Back on track with our cruises. After struggling to get wineries to organize a date with us we tried a brewery and voila it worked! It's a little short notice but it's been a while since we cruised. We want to do a November event, then a Christmas party in December. We will be cruising to Altstadt Brewery next Saturday, October 29th, for lunch in their restaurant - a beautiful facility that claims to have the best German beer in the country. We can put that assertion to a test. They are located on 290 well before Fredericksburg, about an hour from Wimberley and we can take nice back roads to get there. Alstadt's opens at noon, MEET AT FISCHER STORE AT 11 AM - WEATHER WILL BE PERFECT FOR CRUISING 4040 FM484, Fischer, TX 78623 https://www.altstadtbeer.com/

Our next cruise will be on May 7th to attend a very special car show in Kingsberry at the Pioneer Flight Museum - the Wings & Wheels Fly-in. The flight museum has many WW1 era planes in hangers, a workshop plus a large grass runway. Many vintage planes fly in for the day from across the country. The car show is separated from the runway - we'll be parking on grass parallel to the runway but far enough away that there is no risk of blowing grass or debris. They set up a WWI field hospital, have a 1910 era car repair shop, plus there are plenty of model A's and T's in attendance along with 150 or so cars like ours. Entrance fee is by donation, most people donate $10-$20, all funds go to the museum and are used to restore planes. There are food vendors at the show for lunch. We'll meet at 8:30 at Wimberley City Hall and cruise down. Gates open at 8:30, it's good to arrive a little later as more planes will be there. There is no limit on the number of cars that can attend, there's a lot of room for parking. Please mark off your calendars for Saturday May 7th, we hope you can make it.

The 12 Kings are cruising out to the Westcave Cellars Winery just west of Johnson City for a pig roast! This is a beautiful family owned winery with a park like setting where we can park and eat outside. Meet at HEB Wimberley at 10 am, depart at 10:15 and cruise along some of the best roads in hill country. Westcave Cellars will be roasting a pig for us - the cost for lunch is $25 per person which includes all you can eat North Carolina style pork, coleslaw, potato salad or Boston baked beans, bread, pickles, water and tea. Beer and wine are available to purchase. If you don't like roast pig please message Bruce with the alternate choices of vegetarian or gluten free lunches. Please RSVP as we've committed to 30 people coming so they can cover the cost of hosting our roast. Here is the address if you would like to meet us there at 11:45 for lunch: Westcave Cellars 683 Ranch Road 1320 Johnson City, TX 78636 We hope you can attend! 12 Kings Event Committee Bruce, Ron, John H and Charlie Questions? Call Bruce at 832 922 8900

Hello to all 12 Kings members! And a Happy New Year! Every year on the first Sunday there is a gathering of Hot Rods, Restos and Customs in Bryan. This year its on the second Sunday as New Years Day was too near on the calendar. I started going with John Tyndall to this event some years ago. I hesitated to do so because it starts (and ends) early and is a pretty good hike up there and back. But John said it was fun so I joined him, dragging myself out of bed and into the hot rod. And lo and behold, John was right! It is a fun event! Most of the folks drive up from around Houston, so there are some different cars than what we often see. They get there early and the show starts breaking up around 12 noon so everyone can get back early. Its held in the vicinity of the Chicken Oil Co. Cafe, 3600 S College Ave, Bryan, TX 77801. So we plan on going again this year! Of course it’s a weather permitting type of deal and early January is pretty unpredictable, however the weather forecast is great so far! If it’s a pretty day there are usually 200 – 300 cars there, but if it is cold and raining its not worth the trip as not may folks will come out. We will meet up with anyone that wants to join us on this coming Sunday morning, January 9th in San Marcos at the Lowe’s parking lot (at the back). Let’s plan on meeting there at 6:45 AM as it’s a 2 hour plus trip. And come with your cars gassed up! If your car is not up to the trip and you want to go we can double up and carry a passenger with us (let us know if you want to do so). Let’s drive ‘um!!!! Jay

This Wednesday, December 22nd, we invite all members who can make it to join us as we deliver our Christmas checks to our two charities, the Barnabas Connection in Wimberley and the Hays/Caldwell Women's Center in San Marcos. We will meet at Milagro's Hill Country Tex Mex (9595 RR 12) at 10:45 am to leave at 11:00 am. Members are invited to make personal donations as well if you care to do so.

