Wheels & Wings - Minn & Wisc Car Show / Casual Concours

[Esprit2]

29th Annual Wheels & Wings
Saturday, September 12th
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

On Motorbooks International’s property
729 Prospect Ave
Osceola, WI 54020
... (715) 294-3345

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Motorbooks.com - Books available on automotive, motorcycles, aircraft, auto racing,trucks, trains, boats, airplanes, tractors, cars and bicycles. Homepage

Wheels & Wings is the largest owner car show and casual concours in the Twin Cities / Western Wisconsin area. In recent years it's been drawing 1000+ specialty cars from vintage Model T's to the latest exotics. Throw in the great sale prices on select Motorbooks titles and discounts on everything in the racks, and it's a "Don't miss it" car event. Think of it as an all-day Cars & Coffee on steroids.

W&W is one part of the greater Osceola Crazy Days, so there will also be events of interest to other members of the family. If you’re Significant Other doesn’t care to spend a day hanging out with a bunch of car guys, let her know there will be a shuttle bus service available to other events in Osceola: a Fly-in/ Airshow at the airport, Craft Fair, Art Explosion, Steam Train rides, Community Fair and Geo Caching.

There will be burgers, brats & beverages for sale (including beer) on the Motorbooks grounds. Or hop a shuttle bus into town if you would like to check out other local restaurants.

Everyone, member or not, is welcome to caravan over with the Lotus Owners Oftha North (LOON). Come for the drive, and stay for the day.

Regards,
Tim Engel

[Esprit2]

At Wheels & Wings, cars are parked in the order they arrive, and clubs cannot stake out their exclusive turf. If a club wishes to park as a group, then it needs to arrive as a group. To facilitate that, the Lotus Owners Oftha North (LOON) will meet early at a Perkins restaurant, and caravan over from there.

All Lotus owners, members or not, are welcome to join in. Some Jensen-Healey, DeLorean, MR2 owners will be joining us (ie, cars with Lotus content). From there, we'll be driving a creative route through the back roads.

Meet here…
Perkins Family Restaurant & Bakery -- (651) 426-1643
1045 County Road E East, St Paul, MN 55110
Northeast corner of the interchange between County Rd E and I-35E
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7:00 AM Breakfast (optional)

8:00 AM DEPARTURE from Perkins. WHEELS ROLLING !
Full Gas Tanks !! It's too late for, "But wait! I need gas!"

If you have a set of those little, family channel walkie-talkies, bring them. The frequency is channel 8 / group 28

W&W Casual Concours awards are announced around 2:30 or 3:00 PM and the crowd thins dramatically after that. Whenever the LOON collective decides to leave, we will adjourn to a local (Stillwater area) restaurant for an early supper before finding our individual ways home. The choice of restaurant will remain open until those present decide, but do to some area road construction / closures, I suggest the Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter, 8390 Lofton AvN, Stillwater, MN (in the countryside, west of Stillwater, off Manning Rd / Cty Rd 15).

See you there,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North

[Esprit2]

If you can't join the LOON caravan to Wheels & Wings, then drive to Osceola on your own and show up when you can. But note that the organizers direct cars where to park on a first come/ first served basis. If you wish to park with fellow Lotus owners, then arrive with them. If you come separately, then there's a pretty solid, 99.9% chance you may end up parking separately.

We'll park loose so we can always squeeze together for a late arrival or two... IF you can get to us. Bring your cell phone to help connect with the group, but understand that the coverage around Osceola is spotty on a good day. Of course, cell phones will only help if folk share their phone numbers here in advance. My cell (Tim Engel) is (612) 877-1076.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS

From the Twin Cities: (approx 1 hour)
The usual route from the Twin Cities is to get to Stillwater via your favorite route, and then take Hwy 95 north about 18-19 miles to Osceola Rd (Hwy 243); however, this year Hwy 95 is CLOSED for re-surfacing from Hwy 96 on the north side of Stillwater to Hwy 97 (Scandia Rd). The best alternatives routes are:

A) Caravan with the LOONs, and take the creative back roads. Leave the planning to us.

B) I-35 north to Exit # 129 / MN Hwy 97 / County Rd 23 near Wyoming, MN.
Proceed eastward to Hwy 95 on the MN / WI border as follows:
RIGHT (east) on Hwy 97 -- go 1.9 miles
Bear LEFT on US Hwy 61 (Forest Blvd) – go 0.4 miles
RIGHT (east) on MN Hwy 97 (Scandia Trail N) - go 8.9 miles to Hwy 95.
LEFT (north) on Hwy 95 to Hwy 243 (Osceola Rd - goes to the east only).
RIGHT (east) on Hwy 243 -- follow it across the St. Croix River Valley, into Osceola and to a stop sign at Cascade Street (Wisconsin State Hwy 35).
RIGHT (south) on Cascade (Wisc Hwy 35) -- go under the bridge, enter the left turn lane for the first left turn, a very short distance after the bridge. The cross street is known variously as Seminole Ave/ County Hwy M / 75th Avenue.

