"Teamwork" is the word of the day

“Teamwork” is the word of the day. When the unexpected happens despite great planning, good teams come together to make the best of things and create new opportunities.

That’s what the LeMay-ACM Gang did today when, after heading south out of Boston, we had a breakfast of Famous Gray's Ice Cream (black raspberry and coffee chip the biggest sellers) just before a tire blew on the trailer and Dale Wickell had his first chance to come to our rescue. Tire replaced, it was on to Newport, R.I. to get the 1917 Crane-Simplex a little air along the beautiful Newport Ocean Drive.

Famous Gray's Ice Cream - Serving since before David Madeira was born!

Dale Wickell working his magic on our blown trailer tire

After overcoming a bit of navigational dizziness in Newport and pull-starting the Crane, we ventured along what has to be some of the most beautiful coastline in the country. Things were shaping up pretty well as we made it into Jamestown, RI for lunch at Chompmist Charlies and a rendezvous with David’s cousin Holly as well as several enthusiasts who dusted off their 60 Cadillac, 49 Chevy 5-window pickup and 61 Chevy SS to come see us.

The Drive Home II cars along Newport RI Ocean Drive

More opportunity to make the best of things then came again when Bill Hall reported the Chrysler 300G’s brakes were toast. At that point, Dale said he hated to further disappoint us but that the Chrysler’s brake pads were only made for three years and extremely hard to find. Then, with barely a blink, Bill messaged contacts at the national Chrysler 300 Club and – voila – within 20 minutes we received word that a fella a short distance away in Little Compton, RI had a set we could buy.

At that point, Dale cornered a passing car enthusiast to ask if he knew of a garage where we could lift the Chrysler, and – again, voila – our newest friend Robin Foote said he had a garage and hoist we could use. While David and Holly chased down the new pads, the rest of us descended upon Robin’s garage to watch Dale check the front drums (all good there) and adjust the rear ones.

Dale Wickell applies his expertise to the Chrysler's brakes

 Nothing appeared too amiss, so we baled back into the caravan of vehicles and drove about three hours to downtown Manhattan and the Lexington Hotel. (BTW, I was once again bestowed the honor of driving the 57 Nomad and what a kick it was to take it all the way into the Big Apple.) As I write this, a very long day is ending at midnight and we have a 5:30 a.m. departure time for a series of interviews with a local Fox news affiliate in Brooklyn at 6:15 a.m. Oh, and we still have brake problems but there’s no question we’ll figure out a way to overcome them tomorrow.

What a day, and what a team! #pullingtogether  #creatingopportunityfromcalamity  #thelemayacmteamrocks   

PS: About that Hurst T-handle I mentioned yesterday. In the era of my youth, a Hurst shifter was a true status symbol of muscle car-dom. If you couldn’t afford the actual shifter, you settled for the T-handle, a finely machined silver work of art that felt glorious in the palm of your hand – no matter what shifter it was on. And the T-handle was an item so coveted that it was often stolen before your 8-track tape player if you left your doors unlocked. Well, the T-handle still feels glorious and, as silly as it sounds, one of the highlights of the trip so far is my reunion with it.