Registration is now officially open for the 2024 Orinda Classic Car Show. Join us on September 7, 2024 10 am to 2 pm. The featured vehicles this year are ORIGINAL Shelby Cobras (we will be hosting 15 of these at the car show) and also this year we are paying tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Ford Mustang. Registration closes September 1, 2024 or until we sell out.
As usual, your well loved, storied cars of any model are always welcome to enter our show.
The winning entry in our Student Design Contest was created by an 8th grade student, Connor Dong. Connor’s art successfully combines the beauty of the Land Yacht (our featured vehicle this year) with the stunning landmark the Orinda theatre. The design was created entirely by hand on his iPad.
Welcome to 2023 Orinda Classic Car Show – on Saturday Sept. 9th in Orinda Village. We had a great show last year and this year our theme cars will be LAND YACHTS! We loved seeing the 70’s Eldorados and 60’s Lincoln Continentals last year. So for this year we want your 1960’s – 1980’s “Luxury Cruisers” (any make and model, but luxury cars such as Lincoln, Caddy, upscale Buicks, Olds, Ford, Mercury are all welcome).
So, if you have one of these beautiful cars please enter it now- or tell your friends that have one. And of course, we want ALL types of cars, from muscle, retromod, exotics and all types of classic and special cars, like yours! Please mark this date in your calendar and plan on entering your car soon – the all new website is now open.
For classic and exotic car owners and fans our Orinda show is a uniquely fun and exhilarating experience. The show is always FREE to spectators, and proceeds benefit the OA’s Seniors Around Town (SAT) free seniors ride program. And for those less captivated by cars, please still come check it out – just have fun AND support worthy causes at the same time.
I hope everyone can come out and have fun at the show and raise funds for a very worthwhile cause. The Orinda Association, the Car Show Committee and partner Orinda Motors and its Orinda Classic Car Center all thank you very much!
Registration is now officially open for the 2023 Orinda Classic Car Show. Join us on September 9, 2023 10 am to 2 pm. As usual, your well loved, storied cars are always welcome. The featured vehicles this year are Land Yachts! So for this year we want your 1960’s – 1980’s “Luxury Cruisers” (any make and model, but luxury cars such as Lincoln, Caddy, upscale Buicks, Olds, Ford, Mercury are all welcome). Click link below.
The big boys were really made for the open road where living room comfortable seats made the front seat seem like a plush couch with a windshield and steering wheel in front of it.
Old Betsy is a Model TT (Ford truck). The body of Old Betsy could be from 1919 and the engine is a 1920 model. She was originally outfitted with a water tank, a CO2 canister of about 50 gallons, and a manifold for connecting to a fire hydrant for fighting fires.
According to a document from July 3, 1918, with the letterhead of the Contra Costa County Farm Bureau and with the title “Officers of Contra Costa Rural Fire Companies”, the first fire chief for Lafayette was L.I. Starks and the assistant was Ed. J. Allen. Although there was a Lafayette Fire District then with horse- drawn equipment, it is thought that Old Betsy was acquired sometime after 1920 as Lafayette’s first motorized fire engine. How she got her name is unknown.
Old Betsy served Lafayette in the 1920s and 1930s with Fire Chief Ed Morrison as the only paid employee. The fire truck was kept in Chief Morrison’s garage. Sometime after the 1930s, Old Betsy was used by the Lafayette Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) for parades and other special occasions. She was sold and eventually resold to Earl Sanko of Pleasant Hill where she sat for some years in his barn.
In 1977, John Kallio discovered Old Betsy at Sanko’s barn and a group of Lafayette citizens organized a fund-raising effort for its purchase. The Lafayette Historical Society pledged $1775 to be matched by clubs and citizens. The purchase price was met June 17, 1977, and the engine known as “Old Betsy” was given to the city for housing and display. It remained in George and June Wasson’s garage for many years!
The engine has been completely overhauled including pistons and rings. New tires, tubes, wheel hub bolts and nuts, tire rim bolts and nuts, and wheel bearings were special ordered and installed. Big O Tires removed the old tires from the old rims by hand. New wooden spokes were installed at Vintage Wheel Shop in Sonora. The remounting of the tires on the rims was done by Alhambra Garage in Martinez. Old Betsy received a new Waterford Transmission and drive shaft, providing three gear ratios. All her exterior metal parts have been powder coated by West Coast Specialty Coatings in Concord.
Besides the original group of Hub Anderson, Mike Rogers, Lee Volquardsen and John Kallio who oversaw Old Betsy’s first renovation, there have been many people and organizations financially involved in the renovation of Old Betsy. The list includes the Lafayette Historical Society, The Lafayette Community Foundation, other clubs and organizations, skilled (amateur) workers, and the Boy Scouts. David Truckner rebuilt many of the wooden and metal parts of the understructure. Many other people graciously donated money and time.
Through the years Old Betsy has been in numerous parades and civic events, often including rides for young and old. She was shown many times at the Concours d’Elegance Lafayette.
Model T Trucks were sold by Ford Motor Company with the frame, engine and a driver’s seat only; the rear was a flatbed. Many rear forms were constructed by a carriage maker for different styles and purposes, including fire engines.
