Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 42

Pace 2 riday, October 11, 2002 Wheels Northwest Herald Car Shows, Cruises and Events Editor's note: To be included in this calendar, send the information along with a contact name and number to "Auto Events calendar" co The Northwest Herald, P.O. Box 250, Crystal Lake, III. 60039-0250; fax to (815) 459-5640; or e-mail to v. CRUISE NIGHTS 4- A McHenry County WONDER LAKE Classic Car Night, 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Oct.

29, Hancock Drive in downtown Wonder Lake. Family fun night. Music by Style Alive disc jockeys, '60s to '90s music. Sponsor: the Wonder Lake Chamber of Commerce. Information: (815) 728-0682.

Regional SCHAUMBURG 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through October, Frato's, 628 S. Roselle Road. Sponsored by The Chicago Rodfathers. 895-2122.

VILLA PARK 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays, through October, Strats Restaurant, 231 E. North Ave. Sponsored by Summer Knights Car Clubi Information: (630) 832-0435.

AUTO EVENTS Regional BRANSON CAR COLLECTOR AUCTION, Oct. 18-20, Mel Tillis Theatre, 2527 Hwy. 248, Branson, Mo. Featuring antigues, classics, customs, street rods, exotics, special interest and collectibles. Schedule: 2 to 6 Friday, 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. General admission: $8. Information: 1-800-335-3063 or www.bransonauction.com. SKIP'S FIESTA DRIVE-IN CAR SHOWSWAP MEET, 8 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Sundays. Information: (630) 876-1042 or www.skipsusa.com. Admission: $7 adults, $2 children ages 6-11. Free parking.

Schedule: Nov. 3, 10th annual, Skip's Parts Swap Meet, Lake County Fairgrounds; Feb. 23, 2003, 16th annual, Skip's Auto Parts Swap Meet, Lake County Fairgrounds, Greg Hess The Northwest Herald A row of Harley Davidson motorcycles stands idle at the McHenry County Fairgrounds antique motorcycle show in Woodstock. Sun eveeteally shines'; dhi show I -I "And we probably had no more than 2,500 to 3,000 spectators and usually attendance is much more than that." "On the morning of the Sunday show, the clouds were threatening and it looked like inclement weather was coming. "By noon, ii cleared up, but by then, it was too late as a lot of the endors and people who normally attend were doing something else." or 30 years the MACMC has sponsored a show on the last weekend in September.

Attendance in past years has hit the 5,000 mark. By I. E. KUYPER The Northwest Herald WOODSTOCK Weather played liaoc with the annual Midwest Antique and Classic Motorcycle Club show in late September. Instead of thousands of spectators and 100 vendors, there were severely reduced numbers.

"By an eyeball count, we were down 30 percent. "In the past we had close to 350 to 400 vendors and this year we had only about 200 setting tip swapping spaces." said show organizer Joe Rybacek. the same amount this year. "We will meet the first week in November to crunch numbers and to dole out donations so the charities can get ready for Christmas," he said. "Of course, we club members are all volunteers and don't get paid, but we still have to pay for port-a-potties, dumpsters and die use of the fairgrounds.

I still think we will come up with about 12,000 for the For information, call (815) 338-06R4 or another MACMC board member and show organizer. Rich Keller, at (847) 669-5679. As disappointing as the 30th annual event was, there will be a 31st in September 2003. "The positive news is that we already are booked for our 3 1st show, once again at the fairgrounds, so we will do it again next year and hope for better weather," Rybacek said. The day wasn't a total loss as spectators did get to see participants arrive on their elderly Harley-Davidsons, Indians and Excelsiors.

And money was raised for local nonprofit organizations. "We had 512,000 last year and, if we are careful with the bills, we hope to come up with Photo provided September car rally participants, who helped raise money for cancer research, were treated to a performance by Eddie Cash in Lake Geneva. Donations received were presented to the American Cancer Society. Left to right are show manager Maria Loomer, Cash, Cheryl Cash, George and Jan Kreissl. Rally overcomes early ram, wind Flamboyant entrepreneur assembled Muntz Jet from factory building in southwest Evanston When new, a Muntz Jet cost from $5,000 to $5,500 in late 1940s and early 1950s.

Earl William Muntz organized the car company after World War II with facilities in California, but he later moved the car company to a factory in Evanston. Photo provided HERALD NEWS SERVICE LAKE GENEVA Storms in the morning and continuing rain in the afternoon slowed dowTi participation in the 25th annual Classic Car Rally the last week- end in September. Even so, more than 800 cars, trucks and motorcycles participated to raise $41,000 for the' American Cancer Society in memory of Corinne Kreissl. The youth died of cancer and her parents, George and Jan Kreissl of Lake Geneva, established a foundation and car event in her honor. Since 1978, more than $400,000 has been raised for cancer research.

The tour route around Geneva Lake was traveled in two directions by participating vehicles Saturday and Sunday, allowing thousands of spectators to see vintage vehicles. The weekend event included a flyover by World War II biplanes and antique aircraft, raffle, concert, dance and parade. Organizers wanted to give credit to volunteers. Jerry Fitzpatrick of Fontana handled registration. Gerry Chlebicki, Loretta Samyn and Cathy and Allison Fritz, all from Lake Geneva, assisted in award presentations.

