Highlights from the AACA Annual Meeting Presentation “A Tribute to Henry Austin Clark. Jr.”
At the 82nd Annual AACA Meeting, I had the honor of presenting "A Tribute to Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and the Long Island Automotive Museum". Over 60 participants joined me to discuss a true automobile collector icon and his former Southampton museum.
One highlight was confirmation that one of the attendees was likely the owner of a 1906 Success Auto Buggy that once belonged to Clark.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
82nd Annual AACA Meeting, February 9, 2018
Sal Grenci and other attendees provided their Henry Austin Clark, Jr. stories.
Several items of Long Island Automotive Museum memorabilia were on display.
1906 Success Auto Buggy
This postcard came from the personal collection of Henry Austin Clark, Jr. Courtesy of Walter McCarthy.
The reverse side indicated the 1906 Success was sold.
1906 Success Materials courtesy of Dr. Fred Simeone.
The 1906 Success was promoted as "an automobile that takes the place of a horse" for the cost of $250.
Comments
I used to attend the annual AACA meeting with Austin, we would drive to Philadelphia and back in his Mark III Lincoln (which was a new car at the time not a collectible it now is) . He and George Norton ( a former AACA President) would host the truck seminar and I got involved when Austin asked me to run the slide projector for him and George . It was standing room only at those seminars as Austin and George had a wicked sense of humor and were on full force at the seminars, which on occasion could get a bit risque image wise as Austin liked the female form as much as he liked the look of early trucks! AACA annual meetings were always a highlight of the year and apparently still are Howard with the talk you gave.
Walt G.
HAC’s stories and comments appeared regularly in Old Cars Weekly back in the 70’s and 80’s and were tremendously enjoyable. One could not help but developed a fondness for this fun loving person. Thanks for keeping his memory alive!
I lived onlytwo miles from Austie but quite literally across the tracks. Even though we weren’t, he always treated me like an old friend. My favorite Austie adventure was when he took me for a wild ride in the open-top Fifth Avenue Coach with me in the top front right seat and he steered us too close to live power lines in downtown Southampton - terrifying. but the road was so heavily crowned that the greater danger was as the bus tipped madly over; he got us out of that fiasco safely and roared with laughter afterward. We tipped a few into the wee hours on occasion and, for all his Cuban tobacco wealth, he was always a genial all-around good guy. I still miss him. Sam, III
The AACA Truck Seminar back in the 1970’s-80’s was always a highlight of the event. Austin pulled a few cars out of Ridgefield in the early years, the ALCO that is now in the Nethercutt Collection being one of them.
That Austie/LIAM duster brings back great memories but Austie’s trademark was his godawful checkered jacket which I memorialize, along with the LIAM Jeep truck, in
<http://sbiii.com/autopix/duesbrg2.jpg> at <http://sbiii.com/automot2.html#clasicar>. Sam, III
Sam III….Appreciate your re-collection about the “joyride” with Austie in the 5th Ave Coach ( an adventure you’ll never forget! ) When I was at the Half Hollow Hills library, they have copies of ” The Checkered Flag ” and ” Great Auto Races ” written by Peter Helck. Austie must have donated one of these books ( Inside cover is signed by him in 1973 ). A nice suprise to notice.
P. S. - Bob Swanson - please elucidate about “Ridgefield”. NJ or CT? What am I missing here (or have forgotten)? Sam, III