Club's classic cars teach history lesson
McAuliffe students get a close-up look at treasured autos
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

Pupils at the McAuliffe Middle School in Jackson recently took a drive through history as part of an eighth-grade program called History on Wheels.

"It's a great program," said eighth-grade history teacher Chris Ippolito. "The Vintage Automobile Club comes down here and not only lets the kids see the history and how the automobile has evolved through the years, but it's connected to what we do in class."

Ippolito said the students are enthralled by the experience.

"It's another way for kids to learn about the past," the teacher said. "After going through a year of books, tests and quizzes to see the history, this will hopefully generate the enthusiasm for some of them."

Ippolito said the club members came to the school with their vintage autos.

The students had their own thoughts about the cars of yesteryear.

"I like the Mustangs," said Courtney Newman, 13. "They look amazing. I like the shape of them and they look really cool."

Courtney said she also likes the Corvette Stingray.

"I like these cars better," she said. "I wish they had them now."

Nicole Ostraszewski, 14, said the classic cars are a lot different from the cars of today.

"They're not as efficient," said Nicole. "They only got about 10 miles to the gallon, rather than about 36 miles to the gallon that they get today."

Commenting on the design of the cars that were built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Nicole said they were a lot nicer looking.

"I like the cars from the 1950s and 1960s, the Mustang and the Corvette," said Nicole, "but I like the shapes of the Chevys now."

Pointing to one Chevrolet, she said she saw one like it in the movie "Grease."

The automobile club is supported by an educational grant from Herrs snack company and a promotional grant from the Ocean County Board of Freeholders' Tourism Division. The club members talk about the cars and the time period they came from.

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Students at the McAuliffe Middle School, Jackson, enjoyed a living history lesson when members of the Vintage Automobile Club brought some of their classic cars to the school for the History on Wheels program. David DiEugenio, executive director of the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey, was on hand to help the pupils understand the history of the times as told by the automobiles.

"Some kids are excited about the cars and some are excited about the history," Ippolito said. "Any way we can impart those lessons to them informally usually works better, because they [become] interested in it. They can learn more in 20 minutes with the cars than by listening to people like me talk about it."

Ippolito said he enjoys looking at the vehicles and is interested in the history that surrounds them.

"Seeing the Stanley Steamer and thinking about the history of that era of shoveling coal into your car, and things like that, really gets me interested and excited," the teacher said.

On hand for the event was David DiEugenio, executive director of the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey whose group, along with the Vintage Automobile Club, provides the autos for the History on Wheels program.

"We line up the cars from the 1900s," DiEugenio said. "In fact we have one here today from 1899. It's a horseless carriage replica. We also have a 1917 Stanley Steamer. They're so much fun, when you crank up the boiler and it blows that horn, it sounds like a train is coming down the tracks."

Other cars in the exhibit included a 1928 Buick, a 1941 Chevy, a 1946 Chevy truck, a 1950 Ford and a Ford custom convertible.

Going up a row of vintage cars, DiEugenio pointed out a 1956 Chevy, a 1957 Chevy, a 1959 Packard and a 1959 Ford Thunderbird whose color was Indian Turquoise.

"The color is so rare that whenever it goes to a show it's usually picked by the judges," he said. "Right here is a 1964 Mustang fastback and right next to that is my car, a 1962 Corvette. I just love it. It's the last of the first generation Corvette."

Other cars in the display were a 1966 Mustang, a 1969 Jaguar XKE and a 1960 DeSoto.

"I own the 1968 DeSoto Adventure four-door sedan," said exhibitor Ralph Simon. "There are only about 78 of these left in the country. People who didn't want to buy a Dodge and couldn't afford a Chrysler bought a DeSoto."

It was at that time that foreign cars started to come into the country, Simon explained. He noted that some of the foreign cars were of a better quality and were able to get better mileage than American made automobiles.

"In response to that the American manufacturers came out with the muscle cars with big engines and features like swivel seats and air conditioning," he said.

In discussing the History on Wheels exhibit, DiEugenio said, "I'm so proud of our organization's members because they not only care about cars, they care about kids and they love to use the cars for educational purposes. We're so into it that we decided to build a museum in Whiting to display our cars."

The museum opening is planned for late 2008.

DiEugenio said that on Sept. 9 there will be a raffle for a restored 1966 Mustang. Anyone who is interested in that may call (609) 713-4310. The group's Web site, vintageautomuseum.org is also a source of information.

Ippolito said the members of the school's history department are proud of the History of Wheels activity. He praised the members of the Vintage Automobile Club and the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey for their efforts in helping to expand the students' knowledge.