Road Trip

[Harry]

1966 230SL.

Just a comment to reinforce a comment that is frequently made on this forum.  My wife and I took a 3 hour trip to Blowing Rock NC over the past couple of days and the performance of this car was remarkable.  Clearly, running these cars on the highway for prolonged periods of time is vastly rewarding and leaves the owner with a renewed appreciation of the quality and engineering they comprise.  I maintained an interstate speed of about 70 MPH (about 4000 RPM) and it was truly a remarkable drive.  I think the further we went, the better the car ran.  I believe the extended amount of time on the road was healthy for the vehicle and gave it the opportunity to "stretch it's legs" and just get really settled out.
The time on the Blueridge Parkway was "wow".  Breathtaking views and a grand time in the seat.  Once we were out of the 95 deg F Knoxville temperatures and high humidity, we actually had to turn the A/C down.
And a last word about Blowing Rock - I highly recommend this drive to any classic car owner.  The drive is spectacular and the town is so very nice.  Might be a great venue for a Pagoda Fest!
Cheers,
Harry

[mdsalemi]

And a last word about Blowing Rock - I highly recommend this drive to any classic car owner.  The drive is spectacular and the town is so very nice.  Might be a great venue for a Pagoda Fest!

Hi Harry, and thanks for the recommendation. One challenge in planning any event is the locale, then the venue within the locale. I'm just 65 miles from Blowing Rock, and many of the nice western NC mountain destinations. That would be the Appalachian (APP - A - LATCH - EN) mountains of which the Blue Ridge is one range. We have the Asheville area on a potential planning horizon. Also on a potential planning is a technical event in the Detroit area. Charleston, SC has also been considered.

Before settling on any location, we have to ask: Can we attract enough people? Where's the best place to attract the most? We fell short of a normally full attendance (125) at PagodaFest Chicago. Was it the location? (it sure was central and very easy to get to by car or plane). Maybe the PagodaFests with a goal of 125 registered attendees is too much? Maybe we need to "right size" the events to a smaller goal? These are real questions to which I do not have the answers.

We do know this...any event location really needs to have some "boots on the ground" local members because there is a LOT of legwork in the area for planning activities within the event. We pulled a few members here together to spread out these tasks for Chicago. We would need the same for any location. We also need a "champion" for the location. JonnyB was that for PagodaFest in San Diego. Frank K for Chicago. Tom Sargeant for Charlottesville. They were also supported by a team, as this is NOT a one-person effort.

[zoegrlh]

I agree with Michael, these events are not one man operations, and I agree that maybe the projected attendance numbers should be reduced. The event in Williamsburg P-50, was projected for 50-75 attendees, which was met. Hotel was accommodating for that number, and the activities were an easy fit. As the BOD voted back the. To plan events regionally each year (ie. North, South, East, West and cities in between. Tom had the last regional event on the east coast PUB event at Charlottesville, Va. also I would think that the summers are much too hot these days and maybe a fall event/ or events should be planned.

[mdsalemi]

Yes, September/October seems to be a good time anywhere. Family vacations are in the past, weather is generally a bit cooler. Hence the last days of September were chosen for the Chicago Event.

[Harry]

Thanks all.  I think targeting smaller gatherings would be much more beneficial and fun to attend.  They are more manageable and provide a better environment for camaraderie.  Plus, any group drives become much easier to execute.  For me personally, just having a gathering of 10 - 15 cars with owners would be ideal and provide better opportunities to meet each other and talk cars.
Perhaps this information is already available so I apologize if it is but I wonder what the demographics are for our membership?  For instance, how many owners are there in a fifty mile radius of Knoxville, TN?  I know that I RARELY see another Pagoda on the roads of East Tennessee, which leads me to believe that any community in this locale must be sparse.

Harry

[BobH]

Hello Harry, if you look at the members list, click on location, then click on the arrow next to location, it will bring all USA members to the first pages.  You can then click on the page numbers until you reach TN, i found several members in Knoxville, and more in TN generally, but i don't know how close these are to you, and whether some of these members are still active

[Lorsar]

To add to Bob's suggestion. Click search members and then select location.  Search USA, TN 

It's best to do this on a PC or tablet but it you use your phone, just turn it sideways

[rwmastel]

My wife and I took a 3 hour trip to Blowing Rock NC over the past couple of days and the performance of this car was remarkable.  Clearly, running these cars on the highway for prolonged periods of time is vastly rewarding and leaves the owner with a renewed appreciation of the quality and engineering they comprise.  I maintained an interstate speed of about 70 MPH (about 4000 RPM) and it was truly a remarkable drive.  I think the further we went, the better the car ran.  I believe the extended amount of time on the road was healthy for the vehicle and gave it the opportunity to "stretch it's legs" and just get really settled out.  The time on the Blueridge Parkway was "wow".  Breathtaking views and a grand time in the seat. 

Harry,

Regarding the majority of your post, I'm glad you had a great trip in your 230SL.  I look forward to doing the same next year, to Pagoda Fest or maybe a 25th wedding anniversary trip in the Pagoda.

If it's in your budget, you should probably look to replace your 4.08 differential with a Euro 3.75 (I have that) or some similar ratio that will drop your RPMs down some on the highway.