Report on FABAC June Meeting

      The magnificent Riverside Grill & Bar near the damn dam was the site of June's dinner/meeting.

With the condition of the damn dam's bridge in question, many folks made long and circuitous paths around it only to find later that it was indeed open. *sigh*

  Gary opened the meeting part as per usual.

• Johanna was thanked for arranging the evening's venue.
• 19 cars showed up at the recent Father's Day outing at Shannex.  It was an enjoyable event and there was a good bit of talk about making this an annual event for the group.
• Ernst V. gave a long turn-by-turn playback of the recent tour around Cape Breton with John D.  Of particular interest was his description of 'tourist' roads (according to Tourism NS) that were potholed messes and devoid of gas stations.  They sound like good spots to avoid.
• Ernst is also chatting with folks in the Hartland and Centerville area about a possible visit.
• Gary mentioned an upcoming show in Rusagonis.
• Everyone was reminded about the weekly car gatherings in downtown Freddie affectionately known as 'Freddie Beach'.
• Bruce again talked about an event in Harvey as the pub nears completion..
• The gentlemen in the club are reminded of Joe's ongoing tie challenge.  We're encouraged to wear one to the monthly meetings with points given for originality.  This 'ties' in with Joe's extensive collection of Beatles themed ties.  Points are also earned for successfully identifying the song alluded to on his tie.
•  Next months dinner is tentatively scheduled for Dimitri's on Queen Street.  The upper terrace is now open.

  Rob E.

FABAC June Meeting

When: June 18th at 5:30
Where: Riverside Grill & Bar (near Mactaquac Dam)

Hoping for top-down weather.

John and Ernst's Great Adventure

 Chapter one:

So far, no rain. We are having a great trip.

Chapter Two:

We are just getting back now after driving 2010 km round-trip. The roads were not bad. The only problem with Nova Scotia is that small towns have no gas stations. We were driving anywhere from 125 to 230 km Per gas station. If we were to let the gas gauge go below a1/4 of a tank.I learned mistake just after leaving Amherst  with an 1/4 a tank and only a gallon of fuel. Not knowing that there are no gas stations from Amherst to Pugwash. As they were either out of business or out of gas themselves. We met up with a vintage Car Club from Antigonish. They were driving from Port Hawkesbury NS to Canso NS. All and all we had a wonderful trip . 

Cheers,

Ernst and John

Great Event

   Just wanted to say thanks for organizing today's Shannex event. It's always nice showing the cars to the general public but today's experience was special. Those seniors that came by to see our cars, at least the ones I spoke with, were genuinely happy to see us and expressed that by sharing their own memories, their smiles and just generally happiness to see all of us. It was a "feel good" experience today for everyone. Thanks for making that happen.

    Gary   

I was happy to do it and had great satisfaction seeing so many FABACians participating in the event. Even the weather cooperated.

- David

And here's a ton of great photos from Beth D.

 Thanks, David, for organizing the car show at Shannex for Father's Day.  It was a lovely day and a great turnout.

Beth and Chris    

P.S.  We visited the "experimental farm" in Lincoln after to enjoy the beautiful rhododendron flowers.

Great turnout for our Shannex car display

Thanks to all who were able to make our display a success. The residents loved it! 

Thanks to Stephen W. for providing beautiful photos of beautiful automobiles.

If any of you have photos you would like to share, send them along to me. 

theoldfiddler@gmail.com

UPDATE: Waiting for an update from Shannex

11:05 UPDATE:

The updated weather looks MUCH better so all should be good for this afternoon. Check here before leaving home in case there's a change. Looking forward to seeing a nice collection of FABAC cars.

Earlier today:

The weather does not look at all good for our planned FABAC car display this afternoon. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the organizers soon—maybe they have a plan B that might work. 

Check back here for updates.

Cheers, 

David

This should interest FABACians

I was asked if our club would be interested in going to this car show on July 12. I told the person that I would pass it on and see if members would be interested in attending. I am planning on going for something to do. 

Cheers 

John D.

Austin Mini project car for quick sale//UPDATE: SOLD

    I am looking for help with my son’s 1978(?) Austin Mini project car.  My son had been lovingly rebuilding this car for over 10 years.  He died in April 2024 leaving his treasured car.  His property has been sold and we have to move his car by June 13.  

    My other son said, "I packed as much of the mini parts as I could find and what would fit, into the Mini. The only part that could not be placed inside the car is the exhaust pipe - which is a long, blue pipe that is as long as the car itself, and is currently in the garage there.
"The parts that I moved into the vehicle include the tires, seats, rear trunk lid, the window glass, dashboard wiring harnesses, etc. The engine and steering gear is already installed on the vehicle. Note that the tires are in the car, not mounted on the car."

The car is in Porter Cove, New Brunswick.

Cape Breton trip June 2025

Here is a trip Ernst and I are planning for my birthday.

