[Chrysler300] Exner Tribute -- The Rest of The Story

[Guyztoys <guyztoys@xxxxxxx>]

I thought it appropriate to add my two cents to all the postings concerning the recent tribute to Virgil Exner Sr.held on the campus of Notre Dame.
I am the President of the Northern Illinois Region of the WPC Club. Peter Grist, the British author and historian who wrote the Exner Visioneer biography is the President of the UK Region of the WPC Club. Approximately 2 years ago, Peter contacted me asking if it were possible to bring a few of the Exner styled cars from our region to the tribute celebration that was planned to be held at the high school where Virgil Sr. graduated --Buchanan, MI. Of course I agreed and we vowed to keep in touch over the coming months.We e-mailed back and forth many times , especially after the tribute event had been moved to the Notre Dame Campus.
As it always does, the time flew by way too quickly. Before I knew it, Thursday, September 27th was here. I was going to be taking my red '59 300E on a 250 mile round trip at Interstate speeds. Then it hit me. This was by far the longest trip I had ever taken it on in the 26 years I have owned it.Guess what ?? The Telstar  J 78x14 bias-belted wide whites were installed on it in 1974. My tires were 33 years old. I panicked because I did not have time to get new ones installed.
Here is what I did. I jacked the car up and carefully inspected every square inch of all 4 tires and the spare ( a 22 year old Goodyear wide white with the blue still on it). I could not find a crack or bubble or abrasion anywhere. After much soul searching I decided to make the trip, but at reduced speed ( around 60 MPH). Should a tire failure occur, I brought a large ratchet and socket as well as a frame jack, so as not to use the bumper jack.
The 300E made the first leg of the trip without incident, paced by my fellow WPC Region members--- one in a '55 Dodge Coronet and the other a '59 Chrysler New Yorker.
Once on campus, I was asked to park outside the front door of the Stepan Center and to the right side when facing the building. Monte Gillespie was asked to do the same with his black stick shift 300B. Farther to the right were a few other examples of Exner styled Mopars brought by local people, including the '55 Dodge and '59 Chrysler I spoke of earlier.
After attending the post show lecture I spent a restful evening in a local motel, all the while dreading the final leg of the trip on those ancient Telstars.
Well, I made it without incident again and breathed a big sigh of relief. Love those Telstars.
In summary , it was a wonderful experience. I had several conversations with both Mr.Exner Jr. and Mr. Grist and got the usual signatures. I was honored to have been invited by the author from the beginning and a week before the event by Virgil Jr.
There were 4 lettercars there --- 2 inside and 2 outside.
And now you have the rest of the story.

Guy Morice
only 1 300E left
Oswego, IL


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



To send a message to this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm

For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/ 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:Chrysler300-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:Chrysler300-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/