More on the 2006 Palm Springs International Meeting

This is a real exciting time. The meet is coming together well as we are getting the events defined and scheduled. I am absolutely pleased with how it's looking. Joyce and I have had meetings with C. Orval Selders, a designer who is one of our speakers. At February's Modernism week, a 10-day celebration of things Modern we had lunch with Jim Gaudineer, proud owner of Raymond Loewy's beautiful Palm Springs house.

As you will see there is a connection with mid century Modern design and the design of the Avanti automobile. Southern California chapter president Don Hedgepeth owns a Modern Alexander built house in nearby Rancho Mirage that he is restoring. Don invites fellow members to visit during the meet.

Orval Selders also has an Alexander house. It too is undergoing renovation. Both these houses are owned by people who appreciate good design.

Judging will be done like last year. Our reserved parking will be on the east side of the hotel and the hospitality room will be just inside next to the parking area. Registration will open 4 p.m. on Sunday and again at 8 a.m. Monday.

In addition to the car show and judging we have many activities and events to make this a memorable meet. We have tours that will give you a view of the world that shaped the Avanti many years ago.

On Tuesday morning we have an open house tour and continental breakfast at the Loewy home. Restored by its present owner, Jim Gaudineer, this Albert Frey designed house is a showcase of mid-century Modern design. Frey's office also designed a tract of houses one of which was rented by Loewy as an impromptu design studio for the staff who designed the car that became the Avanti.

He is also noted as one of the designers of the famous Tramway gas station now the Palm Springs visitor's bureau.

This tour is limited to 50 attendees so if you want this, make your reservation. This house is on a narrow street and there is no parking available. Attendees will meet at the hotel porte-cochére for transport. The tour begins at 8:30 a.m. with the last guest leaving the house at 10:30 a.m. For more information on the Loewy house and the high caliber mid-century Modern design, visit the Web: http://www.psmodcom.org

Early in the afternoon those who hold tickets for admission to the Palm Springs Air Museum are invited to tour the private classic car collection of museum founder Mr. Robert J. Pond.

Known as Ponderose this is not normally open to the public but by invitation of the museum its guests are welcome to see this special collection. Some of these vehicles are also on display at the air museum as accents to the World War II era aircraft on exhibit. Some of these cars can be seen on the air museum's Web site.

If you want to see Ponderose, your admission is purchase of a ticket to the air museum. Other than the requirement of holding an air museum ticket, there is no additional charge for seeing this collection. Our reserved tour of the air museum will be on Friday.

On Wednesday evening we will have an outdoor poolside supper with an entrée choice of ribs and chicken barbecue served from a buffet. With judging over it is a time to relax in an informal environment under the stunning view of nearby Mt. San Jacinto.

Thursday evening is our awards banquet and our judges will recognize those whose cars reflect the best of what the car stands for. Following this Raymond's daughter, Laurence Loewy, will give a presentation.

Laurence, of course, remembers living as a child in Palm Springs and is friends with the current house's owner, Jim Gaudineer. For background on Raymond Loewy, go to: http://www.raymondloewy.org We will enjoy a buffet of turkey with dressing and carved roast beef.

Friday is an important day for special events. Our guided tour of the Palm Springs Air Museum will be at 10 a.m. The Palm Springs Air Museum is a non-profit educational institution whose mission is to exhibit, educate and eternalize the role of the World War II combat aircraft and the role the pilots and American citizens had in achieving this great victory.

In addition to flying aircraft, related artifacts, artwork, and library sources are used to perpetuate American history. Visit them on the Web: http://www.air-museum.org

Friday afternoon is a special show. Something you could not see anywhere else. The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies never fail to please.

The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies is a world-famous, Broadway-caliber celebration of the music, dance, and comedy of the 30's and 40's, with a cast old enough to have lived it. They are currently celebrating their 15th birthday and with this season's theme, Surprise! They'll have plenty of surprises in store! Visit them on the Web: http://www.psfollies.com

On Saturday we will have a led scenic drive for an opportunity for you to see some of the stunning western landscape with your friends with a chance to show the colors by adding to the landscape the beauty of Avantis on the move.

Association meetings

Tuesday at 3 p.m. President Baker will give his state of the association talk. Open to members this will be a chance to ask questions and make observations and see what your elected leaders are up to and where the association is going.

Thursday at 10 a.m. is our board meeting. This probably will last into the afternoon with a break for lunch. Because we urge our members to attend we are not having any other scheduled activates at that time. However we know many prefer to not attend and for them this is a good time to tour and shop on your own. Your meet packet will contain much information on what to see and do in the area.

Friday morning President Baker will host a working breakfast for chapter officers.

Seminars to enhance your knowledge

We have seminars to give you further insight into keeping your Avanti the way you like it. Monday morning Don Lindner will give a presentation on keeping and preservation of memorabilia. Later Dave "The Avanti Kid" Bloomberg, noted for his Bonneville Salt Flats campaigns will speak on high performance racing Avantis. His car will be on display.

Supercharger rebuilder John Erb will be speaking on superchargers. John works in retirement as a consultant to Compressco Field Services, Inc. in motor and compressor design.

He is noted as a foremost expert in his field and is a specialist in supercharger design. He understands the architecture of the vintage Paxton supercharger used in early Avantis and the currently used superchargers in applications today. He is also involved in designing a high output supercharger that virtually doubles the capacity of traditional designs.

In his presentation he will open with discussion on the early Avanti applications and cover other related topics and answer your questions. This will be a 2-hour event.

Canadian chapter founder and retired board member Roland Vardon will be speaking on fine car cleaning and detailing. He gave a presentation at last year's meet and for those serious about keeping your fine cars in the best of condition and appearance, you won't want to miss this.

Historical lectures

A special feature of this meet in keeping with our theme of celebrating the 45th anniversary of the development of the Avanti we have special guest speakers who were associated with the Avanti, Studebaker, Raymond Loewy and automotive design.

C. Orval Selders who retired from General Motors is a former associate of Raymond Loewy. Selders joined the Loewy Studebaker design team in the early 1950's working under Bob Bourke. One of his first design assignments was to work with designer, John Cuccio on a concept car, which was later shown at the Paris Auto Show as Loewy's personal car. It was built on a Jaguar XK-140 chassis. After the departure of Loewy from Studebaker he remained for a while with Studebaker design before moving on to Harley Earl's design team at the new General Motors Technical Center in Warren Michigan.

Today he is a member of the faculty at his alma mater, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Active in his profession he also established Selders Design, a consulting firm serving west coast automotive design studios.

On Friday we will hear from Robert Marcks, a designer who worked with Raymond Loewy before and after the Avanti project. He will present his ideas of where Studebaker could have gone had they remained in the automotive business.

Marcks is noted for being part of the last design firm to work for Studebaker. They were responsible for the 1966 Studebaker interior and exterior design changes. They were working on more dramatic changes for the 1967 models when Studebaker stopped production.

On their own they were working on future designs with a heritage theme incorporating designs reflecting the 1953 and Avanti design elements. Bob will have illustrations of some of these.

We will be posting updated information on the Web so check our pages. We are still working on final details of this event to give you a truly memorable event you will long remember.