Who Showed Us Their Parts at Hershey and Carlisle?

The saying is, “if you can’t find it at Hershey, you won’t find it anywhere,” and that was true of the 2007 event, held by the Hershey Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America in Hershey, Pa., Oct. 10-13.

A Roamer in the swap area. A Duesenberg in the car corral. And handfuls of other parts found by Old Cars Weekly readers proved that there’s more than chocolate treasures in the land of Hershey Kisses. Many of these readers’ parts are featured in the Swap Meet Showdown contest results further down in this story..

Mother Nature did some kissing of her own and kept the traditional Hershey rains down to a single day of the event. The remainder of the event sported clear skies and sunny days, which benefit the jam-packed car show on Saturday. There was not a cloud to fear in the sky, and few exhibitors feared bringing out their custom-bodied Lincolns and driver-quality machines to the grassy show field adjacent to the new Orange Field.

Among the beauties to be found was Old Cars Weekly reader Ele Chesney’s spectacular Minerva town car, which Chesney purchased many years ago from her friend Tom Lester. And when Chesney shows a car, she does it right: before showing a car, she paints her nails to match the car’s paint! At Hershey, she sported silver nail color to complement the Minerva.

Also spotted in the show field was a bevy of 1956 Chrysler Corp. convertibles, as well as a beautiful custom-bodied 1932 Ford convertible victoria built in Europe.

Roamers could be equipped with six-cylinder Continental engines or four-cylinder Duesenberg engines, at extra cost. Apparently, two Duesenberg engines were available in Roamers, and this one sports the larger 81-hp unit. The owner said around five or six Roamers are known to exist, but only one of them was offered at Hershey — this unrestored by running car, offered at $68,000.

As beautiful as these cars were, two unrestored stars could be found in the swap meet and car corral, not too far from the show field. Among those was a 1921-’22 Roamer touring car with a second windshield and a 84-hp, 341-cid four-cylinder Rochester Duesenberg engine. The car was very complete and looking for someone to restore it to its former glory.

This largely original, 8,000-mile 1959 Thunderbird found its third owner during Hershey. The car sported its original white paint and complementing turquoise interior and convertible top.

Another unrestored car looking for a new home was brought by the owner of an 8,000-mile 1959 Thunderbird. He drove his car from Pittsburgh to sell it at Hershey after buying it 42 years earlier from the original owner. At that time, the car sported 5,000 miles and a soul had never sat in the backseat.

“I kept it in a garage most of its life, but I have two other cars I use more often than this one,” he said. “That’s why I’m here to sell this one. I didn’t get much use out of it.”

The Colonial White Thunderbird also wore its original turquoise top and nearly all of its matching turquoise and white interior. It was special-ordered by the original owner and was a late arrival.

“When the person bought it new, it came in with the first load of 1960 Thunderbirds, because of the special [order].” Now, the sold Thunderbird is going to a private collection in Ohio.

Great cars with great history are common at Hershey. Though AACA membership is not required to attend Fall Hershey, an effort of the club’s Hershey Region, the club offers many other similar automotive adventures and tales, and a fine publication throughout the year. For more information, go to www.aaca.org to learn more.

Who Showed Us Their Parts At Hershey and Carlisle?

Many readers stopped by our trailers at the Fall Carlisle and Hershey shows, showed us their parts and were entered in out random contest to win a Meguiar’s detail kit, Old Cars Weekly 2008 calendar and a copy of Tad Burness’ “American Car Spotter’s Bible!”

Rob Williams of Boise, ID showed us his parts at Hershey and was selected as this year's winner.

Scroll down to check out some of the great finds at this year's swap meets.

Mike and Scott Balogh found not one but two parts for a 1927 Chandler Royal 8 sedan: a windshield wiper motor and a rear interior quarter lamp housing.
Larry Fogar deals with headlamp and taillamp lenses, as well as automotive mirrors, and found two lamps at Hershey. Readers can view his other finds at www.oldcarlenses.com.
Reader Jim Neuhar holds a seat of 1955-’56 Ford Crown Victoria “tiara” trim he found for a song in the Hershey swap meet.

Reader Alan D. Yerdon found several treasures in the Hershey swap meet. He’s holding an engine crank and bumper jack, and his cart is packed with 1940 Chevrolet rear leaf springs.

Larry A. Burridge has been searching for years for a 1938 Dodge Brothers sedan instrument panel, and finally found one at Hershey 2007. The part is unique to 1938 Dodge Brothers models. Burridge also has a Model A, a vehicle that is much easier to find parts for.

Holding up a 1955 Chevrolet radiator support is reader Jim Aubry. The part looks like it will clean up very nicely for a driver or even a show car.

This beautiful pair of C.T. Ham brass side lamps for a 1908 White Steamer were found in the Hershey swap meet by Rob Williams.

Dave Herrman was smart and wore a hat denoting his marque of choice. Perhaps it helped him find this taillamp housing for a 1933 Reo.