[AMC-List] ebay amx figures

["Eddie Stakes" <eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting thread.
http://www.amcforums.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1153222135
 Surprised there is a thread about it, figured most would run from it! Here
is a little, ok, not so little story I would like to add. I worked at
Dirty's sports bar from 83-89. It was a mom and pop place, but we did great
business off the Richmond strip here in Houston. The owner, Terry Ward,
liked to customize stuff also. At that time I was in my "ooh, it has to be
concours or you have ruined it stage" and now 30 years later am in my
"George Barris meets Darryl Starbird in Jesse James Monster Garage and they
get drunk on Jagermeister and all have Sawzalls" so more into custominzing
AMC's now, especially for personal tastes. I may add two of the most watched
car shows on TV are Monster Garage and Pimp My Ride. Guess what? Both custom
shows.

The fellow who owned Dirty's had a Volkswagen customized. Called it the
Dirty Bird, of which a photo is on my site under "photo galleries" and "my
amcs".
 http://www.planethoustonamx.com/Photo_Gallery_AMC/images/amcpower_jpg.jpg

All the employees were told that this could fly, even though it just looked
WRONG. He put it up on the roof, hoisted it, and the traffic jams it created
at Chimney Rock and Richmond, and the wrecks, are legendary. In the photo
above, my cook sits in the Volksy. Late one night after the place closed,
Victor and me looked 'closer' at the car. The propeller would actully spin,
but you had a foot pedal system to make it spin. The helicopter/jet noise
was a amplifier to a Hoover vacuum cleaner engine in back. Loud as hell and
people honestly thought this thing would vertically leap any second! Hell,
we all did!

The City of Houston has a ordinance on signs. Once on the roof, they could
not figure out if this was a sign or a work of art, what the hell it was,
but wanted to somehow regulate it. So they decided it was a SIGN. He decided
to fight it in court. Smart move. Why? Because of the sheer exposure. Every
night it was on all the local TV stations. People wanted to come out and see
this oddity. You can NOT buy that type of exposure, and he knew it! Our
calender year sales jumped from $350K to $1.1mil that year. We had to hire
more cooks, more wait staff, more bartenders, and many of was were working
doubles, triples, rolling in cash. And the people kept coming.

Speaking of that, the old Billy Blue's music club two blocks down on
Richmond sports a nationally known Volkswagen as part of a saxophone. Never
have heard a discouraging word on either the Dirty Bird or the Volks Sax
from "ANY" of the area huge, Volkswagen chapter either, and for over a year,
they had their local meetings at Dirty's, honored that the Dirty Bird was
getting so much recognition for Volkswagens. Here is the Billy Blues sax:
http://www.agilitynut.com/06/3/sax1.jpg

http://www.agilitynut.com/06/3/sax2.jpg

http://www.agilitynut.com/06/3/sax3.jpg

The point was exposure. And a crapload of it. It worked. So here is some
numbers to toss around I guess.

In the 48 hours my 68 AMX/SSR auction has been up, my ebay hidden counter 
has
tallied a STAGGERING 96000 hits. At that rate it will be almost 672,000 hits
by time auction ends.

A hidden counter on my website at planethoustonamx.com has registered a
whopping 7000+ hits in the last 48 hours.

I have gotten 37 phone calls so far, and the best part is from AMCers I have
not talked to in years, one fellow since 93. On that...there is no price tag
you can put on old friendships. It is something I emphasize on a file
somewhere on my site....it is the PEOPLE...not the CARS, that make AMC
special.

3 of the phone calls were simple 'thanks' letting me know that they liked my
site and were able to find their parts from vendors on my list.

2 found cars for sale, one in the 'amc classifieds' and the other off a
older SUAd from 5 months ago.

There are 107 'watchers' of this AMX I have on ebay. All it takes is one to
bid. Hopefully this time they will have money!

Point is this. From years ago, I remember the Dirty Bird, and how much
exposure it got. Whether you agreed or not on whether it was a sign or work
of art, like anything here www.artcars.com
or now whether one agrees it is good or bad (my auction) is of no
concern. Don't whine like old lady in retirement home who wants to
watch Oprah and play bridge, but only on HER terms and certain time.
I am already happy with the results, and that is two AMCs found new
homes and 3 AMCers found parts. Yes, it is a $50 gamble. It's all a gamble,
every time I drive my AMCs in Houston, or drop several $K for a team to
cover a spread! Now if we can just get Las Vegas to have a pro team....
Eddie Stakes
713-464-8825
www.planethoustonamx.com


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