It's All About the Drive!

The Wings, Wheels and Run event at the Brunswick

Golden Isles Airport and Stambaugh Aviation on March

22 will support Glynn County students to soar to great

heights and race to reach their goals in life. As the presenting

sponsor of the “Wheels” portion of the fundraiser, EIL invites

everyone to come out to this community event showcasing vintage

airplanes, classic cars and a can’t miss, fun day for the

whole family. Support Glynn County sports; support Glynn

County schools; support Glynn County children. It’s as easy as

that. See you there!

David Manning with his 2001 Plymouth Prowler

David Manning, co-owner of Manning Aviation with his brother, Ricky, has loved cars and airplanes as long as he can remember. But it wasn’t until he saw his first Prowler, Chrysler’s tribute to the American street ‘rod that David fell head over heels for a car. It was love at

first sight, followed by a years-long quest. When he finally located his 2001

Prowler, it took him six months to talk the owner into selling it to him. The

transaction was more like an adoption than a sale. “He made me promise I wouldn’t tear it up out on the road, and that I would always take care of it,” David reminisced. He has kept his promise and the caris flawless. He never drives it in the rain, and it keeps company with another family member, his brother’s prized airplane, a yellow Piper Cub. The lightweight

aluminum-titanium frame allows for a smaller engine than other cars that are capable of 0-60 in less than 6 seconds. But what it lacks in muscle, the Prowler makes up for in hustle. So few 2001 models were made for the US market that its appearance at the event might be the first and only time many people will have seen one of these unique cars. HIGH SCHOOL: Brunswick High School (2008) College: University of South Carolina; all-time school

scoring record, two time All-SEC Second Team PRO CAREER/HONORS: Qualified for the LPGA Tour on her first attempt (2013), finishing 25th at the Final LPGA Qualifying Tournament, earned medalist honors at the second stage of the LPGA Q-School

Mike Fitzgerald with his 1963 Studebaker Avanti

Mike Fitzgerald recalls that he fell in love with cars at about the same time

he fell in like with girls at age 15. He inherited his

father’s balky old Studebaker and soon had it running

smoothly. Owning a car meant he was rescued from

certain social doom since “having my parents drive me

on a date would have been the final nail in my coffin.”

In 1963, Mike experienced true automotive infatuation

when he saw Studebaker’s sleek new performance

and appearance leader car, the Avanti, an ideal combi-

Mike Fitzgerald with his 1963

Studebaker Avanti

nation of muscle car and sleek, Italian-inspired sports

concept car. Although the car was far outside the budget

of a cash-strapped teenaged boy, Mike promised

himself that one day he would own one. After searching

for years, he realized his dream in 2011 when he

bought his 1963 black Avanti. With only 1,000 of

the original 3,834 total cars manufactured still on the

road, the car is a magnet for other autophiles. Watching

a group of tourists at the Pier cluster around his

treasured car, snapping pictures, Mike grinned, “I

don’t mind it at all.”

Dr. Paul Bodamer with his 1960 Ford Thunderbird

Dr. Paul Bodamer had an early love for cars, but his job as a paperboy at age16 was hardly an enterprise that would have afforded him the means to purchase his own wheels.

He was shocked when a customer on his paper route offered to sell him her late husband’s barely-used 1940 DeSoto for $50. The car, purchased new, was trapped for 11 years inside a

garage where a tree had grown up in front of the doors. Paul probably broke the land speed record for tree removal to claim his purchase, and he has been collecting beautiful cars ever since. “I like to think of cars as works of art,” he observed. “You can enjoy just looking

at them as well as driving them.” His “date” for Wings, Wheels and Run is a museum-quality, fiery-red 1960 Ford Thunderbird.

Bill and Sherry Hill with a 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air

Bill Hill, President of the Classic Coastal Cruisers Car Club, showed an early indication of talent when he took on a daunting project at age 14. He bought two 1955 Chevys for a total of $50, cut them apart and reassembled them as one convertible. Exhilarated by the success, Bill embarked on a lifelong journey marked by ownership of a group of spectacular automobiles. “I never could afford to have other people repair my exotic cars, so I had to learn how to do it myself,” he explained. He plans to bring his favorite quintessential muscle car, a red 1957 Chevy Bel-Air, to Wings, Wheels and Run. With its 435 HP 427 engine, Holley double-pumper carb and dual exhaust, Bill’s car is unapologetically loud and blisteringly fast.

Bill and his wife, Sherry, also plan to bring another star of his prized collection to the event on March 22: an elegant 1948 Lincoln convertible. Manufactured the same year as the

beginning of the Berlin Airlift, the ’48 Lincoln is identified by the Automobile Club of America as “the last true American classic car.” Only 40 of this particular model of the luxurious car

were manufactured, making Bill’s Lincoln a rare and valuable specimen. Bill regards the event as a celebration of one vital aspect of freedom: transportation. “Just think about it,” he mused. “If we lived in some other country, we might encounter checkpoints, or be detained and questioned coming to an event like this. But in America, if you want to go somewhere, you just go. There’s no freedom like the open road.”

Howard Cookson with his 1931 Chevrolet Coupe

Howard Cookson enjoys driving his classic cars and indulges in a bit of time travel with his collection of 1930 and 1931 Chevrolets. He started on his journey when his brother found a 1931 Chevrolet Coupe, the same model as the car in a cherished photo of their late father. Howard decided to restore it, and soon became a devotee of classic automobiles. Like other cars of its era, the 5-passenger Coupe had  wooden body and is painted in its original color: Harvard University crimson. “All these cars were painted in school colors of major colleges of the day,” he explained. It took a long time to decipher the cryptic reference to the color on the engine block of the car as he restored it, but it was worth the effort. The coupe attracts an admiring crowd every time he and his wife, Laura, drive it around town.

Scott and JR Stambaugh of Stambaugh Aviation

Scott and JR Stambaugh of Stambaugh Aviation, race sponsors, get on the

same level with young runners inside a commercial tanker jet.