The State of the Hobby

[JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

One man's opinion.

I just got back (a few minutes ago) from my parts
delivery trip to the Los Angeles area.  700 miles in
24 hours and my ears are still ringing from the wind
noise.

Beautiful weather, as those of you on the west coast
know.  

Two of the parts buyers wanted to pay me more than the
asking price for the parts.  They were so grateful to
have the parts and were doubly grateful to have me
deliver them. 

I delivered a lower front valance to a lady with a 76
or 77 Chevy Monza in Newport Beach.  The is a bright
orange car with a tan vinyl roof.  It looks showroom
fresh and shows the care she has given the car since
new.  She busted the valance on a parking block ten
years ago and has been looking for one since.  Nice
lady.

I delivered Rambler American front fenders and upper
and lower back seats to an auto shop owner in LA who
got a 65 Rambler which was an insurance write-off.  It
is a 440H 232/auto with power steering.  He will fix
it and put it on Ebay.  I told him I would help him
write the ad.  He paid me more than my asking price
for the parts.  Nice man.

I delivered a Mopar 440 engine to a mopar addict in
Rancho Cucamonga who has a 1966 Hemi Charger in his
driveway.  Unfortunately the 426 hemi is long gone and
he has replaced it with an old 392 hemi.  The 440 will
go into a 70 GTX which he bought from his neighbor and
will make into a daily driver.  We talked about the
similarity in body styles between the 66/67 Charger
and the Rambler Marlin.  I told him about Dick Teague
reportedly being disgusted with the Marlin (on the
Classic body).

It was a good trip, and my faith in the old car hobby
was boosted considerably.   

Joe Fulton
Salinas, CA