The engine is a 4 cylinder inline gas engine. It develops about 20.2 HP from a 133 cubic inch engine. The top speed is about 40-45 mph. The 10 gallon gas tank is under the seat, gravity feed to the engine. Fuel economy is on the order of 13-21 mpg.
On the steering column are two levers – one for spark advance on the left and the other on the right is the accelerator.
The transmission is planetary gear transmission with three pedals. The right pedal is the brake, the left pedal is forward (low and high) and the middle pedal is reverse. With the left pedal in middle position (neutral) the reverse pedal can be pressed for reverse drive. The drive is to the real wheels.
The tires are 30×3.5 on the front and 33×5 on the rear. The wheels have wood spokes (hickory).
Fifteen million Model T’s were built and the engines were still being produced in 1941! At one time it was said that 10 percent of all cars in the world were Ford’s. The cars were available in black and other colors although Ford preferred black because it dried faster. By 1914 it took only 93 minutes to assemble a car. In 1927 the model T ceased production and Ford Motor Company began to produce the Model A.
George Wasson and Mary Solon
Old Betsy is now on view at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center next door to the History Room. We are open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. We would love to see you!
This is a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air sedan. She was built in Baltimore, Maryland and came from the factory with the 220 horsepower “Power Pack” 283 V-8 with dual exhaust and Powerglide transmission.
I bought this car in 1976 when I was 16. She was my first car and I have kept her for 44 years.
The car was re-painted and re-upholstered in 1976 and she was my daily driver for the next eleven years. By that time she had a 350 V-8, but still the same Powerglide transmission. The car saw me through high school, college, my early working years, and several road trips before being semi-retired in 1987. Between 1987 and 2010 I drove her on weekends and car club tours.
In 2010 my Bel Air was restored again with a lot of help from Orinda Motors. She got a new 283 V-8 rebuilt to the original 220 horsepower specifications which was bolted up to the same Powerglide transmission that she had when I bought her. She was re-painted in the stock Adobe Beige over Sierra Gold metallic colors and re-upholstered to match. The car is 95% stock with only a few modifications. “Vintage Air” air conditioning was added for comfort while touring and the carburetor, master cylinder, and radiator have been upgraded.
Most people would not waste money restoring a sedan – twice, but this car has always been there for me and she deserves it. Her name is Emily.
My “Corvair Story” began in June of 1963. My family had been a Chevrolet family, and my Mother had just acquired a four-door, metallic blue 1962 Corvair for family use. It was then that I began to long for not just a Corvair, but a Corvair Spyder. It arrived in June of 1963, the day after High School graduation: 150 HP, turbo-charged, Palomar Red, black bucket seats, and a four-speed, complete with chrome rims.
The Spyder took me to the University of California, and was my closest inanimate friend for a number of years, seeing me through the Free Speech Movement, the arrival of The Beatles, and reality checks at the Oakland Draft Induction Center.
Some years later, I let the Corvair get away, selling her and spending the proceeds on a 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS, a Triumph motorcycle, and a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar.
This is a photo of the 1963 predecessor to my current Spyder (along with the 1963 version of the current owner).
Then, just a few years ago, it was time to undo that mistake. I sold a number of duplicate 1959 and 1060 Topps baseball cards, went looking for a Spyder Coupe, and found one for sale in Michigan.
My current Spyder is almost identical to the one that had seen me through college in the mid-1960s. It is a 1964 Palomar Red Coupe with black interior. This time, instead of chrome reversed rims it has a set of Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels, but otherwise is a constant prompt for long-recessed memories.
Steven and Ana Marie have entered a car in the Orinda Classic Car show for the past 11 years.
Here is a picture of my car. The Golden Hawks were made from 1956 to 1958. The 1957-58 models came with supercharged V8 engines that were considered high performance at the time.
Studebaker made 4356 Golden Hawks in 1957.
I got the car when I was a Junior at Miramonte. My grandfather was a Studebaker dealer in Oakland. He took delivery in 1956, My dad got it in 1959.
I became fascinated with the car at a young age and asked him to keep it for me. Dad gave me the keys on my 16th birthday in 1970.
Craig Lazzareschi and Edouard Lagache inherited their fathers’ passion for classics. Both men plan to participate in the 15th Orinda Classic Car Show weekend. Lazzareschi is showing his 2019 Porsche GT3 while Legache shares his 1965 Buick Deluxe Special Station Wagon.
Lazzareschi and Lagache say they are excited to share their classic cars. Like many car owners at the show, Lazzareschi enjoys “letting those passionate about cars enjoy the gifts that I’ve been given — sharing them with others helps me put cars in their proper perspective.”
Lazzareschi says his “love affair with cars” began in his early teens. He acquired his first Porsche in 1967 but sold it to attend law school while raising his family. Once his children were out of college, he says his passion was reignited. He has owned (and restored) some 25 Porsches since 1996.
Lagache’s family purchased the station wagon in 1968. “It was very much the center of family life and was treated as such,” he says
“Edouard Lagache posed in front of his dad’s 1965 Buick Deluxe Special Station Wagon when he was 7 years old at his family’s home on Ivy Drive. He has kept the car (and the home, now a rental) all these years, restoring the Buick and adding a more high-powered engine. He recently posed again at his former home with his much-loved automobile.
