Re: [AMC-List] Charity AMX

[farna@xxxxxxx]

You know Tom, I'm NOT going to get upset with you or your last post. This has been a massive undertaking, more so than anyone who started it (including you and I, though I did have more of an idea of the length of time it could take) could have expected. I wrote a few letters to Hot Rod and and a couple other mags shortly after this started -- they never got published. The AMC hobby in general KNOWS about this car -- it's been talked about a lot on the List and the Forum. Club members have been asked to take the info to their club meetings and see what they could do. Vendors have stepped up and donated a lot of parts. Individuals and a few clubs HAVE stepped up and donated a lot. I KNEW it would take a lot of time, but it's taken more time than even I expected. I expected the car to be ready to go to auction last year. I wouldn't have been disappointed if it was ready to go now. If you have lots of time to devote to finishing the car it COULD be done in a couple months, but !
 is ther
e any point in rushing the job now? Or is it just that you have the time right now and think you may not later? Send me a personal e-mail if you want to discuss this point, public forums is not the place. Or call me at 302-233-4925. 

I know parts have been misplaced and "lost in the shuffle", and a few decisions were made on site that I probably wouldn't have made, and I've made decissions that you probably wouldn't have made -- I'm sure it would have been the other way around had our roles been reveresed. I KNEW that would be the nature of the project as it went along, there has ALWAYS been the POTENTIAL that someone around the car could/would INTENTIONALLY swap some part(s) out for their personal benefit. I don't think that has happened, though some things have obviously been misplaced/lost during transportation and changing of hands. There have been honest efforts to minimize this, but surely you didn't think the car could go half way around the coutnry,change hands several times, and not have some of that happen? 

Each team was supposed to do their own "bush beating" and publicity. Most got some nice local coverage, even Dave got a mention in one of the local papers shortly after he took over the car. As I stated earlier, the general hobby magazines don't seem to care. Maybe now that the car is nearing completion we can get some interest though. I'll make another effort. There HAS been donations outside the hobby. One AACA chapter sent in a donation, and I know that the GA, FL, and TX teams solicited some parts from local suppliers (GA got an amount of credit for whatever they needed from NAPA, for example). Dave DeLabio got a local paint and supply company to donate all the materials (and Zion Auto Body to do the work), and the FL guys got a wheel restorer to powder coatthe wheels. Check the web page out again (http://www.mattsoldcars.com/charityamx/index.html). None of the big name guys like Summit, but we really don't need aftermarket parts. I'll be writing Legendary for seat cover!
 s soon.


The car needed much more body work than anticipated, yes. And other work. "Good for a New England car" isn't saying a lot -- there are lots of southern and western cars with great bodies, but then they need everything else. But we have more people in the hobby capable and willing to do "everything else" -- lots of body work isn't in most people's repertoire of skills -- with some exceptions such as yourself. 

A 70 AMX means there are lots of one year only parts. We have most of them with the car, which was a big help though (as you pointed out), and the only reason I accepted the car. All the work and POSSIBLE problems meant the car would be a 3-5 year project instead of a 2-3 year one though, I knew that from the beginning. The reason it takes so long is people have lives to live, and it has to be transported and "started from scratch" at each location. That means it's a year at a location and only about three months of weekends are actual work. You don't always have much time to work on projects either. The car had to be transported, which took a month or two to arrange, then off loaded with parts which were inventoried, decissions made as to what work would be attempted, then publicity/donations sought, time found for the work, etc. It takes a lot of time!! 

All that said, I also understand why you're getting impatient with the project. It should have been completed this year, at least. Even so, I would like the project to get out to another group before it goes back to Boston for final disposition. You offered taking it last year and I thought hard about it. There's not much point in getting impatient to finish now though, and Zion Auto Body WANTED to finish up the body work they started. I have already reached the conclusion that it will be going back to you for the final touches. After much consideration you're the best person to finish it up, and it's fitting since it started with you -- a complete circle. 

After your last message I wonder if that's the best thing to do, though that's still the plan. I expect you're going to publicly criticize everything that was done other than what you expected or would have done. Or will you realize that this has been a monumental task that has been difficult for those who have done a lot of work on the car and to manage and coordinate in our "spare" time? Right now it appears you're just upset that it's taken so long, and you never realized just what kind of task this would be. Maybe you never will understnad how difficult this has been -- you're a lot more dedicated to the hobby than the average AMCer -- I'll be the first to admit, and honor you with, that fact. I don't think you'd have done any better, just given up and pulled it back to finish yourself a lot sooner. The effort has been more for the AMC community, as much as for the charities, than for the car itself. I hope you realize that. 

If a speedy effort was all that was wanted, a car in better body condition and much easier to get parts for (Gremlin, or 66-69 American/Rogue, even a Javelin -- almost anything but an AMX) would have been chosen. It wouldn't have made as much money, but it would have been finished much sooner. The AMX has some people intimidated, they don't want to do anything (especially now!) because they don't want the criticism that some people have been giving the project, and the fact that it's an AMX. The car will get looked at harder than a Gremlin/Rambler/Javelin (non-AMX model) would. I anticipated some of that when you offered the car, but decided to go for it anyway. I sometimes regret it -- another model would have been easier to deal with, and a second car would be starting rounds now. In the long run I think as much money would have been raised on two cars as with this one AMX, and possibly in the same amount of time -- the car wouldn't have got passed around as large an area. 

