Other than recent radio promotions to sell Chevys, GM appears to be keeping its 100th anniversary a low-key affair, car clubs are picking up the slack. I rec'd this note regarding an even in North Jerseythat will celebrate the automaker's centennial, which also gives me a chance to post a photo of a beautiful 1937 LaSalle coupe owned by Cadillac Club of North Jersey member Paul Cusano . Here's the deal:

Cadillac Club Celebrates 100th Anniversary of General Motors

    On Sunday, September 28 (rain date Sunday, October 5), the Cadillac Club of North Jersey will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of General Motors with an all-General Motors Show hosted by Brogan Cadillac Buick, 100 South Broad Street, Ridgewood. The show begins at 9 AM with trophies awarded at 2:30.
    The show is open to any Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, LaSalle, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac or any other car or truck manufactured by General Motors that is 1994 or older. Pre-registration is $10, while day of show registration is $15. Spectator admission is free.
    For more information call 973-942-5896 or 201-888-8727.

Teachers LOVE compare and contrast assignments, and I spent so much time in school, it's must have become ingrained in me. While at the Kruse Fall Auburn auction and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club Reunion, I found a couple opportunities to compare some interesting cars.

At the auction, I found a 1960 Ford and 1960 Edsel parked next to each other, so it was a great chance to see how similar these cars are to one another, as well as how they are different. To boot, the cars were both four-door hardtops, too, making the chance to "compare and contrast" even greater. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but one detail I noticed on the Ford and Edsel was that, while both sport trim at the top edge of the fenders with different ornaments on the top, the trim is not interchangeable, even though it clearly could have been while retaining different ornaments. Also note the hoods and front bumpers are wildly different, but the rest of the sheet metal looks interchangeable.

At first glance, there appears to be little difference between Auburns and Auburn Salons. With these Auburn Twelve models spotted at the ACD Club Reunion, the difference is much clearer. Note the silver and blue Salon's shorter grille, covered radiator car, more sweeping fender line at the front and more shallow bumper when compared to the regular Auburn Twelve. Also note the different headlamps.

For vacation, I slipped out from behind my computer to attend the festivities in Auburn, Ind. Generally, I attend this event for the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club Reunion and the swap meet at the Kruse Auction Park, but I usually walk through the car corral and cars to be auctioned and dream a little bit. This year, I nearly tripped over my dropped jaw and fell flat on my face while walking through the cars to be auctioned when I ran into this 1958 Chrysler 300D originally equipped with factory electronic fuel injection!

Can you believe a 1958 Chrysler 300-D with fuel injection appeared in the tin? I barely could! The only flaw in the design of the 1958 Chrysler is the tail lamps: they don't go to the tip of the fin as they do in 1957. I never figured out why that was.

Some people may already know that I am fascinated by fuel-injected 1950s cars, particularly those full-size offerings from American car producers, and have been collecting all the information I can find in order to research a future article. You know the cars I'm talking about: big 1957-'59 Chevrolets, 1957-'58 Pontiac Bonnevilles and 1958 Chrysler Corp. products (Did you know Oldsmobile is believed to have been flirting with fuel injection on a 1957 model?).

The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Airs and even the Bonnevilles from the same year aren't terribly uncommon at the giant events, but forget seeing any other year of full-size fuelie -- they just aren't out there. So seeing this 1958 300-D at Kruse was absolutely incredible.

As a kid, I remember reading about a 1958 Chrysler 300-D originally equipped with fuel injection and weathering under a tree in a Mopar magazine several years ago, but had never seen pics of it, let alone the actual car. I am not sure if this 300-D was the same car mentioned in that Mopar magazine, but the seller stated that it was one of 21 built and 9 survivors. As was common, the original Bendix Electrojector on the car at this year's Kruse auction had long since been replaced by dual Carter carburetor four-barrels, but those incredibly rare "300-D fuel injection" emblems remain on the Raven Black quarters.




There it is, the emblem that separates this 1958 300-D from nearly every other of the other, already rare 1958 Chrysler 300s: the fuel injection badge. Try finding these NOS!

Spotting this 300-D was the second 1958 fuelie I've seen this summer. (The other was a 1958 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe at the Appleton Old Car Show. It, too, had a carburetor with just "fuel injection" emblems in the proper place.) Hopefully, I'll score a triple and see Tom White's famous gold 1958 De Soto Adventurer fuelie, the only known 1950s Mopar with a working fuel injection unit, at Hershey this year!




The car was featured in a European car magazine called "Classic American," though I don't know the issue (love to find a copy, though!). I haven't heard what it sold for, if it met the reserve, but I am sure ithe price was hard on the wallet.

Here's some information I received on the Salisbury Automobile Classic on Sept. 7, a great concours-type show I attended several years ago. I highly recommend it to anyone in the Des Moines, Iowa, area. And even if you're not local, it's definitely worth the drive! Here are the particulars and a release from the folks at the concours:


4025 Tonawanda Drive
Des Moines, Iowa
www.salisburyhouse.org

Release:
William Crapo Durant’s legendary success with Chevrolet will highlight the 2008 Salisbury Automobile Classic (SAC) on Sunday, September 7.  Nine Chevrolets (1912-1920 models representing each year) from the time Durant founded Chevrolet in 1912 until his second departure from General Motors in 1920 will be on display.  
Durant’s achievements include starting Buick in 1904, General Motors in 1908 and Chevrolet in 1912. After loosing control of GM in 1911, Durant’s sensational success in just four years with his Chevrolet Motor Company allowed him to financially retake control of General Motors in 1915.  
In addition to the first public display of these nine Durant Chevrolets from the world class collection of Dennis Albaugh; noted automobile author and researcher Bill Jepsen will present a colorful collection of stories about the life of GM Founder William C. Durant.  Jepsen’s presentation will be held in the South Gardens of the Salisbury Castle www.salisburyhouse.org  overlooking a collection of cars including Durants, Locomobiles, Stars  and Chevrolets,  among the other cars built during Durant’s colorful career in the automobile industry.
On Saturday, car exhibitors at the SAC will have the opportunity to participate in the 1st SAC Heartland’s Driving Tour.  The tour includes noted agricultural attractions like Iowa’s world famous “fields of dreams” corn and soybean fields, the Living History Farms, the international headquarters and research facilities of Pioneer Hybrids, and the John Deere Des Moines Manufacturing facility.  The final attraction on the 34 mile tour will be lunch and a showing of the 100 Chevrolets (1912-1974) in the private collection of Dennis Albaugh.
Saturday Evening includes a fun and frolic 1920’s Style Great Gatsby Evening Party and car celebration on the grounds of the Salisbury Castle.

I nearly forgot to mention that I posted a bunch of my Monterey 2008 photos with comments in the community site. Just click HERE to view them. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this link: http://community.oldcarsweekly.com/www.oldcarsweekly.com/blog/2008/08/26/check_out_my_2008_montereypebble_beach_concours_delegance_pix