50th Anniversary Page

50th Anniversary of the

Incorporation of the

Adirondack Motor Enthusiasts Club

Feb. 9, 2004 and it was the official 50th. birthday of A.M.E.C

Here’s a letter from one of the founding members of A.M.E.C.;

February 6, 2004

To:      The Members of AMEC

From:  David Hastings

Congratulations of your 50^th anniversary! It is so gratifying that you have survived and thrived. I’m sorry I can’t be there for the celebration but thought you would enjoy some recollections.

I came to Schenectady from Philadelphia in 1953 at the invitation of G.E. At that time the company had 30,000 employees (can you imagine). I was a member of the Philadelphia Region of the SCCA and owned a 1950 MG TC  ESU. Like people who meet because they have dogs, I found some people who owned sports cars and we began to talk about starting a club with idea of running rallies. Bates didn’t have a car so he was my constant navigator and a moving force in getting organized. Bates and I thought up the name (I’m still looking my club dash plaque – doesn’t Dick Vedder have one?).

In late 1954 I was transferred to Philadelphia, and a year later sent back to Schenectady, this time with a Triumph TR2 and a wife. I will never forget a rally when I lost the slave cylinder on the clutch and finished the rally without a clutch. Nor will I forget the tragic death of Bud Mason, who rolled his Arnolt Bristol (He was host of a popular local childrens’ TV show).

Sherm Havens was in the process for building a special. Don’t remember the chassis and engine, but the body was fiberglass over a tubular frame. Mal Buffum was also building a boat-tail special. Inspired by these two, I decided to do the same. I found in a field (literally!) near Burnt Hills a rusting 1947 Standard Eight convertible and set out to turn it into a English trials special. As you know English trials were events where competitors ran uphill in the mud. Time was not a factor – the idea was to see who could get to the top. I stripped the body and moved the engine back 18”, added  a seat (original) and new brake cables which didn’t work. All I did to the engine was to put in new points and plugs and it ran, making its debut at a Fo Castle Farm autocross. (Entry fee 50 Cents?).

Sherm Havens was instrumental in building a new autocross course in a field I don’t remember where. He rented a road scraper and carved a road course in the field. It was great fun. I don’t remember the hill climb proposed by Ward Allen and Mal Buffum.

Some of the cars I remember were a Nash-Healy (Sherwood Smith?), Sunbeam Talbot (Ray Miller), DKW (Bob Winter), Siata 850 Spyder (Ward Allen – fastest car in the club, by far) and, of course Dick Vedder’s VW Combi (is he ice racing this?).

One last personal note. After three kids and decades of station wagons, I bought and restored a 1951 MG TD in 1991. Shortly thereafter I modified it (slightly) for racing, joined the VSCCA and have since raced at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Pittsburgh and Pocono. Now that’s fun!

I hope you found this amusing and look forward to seeing you in July.

And a note from past member Mike Mazoway;

Congratulations on 50 years of AMEC! I remember going to my first ice race in Inlet in the winter 1971, I’m pretty sure it was an AMEC event. Back in the days of Phil Cooper, etc. We stayed in the Marina Motel. I think we had 16 people in one room. Talk about racing on a budget! Rubber to ice, lots of 2 stroke SAABs, a few Corvairs, occasional Mini, VW’s, two Citroen’s, and I remember a DKW running at the time. My first race had about 35 starters in my class. I started last on the grid. The hot shoes were passing me on the 2nd lap!

Mike Mazoway

  ^{Were you ever a member of the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club (A.M.E.C.)? If yes, then you are invited to a 50th. anniversary get together on the weekend of July 17th & 18th, 2004! We will have a weekend-long gathering of all racers, members, and families of anyone that was a part of this great club over the last 50 plus years.}

In the early 50’s, a group of men from Schenectady, New York got together and formed an informal car club called the Adirondack Motor Enthusiasts Club (A.M.E.C.). In February of 1954, A.M.E.C. was incorporated. The founding members listed on the incorporation papers are David Hastings, Bates Murphy, and Robert Butler. From the beginning, the club met, and continues to meet, on the second Monday of each month.

It is written into the original incorporation paperwork that the founding members envisioned a club that would “encourage participation in the sport of motoring, to raise standards of maintenance of automobiles, and to foster and develop adherence to the principles and practices of safe motoring”.

A.M.E.C. has a long established history in and around the Schenectady, Scotia, and Saratoga areas of northeastern New York State. The club has held Road Rally’s, Economy Runs, Time Trials, Hill Climbs, Ice Races, Autocrosses and many other forms of performance related automobile events.

Please come and be a part of this once in a lifetime achievement, our 50th anniversary! There are not many clubs that have endured as long, and even fewer that have continued to thrive, as has A.M.E.C. Stay tuned for details of this great event as it comes together.

If you would like to be added to our 50th anniversary e-mail list, please send an e-mail to Dave Burnham at ^{Dave@icerace.com  We are also looking for any photos or other historical items that you might have stored away in your attics or basements. We would gladly accept written submissions about the early years, or any years you have been involved in the club. These items may be used for the enhancement of the weekend and later compiled for a written history of the club.}

Thanks,

Dave Burnham

A.M.E.C. PRESIDENT

If you have any bench racing stories or interesting anecdotes, the members of A.M.E.C. and the visitors to this page would love to read them. Please follow the link below to our message board where you can tell the world all about the time you kicked everybody else’s butt, or got yours booted. Everyone loves a good story!!!

A.M.E.C. Message Board

Here are additional pages of  A.M.E.C.’s history

Interesting quotes from AMEC’s past

Racing photos from AMEC’s past

Below is a complete list of A.M.E.C. Officer’s from 1954 to the present.