Day 2 Highlights of the 2022 LCOC Western National Meet

Written by Elayne Bendel
Reproduced with permission
Day 2 of our very busy weekend began with a driving tour of mostly undeveloped desert landscapes along scenic Highway 62.

On a sizzling day with temperatures approaching 100 degrees we chugalugged up a long grade to the rural community of Yucca Valley, home of the very large and diverse Vickroy car collection. LCOC’s own Ron Cressy and partner Ray Gonzales have gathered over 150 cars there ranging from antiques to modern marvels. Some are housed in an old dealership facility that once offered both new and used cars for sale, while others are across the main road in nearby warehouses. There is also a very large library of brochures, manuals and advertising from this era.

Locals know that besides Vickroy Yucca Valley is home to the Lincoln Boys, a parts yard of ’60s Lincolns, where more than a few of us have come to browse and buy on other occasions.

Nowadays one can explore Vickroy and find anything from a group of Rolls-Royces to vintage radios, car models, motorcycles and bikes, mid-century cars such as Chryslers, Lincolns, Cadillacs, and many others including Country Squire wagons, Packards, Studebakers, Desotos, Imperials, Kaisers, Buicks and vintage trailers.
One rare finned vehicle was the last Packard model produced. Counting the fins one can probably see why!

Another fascinating find on our tour was a car that began life as a pre-1970 Renault but was converted many years ago to an electric vehicle by an enterprising engineer who named it after himself—the Mars II Electric. That is not a motor under the hood but a whole slew of batteries.

Our adventure at Vickroy including a very delicious and interesting pre-paid vegetarian lunch from the restaurant next door. We simply walked over there ordered off the menu of daily specials and brought it back to the facility.

Here is a small sample of the cars we saw.

Just up the road from Yucca Valley is Pioneertown which was established in 1946 as a “living, breathing movie set” and made famous by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in their popular 1950s TV series. Robin Cohen and Elayne Bendel ventured up there and grabbed a liquid refreshment at Pappy & Harriet’s before heading down the grade and back to the DoubleTree Hilton.

Robin and Elayne take the pause that refreshes at Pioneertown.

A hosted bar and hors oeuvres al fresco at the Valdiivia car collection Thursday was the evening capper. Members’ cars vied for attention with those on site. John Linvog’s 1962 Lincoln sedan was among the favorites.

Tomorrow read about our journey to Sunnylands, how one of us did battle with a cactus and how we learned about the sex lives of dates.

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