Thursday afternoon. I left work early to check in with the motel about any potential problems. I didn’t really expect to see any 300s this early. Wrong. George Riehl, Gil Cunningham and some fool Morgan were already there and had staked a claim to the sheltered area under the balcony off the hospitality room. Eleanor Riehl and Gloria Moon had already set up the hospitality room and were checking people in. Gee, hosting a 300 meet is easy!

The continuous bull sessions had already started. A number of plastic chairs from the motel were set up under the balcony and although the names and the faces changed, the area was always buzzing with 300 chatter. A few other folks drifted in as the evening progressed. The Wiltses from Michigan showed up in their beautiful black ’67 Plymouth Fury convert which was for sale. The weather was warm and the meet was off to a good start.

Friday Morning. It was sunny and warm. After a maintenance man at the motel rustled up a hose, the cleaning of the cars started in earnest. The big event of the day was a walking tour of CARILON PARK, a local Dayton park, specializing in restored buildings, bridges, trains and even a few cars. For once the caravan to the park left right on time, lead by my beautiful (personal opinion) black 300D convert. The looks of the folks on Interstate 75 as they passed the long line of Brutes was great. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at the park. However, I did notice on my drive back to the motel that my D hesitated badly anytime that I asked it to do much.

Dinner on Friday night was on-your-own and folks scattered all over. I took a load of folks to nearby Rally’s. Gil Cunningham, one of the passengers, diagnosed my D’s problems as a fuel pump, in its terminal failure stage. (More on this later).

After dinner, it was time for the business meeting and everyone was asking me where it was being held. Gee, I had forgotten to reserve a room for it. (I guess hosting a meet, isn’t so easy!) Fortunately, the motel management was very cooperative and they located a vacant meeting room for us but we had to carry all of the chairs up a flight of stairs to the room. After that, all went well.

At the conclusion of the business meeting, the crowd migrated to the bar, the balcony and the parking lot and the car talk continued. I mentioned my fuel pump problem to a number of folks, many of whom entertained me with stories of catastrophic fuel pump failures. (Thanks guys.) Although, I was less then 20 miles from home, the concept of having my D die on the expressway in the middle of Dayton in the middle of the night was less than entertaining. Fortunately, George Riehl had a brand new Hemi fuel pump in the trunk of his J and offered to loan it to me to get home. What a guy! A half an hour of night time surgery and I was moving again.

Saturday Morning. The weather again is sunny and warm, but the report for later that day is ominous. So what! More car washing and polishing. The caravan to the U.S. Airforce Museum five miles down the road leaves the motel at 10:00, on time! More looks from the peasants as we drive into the museum grounds, a long line of old Detroit iron. Our cars were given a special parking space along the road that connects the main museum to the annex, where even more classic aircraft are on display. A shuttle bus left every half hour to take museum guests to the annex and these folks were all treated to a great view of our cars.

Unfortunately, shortly after our arrival, it began to rain lightly. Nothing major, just scattered sprinkles. Since this was not a concours meet, no one had to stand in the rain and many folks enjoyed looking at the airplanes in the museum. I took shelter under the massive wing of a B1-A of which only four were made. Later that afternoon, the 300s drifted slowly back to the motel to prepare for the banquet.

The banquet came off smoothly, with plenty of food, and it tasted pretty good, too. Since this was not a concours meet, there were People’s Choice Awards. One of the most momentous events of the evening was a huge storm with lightening, thunder and LOTS OF RAIN. The rest of the evening was taken over by (you guessed it), car talk.

Sunday Morning. Not sunny – cloudy. Not warm – cold. The cars were drifting off to return home. A bunch of us walked across the street to the Big Boy for their breakfast buffet. We tried to clean it out but their management outlasted us with fresh infusions of food. My most lasting memory of the conclusion of this meet was Mike and Linda Burke, bundled to the hilt, blasting out of the motel, in their loud, topless Morgan, heading back to Michigan on this cold day. I sure hope they were able to peel themselves out of the car when they arrived home.

People’s Choice Awards

Group 1: 1955 C300 – 1958 300D

1^st Place 300C owned by Spencer Siracusano, Des Moines, Iowa

2^nd Place 300C owned by Ken Mack, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Group 2: 1959 300E- 1962 300H

1^st Place 300E convert owned by Robert D. Young, Damascus, Maryland

2^nd Place 300H owned by Robert Crawford, Kintore, Ont. Canada

Group 3: 1963 300J – 1970 Hurst

1^st Place 300K convert owned by Bill Elder, Windsor, Ont. Canada

2^nd Place 300K owned by Donnie Carr, Streamwood, Illinois

Long Distance: Don Verity, 300G, 830 miles, from Esmond, Rhode Island

Hard Luck: Don Verity, 300G, fan belt and transmission line failure

300s at Dayton

300C: Bruce Brownell, Ken Mack, Spencer Siracusano, Elwin Young

300D: Terry McTaggart (convert), Tom Turner (convert)

300E: Robert D. Young (convert)

300F: Len Astroth, Terry McTaggart

300G: Adam Carter, Gabe Knapp, Richard Neff, Don Verity

300H: Bob Crawford, Gil Cunningham (convert)

300J: George Riehl

300K: Donnie Carr, Monte Gillespie, Bill Elder (convert), Vern Graber, Jerry Kocur (convert)

300L: Bob Cornett (convert), Mike Craw (convert)

Hurst: Ray Jones, Allan Moon, Jerry Olson

1963: Randall Hyatt (pacesetter convert), Mark Rayner

1967: Dave McMurren (convert)

1968: Mark Bloom (convert), Bert Minniear (convert)