Richmond Region - AACA - The First Fifty Years
by Tommy Cox 2002

David J. Garriques planted the seed for what grew to be the Richmond Region when he bought a 1922, Ford in 1951. At that time, Dave did not know of any other old car owner in the area. In the Richmond newspaper, he found an article about John Brown and his 1906 Wayne in Waynesboro, Va. Through some correspondence, John made Dave aware of The Antique Automobile Club of America. On April 10, 1952, thirteen old car enthusiasts met in Richmond to discuss the formation of a local region of the AACA. Our charter was issued on June 4, 1952, for a part of eastern Virginia from Fredericksburg south to the North Carolina line, and west to Charlottesville. We were the seventeenth group in the nation to become an AACA Region.

The club soon grew to 38 members and was active with several old car drives to local parks, a tour to Williamsburg, and participation in the Tobacco Festival parade. Richmond Region hosted the first Old Dominion Meet in 1953. This meet was a joint affair of the Richmond, Waynesboro-Staunton, and National Capital Regions, and AACA wrote that it was the first time that they knew of a joint meet of several regions. The Old Dominion Meet has been held annually every year since 1953, and is hosted by a different region in Virginia each year.

Delegate Tom Frost, a Warrenton automobile dealer, introduced a bill into the Virginia Hose of Delegates which would authorize special license plates for vehicles 25 or more years of age. These plates were first issued in 1954, and the first number was 1906, which was the first year in which Virginia issued license plates. Fourteen old car enthusiasts met at DMV and held a drawing for the first antique auto plates to be issued. Virginia was one of the first states in the country to issue antique auto license plates.

In 1961, the Richmond Region was host to the Eastern national Spring AACA meet, the first time a national meet had been held in the South. With the 2002 meet we were pleased to again welcome the Eastern National Spring Meet to Richmond. In 1910, the Richmond Times Dispatch sponsored an endurance run to promote interest in a good roads movement. In 1966, The Richmond Region revived this run with about 100 vehicles going on the original route, which was from Richmond to Washington to Charlottesville and back to Richmond. The "Endurance Run" was a regular feature of our club for many years, and is still occasionally done. For the first several years of the endurance run revival, we even got the Pure Oil Co. to provide free gas for the tour vehicles. Yes, the times have changed!

Each year our club has a spring swap meet and car show. The first driving event of the year is a one-day event which we call the Spring Run. We have regular social events all of which include good eating: a Bar-B-Que picnic which is prepared by a club member, a steak fry, and an Ice Cream Social which is held at the river home of one of our members. We look forward to continued growth and prosperity in our next 50 years!

Richmond Region Past Presidents