The 2017 Annual Meeting of the Classic Car Club of America was held Wednesday through Sunday, March 29 - April 2, 2017, at the sprawling Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevada. The Resort is a huge complex encompassing two towers, taking most guests a day or so to get acclimated to all of the meandering hallways that led to the various event locations associated with the meeting.

The Spirit of St. Louis Region was represented by Director John Lowell, Assistant Director Thomas Quick, Richard Quick, Bob Radel and Mark Hyman, along with members Bill Davis and Jay Quail who reside outside of our Region.

A Continental Breakfast on Thursday morning preceded the start of the business portion of the day which included the Annual Business/Membership Meeting, a National Board Meeting, and a CCCA Museum Trustee Meeting. Election results for the new slate of incoming 2017 Board Members was announced, and it was great to hear that our own Thomas Quick will be joining the National Board. Thomas' seat on the Board will bring added exposure to our Region, and give us a voice at the National level, as well as first hand knowledge of the future direction of the National Club at large. At the conclusion of the morning meeting sessions, a hearty lunch was served after which attendees boarded buses to leave for the afternoon tour destinations.

The first stop on the bus tour was the Ted Bacon collection.  The late Mr. Bacon was a founding director of the National Automobile Museum in Reno, and his son Ned conducted the tour of the collection. Among the cars in the collection were several rare Full Classics, and at least fifty special interest open touring cars with names such as Grant, Anderson, Cole and even a V-12 Haynes.  Guests were not permitted to take photos of the cars.

The next stop on the bus tour was the Ramsden Collection.  Bill Ramsden is an avid Packard collector, and included among his collection of eight cars was an original unrestored 1929 Packard 640 Roadster, an amazing 1932 Packard Convertible Victoria and a 1938 Packard V-12 Convertible Coupe.  Also on the property was an interesting museum of Americana housed in a log house with the beautiful snow capped Sierra Mountains as a backdrop.  It even snowed that day.

An interesting non-auto related tour later in the day was the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, Nevada.  This is a collection of rare locomotives and passenger cars of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad dating to the late 1800s, many of which are still operational. 

The day concluded with a wonderful dinner at Walley's Resort.

Friday morning began with a full breakfast followed by another round of business meetings. The Regional Relations Meeting began with an introduction of each Region's representatives, and then a lively discussion centered around membership, activities within each Region and Region Projects. A technical/judging seminar followed the business meetings.

After lunch, the first stop on the afternoon bus tour took meeting participants to the fabulous Robert M. Lee Collection.  This vast collection of at least 200 automobiles encompasses a wide variety of marques from Classics to sports cars to custom cars.  In addition to his collection of automobiles, the late Mr. Lee was an avid outdoorsman, explorer and conservationist.  His widow, Anne, attended the event and greeted guests in a very warm and welcoming manner.

After a brief return to the resort, buses then departed for the Regional Awards Dinner at the National Automobile Museum.  This collection houses 200 cars from the famous William F. Harrah Collection, with some cars displayed on authentic street scenes.  Included among the collection are the 1907 Thomas Flyer, winner of the New to Paris Auto Race, and the 1938 Phantom Corsair built on a Cord 810 Chassis and designed by Rust Heinz, heir to the Heinz 57 Varieties.  At the conclusion of dinner, Mark Hyman, owner of Hyman Ltd, and a Spirit Region member, gave the keynote address, after which Regional Awards were presented.

The Annual Meeting concluded on Saturday culminating in the display and judging of the Classic Cars.

The 2018 Annual Meeting will be in Branson, Missouri.