Lo and behold its already November! And given that, we better get the word out on our next Cruise. It will be on Saturday, November 20th and we will be going to the booming town of Albert, Texas! Yes the Albert, Texas that got coverage in the Wall Street Journal for being sold on Ebay a number of years past. There is a bar, food truck(s) and a Dance Hall on the property, and one of the most beautiful Live Oak trees in the Texas Hill Country. It’s a laid back place where we can sit around under the tree(s), enjoy some food, and even try a local beer! They are scheduled to have live music about 2:00 that afternoon. The actual address is: 5435 Ranch Rd 1623, Stonewall, TX 78671 We will depart Wimberley at 12:30, Saturday, just after noon. Its located between Blanco and Stonewall and will be a short but pleasant trip from Wimberley. Our meeting spot will be at the HEB grocery store parking lot on RR12, across from King Feed, and please be there by 12:15. We will depart at 12:30. Bring your gals on this one…its going to be fun! Looking forward to seeing you and sharing some stories!

Our cruise for the month will be on the 31st (Halloween!) up to the Rolling Sculpture Car Show in Bee Cave. The show director is our own Doug Chambers and the judging and parking is done by our club. This is one of the best shows in Texas with a fabulous venue and many unusual cars. Check it out here - http://www.rollingsculpturecarshow.com/ We will meet at our usual Coffee & Cars location at Blanco Brew about 7:45 and leave promptly at 8:00 am. The trip will take about 40 minutes. There are a few interesting wrinkles to this one, so check it out - Club members who are volunteering to help with judging and parking will not be charged to enter the show. Members who are not volunteers will need to register and pay the $30.00 entry fee, however, keep in mind that 12 Kings member's cars are not eligible to win an award since we are doing the judging (although one of our guys was given a special award at the last show). If you're looking for a trophy, this is not the show for you, but if you want to be a part of an amazing experience, then come on out. If you would like to volunteer (it's lots of fun!) contact Doug at - douglchambers@aol.com

This Sunday, September 26th, we will meet at our usual Coffee & Cars location (Blanco Brew & Brookshire Bros. parking lot) at 8:15 to leave at 8:30. The Dripping Springs event is called Coffee with Cars and is held the last Sunday of every month on Hwy 290 just west of town. It's an easy drive up there and will make a nice cruise. Those guys bring a lot of cars to our C&C so we would like to repay the favor and show up for them.

Garland Transmission – New Braunfels - 830-629-0278 Prestige Detailing – New Braunfels Gabriel and Son – Upholstery – San Marcos Cruzer Customs – New Braunfels Sampson Racing Engines – New Braunfels Sampson Restorations – New Braunfels Murpho’s Rods and CustomsURPHO'S RODS AND CUSTOMS

Hello all of our 12 Kings Members! There are a lot of us these days…the more the merrier! Our next club outing is this coming Sunday, August 22nd and we are going to the drive in movies – just like in the days of old! We are headed to: Doc’s Drive-in Movies1540 Satterwhite Rd Buda, Texas 78610 They are going to show American Graffiti and will have an area roped off for us to park together. The show starts approximately 8:30 pm. And they are doing a special deal for us… No prepay to hold our spots Flat $15 fee for a single in a car Flat $25 fee for two or more in a car This includes popcorn and a drink! Other concessions are available if you want them. Let’s meet at the HEB parking lot at I-35 and Main Street in Buda – near Cabella’s between 8:10 pm and 8:20, and Charlie will lead us from there (not me!!!). You can check their website if you are curious. This is a small business and we should support them…while we are having lots of fun! You will need an FM radio in your car or a portable to hear the movie audio. And they are doing a little something special for us before the movie starts! Please let Jimmy Finger know ASAP if you are coming so we can arrange enough parking for everyone. Jimmy_Finger@dell.com Looking forward to seeing you there!!

