Chrysler 300 Club International
Fall Meet in Rochester, NY
September 17-19, 1987










300C convertible of Jeff Miklas, K convertible of Don Cole, K convertible of Bill Elder

300B of Fred Nichols



300G of Paul Youngs



300G of Ron Boeri



300J George Riehl

300C of Chris Kenworthy



300H of Jack Bryant

Manual transmission 300B of Bill Dahmes

K coupe of Vern Graber

K convertible of Bill Elder

Also at the meet:
300D of Emanuel Turner, B of Jim Brown, C of Bruce Brownell, C of Robert Young, D of Gloria Moon, D of Dave Underwood, F of Mike Burke, G of Tom Bruno, G convertible of John Cornfoot, H of Bob Crawford, H of Chip Chapman, H convertible of Gil Cunningham, J of Paul DelGrande, 63 Sport of Mark Raynor, K of Vern Graber, K convertible of Jerry Kocur, 67 of Don Armstrong, 67 of Doug Stair, Hurst of Jim Krausmann, Hurst of Ray Jones, 79 of Curtis Thompson, 67 Imperial of Norm McIntosh.

Photos by Bill Elder
17th Annual Fall Meet, Rochester, New York
by Chip Chapman & Kathy Pancione

Wednesday, Sept. 16th: By noon, it was, indeed, sunny and 70. Smug in our knowledge that the entire weekend would be just like this, I went off to get 9 holes of golf in while Kathy tuned up the H, awaiting the arrival of George and Eleanor. Around 6 PM, the Rene Kroegers called from the hotel. We left directions for the Riehls, picked up the Kroegers and joined Tom Quadrini and his “Plumloco” ’70 AAR ‘Cuda (340/6) at Carmine’s, our local ‘50s drive-in restaurant. Wednesday is street rod/old car fest car night at Carmine’s and even the locals were impressed by the H and the Riehl’s J parked side by side. We were impressed with the food served by the “young ladies” on roller skates! Our meet was off to a good start.

Thursday, Sept. 17th: It was still sunny and 70. Unfortunately, that was in another city. In Rochester, it was cool and cloudy. While I was preparing breakfast, Kathy and Eleanor went to pick up Gilles Guinee, a member from France, who had been riding on a bus all night to get here. The Kroegers arrived and we all sat down to breakfast. Afterward, we gathered up our belongings and the meet essentials and headed for the Hilton. We all know how much fun a caravan of any size is and even the “modern iron” (H, J, K) three abreast on I-390 got some looks. After checking in and setting up the hospitality room, we were ready. By 6 PM there were fully twenty-four people, including the Rooks, who, despite having weekend commitments, drove up from the Philadelphia area for Thursday and Friday, checked in; great for a Thursday. Everyone went to the Red Creek Inn for a super meal, then back to the hotel for “socializing”.

Friday, Sept. 18th: The rains came along with most of the rest of the group. The Cunninghams arrived sometime in the night, spending the remainder of it in their “camper”. (A red H convertible with a baby blue tarp thrown over it.) More registration, organized (and disorganized) tours of the Strong Museum & Eastman House, shopping and more car talk. Plenty of time – between rain showers – to view all of the cars. Bill’s B rolled in, Robert Young’s beautiful Parade Green C; and many more. A quick trip to the welder gets Robert’s hood latch repaired; a quick wire disconnect solves the McIntosh’s electrical problem in the mighty ’67 Imperial. Then another super caravan back to Red Creek. Eighteen Letter Cars dotted the parking lot. Back to the Hilton for the dreaded business meeting, which lived up to its expectations. Then, adjourning to the bar, more 300 conversation ensued.

Saturday, Sept. 19th: Cloudy and cool, but thankfully only a few drizzles on concours day. While the judging was occurring, more tours and shopping were going on. There was a good mixture of new judges and new cars to judge. Emanual and Mary Turner’s 300D developed driveshaft problems; it was decided to schedule repair times at “The No Chance Garage”, Kathy’s driveway on Sunday. Several other nice Mopars showed up, including a second AAR ‘Cuda and a ’70 Hemi R/T. The sun actually peaked through for a few minutes and then it was gone.