Hold that thought... we'll get back to it in a minute after we look at some options.

C) Take Wisconsin State Hwy 35 to Osceola. If you're coming from Minn, cross the St Croix river on I-94 (Hudson, WI) and proceed to Hwy 35. OR…
Go to Stillwater, MN via your favorite route, and cross the river on the lift bridge. Proceed into Wisconsin to State Hwy 35.
Go NORTH on Wisconsin Hwy 35 to Osceola.
That will bring you to STOP sign at the same intersection with Seminole Ave as noted above, but from the opposite direction (from the south).

D) From Duluth or other points north, either…:
I-35 south to EXIT #147 / MN Hwy 95 at North Branch / Cambridge.
LEFT (east) on Hwy 95 – go approx 28 miles, thru St Croix Falls, onward to...
LEFT (east) on Hwy 243 -- follow it 1.5 miles across the St. Croix River Valley, into Osceola and to a stop sign at Cascade Street (Wisconsin State Hwy 35).
RIGHT (south) on Cascade (Wisc Hwy 35) -- go under the bridge, enter the left turn lane for the first left turn, a very short distance after the bridge. The cross street is known variously as Seminole Ave/ County Hwy M / 75th Avenue.
138.7 miles / 2 hrs, 24 min
...…OR…
Go to Superior, Wisconsin, pick up Wisconsin Hwy 35 and follow it south to Osceola. There, Hwy 35 is Cascade St, which is Osceola’s main north-south drag. Follow it through Osceola, past the stop sign at Hwy 243 coming in from the right, under the bridge, to the left turn lane and STOP sign at Seminole Ave, as noted above.

Regardless of how you got to the intersection of Hwy 35 (Cascade St) and Seminole Ave…

Turn EAST onto Seminole Ave/ County Hwy M / 75th Avenue.
Follow it UP THE HILL east for about one mile to Prospect Way (goes to the LEFT only). Watch for W&W signs and arrows.

Turn NORTH (left) onto Prospect Way.
From there, just follow the signs and the volunteer workers directing traffic. If you are driving a specialty car and wish to park in the show, you will be guided to a parking spot. If you drive the grocery getter to W&W, you will be directed to public parking lots in the surrounding industrial park, and will have to walk the last block(s) to W&W.

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See you all there,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North (LOON)

[MNlotus]

i would love to go! the group caravan was awesome last year.

[shinoo]

This was one of my favorite events while I lived in the Twin Cities. Glad to see it is still happening! Have fun.

[Esprit2]

Wheels & Wings was a light turn out overall. Good, but lighter than in recent, peak years.

Breakfast was only 6... three DeLorean, two Lotus and a friend. There were more folk waiting in the parking lot when we came out... one Esprit, 6 (?) Elise-Exige, 3 DeLoreans, and my MR2. Frank Howard in his Europa TC entered into the middle of the line as we rolled past Hwy 97, and we picked up an MR2 Spyder as we rolled into W&W (DeLoreans and MR2 Mk I have Lotus Engineering design content).

Dave Lindemann was waiting for us on Hwy 243 and took a photo as we went buy. The spread-out caravan disappears around the corner, but that's us.

We got to W&W at 9:00 AM. In recent years it's usually been packed by then, and we would be looking for over-flow parking; but this year it was less than half full when we arrived (I had registration # 379, and they give them out in order).

By awards time, they claimed 900 cars and motorcycles. However, they spread them out into surrounding parking lots from the get-go, like they were planing ahead for bigger numbers. As a result, the "on grounds" parking was pretty thin compared to past events. It was still a good turn out... 900 is nothing to sneeze at. It's a perception thing.

No Lotus walked away with an award this year. Dwayne's Elise-Exige (? I should pay more attention) and Glenn's Murcieligo were selected as Finalists, but didn't win.

The stars of the show were a yellow vintage Hudson Roadster that must have been fresh out of the restoration shop (it was flawless)... and topping all comers was a stunning, one-of-a-kind Daimler that won best in class at the recent Pebble Beach Concours. It was just breathtaking. It lives in Wisconsin. They didn't drive it to Osceola, but the Mrs said they do drive it. On their first ever ride in it, her husband took her to Culvers for lunch. Something seems out of place in that picture.

Glenn, Dave, Dwayne (nice to meet you) and I stood and watched the awards ceremony together. Then, Glenn and Dwayne both had to split to attend to patient ladies, and Dave & I walked back to where all the Lotus had been parked. No one was there... just my MR2.

Make a note for the future... there are wonderful dining options is the Stillwater area. I couldn't go all the way to Stillwater area and not stop at Phill's Tara Hideaway... so I did. Try it sometime.

Tim