1. We have a cool event scheduled for Saturday, August 7th that you folks have been asking for – a Shop Crawl, and of course a Cruise to Eat too. The event will begin in Wimberley at the City Hall parking lot and make its first stop at Sampson Restoration, then to the adjacent Sampson Racing Engines. These shops have a variety of services available to our kinds of cars, including body, paint, chassis, machining and engine building. We will meet at the Wimberley City Hall area at 0900, as the group will have to depart by 9:15 to make our first stop on time. We’ll cruise through the hills to the western side of New Braunfels, about a 45 minute drive. We are working on the second stop in the New Braunfels area and will have details on that the morning of August 7th. After our shop crawl we will go on to Clear Springs Restaurant on Hwy 46 east for a feast. My favorite is catfish and fried shrimp, but they have quite a menu that should have something for everyone in the club! This is going to be a fun outing and we look forward to seeing you all there! Please give a quick RSVP email to Jimmy at Jimmy_Finger@dell.com so we can have enough space set up at the Restaurant. 2. And we have a second event later in the month that should be a gas!! We have talked several times about going to a Drive-In Movie and now have a place and time to do so. The Twelve Kings will gather at Doc’s Drive In Movies in the Buda area the evening of Sunday, August 22nd for a showing of American Graffiti!!! The start time is 8:30 pm or about when the sun goes down (and it gets a lot cooler). There is a good menu if you want to eat there, and of course pop corn and drinks (including beer and wine)! Let’s relive some of the fun of days gone by. So mark your calendars for these two events…and Beee Therrrrrrrrre!!!

Here's info from the Devil's Backbone tavern on their upcoming car show. This is not a 12 Kings event, but a lot of our members are going. We are super stoked that your classic may be featured in our 1st annual Dive Bar Car show! Cash prizes, door prizes, trophys and dash plaques will be presented. Also, an engraved winner plaque will hang in our Prohibition Era tavern for years to come! The July 24/25 weekend will also have vintage vendors and live music in our air conditioned dancehall! Award winning BBQ from Creekside Cookers will be on-site all weekend. FUN! Here's what you need to know as a contestant: 1. The entry fee is $25 cash per vehicle, due at time of arrival on Saturday July 24th. 2. Please arrive promptly at 11am on Saturday so that you can back your car into a space in front of the tavern, where judging by the Classic Restoration shop, Good Carma Automotive will take place. 3. Once judging is complete, a professional photographer will shoot photos of cars in front of the tavern to commemorate the occasion. You may then take your vehicle(s) home. 4. If your automobile(s) place, we will contact you by end of the day, Saturday. 5. Winners will be announced on Sunday at 4pm in our dancehall from the stage where prizes will be presented for Best in Show, Most Original, Most Unique and Bibulous Bitchin' Ride. Winners are encouraged to bring their vehicle(s) on Sunday for a final winner ride engine rev to be featured Live on our Social Media pages that have a reach of over 30,000 of our dive bar followers! Please encourage all of your classic car and truck friends / fans to come out ! It will be a weekend to remember!

SEMA has declared that Friday, July 9th is Collector Car Appreciation Day and a bill has been introduced in Congress to make it formal! https://www.semasan.com/legislative-alerts/national/us-congress-introduces-resolution-recognizing-july-9th-collector-car . They are encouraging all of us Car Folks to use our cars and let the rest of the world know how much fun we have with them. To commemorate the celebration we will have a Cruise to Eat that evening – we all like to cruise, and of course love to eat! We’ll gather at the Wimberley City Hall again and let’s figure on being there by 5:45. We’ll leave at 6:00 pm. We are still working out the destination; but it is between Beefy’s (12910 US-281, Spring Branch) and Freiheit Country Store (2157 FM1101, New Braunfels). We’ll get another email out to y’all before we gather up. Both places have good menus (and great burgers) plus some inside and outside seating. We’re going to have fun!

Who's the best paint & body guy in the area? Looking for somebody who can fit fiberglass parts, fabricate brackets, mount parts and match colors.

Anybody know of a good radiator repair shop in the area?

