March 17th certainly wasn't a nice warm "spring" morning. When we gathered at the Old Spaghetti Factory to start our day it was down-right cold (well at least pretty cool). From there we used the Ross Island Bridge to cross the Willamette River to view Howard Freedman's personal car collection. With the weather as threatening as it was only a couple of Classic Thunderbirds were present for the day. Mr. Freedman's collection has 15 cars and is quite an eclectic collection. A very rare Kaiser Dragon greets you as you walk in the door. A red 1959 Thunderbird is part of the collection as is the pick-up version of a Chevy HHR. We learned that the pick-up version is very different from the standard panel truck version. Rather than a wimpy little 4 cylinder engine this vehicle sits on top of a Corvette chassis and engine.
After Mr. Freedman gave us information on each of the cars we enjoyed some snacks that he provided. Then we headed off for Carver and the Stone Cliff Inn. At the restaurant we had the entire upstairs section. We had 26 at the collection and even though at least 4 could not go to the restaurant more joined us and we had 28 there for lunch. With only one cook (for the entire restaurant) and only one server for us the service was amazingly fast and accurate. This was at least the 4th time we have eaten there and we have always had great service.
In the photos below note our host Mr. Freedman (in a white sweater) addressing the group. We owe John Calkin a big Thank You for putting this event together.