Pics from the Holiday Motor Excursion 12/03, with Sharon and her family. The event was primarily for pre-war automobiles, and went through most of the Rose Parade Route in Pasadena. Turnout was really large, and even included Jay Leno.
During the last weekend of 2003, I boarded a jet to spend some time with sweet Sharon and her wonderful family. Here's Mary Jane, Karen, little Emmalee, and Allen awaiting the start of the annual Holiday Motor Excursion in Pasadena.
The car tour which consisted of at least 100 cars was supposed to be for pre-1931 horseless carriages only. However, some exceptions were made for a Volkswagen Bus, NSU Prinz 30, and this MGB GT.
This very nice RHD Mercer is owned by Jay Leno, a regular of this tour.
In this tour, Robert drove his 1928 Model T pickup (left), while Sharon and I rode in the back of the Star sedan (right) driven by Robert's friend Joe.
I don't know the make of this 2-seat racer following a whole line of Fords, but it sure exuded the holiday spirit.
The yellow Mercer again, driven by Jay Leno himself!
Here's Allen and Robert in front of the cars. They had braved frigid 40-degree temps in the early morning to get the Model T over here.
Right off the bat, we had our first (and only) car issue of the day: the Star's starter switch on the floor wasn't working! Here's Robert inspecting the switch. Ultimately, we just push-started the car, and somehow the switch worked the rest of the day.
The tour required a 3 pages of driving directions to navigate through all the turns in Pasadena's gorgeous neighborhoods. This colossal home was typical of some of the houses there.
Here's Felix Wong and Sharon together in the backseat of the Star. Personally I thought it was pretty romantic to get to ride in a horseless carriage through much of the tree-lined Rose Parade route.
Back at the Sears/Fuddrucker's parking lot, here's little Emmalee in the driver's seat of Robert's Model T. She's just 9 months old and already she wants to drive!
Karen with cute little Emmalee.
Emmalee on the running boards...
After lunch we continued on to an enthusiast's home for dessert. This depicts the view from the back seat, with Joe kindly driving us.
At the home, I was happy to see another MG! Here's Allen looking upon a red TC, the car that started America's love affair with sports cars.
Wait a minute, the body panels aren't fiberglass... It turned out that this Shelby Cobra was authentic (not a kit), which I got Sharon to pose with.
On hand were also a number of motorcycles, including the vintage Polk on the left, and the very nice '46 Triumph Bonneville on the right.
There was even a Bugatti race car on the street. Bugatti was a French manufacturer founded by an Italian, whose legendary name was resurrected for some supercars a few years ago.
I rode with Robert in the T past 5 highways on the road back to Bellflower. Here's the car in front of Robert's mom's home across the street; as you can see, it is in great shape!
Robert driving the T back into one of the garages in his back yard that are currently housing 15 cars. I regret not taking any pictures of some of his other cars.
Sharon's family should be nominated for the Ford Family of the Year, having an Explorer, Escape, and Excursion between them (in addition to the 14 or so vintage Fords Robert has, which even includes a tractor.) Thanks to the Teitsworths for a great weekend!
