Day 1: The Sendoff

Welcome to sunny Fort Lauderdale! Well, not quite, but the Drive Home III crew made the best of windy, rainy and cool weather with two great sendoff events on Day 1. The morning began with a hotel briefing for our expanded crew. Returning from last year: David Madeira, Vice Chair of the America’s Automotive Trust; Bill Hall, auto journalist for Hemmings Motor News and ClassicCars.com (driving the 1969 Camaro SS); videographer/photographer Derek Kline; and me (driving the 1972 El Camino).

New to this year’s Drive Home and their vehicles: The NB Center’s Keith Flickinger (1955 Chrysler C-300); MFD Classic Motors’ Dawn and Mike Fisher (1959 Plymouth Fury); Hagerty Insurance’s Tabetha Hammer (1962 International Travelette); and the Concours USA’s Diane Flis-Schneider who is teamed up with Kettering University’s Kip Darcy and Michael Ciesielski (1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville).



After our briefing, we were off to The Creative Workshop, a classic and specialty restoration shop in Dania Beach.

There we were welcomed by owner Jason who held a kickoff reception and lunch for some 60-70 customers and car buffs that braved the rain to celebrate our departure.

Following remarks by David and Diane Fitzgerald, President of the America’s Automotive Trust RPM Foundation (dedicated to auto restoration, preservation, and mentorship), we roared up I-95 for another kickoff event hosted by sponsor Montecristo Cigars at Casa De Montecristo in Boca Raton, which also included wine tasting for several dozen attendees from another Trust sponsor, Hedges Family Estates.   

A great first day and I was glad to put a few test miles on the El Camino before we chalk up serious miles. The road north begins tomorrow and we’re hoping the ice and snow that just blew through the Southeastern U.S. is long gone by the time we get there!

#DriveHome, #AATDriveHome