Youth wanted
BUTLER TWP— The local chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America could adopt the Volkswagen slogan with slight modifications.
"Drivers wanted." Young ones.
The Butler Old Stone House Region group of about 30 members still visits nursing homes and makes the parade circuit. When something breaks, someone knows how to fix it. And when a car needs to make it to the Fall Festival, someone knows how to double clutch the 1922 Standard 8 Vestibule sedan down the street.
But that might not always be the case, said club secretary Mary Etta White.
With the average age members climbing, the club wants to get more younger people involved so people will know how to drive the vehicles in the future.
Putting a 1909 Huselton on the road isn't like jumping in the seat of an automatic sports car, members say. The vehicles are extremely valuable, difficult to start and steer, and worse to stop.
The Standard, a one-of-a-kind enclosed vehicle, has so much momentum that putting the clutch in doesn't immediately slow the car.
"Panic stops in this vehicle are not recommended,"Lee Bortmas of Butler said.
That doesn't mean they can't get moving though. Bortmas said he had the Huselton going about 70 mph on Route 422. But he wouldn't know exactly how fast he was going: The only thing on the dash is a peephole that lets the driver see the oil level.
The Standard is a little more like the modern dash. It has an odometer, clock and an engine temperature gauge.
To find drivers who can make the temperamental vehicles traverse a parade route, the club recently held a driver's training session at the Butler Farm Show grounds. About 10 members showed up to ride and enjoy the cars.Drivers don't have to own an antique car to join, White said. "As long as they love the cars, that's all that matters."People who would like to drive can learn to crank-start either the Huselton or Standard.The Standard was purchased by the club from a private owner in Gattlinburg, Tenn. The Huselton was donated to the city, which remains the owner. The club is in charge of storing, maintaining, and driving."We'd like to have younger people drive them because they're the future," White said.The club began its future in 1964 when some people who liked the old cars got together to fill out the paperwork and become an official chapter.Four years later, the club had its first show. Along the way, the group acquired the vehicles and added annual events.Last winter, the Standard needed to be restored and the members pulled together and overhauled it.Member Jim Pastorius of Butler said while you can't get parts from a store for either of the unique vehicles, there is usually someone in the group who knows someone who can make the part.One part was produced after a similar vehicle was found at the Frick Art Museum.The steering wheel was removed and a duplicate made to fit the club's car.Another part was custom made by a plant in Meadville.Now the car can zoom, or at least move more smoothly than expected for an 80-year-old car.Some members just hope the cars will maintain their presence as younger drivers emerge from the club.
<b>What: </b>Butler Old Stone House Region of AACA<b>Where: </b>Butler Farm Show building<b>When: </b>7:30 p.m. fourth Thursday of the month<b>Cost: </b>$8 annual dues, $30 national dues<b>Contact: </b>Jean Schweikart, 98 Marion Drive, Butler PA 16001
