SPRING 04 COUPEFEST CAPADES
A Humorous Story by Ellen D.Ruck and her CoupeFesters
Saturday, June 26th marked the occasion of
East Coast Spring 04 CoupeFest, a gathering of six beautiful SEC Coupe cars
representing three states of the core group Delaware Valley.
Although technically now summer, it took over three months of planning
since late March to bring together an interested focus group willing to commit
to attendance. Rallye
Mistress Ellen D. Ruck and her concours Show Car toy Star Cruiser had
arranged a Caravan Driving Rallye, Goody Bags, Country Inn Dinner, and Surprises
for 5 brave CoupeFesters. On a
bright and sunny afternoon at 1 PM sharp Chet & Win Hwilka in their awesome
black Coupemobile followed us to Chubb Park in rural Chester, NJ to meet and
greet the other CoupeFesters. David
Veith of NJ, a senior mechanic technician at Prestige Mercedes-Benz in Paramus,
NJ showed up next with his younger son Chris in their near mint smoke silver
560. Next car in was the cabernet
cruiser of Markus and Nancy Meyer of PA, and after a small hiatus, Matt Mahoney
of Mass sailed in, also in a smoke silver car, not to be outdone.
Last but not least was Dick Spellman of Mass., also driving solo, who was
late because he wanted to see the animals on the Chester farm and wash his car,
or so he told us. We shook hands
and exchanged hugs, and after debriefing of Rallye driving
instructions, which no one listened to, we set off 2 PM in the westward
direction conga line style with Star Cruiser in the lead.
Dick was fascinated with the plastic Porta Potty house and the rest of
the CoupeFesters were gleefully rummaging in their Goody Bags to see how many
candy bars fit in a Mercedes-Benz boutique sack.
The Rallye cover sheet warned the CoupeFesters to be
aware of “animals, deer, children, and the like” and sure enough, twice
within the first five miles, two deer dashed out of the thick
undergrowth in front of the lead SEC. We
narrowly avoided hitting them in broad daylight and Matt, driving as Car No. 2,
was thinking venison might taste good right now.
Chet and Win driving Back Door claimed to see nothing but a sea of tail
light lenses. Matt, as a matter of
fact, had no idea this was a driving rallye where you answer questions and only
supplied 2 feeble answers to the 100 questions provided.
He mentioned at dinner he was kind of wondering why David kept hitting
the brakes and pointing at things. Markus
and Nancy, on the other hand, took the rallye very seriously.
Within the first few minutes they were already arguing where was the
black and white cat, when Nancy really meant to say, the black and white CAR,
but by that time, opportunity passed by for a correct answer and the bickering
started. For this very reason, the cars are equipped with Black Box flight
recorders, so we can play back the marital quibbling for laughs at dinner.
Chet & Win quickly earned the title SmartyPants, having had prior
practice at such rallyes. Dick
amazed us all. Driving solo, he not
only managed to spill coffee on his pants and clean it up, avoid rear ending the
frequently braking David, but also filled in many of the right answers in
legible handwriting while talking on the cell phone.
And so the pleasant rallye meandered through some of New
Jersey’s most historic and scenic backroads as the afternoon wore on!
At one point we snaked spiral style down a twisty road to a stop sign
creating a most striking helix of desirable SEC’s as the CoupeFesters searched
for Bruce Springsteen’s farm “Born to Run”.
What a perfect way to spend a day!
By 4:30 we crossed the border into Montana.
Yes, there IS a Montana, New Jersey, and it is home to the very scenic
and private Merrill Creek Reservoir.
Here we pulled uphill to take in the panoramic vista, stretch our legs,
uncramp our fingers (either from gripping the steering wheel on the switchbacks,
or rallye pen cramp), and loot our Goody Bags a bit more.
Keeping an eye to my watch, we had one hour yet to drive to graze Bucks
County PA per the Rallye route, so I called out for the CoupeFesters to angle
park their Stars for a photo
shoot. There is a tradition at SEC meets that someone will always
break down and experience mechanical difficulties, and
right here, in the most remote part of NJ as the sun was setting, Markus decided
it would be his turn. No amount of
cranking would turn the car over. Ironically
on arrival, David flipped his hood open to let his car breathe and cool off, and
the Park Ranger asked us if everything was alright.
