collar and just the square cable tip to engage a (missing) gear. Damn!

So anyway, here we are by the side of I-90, Clayton's 60, my 61, and Bob's 62/60. The other guys vote me to lead, cause I know the way. I protest for lack of speedometer, but they demur. Well, O K, then.... What a lovely sight to see as we shoot through the Autumn colors crossing those Berkshires in 1-2-3, passing the lesser sorts and letting the berzerkers by. I tried to keep it so some passed us and we passed some, which usually indicates about 70 mph on that road. Many a smile, ours and all the passers by and those passed by, too. About two hours later, we exited the Mass Turnpike and I pulled over to review the route (which only got tricky after that). Clay and Bob both noted we had clocked a very steady 80-90 the whole way. Ahhhh, the Imperial life is a good one.

We got to the picnic right on time and there were a good set of lovely cars. Would you like to see them? We met in a field by a big barn. Good meet, good food, hosted by Gary and Sandy Goulet.

  Discussions on the Barn Deck

All the cars presented were in excellent form and all those attending enjoyed the day. Then, too soon, it was late afternoon and time to go home again. This time, Bob & Clay chose their own speed after we got back to the Pike.

 THANK YOU, GARY & SANDY!!

Now I ask you, what other unrestored 40-year old car might fly so fleet and silent as to allow such a course as we enjoyed the end-to-end of Massachusetts Sunday? Only an Imperial!

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