Hi All 12 Kings, Our November shop crawl (&cruise to eat) was supposed to be this Saturday, Nov. 16, however we are going to push it out to December 7th as we have been unable to lock down the early date with the shop owners. I hope that the new date will still work for most members as this will be a fun event for sure. Jonny O and I will post information as soon as we can get more arrangements made. We can discuss this more at the November monthly meeting on the 20th. Thanks, Jay and Jonny

Below is a link to the coming weekend’s car show in Bastrop.  This is not our November Cruise Event but several members of the 12 Kings are planning on attending the show on Saturday.  Registration ends promptly at 10:00 am that morning. For those that want to caravan over, we will meet in San Marcos at the old Dick’s Classic Garage location.  (That is on Hunter Road where it intersects StageCoach, just to the right, or south of, the RR12 intersection with Hunter Road; there is a CVS at that corner.) We can’t actually enter the parking lot but there is one across the street where we can gather before departing to Bastrop.  Let’s rendezvous there at 8:15 am and depart at 8:30.  That should give us time to get to Bastrop before registration closes.  The web page for the event is just below.  Click on it to get more details about the show, judging, places to eat, sponsors, etc. https://www.bastropareacruisers.com/bac_2_005.htm Thanks and this should be a fun day. Jay

I got a call from Mercury Charlie earlier today about an upcoming class to be held at his shop.  The class is a thorough and hands on look at metal shaping techniques and is presented by Gene Winfield. For those that might not be aware of who Gene is, and his history, there is much to talk about!  The man is a legend and began working on cars in the 1940’s!  That’s not a misprint.  Gene is over 90 years old and is a role model for me, and I believe many others.  He is still travelling the world putting on these seminars and that generally include a top-chopping class at SEMA each year and at many other locations around the world.  A year or two back he had an incident in Scandinavia while there teaching a class and was seriously injured, but that has not stopped him.  He was medi-vaced back to the States for treatment and recovery and now is back to his regular routine. I have attended two of Mr. Winfield’s classes, one where he showed the class how to chop a top…and I mean hands on training, and the other on equipment and techniques to customize cars…and as he says: “make them cool…”.  His heyday was in producing some of the very best cars built in the 50’s and 60’s and beyond and he is very well known and respected member of our car culture. Charlie explained that the class is coming quickly, in fact it is scheduled for this next Saturday and Sunday, November 2nd and 3rd.  The tuition is $500. for the two day course…and believe me it’s a full two days of learning, with a lot of laughs mixed in.  Charlie generally throws a party after the Saturday class and Gene is the first one on the dance floor! Charlie asks that you contact him directly at his Austin shop for information and to sign up.  You can reach him there at 512-331-6500.  You won’t regret seeing this remarkable man in action. Thanks, Jay

12 Kings Car Club September 18, 2019 Hi Everyone, Well it’s the time of year that we have a wide variety of possible events to attend! Finally the heat has broken, and we can look forward to cooler days going forward! Our main September event was a lot of fun – the Cruise last Saturday and participation in the Luckenrod Classic Car Show in Luckenbach. There were close to 300 cars registered and the 12 Kings caravanned with 9 cars that entered. For those that were unable to make it, we left at 0730 from our gathering spot west of Wimberley and very much enjoyed the beautiful morning and the Texas Hill Country scenery as we cruised to the show. We were able to park as a group under the shade of the large oak trees and with the light breeze it was downright comfortable until about 3:00! Several members were recognized for their cars and we had Willis Ragsdale with our group which was a pleasure. Lots of lies swapped under the trees and altogether a pleasant experience. A discussion was held at our August monthly meeting about ideas for future Ride’s to Eat. It was agreed that the next one would be October 11 at Brookshire Brothers Store and Restaurant in Canyon Lake. This event is the Canyon Lake Hot Rod and Classic Car cruise-in held monthly on the 2nd Friday of the month at Brookshire Brothers grocery store, 18209 FM 306, Canyon Lake TX. The Classic Car cruise-in coincides with Steak Night and Live music on the Patio. A gift certificate from the store is drawn at 7:30p for all cruise-in participants. How does gathering at 5:30 or 6:00pm Friday, October 11 sound to everyone? We could rendezvous at the Wimberley City Hall parking area, take RR12 to RR32, right on RR32 over the Backbone, then go to RR3424 (turn just before the High School there) and turn right. That dead-ends into RR306 where we would turn left, and go about a mile to get to Brookshire Brothers on the right side of the road. (Other ideas for route options can be discussed.) Four members, including myself (Jay) will still be at Cruisin’ the coast and won’t be able to participate so let’s decide on a coordinator for any last minute changes, etc. Doug Webb (57 Chevy) has suggest we take a cruise via Fischer Store Road to River Road (along the Guadalupe river) and stop for a cold beer at Bubbas Big Deck. Let’s discuss a time for this, maybe late morning on a Saturday, or a Sunday afternoon in late October, early November? John Tyndall gave a promo on the benefits of the Key to the Hills Rod Run to be held Oct 11,12 & 13. He suggested it would be a good event to attend as a Club. Let’s discuss this possibility as well at our September 18 meeting. The 12 Kings Club will be providing support for the upcoming Rolling Sculpture Car Show at the Hill Country Galleria on Oct 27, 2019. Basic support will be in the form organizing and performing the car judging for the show. More specific details will be forthcoming at the Sept. 18 meeting. The Deuce Reunion show is coming up September 20 and 21 in Bulverde, as well as the Goodguys Lone Star Nationals September 27, 28 & 29 in the Fort Worth area. And let’s set a date in early November for getting together at the Drive In Movies (New Braunfels area). Lot’s to discuss and participate in! Let’s kick all this around Wednesday, September 18th at the 12 Kings Monthly meeting! Be therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeee!!!

