March 1, 2025
Jon Carson, club member, board member, and former club president, reminisces about his life with the Puget Sound Region of the WPC.
This is a special year for this club of ours: we are celebrating 50 years together, and in response to that milestone I wanted to share my own history and experiences as a member.
In 1975, I noticed an advertisement in the Seattle Times announcing a meeting of a group that was focused on Chrysler Corporation vehicles. I made it to one of those first meetings as a skinny 19-year-old with a few 1954 Chryslers.
My first recollection was a meet at Carkeek Park in Seattle. I remember seeing Rob Hughes’ 1952 Plymouth Belvedere, and boy was it gorgeous! I also remember Mac McBride as well, looking the same then as he did for the next 45 years. Then there was the big picnic potluck at Saltwater State Park in Des Moines. My memory is fuzzy, but my newly back-on-the-road 1954 Chrysler New Yorker convertible got me there, while my yellow 2-door hardtop stayed home. I remember feeling self-conscious as the youngest guy there. The irony, of course, is that the “older” folks were in their 30’s and 40’s! And the crazy thing is that most of the cars were only 15 to 25 years old!
All the events were so fun that I decided to hit the road in 1976 with my best friend Bill to drive the convertible to Denver for the WPC National Meet. We were young and fearless, so our itinerary was simple: Seattle to Denver in two days, including a visit to Yellowstone National Park. This was not a relaxed time frame; the planned route and time involved 800-to-900-mile days and no long stops. We left home at 4:30 AM and rolled into West Yellowstone as the summer sun was setting. The next day consisted of high-speed sightseeing through the park followed by hundreds of miles of desolation before rejoining the interstate in Wyoming.
Back on the highway, we were treated to a high-speed flyby by local legend and fellow club member Cliff Lavender in his 1956 Imperial, which is now in the care of club member Jeff Carter. The speed limit was 55 and we were pushing it at 65, but Cliff chose to cruise somewhere north of 90! It was quite a sight watching that big Imperial overtake us out on the prairie. My sister and her husband met us in Denver in their 1967 Dodge Dart GT. Once we had arrived at the meet, I remember around 200 cars present, and the line of letter series 300s, over 25 by my count. Many were running dual radar detectors, jammers, and CB radios. It was a lovely moment in time when the cars were still doing what they were designed for: fast, long-distance runs. At the meet, we met the infamous Larue Plotts (bigger than life in name and personality); he and his multicolored 1956 Chrysler New Yorker amassed more than 42,000 miles travelling to national meets. All too soon we had to turn the car west and head home. During the return, we experienced 112-degree temperatures, 60 MPH windstorms, tumbleweeds, and hail, but the New Yorker got us home safely.
The next year, we aimed Bill’s 1956 Plymouth Belvedere convertible south to take in the national meet in Tahoe. That trip was epic, but a couple of cute girls held us up in Southern California, and we only caught the last day of the meet in Tahoe. It was that trip across the Mojave where I learned that if you put a car in neutral and coast when it gets hot in the mountains, the slow engine speed will cause it to boil over. There are few experiences in life that can match 300-degree antifreeze blowing over a windshield and coating every living thing in its path in a sticky green slime. It is amazing how much cleaning a body can accomplish in a gas station restroom!
The 1980 WPC National Meet in Seattle brought a huge group of cars together once again. We held a swap meet at the show, where I sold my 1954 Chrysler hardtop to the famed Don Puvogel from the south Sound; he was quite a collector of Mopars. Once again, the variety and rarity of the cars present was incredible.
As my family grew, I drifted away from club events for a while, but a chance meeting with Jeff Carter rekindled my Chrysler love. He was kind enough to loan us his extra 1961 Chrysler Newport convertible for the national meet in Woodinville in 1991. We had such a good time that Patty wanted a finned car for her own. We found a 1960 Chrysler Saratoga that summer that was the start of a 14-year love affair that included lots of travelling, car shows, and camp trailer towing.
“Sara” took us to nationals in Victoria in 1995, Portland in 1998, and Burbank in 2005. She hauled us to Yellowstone, Montana, down the Oregon coast and made several California trips. In the 90’s we also made a yearly trek up to Langley, B.C. for the Memorial Day weekend and the big Langley swap meet. After the swap meet, the local Chrysler club would host a tour of the Frazier River Valley. We saw old friends, laughed and told familiar stories. The sight of all those lovely old machines against the beautiful mountain backdrops made us realize that this was something special. These tours were the seed that grew into our regional meets.
In Portland in 1998, there was a karaoke setup on stage, which led to the original performance of the famous “Hemis and Fins” song. Each year more songs were written, which led to the formation of the PentaStars who performed them. Many an evening was warmed by smiles, laughter, and tales both tall and accurate and by the company of special friends.
Patty and I made one last trip in “Sara” in 2005, visiting family and joining the national meet in Burbank. We saw 122 degrees as we left Palm Springs, and we drove 1,300 miles home from Burbank in one day. That old Chrysler never missed a beat, even with temperatures above 110 from Sacramento to Ashland, Oregon. Over the course of more than 20 hours of travel, we passed many other old cars struggling with the heat. We also passed many semi-trucks, whose drivers were commenting on our progress on the CB as we blew by them. I would give them a quick salute with the backup lights by touching the reverse button. It was an epic road trip that I will never forget, what a road car! We put over 75,000 miles on the Saratoga. After “Sara” was gone, we moved on to the 1961 wagon and 18 more years of adventures and another 43,000 miles of life rolled under her tires.
With the wagon gone, the old ’54 New Yorker convertible is our only classic ride, and we have come full circle. When we hit the road, it takes me back to the young long-haired teenager and those long road trips. When I drove the convertible down to our new life at the coast last year, it was a lovely warm evening. As I cruised along 101 in the evening light, I realized that I had been on this same road 60 years earlier in the same convertible, riding in the back listening to my parents talk and sing old favorite songs. That is what this hobby is all about my friends, it is about the ride.
As a group we have travelled all over the Northwest during our regional meets, touring Vancouver Island, the wine country, the Gorge, and the coast of Oregon. We have seen the Olympic Peninsula and the deserts of Washington state. But above all else, we have made such rich friendships. Over the years we have matured, raised families, changed careers, gotten grayer, and perhaps slowed down a bit. We have sometimes had to say goodbye to those who have come to mean so much to us, but it has been such a great ride these last fifty years.
I took over the newsletter in 1994, about the time when our regional meets started. I was honored to be the local club president for some 22 years after that. This has truly been the best of the best. Old friends and new friends are just about the best gift life can give us. Thank goodness that we have younger folks joining up too. I want to thank Tyson for stepping into the president’s role too, even if I would have considered him an old guy when this all started! Come and join us in Chehalis this summer, and remember that Dakota pickup, that old Caravan, and that Dodge Intrepid are now older than almost anything that was on the show field in 1980!