Mary Hogan of Lake Geneva coordinated dealer destinations. Parking was supervised by Garv Eitermann, and photography by Hejen Eitermann of Niles, Jim and Jane Henderson of Milwaukee coordinated overall logistics. Marianne Schellin of Long Grove was in charge of memorial donations. Gerry and Joyce Taplin of William Bay were judges. Plans are for a 26th annual car rally Sept 27-28, 2003.

For information, call (2(52) 248-2764. By MUCH I'RUMKIX He-aLi Service Not many Chicago suburban residents realize that just more than 50 years ago a legendary automobile was manufactured in Evanston. It was the Muntz fet. assembled by the Muntz Car Company at 1000 Grey Avenue. This all-American personal luxury cruiser vas named after Earl William "Madman" Muntz, a flamboyant entrepreneur, who made his fortune from selling automobiles, manulacturing the Muntz TV and as the inventor of the Stereo-Pak4-track system.

His rise to success began in 1933, when, at the age of 1 9, he became a used car salesman in his hometown of Elgin. Years later, at the dawn of the 1950s, Muntz was flush with cash lrom selling his Kaiser-Erazer dealership and the enormous popularity of the Muntz television sets. Seemingly on an endless roll of business successes, he jumped into the blooming post World War II automobile market by purchasing the rights to the Kurds Sports Car. The Kurtis Was a two-passenger, 100-inch wheelbase convertible created by Southern California racing car builder Frank Kurtis. Before putting his name on the car, Muntz made changes to the Kurtis roadster.

He extended the heelbase to 113 inches and then to 1 1 6 inches. This allowed him to add a rear seat so his version Would comfortably accommodate four adults. Muntz also boasted that, because of the low-slung design and how passengers rode inside the unit body frame, the Jet was a very safe automobile. At first, a total of 28 Muntz Jet prototypes were built in California and powered by Cadillac overhead valve engines. But because of West Coast material and transportation problems, the factory was hauled across country and settled in Illinois.

The location was on the southwest side of Evanston, at the corner of irey and Eee, in a building leased for live years from the UniversalTrailer Corporation. 1 On Jan. 15, 1951, the "Madman" announced the factory was ready to begin the hand-construction of the new four- seater. His crew of 50 workers formed the body panels, assembled, painted and readied the individual cars for delivery. 1 Since there vas no dealer network in place lor tins limited production automobile, buyers were required to purchase directly from the factory.

Price of the Jet was between 55,000 and $5,500, which was expensive, compared to a new Lincoln convertible that sold for about $3,600. I or the extra dough, the Muntz came with a remov able hardtop roof, a center armrest console ith built in radio and glove compartment, and dual iceboxes housed into the rear seat armrests. Though the California-built Muntz used Cadillac engines, the models made in Illinois came with Lincoln flathead V8s and some with Lincoln OI IV powerplants. Peter iondos, who worked at the Muntz Company as head of the welding shop, also recalled that two Jets came factory-equipped with the 331 -cubic-inch Chrysler IirePowerVS. Customers did have a choice of either a ieneral Motors four-speed I lydra-Matic or Borg-Warner three-speed manual, with the vast majority opting for the automatic transmission.

Either way, the cars were fast, and articles of the era stated that the Jet had the potential speed of 140 miles an hour. While most modern car magazine articles and historic books claim there were 394 Muntz Jets built, Vic Munsen of the Muntz Jet Registry differs. I le has devoted time over several decades, researching, interviewing key people and accumulating detail information on the car's history. His documented evidence indicates that approximately 200 Muntz Jets were actually produced, with part of the discrepancy stemming from the creative way the factory would number the production vehicles. At some point during production, Mr.

Muntz moved part of the car operation to a building at 290 1 N. Sheffield, Chicago. Interestingly, the final batch of Jets built included two that had a further extended wheelbase of 120-121 inches, and even several shortened, two-passenger roadsters, similar to the original Kurtis By 1954, all automobile production ceased. It seems that the "Madman's" sanity finally returned, when he realized he was losing about a $1000 on each vehicle sold. William Wellman, who owns Wellman's Auto Repair across the street from the factory, recalled, "When the plant stopped turning out cars, it continued on for a while assembling the Muntz TV sets.

"After Muntz completely moved out, the Mars Houseware Manufacturing took over the factory and offices." Today, the owner of the building is C.E. Niehoff Co. manufacturer of brushless alternators. An estimated 1 1 1 Muntz Jets remain, though not all of those are driveable. Recently, several high quality restored examples have sold at auction for prices between $50,000 to $70,000.

My question is, just how many steel-wool scrubbing pads do owners need, to keep those beautiful three-inch wide whitewalls scuff-free? i- 4 it I il Photo provided Lake Geneva car rally staff member Jerry Fitzpatrick of Fontana (left) and participants Don Drebenstedt of Madison, and Bill Donoghue of Lake Forest talk about old cars, such as the 1939 Ford V8 Deluxe pictured..