“Ridin' on a Raminator - Salina Journal” plus 2 more

Ridin' on a Raminator - Salina Journal
Plenty to ogle at Delaware Auto Show - Delaware Online
Founder of KB Toys auctioning off collection in NJ - News-Courier

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 03:46 AM PDT

10/4/2009
By ERIN MATHEWS Salina Journal

Many of the hundreds of children waiting in line Saturday for a five-minute ride in the back of a monster truck may dream of one day sitting behind its steering wheel.

It's not a bad job if you can get it, said Mark Hall, driver of the Raminator, a 10-foot-tall, 10,300-pound mainstay of the monster truck circuit. Hall, six-time winner of Monster Truck Racing Association driver of the year, drives a truck that has been named truck of the year six times also.

"I'm a hardcore racer, I'll be honest; but I kind of like days like this, too," Hall said, as he looked down the long line of people hoping to be in the next load of eight to climb the ladder into the bed of the Raminator ride truck.

People paid $2 each to ride the truck in a circuit around the Marshall Automotive Group dealership, 3500 S. Ninth, with the proceeds going to the Marines Toys for Tots program.

The truck's route took riders down into a hole that was dug out while the overpass was being constructed, wound through rows of junker cars waiting to be crushed in a driving demonstration and spun a fast circle before stopping for the next load.

"The only time it stops is to load and unload," said Tim Davison, sales consultant at Marshall's.

Eight-year-old Salinan Cauy Rickley and his mom, Jackie, were among the people who waited in line for more than an hour before climbing into the truck.

"I wasn't scared," Rickley said, although he said his mom was. "I just had to hold the seat because it was a bumpy ride, and I didn't want to bump out."

He said the ride was really fun.

When 3-year-old Peyton Taylor exited the truck, he was tight-lipped about the experience.

"He doesn't talk much," said his dad, Eric Taylor, of Bridgeport.

So, was the ride worth the hour-and-40-minute wait?

"Oh, yeah," Taylor said. "Anything that makes him happy is worth it."

The Dodge Raminator and the Rammunition made their fifth appearance at Marshall's on Saturday. Larry Marshall, owner of the dealership, said the monster trucks and the Hall Brothers Racing team were greeted by their biggest crowd of fans yet.

Raminator's driver, Hall, 40, said he has had a lot of fun in the monster truck profession. He started driving monster trucks when he was a senior in high school in Champagne, Ill.

He said interest in racing came naturally, as his father was a motorcycle race announcer, and he grew up around races. When he wanted to compete himself, his mom insisted on something safer than a motorcycle.

Hall said although he's wrecked his truck several times, he's never been injured -- "just my pride a little bit."

The Hall brothers build their own trucks.

"We start with a broom," he said. "We sweep an area off on the floor and start laying it out."

Saturday's crowd got to see the result of the brothers' combined efforts as the Rammunition, driven by Geremie Dishman, crushed a row of old cars and became airborne in a driving demonstration.

He said his brother and crew chief, Tim, got his engineering degree from the University of Illinois, and he considers himself a bit of a "backyard engineer."

The trucks, which are powered by supercharged Hemi engines, burn through about a gallon of alcohol fuel a minute, Hall said. Alcohol is cheaper than gasoline, he said, but, "We feel it when we pull up to the pump."

Children at the event enjoyed just climbing onto the huge truck tires to pose for pictures. Caleb Jamison, 6, who was perched on the top of one of Rammunition's rear wheels is a "monster truck nut," said his dad, Jason Jamison, of Abilene. His little brother, Ryan, 2, fit handily into the truck's wheel well.

"We came last year and this year, and I've taken him to the shows at the BiCenter," Jamison said. "From here, we're going to the pumpkin patch at the bison farm. We've got a big day planned."

n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.

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Plenty to ogle at Delaware Auto Show - Delaware Online

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 01:38 AM PDT

(2 of 2)

The auto show was a big draw for families who used the exhibition as a place to shop for cars without running around from dealership to dealership, or dealing with a sales staff. Some carried around notebooks to write down names and prices; others brought cameras to photograph whatever they liked.

"I looked at the Forte, a 2010 model Kia, and the Civic, the good-old standby," said Samantha Clark, 18, of Middletown, who came with her mom, Myra Johnson, and nephews, Makail West, 7, Christian Walker, 5, and Marcus Cheatham, 3.

"I'm leaning more toward the Civic. But I haven't seen any Pontiacs yet," she said.

Other families just wanted to window shop, saying the crunch of a recession is putting their new-car fantasies in the slow lane for now.

"I just like looking at cars," said Wilmington resident John Ellikson Jr., who brought his teenage sons J.T. and Joey along. "I'm not in the market. I'm probably getting laid off in two weeks."

The Hanlon family -- Jacque, Kathy and their 4-year-old son, Jacque II -- checked out a gleaming white Volvo XC60.

"We come down every year," Jacque Hanlon said. "Just fun to drool and dream."

His favorite was a Jaguar sedan, while Kathy was smitten with a $50,000 Cobra.

"It's sharp, but who wants to spend the money?" she said.

Jason Roebke was having a daddy's day out with his young daughter Riley as the pair hopped inside a Chevrolet Traverse.

"We come to dream a little bit, but this inspires you," Roebke said. "I like the Traverse. It's a nice family car. It's sharp. Plus, it's American and that helps.

It seems Riley is destined to be one of those car-obsessed kind of girls. Even at 18 months old, she knows what she likes and gives an approving smile for the Traverse.

"She loves cars," her dad said. "So she wants to get into every single one. She's having a blast."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: 2009 Delaware Auto Show

WHERE: Center at the Riverfront

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today

TICKETS: $10. Children under 10 free.

SPECIAL GUEST: Jamaal Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman and former DSU Hornet. Noon to 1 p.m. today.

WEB: www.delawareautoshow.com.

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Founder of KB Toys auctioning off collection in NJ - News-Courier

Posted: 24 Sep 2009 04:59 PM PDT

Published September 25, 2009 09:50 am - One of the greatest automotive toy collections in the world is being auctioned off in New Jersey.

Founder of KB Toys auctioning off collection in NJ

Associated Press

VINELAND, N.J. (AP) — One of the greatest automotive toy collections in the world is being auctioned off in New Jersey.

KB Toy founder Donald Kaufman is selling thousands of the toys he's collected over the last half-century. The cache includes cars, buses, airplanes, motorcycles and fire engines dating from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Some are in their original boxes.

The toys will be sold Friday and Saturday at Bertoia Auctions in Vineland.

The first half of the collection was sold in March. It netted more than $4 million in bids from toy collectors who flew in from around the world.

The 78-year-old Kaufman says he's selling his toys because his daughters aren't interested in inheriting them.