It has been a very busy winter for your President, with many interesting moments, many good and a few not, but worth relating nonetheless. Sadly, in the last few months our field has suffered several significant losses with the passing of J. D. Nethercutt, Phillip Harms and Charles “Chuck” Davis. In the case of the first gentleman, many of you will doubtless have seen obituaries and memorial statements concerning this enthusiast’s magnificent collection, which he willingly shared with the public. I never met him, but had seen his California museum and was duly awed by the variety and quality of the vehicles he acquired during his lifetime. His legacy will live on at the museum and in its marvelous resources for the automotive historian.

Far less well known was Phil Harms, a quiet individual who had a fine career as an aerospace engineer and who died quite unexpectedly but a few months after his retirement. Phil’s passion was for gathering automobile racing statistics and photographs. Hardly anyone who has done serious research in that field for the last twenty-five years did not know of his excellent compilations of American and foreign racing statistics, many of which are now available on the internet. His knowledge of events and personalities was encyclopedic, as was his superb collection of photographs documenting automotive competition from its inception to the present. Numerous books have been illustrated with the treasure trove of images he amassed in many years of enthusiasm for the sport. Sadly, I visited with Phil last year and I remember how eagerly he was looking forward to having more time to pursue his hobby. His loss will be deeply felt by all of us who made use of his expertise.

Charles F. “Chuck” Davis was not exactly what most of us would call an automotive historian. His true love was ferreting out and reassembling the remains of magnificent racing cars. Chuck was best known for his incredible persistence in recreating the legacy of Harry Miller, America’s eccentric genius whose racing machines were fantastic in their day and even now remain the true jewels of “The Golden Age” of American racing. Chuck’s loss was a very personal one for me. He was a close friend, and I had written on his cars and was always enormously impressed with the depth of his technical knowledge. He knew his machines by heart and loved every one of them, not only because of their beauty and elegance, but also because of all the humorous tales about his adventures tracking down their components. He was also passionately committed to perfection, and every one of his cars was a personal statement. I attended his funeral in Illinois, which was a true gathering of the vintage racing community: many friends who came together to honor his great contribution.

Shortly after my return from Chicago I went to Florida and had the opportunity to visit Scott George, Operations Manager of Miles Collier’s magnificent automotive collection in Naples. Scott was kind enough to spend most of the day with me, showing me several current projects, including a magnificent Maserati Indy car, a pristine 904 Porsche endurance racer and the racing library, which has recently acquired several very large and important collections of historic automotive photographs. Imagine if you will the task of cataloguing more than 200,000 images and you will sense what Scott and his staff are facing. This material, once organized, will be available to automotive historians for generations to come, and it is good to know the meticulous care with which it is being preserved. Thankfully, Miles is as careful with his automobilia as he is with his cars.

A quick return home and then off to Paris for my first visit to Retromobile and the annual S.A.H. European Awards dinner, which is described elsewhere in this issue. The word spectacular has perhaps been over-used, but in the case of Retro it is fully justified. I got into the hall on Thursday, just as the show was being set up, and it reminded me a bit of the childhood experience of seeing the Barnum & Bailey Circus come into town: all hustle, bustle, excitement and anticipation. Our Awards dinner that evening was also wonderful: a friendly international gathering of automotive historians in the marvelous setting of the Automobile Club of France, looking out on the Place de La Concorde, Les Invalides and the Eifel Tower shimmering with lights. The winners of our international Cugnot and Brigham Awards were present and delightfully enthusiastic about their work and the Society. The whole affair provided and important reminder for me that, well recognized or not, we have an important mission to spread our message as far as possible, a task which Board Member Taylor Vinson has advanced marvelously in recent years.

As to Retromobile itself, what can one say about a European Hershey, indoors in a fine exhibition hall without mud and disorganization, a wonderful variety of interesting automobiles, vendors and attendees, many from abroad, all together in Paris? Fantastic! However, lest you all think it was totally balmy, it hailed and snowed while we were there: definitely not the City of Light in April! Still, all in all a wonderful international experience and one I shall definitely return to in coming years.

Space prevents me from a description of the next adventure (a antique auto tour in Australia.) That will have to wait for another issue. In the meantime, best wishes for all your historical and mechanical projects. After all, winter is nearly over!

- Joe Freeman, SAH President