Dubbed by organizers as "The Catoctin Caper," the 20th Orphan Car Tour was held on June 6 and 7, 2009. This annual event is open to cars that are at least 25 years old and are "orphans" -- defined as automobiles produced by now-defunct manufacturers or by the discontinued divisions of existing companies. Examples of firms in the first category are Packard and Hudson, and examples of those in the second group are Oldsmobile and Plymouth. Cars with discontinued nameplates, such as Thunderbird and Roadmaster, are not considered orphans. They simply were among the few non-orphans -- including a 1936 Ford -- that were allowed to join the fun. Several participants did joke that a Cadillac owner was jumping the gun on General Motors' possible demise by entering his 1959 Sedan de Ville.

Tour leaders and sponsors teamed up this year with the Chesapeake Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) to make the escapade a two-day affair. The road trip began and ended at the parking lot of the 80-year-old Cozy Restaurant in Thurmont, Maryland -- not far from Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains. About 50 miles of scenic back roads were covered on the first day, which culminated with a dinner buffet in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Those taking part on the tour's second day covered an additional 60 miles, with America's oldest antique car museum -- the William E. Swigart Jr. Automobile Museum in Huntingdon, PA -- as the highlight of the itinerary. For more information, visit the tour's Web site at http://www.orphancartour.org or read the flier at http://local.aaca.org/chesapeake/ONiteTour09BothDays.pdf . CRAACA's homepage is at http://local.aaca.org/chesapeake/index.html .

I took photos of just about all the participating cars on June 6 in Thurmont. I used a handheld Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 18-200mm VR zoom. All the images have been resized for online viewing. ... Note that the images and other content here are protected by copyright laws. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use, copying, printing or direct linking is prohibited.

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