Congrats to PCS member Chris Bruno

Rick Franklin

PCS Member
Today was the annual Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Cadillac LaSalle Clubs annual car show. PCS member Chris Bruno, who recentlt relocated to the Seattle area brought his 1974 Miller-Meteor Criterion Ambulance and was awarded the Best of Show award. He was so surprised winning this award I thought he would need to go home in the rear of the ambulance. Also in attendance from the PCS were member cars belonging to Ted & Beth Barber (1940 Cadillac series 72 Sedan), 1949 Cadillac Series 75 limo belonging to Don and Joan Andersen. Other professional cars in attendance were a 1941 Fleetwood series 75 Formal Sedan, and an original, unrestored 1917 Cadillac Limo with Fisher Body.......Sadly, the Barbers were not able to attend todays show with their cars. Ted is in a nursing home after suffering a stroke a few years ago and Beth's funeral was yesterday.
 
will we would let Chris do it but he is a smart phone man. he sent me a number of pictures but I don't think I have one of the whole car after it was redone. Chris's car was like Richards lifeliner it has a crooked path to were it is today. but here is the award and here is the car when he bought it and it's first transformation. if he can step back he can post a pictures of it today. and by the way he did all the work except the painting of the car. I take it back I did save one he sent so they are in reverse order.
 

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Thank you Ed,for the photos,

I was able to see the Criterion first hand in October of 2013 at the Ripon/Menlo Park Emergency Vehicle Show when he was alongside my 72 Superior.:cool:
I didnt realize that he is now in the Seattle area....:rolleyes:
 
The Road To Best of Show!

Coming soon, on this very thread, is "The Road To Best of Show," the story of how an ambulance could ever be awarded something so prized at a CLC event amidst a field of museum-quality coupes, sedans, touring cars and professional cars--and, also, the kind of People's Choice Caddy's that you want to trade your rig for and drive home. Having gotten soundly beaten, thrashed, humbled, annhiliated at Ripon 2013, it would NEVER occur to me EVER to enter into an event where I might be judged. The '72 Superior Spaceship mentioned here, which took top honors there, convinced me I would never win an award in this lifetime--James has too many doo-dads attached to that coach and seems to me to be lurking everywhere at these events--I do not want to get beaten like that again. I am very competitive but am smart enough to avoid situations where I am over-matched. So at this event, I parked my Criterion in the back corner, opened all the doors and just walked around and oohed and ahhed at a selection of Cadillacs so impressive that I have only ever seen cars this nice at a Concours-caliber event. On the dash I.D. slip that I had to fill out, where it requested "Interesting Points:" I simply wrote, "It's Big!" So I was not planning on winning anything. And having won an honor so great to a car guy, I am humbled by all the work yet to do on the car, the debt I owe the members of the Professional Car Society who have either kept me on the straight & narrow or fueled the very addiction that continues to pull them away from more profitable pursuits, and the devotion that each of these Cadillac purists I met yesterday so plainly possess given the quality and condition of their cars. So, the insider story of work so exhausting that I do not look forward to recounting the experience in words is forthcoming. Thank you, Rick, for forwarding this news. Had I learned of any other ambulance in this club winning such an award my curiosity would be piqued. Remind me, though, to tell you about getting pulled over by an actual ambulance (why didn't you guys tell me that that could happen?), and my recent interaction with the Hells Angels. More to come.
 

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Chris Bruno and his Criterion in the SF Chron

The San Francisco Chronicle has a regular (every other week) feature called "My Ride," where people get to write about their special car, and why they own and drive it. Today's feature is written by Chris Bruno about his Criterion. Definitely worth reading!! Note that a PCS badge is visible in the picture featured at the top of the article, included below.

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Ol...pageno=NDM.&entity=QXIwNDMwMQ..&view=ZW50aXR5

-- Neal
 

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will we would let Chris do it but he is a smart phone man. he sent me a number of pictures but I don't think I have one of the whole car after it was redone. Chris's car was like Richards lifeliner it has a crooked path to were it is today. but here is the award and here is the car when he bought it and it's first transformation. if he can step back he can post a pictures of it today. and by the way he did all the work except the painting of the car. I take it back I did save one he sent so they are in reverse order.
The restoration of this coach was only possible by the faith, humor, good will, advice and wisdom of Ed Renstrom. It's just not possible to deal with every single complexity without have someone who can routinely convince you everything is going to turn out all right. (And if it doesn't, it's sure to be a good story.).
 
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