Car Show Raises Money For Shriners

Sagar Shah, owner of the Berlin Days Inn, is such a fan of classic automobiles that he decided to offer his hotel to the New England Olds Club for their 15th Annual All Oldsmobile Car Show.

Sunday, the hotel parking lot on the Berlin Turnpike, was packed with around 140 Oldsmobiles of all ages from New England and New York.  “This show is our main event,” New England Olds Club president Glen Morris said.  “Mr. Shah and his staff couldn’t have been more accommodating.

“We’ve been proudly supporting the Shriners Hospitals for Children for 15 years, with our donations averaging about $1,000-per-show.

Berlin was well represented by Roger Misiaszek’s 1970 Cutlass Holiday Coupe, and the Wantek family, who had two cars on show – a 1972 Cutlass S and a 1969 Cutlass S.  Misiaszek debuted his car over the winter at the 52nd Annual Frank Marratta Show and took home the prestigious Best In Show Award.

Bill Black made the trip from Guilford in a 1970 Cutlass Supreme convertible that has a distinct baseball connection.  George Weiss, the original owner of the car, was the first president of the New York Mets and a former general manager of the Yankees.

Southington’s Jeff Walsh arrived in what he proudly said was his father’s Oldsmobile, a 1985 Delta 88 Brougham with 229,000 miles on it.  “My dad was the first owner.  He bought the car from the Alderman showroom in Meriden in March of 1986.  He passed the car to me when I was learning to drive.  He wanted me to have something big and safe.  I became the second owner in 1998 and drove the car fulltime until 2001.  Since then, I put on 2,000 to 3,000 miles-a-year.”

Yves and Nicole Jacques displayed their rare Hurst/Olds hardtop with sunroof.  H/O collaborated for just 629 special-edition performance versions of the 442 in 1972.  The Jacques’ car is a striking cameo white with firefrost gold reflective decals.  The production run resulted in 279 hardtops, 130 convertibles and 220 hardtops with sunroofs.

Paul White, owner of Back Bay Customs, made the journey from Portland, ME with two cars.  The red 1953 convertible is a “project belonging to my son.  About three years ago, I built the 1949 maroon 88 Olds.  It’s been all over the country.

With the success of the well-attended event, let’s hope that this will be the first of many stagings of this annual Oldsmobile jamboree in Berlin.