The banquet, which was intended to be an outdoor barbeque, was moved to poolside (indoors). After a great meal – Kathy’s Mom did not cook the Italian sausage, she only acted as a consultant – and the presenting of the awards for the fine 300s, the mingling continued. The owners of the Red Creek Inn, Jeff and Maureen, had invited everyone to come back to the club as their guest for an evening of rock and roll. Four cars full did, finally closing down the place at about 2:30 am. (Dirty Dancing, provided by Jeff and Leslie Miklas; what leadership!)

Sunday, Sept. 20th: How quickly the time passes. Everybody just got here and now it’s time to leave. The “goodbyes” are always so tough, but one by one the parking lot emptied. Soon, only the staff of the “No Chance Garage” remained: The Moons, doing a quick brake cylinder rebuild to their D, the Cunningham’s rag, the Riehls J, Paul DelGrande’s J, the Turner’s disabled D and our H. We reassembled at Kathy’s house, and made quick work of the Turner’s driveshaft problem – fortunately, the ball and trunnion driveshaft pieces are the same for many years and Kathy had a spare in her parts department (basement)! The two Ds left and the two Hs and two Js decided to debrief at Jack Daniel’s, a nice little “place” on the bay. Normally there is an hour wait, but due to the unseasonable conditions, we had the place to ourselves. (Can you imagine the parking lot with only four cars – 4 Letter Cars?) the meal ended and Paul dropped off his friend Diane Lewis, and went back to Toronto, eh; the rest of us closed out the night at the house.

Monday, Sept. 21st: The reality finally hits – it’s over. Kathy went back to the office, George and Eleanor left after breakfast and the Cunninghams and I just kind of looked at each other. Even now, two weeks later, it seems like a dream. But we had fun, and it’s only seven months or so before we do it again. See you in …?

Kathy and I would like to thank the following: The Hilton staff for their service, attitude and humor; Diane Ragland; the Avis people in Rochester, for the maps; the Rochester Chamber of Commerce for the weather; the Rooks for making the effort; Allan and Gloria for their knowledge and leadership on repairs; Greg Otterbein’s shop; Paul Harris at Sutherland Service, who’s flatbed we never needed.

Concours d’Elegance

Senior Division

1st Place Bill Dahms 300B 941.5 points

2nd Place Jack Bryant 300H 796.25 points

3rd Place Jim Brown 300B 789.5 points

Junior Division

Class I Ribbon Fred Nichols 300B 516 points

Class II 2nd Place Chris Kenworthy 300C 763.5 points

Ribbon Bruce Brownell 300c 638.5 points

Class III 3rd Place Paul Youngs 300 G (cvt) 719 points

Ribbon Ron Boeri 300G 424 points

Hurst 1st Place Jim Krausmann 913.5 points

3rd Place Ray Jones 718.5 points

Best of Show: Bill Dahms, 300B

People’s Choice: Robert D. Young, 300C

Long Distance in a 300: Rene Kroeger, 300K – 950 miles – Bondurant, Iowa

Longest Distance Traveled: Gilles Guinee – 6,000 miles – from France

Hard Luck: Emanual Turner – 300D – driveshaft problems

Letter 300s attending the Meet

300B: Bill Dahms, Jim Brown, Fred Nichols; 300C: Bruce Brownell, Robert Young, Chris Kenworthy, Jeff Miklas (cvt); 300D: Emanual Turner, Gloria Moon, Dave Underwood; 300F: Bill Codner (cvt), Mike Burke, Dale Dannefer; 300G: John Cornfoot (cvt), Paul Youngs, Ron Boeri, Tom Bruno; 300H: Jack Bryant, Chip Chapman, Gil Cunningham (cvt), Bob Crawford; 300J: George Riehl, Paul DelGrande, Don Drakulich; 300K: Don Cole (cvt), Vern Graber, Rene Kroeger, Jerry Kocur (cvt), Bill Elder (cvt); Hurst: Ray Jones, Jim Krausmann.


Thanks to Bill Elder for typing this article for the web