Nestled in a verdant valley, West Virginia’s capital city welcomed me with a stunning blue sky. The first stop, WCHS TV8 ABC & FOX, was a live shot at noon.
I arrived in the classic car at the station at the appointed hour and the cameraman asked me to park caddy-cornered to the live truck. Stupidly, I left on the parking lights for about 5 minutes. It take a bit to get used to driving a 1950’s era car–there are no idiot chimes to remind me that I’ve done something wrong. (Insert foreshadowing).
As the crew prepared for the live shot with the car, a crowd of various station engineers and tech folk gathered around. One of them asked if I’d like a cup of coffee. I’m never one to turn down any cup of coffee, so I ambled into the station for some Joe. Fifteen minutes later, they were ready for the shot, so I walked back out to the Cadillac.
“Hey, is the engine supposed to be smoking like that?” asked the cameraman when I came back out to the car?
Smoke? SMOKE? I remained calm. A thin trickle of smoke was rising up from beneath the air cleaner. Not good. When somebody’s car is smoking, don’t you think the neighborly thing to do is to come and get them? I guess not.
I snatched off the air cleaner and discovered the coil to the car was oozing oil and smoking. I’d left the key in the ignition and set to “on.” Whoops. Now I’d fried the coil, and fried it good.
“We’re live,” the reporter intoned, and the motioned for me to start the classic car. Wuh-wuh-wuh, and then she fired, chugged for about 30 seconds, blew a plume of smoke out of the center carb, and died. So much for the coil. The reporter did a fine job of covering Motorpool and the car’s embarrassing burp. Shortly thereafter, everyone went back inside the station, leaving me with a dead collector car in the parking lot. I called NAPA. They delivered a 1.5 ohm coil, which I replaced there at WCHS, and we were back in business.
I cruised the town looking for a lunch spot and happened upon Moses Cadillac. My new Classic Battery sounded a little weak (maybe from leaving the lights on), so I decided to swing into the service bay to see if they might give me a trickle charge why I went to lunch. Robert, the shop foreman, was incredibly gracious. They were clearly busy, with new Cadillacs zipping in and out, but took the time to attach the charger and give me some tips about great places to eat.
Lunch at Leonardo’s (since 1915) was a meatball sandwich and delicious chocolate-chip cannoli.
Then it was off to WSAZ for another interview to be on the 5 and 11 o’clock news–and Charleston was in the rearview mirror.
Rolls Royce Owners in Virginia
The Brougham just passed the 1,000 mile mark, reaching scenic and beautiful Staunton, Virginia. What a fantastic little town, full of cool shops, restaurants, and inns. As I parked the Brougham at the historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel, I noticed an unusual site: about a dozen vintage Rolls Royces.
I’m a Rolls Royce fan. The elegant lines, the refined materials, the Spirit of Ecstasy–all combine to form pure motoring bliss. The parking lot was full: a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud I, Silver Cloud III, Silver Wraith, Silver Dawn, and many other grandbabies of the Silver Ghost. I’d really like to own a Ghost so that one day I can drive on the Rolls Royce Club’s Holy Ghost tour.
What a name.
I parked the Cadillac amongst the Rollers, which must have been a somewhat startling site to the club members as they motored off the next morning. The 1958 Brougham was Cadillac’s version of a Rolls. You could buy a Silver Cloud Series I in 1958 for approximately $8,000–the Cadillac rang in at $13,704! Both shared the same transmission, mouton carpeting, and power steering. Yet the Brougham was certainly flashier with its bullets and tailfins. The Rolls carried no such garish ornamentation. Each are fine motorcars, in different ways.
Still, I wish my Brougham came with its own flashlight. That’s pretty cool.
By the way, pulling into Staunton I thought I hit a small rain shower. Uh, no. It was bugs. That’s right. Thousands of what we’d call “Love Bugs” in Alabama, rained onto my windshield, turning it a putrid green. Advice for getting bugs off? Do it immediately. If you allow them to “cook” onto your windshield, buddy you’re in trouble.