1958

In 1958, a dapper Bruce Thompson posed for his photo before a very un-Casper like background.

A bill was introduced in the legislature to allow special "Pioneer Wyoming" license plates for cars 25 years or older.

In August of 1958, original HCCA President Henry Croco and his wife drove their newly purchased 1925 Locomobile Sportif

to Casper from San Francisco. It was one of only two known to exist at the time.

The car's six cylinder engine had three separate cylinder heads and two separate ignition systems.

Their cross country trip was totally uneventful, with only an occasional spark advance adjustment required.

Croco reported speeds in excess of 80 mph, with no tire or canvas top problems.

Also pictured is Phil Cooper with his 1926 Lincoln touring car. The Lincoln is owned to this day by his son Phillip.

The Lincoln is one of two touring buses used in Yellowstone National Park.

Phillip would someday like to restore the Yellowstone paint scheme.

By 1958, HCCA had 30 members. You'll notice that many of the cars were post-1916, and not qualifying as Horseless Carriages.

HCCA welcomed members with post-1916 cars, but treated them as second class citizens.

In order to be in the local HCCA chapter, members had to join the national club.

Post-1916 owners had no national voting rights and could not participate in national events, resulting in hard feelings.

As time went on, the pre-1916 cars became less prominent, and the internal rift within the club became wider.

The HCCA eventually dissolved in 1985 when two factions broke off.

The more-or-less late model and street rod folks formed OCAC.

Those members who preferred the early, all-original cars formed the Oil Country Chapter

of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA).

Both OCAC and VMCCA are currently active in Casper, with OCAC being the larger and more active club.