• Day one Thursday June 12. Drive from Fredericton, NB to Cheticamp NS 635 km around seven hours driving spend the night Cornerstone Motel in Cheticamp. 1(902)224-3232              
• Day two Friday June 13 . Drive take Rte 30 Englishtown NS. Then take the Ferry to North Sydney on to Rte 125E to Sydney then Rte 22 S to Louisbourg around 331 Km approximately hours driving time 4 1/2 hours Spending the night in Louisbourg at The Fortress Inn 1(902)733-2844. 
• Day three Saturday, June 14 driving from to Louisbourg NS on Rte4 W to Port Hawkesbury on Rte 16 S to Canso NS . Continue on route 16 S.to Isaac Nova Scotia. Then take Rte 374 S to Sheet Harbour around 519Km around 6hr driving time. Spending the night in Sheet Harbor at Fairwinds Motel 1(902)885-2502                      
• Day four Sunday, June 15 Sheet Harbour Nova Scotia on Rte 224 W to Upper Musquoboit Harbour on to Truro on Rte 289W. Then on Rte 2 the Glooscap trail to Parrsborro NS and Spring Hill on Goosecap trail onto Amherst Nova Scotia. Amherst NS to Moncton taking route 106. Moncton to Salisbury New Brunswick taking the Coles Island cut off back to Fredericton. Driving around 500km and approximately six hours driving time.

- John D.

Keep an eye on Chinese car manufacturing

They are quickly and quietly planning to take over the industry. Here is a small quote from an interesting article in Wired magazine with the heading 'Auto Shanghai 2025 Wasn’t Just a Car Show. It Was a Warning to the West':

It’s easy to credit Beijing’s massive investment in China’s nascent auto sector as a prime contributor to its success. But China’s closing of the gap to, and in many cases overtaking, US and European carmakers isn’t due to cash and copying alone. Just as the Japanese and Korean brands did before them, the Chinese have hired smartly.

Luxury sedan maker Hongqi took on Rolls-Royce design head Giles Taylor as its own global vice president of design in 2018. Similarly, Bentley design chief Stefam Sielaff headed to Geely in 2021, while 2024 saw Jozef Kaban—whose pencil gave us the era-defining Bugatti Veyron—swap Audi for MG, a part of Chinese giant SAIC. Stellantis UK managing director Maria Grazia Davino moved to BYD that same year, and JuanMa Lopez, who spent a decade as head of exterior design at Ferrari, moved to Xpeng.

- David

Report on May Meeting

      Our  May-hem (did j'ya see what I did there?) on the 21st of May was at the Carnation Restaurant in Oromocto, always a favourite with us.   We had a bumper crowd which the facility had no problem accommodating.

1) It seems that the gentlemen of FABAC have taken to wearing ties to the meetings.  Not only do we look sophisticated, we get to figure out which Beatles song is represented by Joe's tie. This month (I won it) it was:

Yes, I'm gonna be a star

Baby, you can drive my car

And maybe I'll love you

Beep beep...beep beep Yaaa!   

and don't tell me you didn't sing it to yourself as you read the lyrics.  He has over 40 of them (the ties) so better start boning up on Beatles songs.  

2) There's a call to have cars visit Shannex on or near Father's day.  David N is organizing this excursion and further info will appear on the site. 

3) The lovely and talented John D. has a trip to the Island soon.  As always, info will appear here. 

4) June 7th will see a car show in Hoyt. 

5) Sandy-n-Larry suggested a weekday late-lunch trip to the Doaktown Bistro.  I assume it's near Doaktown. 

6) The Wednesday evening car gatherings, affectionally known as 'Freddie Beach', are starting this week. 

7) Our next meeting/dinner in June will be at the Mactaquac Lodge on the 18th of June.      

From the rumour mill—Johanna and Bruce were sighted at the Cabin today (26th).  Now that they're back, can the McMillans be far behind?

       Rob E.

Updated details on the Father's Day Car display at Shannex

An interesting variety of automobiles representing FABAC. Residents from Regent, Governor and Brunswick Halls will all have an opportunity to view the cars.

Date: June 12th

Time: 2:00 to 4:00pm

Place: lower parking lot—first on the left. Parkland Fredericton. (Shannex south side) 55 Patience Lane

Click for larger view

Please mark your calendars. We had a great representation of FABAC vehicles at the last one we did at Eden's Retirement Villa on the north side—TR6, Corvette, Sunbeam Alpine, Morgan, Spitfire, TR3, Jaguar, MGB and a Marcos!

Photos from the last one:

 

Father’s Day British Car Show

Perhaps this idea could be discussed at breakfast and/or meeting next week: I had a request for a Father’s Day British Car Show (Small scale) at Parkland Fredericton (Shannex) sometime during the week of Father’s Day (Afternoon or Evening). Suggestions for best day and time and how many would be interested in showing their car to the residents there.

- David

Meeting/dinner/food fight.

Next week on the 21st at 5:30 PM, our monthly meetup and dinner will be at the Carnation Restaurant in Oromocto.   We've been there twice(?) before and have always enjoyed it.  One advantage is that there's lots of room.

See ya there!
 Rob E.