Here’s the latest info on our Cruise to the Luckenrod Car Show (in Luckenbach), September 14. Those who have already pre-registered should be getting a letter with a sticker for the show very soon (I got mine today).  More info to follow on how that will work. For those who have not preregistered, and would like to, there is still a way to do so.  Officially the pre-registration ended on August 31, however I have spoken with John Perales (the show promoter) and he has agreed to reopen it for 12 Kings folks.  This will have to be done manually.  To do so you will need to call John at 512-993-5899 during normal business hours (M-F), identify that you are with the 12 Kings club and he will fix you up.  Mr. Perales has assured me we will have a spot under the trees where we can park together.  You are encouraged to do this ASAP. There has been a change on move in time to 8:30 am.  Given that we will have an early get up time!  Let’s meet at 7:15 am for a 7:30 am departure so we will be at the show prior to them opening up to park.   Our cruise meeting spot will be at Jacob's Well Elementary School.  It's on RR 2325 just outside of Wimberley.  Take a left at the “Y” if you’re coming from our Coffee and Cars spot, going past the HEB about three miles.  The school will be on the right.  We will caravan from there to Luckenbach via RR 2325, and then RR 1376 to the Luckenbach loop. This is more than a show as there will be music, food and beverages…maybe even a little dancing!  If you don’t want to park with the rest and be a part of the show you can pay a $20. fee and still attend. Here’s some additional info from John: ------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Luckenrod 2019!  We thank you for your support in attending one of the largest classic/rod shows in the Texas Hill Country.  We will work as hard as possible to make your experience as positive as possible. With that said we hope the information below will help you. Move in Time – Because of the Overwhelming amount of pre entries we will allow pre entries only to start to park and take their space at 8:30am vs. 9:00am as originally stated.  We do reserve the right to move that earlier in case we have to many cars show up at once.   Please make sure to bring your chairs, sunscreen & canopy.  (please make sure you weigh those down to avoid them flying off and creating damage) Please place your sticker at move in time on your windshield on left top or bottom corner on windshield.  We will hand you your wristbands as you drive in.   PLEASE PLACE STICKER on DRIVER SIDE CORNER ON WINSHIELD. Location -  Luckenbach Texas 412 Luckenbach Town Loop                  Fredericksburg TX 78624 If You get lost Call - (830) 997-3224 or (888) 311-8990          T Trailer/RV Parking - Located in the main spectator Parking of Luckenbach.  Please drop your ride in the spectator parking area and drive through the Prohibited Items - No outside Alcohol, Please do not attempt to bbq on site. *Schedule – 8:30am – Move in For Pre-Registration 10am – Registration for Day of Show Entries 11am – Judging Begins for Top 75 and Best of Awards 11am – Pre-Purchased T shirts available for Pick up at T-shirt Booth. 12pm – Live Music Begins 3pm – Award Ceremony – Please stick around for more Live Music afterwards *subject to change Show is Rain or Shine, No Refunds We have entries from all over Texas and Outside of Texas.  We hope everyone has a safe trip to Luckenrod 2019 and we look forward to seeing you on 9/14/2019! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 📷