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Show Antique Auto Owners Coming Here For Scenic Tours of the Area r' I I 's y - tji 1 1 The engine of Mr. and Mrs. Orin Campion's 1909 Cadillac is a work of sheer antique beauty. Polished copper jackets over the four cylinders ane kept scrupulously clean. The cars are restored to a. better condition than, when they were first made more than a half a century ago. The 21st annual national tour of the National Horseless Carriage Car-riage Club of America is meeting this week in Durango and next week in Moab. Mr. and Mrs. Orin Campion of Santa Rosa, California passed pas-sed through Moab last Thursday Thurs-day on their way to Durango Mr. Campion, Assistant Nat-onal Nat-onal Tour Chairman, was enthused en-thused by the friendly atmosphere atmo-sphere of Moab and said that quite a number of antique automobile enthusiasts will be stopping in Moab for tours next Monday and Tuesdav, the 24th and 25th. The actual rendezvous of the National Horseless Carriage Car-riage Club is to be in Durango starting Wednesday, the 19th to Saturday, the 22nd. For four days the club members with old automobiles totaling $1,000,000 in value will tour the Four Corners including such places as Mesa Verde and the Silverton-Ouray highway. high-way. Each night the association will have a friendship banquet with the awards banquet on Saturday night hi Durango. The group will officially disband dis-band Sunday and some will head for their homes. A large group of the antique automo-bilists automo-bilists are expected to stop in Moab for two days, according to Campion. They will tour Arches National Monument, the scenic Potash highway, and possibly Dead Horse Point. No car younger than 1916 is allowed on the tour. A model mod-el dating 1900 is the oldest au-. to to be in this year's national nation-al tour. Cars from all over the United States will be present pre-sent for the tour. One representing repre-senting New Zealand will also be joining Ihe tour. 115 cars older than Miff-were Miff-were registered to meet in Durango. This represents a total value of over $1,000,000 with individual car values ranging ran-ging from several thousand dollars to $30,000. "The old cars have all been restored," explained Mr. Campion, Cam-pion, who is this year's assistant assis-tant chairman of the convention. conven-tion. "By the word, 'restored' we of the National Horseless Carriage Club mean bringing the car back into better running run-ning condition than when it was new." The owner of the oldest running run-ning car in America, an 1894 Pegeout, came through Moab last Friday. He wasn't driving driv-ing his old car, but was driving driv-ing a Model T Ford all the way from California. It is expected ex-pected that he also will be in Moab next week for- local tours. Trophies will be given in Durango at the awards banquet ban-quet this coming Saturday night. The trophies are divided divid-ed into periods of several years and are given for the excellence of restoration in each class. A "trouble trophy" tro-phy" will also be given to the car owner having the most difficulty. Orin and his wife, Teresa, were pulling their 1909 Cadillac Cadil-lac Demi-Tonneau, a small touting car, on a special built trailer. They will take it off the trailer for the actual louring lour-ing in Durango and for next week's tours in Moab. Orin Campion met his bride on an antique -car lour. She was drivfflg the 1909 Cadillac. They were' married on a later tour. Campion explained that the host city was not as enthusiastic enthus-iastic and friendly toward the jamboree of the " Horseless Carriage Club as they ha.I hoped. "We are disappointed in the lack of interest Durango has taken in our bringing a million dollars worth of antique an-tique autos there for the convention," con-vention," . Campion stated. "We wish we had known more about Moab when the convention was being planned," plan-ned," he went on to say. "But we do plan on touring Moab next Monday and Tuesday." |