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Sun, 17 July 2011 01:01  |
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jaholland
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Registered: June 2010
Location: Sweet Home Alebamy
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GMC Dixie Landers Vintage GMC Motor Home Rally Meets At
Noccalula Falls
By Greg Bailey
Times Associate Editor
Published: Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 10:47 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 10:53 p.m.
A unique vehicle that last was produced more than three
decades ago isn’t about to disappear
if some friendly and helpful enthusiasts have anything
to do with it.
Photo Galleries
GMC Dixie Landers in town
General Motors produced the 23- and 26-inch GMC TZE Class A
motor homes from the 1973 to 1978 model years, and restored
and maintained versions continue to be enjoyed by clubs
across the U.S. One of them, the GMC Dixie Landers, is in
Gadsden this weekend for their summer rally at Noccalula Falls
Campground. The rally began Thursday and will conclude Sunday
morning.
It’s happening because of two GMC owners, John Richardson and
John Nichols, who had been stopping in Gadsden while en route
to and returning home from a major rally annually in Bean
Station, Tenn., in the northeast part of the state. Richardson,
vice president of the Dixie Landers, is from Niceville, Fla.,
and Nichols is from Pensacola, Fla. They would meet in Greenville
in south Alabama, then head north to Gadsden and camp at the
falls. “That was sort of a ritual for us,” Richardson said.
“But it’s so beautiful here that we always wanted to stay an
extra day, so we started talking about having a rally here.”
Planning rallies is one of Richardson’s roles with the group,
so last year he set up this one, and it’s attracted 33 campers.
He and his wife, Linda, and Jim and Ethel Waters of Georgia
are the hosts. The group had a pot luck dinner Thursday —
that’s traditional on the first night, Richardson said;
campers prepare food at homeand break it out at meal time —
and will dine at local restaurants today and Saturday. They
also plan to visit various local attractions.
Visitors are welcome during the rally, and club members are
happy to talk about their motor homes. Richardson said the
Dixie Landers primarily are from the Southeast, adding,
“Roaming Dixie together is one of our slogans.”
They typically have four rallies a year — near Tampa, Fla.,
in the winter, at Bean Station in May at Kentucky Derby time
and then in the summer and fall. The last one this year will
be near Valdosta, Ga. Most members are retired — Richardson
said it’s typically a couple with a little pet — and are linked
by their love for their sleek Classic GMC Motor Homes.
About 13,000 TZEs were produced, according to the GMC Motorhomes
International website, and it’s estimated that three-fourths
still are in running condition. New parts still are being
manufactured by various vendors. Richardson said the model’s
design was “ahead of its time.” They are front-wheel drive,
with the drive train of an Oldsmobile Toronado, and earlier
versions used 455-cubic-inch Oldsmobile engines. “The engine,
transmission, final drive and steering are all in one package,”
Richardson said. The front and rear body caps are fiberglass,
but the rest of the bodies are sheet aluminum like airplanes,
and the floors are marine plywood. The TZEs also have unique
suspensions with air bags instead of springs, and the inflation
level can be controlled from the driver’s console. They are
totally self-contained, with generators and cold and hot water
tanks. And they’re still turning heads.
“An 11-year-old kid got out of the swimming pool at the camp
ground and saw these and said, ‘I like that,’” Richardson said.
Club members have a sense of camaraderie, Richardson said.
A list of volunteers called “the Black list,” after its
organizer, broken down by state and expertise, circulates for
GMC owners who need help, and there also are online venues
available for exchanging information. “It’s like a fraternity,”
Richardson said. “You’re not on your own with these. All of a
sudden, you’ve got a whole lot of friends all over the country.”
: cut and pasted from the Gasden Alabama News }
/_]*[__][] *[__|] ~ * '73 TZE063V101887 "
"
O----------OO--]* ~ '78 TZE168V100234 "
"
" Joe & Lavelle " "
"
'sweet home alebamy'
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