We assured him we were just fine, and the minute he departed, Markus was
immobilized. The SEC men gathered
under the hood to confer and speculate and deliver last rites, when David
discovered quickly that the distributor was fried to a toasty
crisp, likely the culprit. The
diagnosis was fine, but where to get an OEM MBz distributor and rotor at closing
time on a Saturday in a part of NJ more populated by bears than people? Chet proved the point of replacement by offering up his as a
demo swap to start the disabled cabernet car, whereupon Markus tried to hop in
and take off and we had to hold him back. The phone call to MBz rescue
dispatched out of Allentown wasn’t the best option and we debated several
ideas until Fred sorted out a brilliant idea.
We all could return to Chester, where Star Cruiser would donate her
organs in a life-giving transplant to help out a fellow species. The group flew the Coupes, no pun intended, low and fast back
to Ellen’s house where Dr. Perry removed the distributor surgically using
camping lantern light. The hallowed
distributor was ceremoniously placed in Fred’s Range Rover HSE to transport it
quickly via Land Rover navigation system back to the reservoir while Ellen took
the ladies and other guys to the restaurant.
Peeling back the cover of her 14k miles 1991 Double Black 560SEL as an
alternate getaway car, Matt asked on the spot to be adopted, and if this was not
possible, I might find him snuggled next to the tires later that night.
By darkfall Fred and Markus arrived at The Tewksbury Inn to
join us for dinner, where I was enjoying my drink intravenously following such
excitement.
Ahhhhhh, dinner, time to relax,
finally!
But there was something strange with the CoupeFest men.
Chet and Fred showed up in matching outfits, Markus wanted to take Fred
to the reservoir to see if they “could get it on”, and Matt and Dick decided
to split a check and eat oysters, known as aphrodisiacs in some circles.
What gives?
It was time to score the Rallye sheets, or “tests” as
Nancy called them. We decided to
weight the scores since two CoupeFesters had to drive solo without a Seat Cover,
and over cocktails, we conjectured over appropriate factors for each couple as a
team effort. Lively conversation
flowed easily seasoned with much laughter as we decided the fate of each
CoupeFester. We gave Dick points
for handling the coffee spill, having long hair,
and driving solo, but had to deduct for not following invtitational
directions of having a full gas tank at kick off, and for this, he earned First
Place. You might want to ask
Dick offline what kind of wine he won as a
prize. Surprisingly, Nancy
& Markus came in second.
A whopping ten points was deducted for Distributor Failure, but I added
some points back on as Matching Blood Type, in case I ever want my OEM part back
again. Matt kind of figured he’d
be last, but nonetheless was bolstered by youngest age, arrival even in the face
of home emergency, and loudest stereo, so he eaked Third
Place admirably despite the odds. Chet
& Win were both Birthday Grand Prize Winners and we celebrated with double
black 040 chocolate fudge cupcakes I had baked at
midnight prior. We parted fine company at 11:30 PM with hugs and kisses outside
under the stars.
CoupeFest 04.........you shouldda been there..........it
was a BLAST!
Photos courtesy of Chet, quality dependent on alcohol
intake.
-----Ellen D. Ruck
Spring CoupeFest 2004
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Ellen flags everyone in to Chubb Park, Saturday 1:00-1:30. |
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We get our packages and get ready to leave at 2pm.
(lf-rt) David & Chris Veith, Dick Spellman, Markus & Nancy Meyer,
Fred Perry & wife Ellen Ruck, Mathew Mahoney, Win Hwilka (Chet's
taking the picture) |
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Hacking our way through the bush of Morris County..:) |
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Looking for the Cow-Whale hybrid.. |
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Stop for photos at the Reservoir. |
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Markus, honey, what do you mean the car won't start!!! |
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Ya, better stand back, she could blow.. (photo courtesy Dick
Spellman) |
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Distributor cap coil post was burnt off. It's just setting loose
there now. |
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Which car has the broken cap? (photo courtesy Dick Spellman) |
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Markus we're with you... |
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Finally, all together again. After Fred & Markus went back to
the reservoir to install Ellen's distributor cap into Markus' car.. |
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Rallye 3rd Place Matt Mohoney |
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Rallye 2nd Place Markus & Nancy Meyer |
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Rallye 1st Place Dick Spellman |
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Happy Birthday Win & Chet with Ellen delicious cupcakes... |
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