June 2011 Fathers Day Show

July 2011 Mustangs Unlimited All-Ford Show

July 2011 Cougar Nationals East

Lars Andersen Museum Show

Quabbin Reservoir Run & Cookout

Fall Foliage Tour

CCNE Events from 2011
October 2011 Millbury Autofest Show	The October event represented a last-minute change of plans from cruising the New Hampshire foliage to relaxing among the incredible show cars gathered at Windle Field in Millbury, MA.  The usual suspects turned but we were joined by a recent New Jersey transplant who now lives in MA. Chris Gauch arrived with his incredible 1969 R-code convertible and promptly took a top 50 award.  Chris wasn't on the show field for 30 minutes when his name was called!  Considering that his convertible was selected to appear in American Muscle Car TV's Cougar episode and that it's a multiple concours class winner, it's not all that surprising.  Here are some photos, courtesy of Cindy Ghizzi: There were some great cars at the Millbury show this year... ...and one of them was Richard Clark's barn-find (and mostly unrestored) 1969 XR-7 convertible. Nearly 300 cars made the show on a beautiful New England fall day.  Club members in attendance were Cindy, Frank Vigna, Bill Pratt and Rich Clark.  Chris Gauch will undoubtedly join our roster in the spring! Right, Chris?
September 2011 Picnic & Cruise	The September event is all about enjoying the company of other Cougar owners and driving the cars.  This year, Craig and Lisa Keith hosted the event at their home in West Brookfield. Lisa even volunteered to do all the cooking so that no one would have to transport food in their Cougar!  To top it off, Lisa is a terrific cook and we all enjoyed the lasagna, salad, stuffed peppers, vegetable parmesan, and apple pie she prepared. We also got to meet some new Cougar owners from the area and hope they will join us at future events.  Here are some pictures of the event (thanks, Justine & Cindy!):
August 2011 Larz Andersen Auto Museum	The usual suspects gathered in Brookline for the Larz Andersen Auto Museum Ford-Lincoln-Mercury lawn event.  To honor the occasion, there was a 1967 Cougar on display in the entrance hall: It was an eclectic gathering of vehicles on a day that threateded thunder storms, making this a smaller show than usual but still well worth attending: Charlotte and Bob made it down from New Hampshire in Charlotte's survivor 1967 GT 4-speed Cougar. The Big Kahuna, a 1966 Mercury Commuter wagon was a popular entry and won the Mercury 1960-1969 trophy.
July 2011 Cougar Nationals East	The Cougar Club of New Jersey and Pennsylvania led by Stu Nembrotti (below, right) hosted the Cougar Nationals East in Bridgewater, New Jersey at the Bridgewater Marriott.  There were more than 80 Cougars pre-registered and a few more that registered on the day of the show. Kudos to the NJ/PA club for a well-organized, well-run show that proved very enjoyable for all.  Here are some photos from the show:   John Aiken (above, left), who was the lead designer for the 1967 Cougar and the keynote speaker for this event, was kind enough to answer questions and pose for pictures with the fans of his handiwork. Club members pictured are (from left to right) Craig Keith, Mark Piechowski, Kenny Gray, Richard Clark, Cindy Ghizzi (Rich, her significant other, is right behind Cindy). To John Aiken's left are Bill Pratt, Nancy Pratt, Dan Goldsmith, Charlotte St. Laurent, Dave Wywras, and Frank Vigna.   The Cougar above is a 429 sunroof car that shows beautifully.  As a point of interest, by the time the 1971-1973 Cougars were being designed, John told us he had already moved to Ford of Europe and was working on the Capri. The early big cats gather on the show field...  Cindy Ghizzi's black convertible (right side of photo) earned a 3rd place trophy. These two Cougars (above) are un-restored survivor cars. Rich Clark's 67 two-tone is in the foreground. This picture (above) is the engine compartment from the 1967 GT below.  This cat has a serious growl factor! Here is the engine compartment from Isabel (below).  Isabel is named for Hurricane Isabel, which flooded this car up to the windshield in salt water.  This stunning restoration earned Isabels owner the nickname of ECI Bob.  The ECI stands for East Coast Idiot, because this was a project that only an East Coaster accustomed to rusty projects would have dared take on.  Bob's efforts earned him a 1st place for his class and the Chairman's Award from John Aikens (lead designer of the 1967 Mercury Cougar). This "Fast Eddie" Cougar made it's debut at the 2011 Nationals. This stunning 1970 Cougar convertible placed second in the Modified class and earned the Best Paint award. One of the great things about the Cougar club is that eveyone gets to show off a car.  This is the class winner in the "Mangy Cat" class, a tradition of Cougar club shows.  The owner of this Mangy Cat actually sold the bench seat right out of this car while at the show! Speaking of (former) Mangy Cats, above and below is Mark Piechowski's 1969 Sport Special.  Mark logged many late nights to get this car ready for the National and had a lot of help from some very good friends.  Stu Nembrotti and Paul D'Amato made several trips up from New Jersey to North Adams, MA to help Mark complete this car.  For his efforts, Mark earned a 2nd place class trophy for a car that, in 2006, took top honors in the Mangy Cat class. Craig Keith won 1st Place in the 68 GT-E/XR-7G class with his incredible Hertz G.  Craig finished this car in 2004, drives it as often as he can, and still keeps it competitive at the judged concours level. Above is a 1967 Cougar restored by KTL Restorations of Virginia.  KTL had several cars at the show and all did well in judged competition. Cougar Club of New England member Charlotte St. Laurent's triple black 1967 GT 4-speed car (above) won 2nd Place in her class.  Charlotte has owned her car since 1968 and is the second owner.  This car is owned by a young Cougar enthusiast and it is a stunning car, with just 51,000 miles on the clock and a high level of correctness.  It placed second to the KTL Restorations car above.  A great finish for a fresh face on the Cougar scene! Overall, our club members did extremely well at these Nationals.  In addition to the awards noted above, Bill Pratt's 1967 XR-7 GT won a 1st-place trophy, Dave Wywras took a first with his 1970 Boss Eliminator, and Rich Clark trophied in his un-restored class.  Well done, team New England!
July 2011 Mustangs Unlimited Show	We had a nice range of Cougars at our annual Mustangs Unlimited All-Ford Show.  This 1983 Cougar owned by Hugh Lannon is a great example of the breed. This is a nice example of the LTD-era Cougars. This 1978 Cougar is owned by Roger Holcomb This 1968 XR-7G, owned by Scott Gregory, was a barn-find in Indiana that was basically intact and unmolested. Scott has turned it into a beautiful show car. Here are judges Ken Gucker (left) and Dan Goldsmith (right) slaving over a hot 1969 Mach 1.  It's a tough job!
June 2011 Fathers Day Show Fitchburg, MA	We had a total of 7 Cougars present.  No other model had as many representatives as the Mercury Cougar. Above - Rich Clark's unrestored 1967 Cougar XR-7 two-tone; Below - (left to right) Jim Prevaneau, Dan Goldsmith, Rich Clark, and Cindy Ghizzi. Below - Jim & Bob McPartlan's 1967 standard. Below - Jim Prevenau's 1968 XR-7 GT clone. Below - Frank Vigna's 1967 Cougar. Below - Bill Pratt's Lime Frost 1967 XR-7 GT Below - Cindy Ghizzi's 1971 Cougar convertible. Below - Steve Paduano's 1970 428CJ, 4-speed Eliminator.  Steve has owned this car for 30 years! We had a great time at this show.  The Mid-State Auto Club did a first-class job on a perfect summer day. See you at the next event in July!

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