The biggest problem with this project is that the AMC community has been burned by the experience and criticism it has generated. I'm not sure another project like this will be attempted even on a car that needs much less work. But I still don't regret the effort, and may try something similar again. Keeping it in one region might help. I was going to say getting committments before the project started, but we had some enough of those to last a couple years -- who knew no one else would step up? Anyway, that's enough! Time to pull together and get finished, not for any resentments as to how things have come together up to now and further criticism. 

--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AIM.html
(free download available!)

-------------original message----------------------
Re: [AMC-List] Charity AMX

Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 07:56 PM
From: Thomas Benvie <tbenvie@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Frank, once again you are missing the point.  The ball was dropped long before
you deployed overseas.  Fact is, the project never became what it could of
become-there has been little if any press exposure, little if any solicitation
of donations or parts outside of the AMC hobby, and very little exposure
inside
the hobby.  Only a few people stepped forward tomake anything happen as far as
actual work-which is okay, because a few are better than none.  there have
been
some pretty rotten decisions made about the car, parts to buy, status of work,
etc.  The car was worse than you expected?  What does that mean?  you got a
car
with stright floors and gussets-not bad for New England.  And it was a 70, and
mostly complete, a 2 owner car.  the quarter was damaged worse than
expected-well, when the car left here it had a mint used qurter for the side
that we knew was damaged.  When damage to the other side was discovered I
donated the other side, and dave from Ga. willingly came up to Bost
on and picked it up./  It left here with ram air, but it turned up missing-I
donated another complete set, with air cleaner.  The wheels were bad- (but not
when it left) so I sent out some more, complete with NOS trim rings, etc. more
was asked, I sent out more and more. last i knew there were two right side
seats-how did that happen.  Missing a rocker molding and window-where did it
go?
On and on and on.  Now you say you need a "few more weeks" to find someone
else
to finish it.  you've had a few years.  "Won't have it done in time"-says who?
yeah, if you continue to procrastinate nothing will get done.  If I knew you
or
AIM would somehow be in charge the car would have stayed right here in Mass.
It's been 6 years-a lot of people have donated a lot of time, money, and parts
to get this done.  No time to wait Frank-use the cash you have to get it
shipped
back here.  it will be finished and if it is ion the shape i am told it is in,
it will be ready for auction.  The guys left in
 the New England Club will get it done, find the resources to get it shipped
and
to the auction.  Enough is enough-time for excuses are over.  "LAST CALL" for
what, Frank-I am offering the help needed to get it done, and get it done now.


Tom, yes, the car has stalled in Wisconsin. The main reason I've let it go for
a
while is the body shop with the car has been doing a superb job AND a lot of
work -- that and I've been away in Afghanistan until a week ago. It NEEDS to
move this year!! I HAVE been beating the bushes to get another
club/group/individual to take the car and complete the interior and the
exterior/mechanical miscellaneous items that still need attention.

It saddens me to think that no one wants to do any work on the car in that
area
of the country. There are groups in the mid west, supposedly, and I contacted
a
few individuals who were going to "bring it up" at meetings. I never heard
back.
It was only through the monumental efforst of David DeLabio in Racine that the
car didn't get stranded in Wisconsin. We lucked out really -- Zion auto body
has
done top notch work! They found where the car had been in a wreck and it
wasn't
fully repaired but patched over -- the right rocker was bent in about 1/8"
making the quarter tough to fit. Rather than patch it back up to look right
they
straightened everything properly. We couldn't have got better body work, but
I'm
sure they are ready to move the car by now.

I have to tell you, I'm, pissed off at the mid west AMC enthusiasts in
general.
I know there are some who would have liked to take it but don't have
shop/garage
space for the car. But you'd think someone in the mid west would be able to do
something. This isn't an AIM magazine project, though I have been sponsoring
it,
it was/is an AMC community project. But there are a few people I haven't
contacted directly yet. Jock Jocewicz is one of them. I had planned on doing
just that, then Dave located Zion Auto Body and they agreed to do all the body
work. You reading this Jock? Drop me an e-mail or call me (anyone interested
in
taking the car for work) at 302-233-4925.

This is the LAST CALL for someone to winter the car and get some work done.
The
car was rougher than we (those who conceived the project) expected, and there
have been a few bumps along the way, but there's no reason it should have
taken
this long. If I can't get anyone interested, the car will go back to Tom in
the
next few weeks. He shouldn't have to do as much work as it needs to get
finished. I don't think it can get completed in time for the winter auction,
but
it could be completed for spring.

So, barring someone actually taking the car for at least SOME more work, is
there anyone on the list willing to assist with transporting it to Tom's home
near Boston? Yes, there are some funds left. If anyone can get a discounted
rate
or transport the car for expenses that would be  preferred to having a
transportation company do it. Give me a couple weeks to beat a few more
bushes.
I just got back home from Afghanistan -- haven't had time to do anything yet!

See what's needed and what's been done at
http://www.mattsoldcars.com/charityamx/index.html.
The last report was almost a year ago, but the car hasn't just been sitting at
Zion. They have continued working on the body as time permits and completed
more
of the work they started. I haven't heard from Dave since I got back in the
country, but will be contacting him for an update (just called and left a
message, and sent an e-mail!). If all went as planned it should be painted and
mainly need interior work now.
_______________________________________________
AMC-List mailing list
AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list

or go to http://www.amc-list.com