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I thought I felt a disturbance in the force today...
As if millions of Speedsters cried out and were suddenly stilled.
I knew the force was to strong for this one!
You'll be back. All those tools will start out as whispers in your head. They will get louder and louder until a project opportunity comes in the midst of all the noise and you will gladly accept!
I saw your last car on The Samba. It's beautiful. I don't think a craftsmen like yourself can just walk away from that.
Fixed a handle latch on David's speedster yesterday and that folks closed out that era. Tools are now sorted to a minimal carry tool box and the shop sits with a slight echo and naked as a Jay Bird. Thanks all for your many kudos it's been a pleasure ~
'Sigh'.............
Well, Alan... It was a very good run while it lasted, wasn't it? You had a lot of fun and provided grown-up toys to others who will enjoy them for years to come. Nothing wrong with that, at all.
Thank you for helping to keep this hobby alive in a big way for so many of us, and enjoy your somewhat more relaxed years to come. You deserve it - Connie, too!
Gordon
You know you'll miss us. One of these days you'll return to Carlisle and someone will say "I just can't get this <fill in the blank> to work properly." You, being the nice guy that you are, will pick up a tool - any tool - to help and it'll be like a recovering crack addict. You'll be hooked again. It'll start small, but within a couple of years you'll be building a space shuttle in your condo.
The Amish shop is empty, tools are sorted ...I'm really done for sure, "Ed" will continue the east coast wrenching . Yes it was my childhood dream come true to build cars, I just didn't realize that it would expand to the extent that it did. There were fun and crazy times and many, tested my sanity. I'll be at Carlisle for years to come. A huge thank you for the cherished friendships generated within this hobby....A couple of years back when my health was in dire question, you all rallied for me . How lucky I an and WE all are to experience the unity of one caring extended family. Most importantly, I need to thank my wife Connie for always being there for me no matter what and putting up with all of this, God Bless her !
So-- I'm one of the guys who just can't imagine it.
In the fall of 2015, we had the opportunity to sell the 7 (!) bedroom house we had built, along with the huge shop (1200 sq ft, plus a loft, 14 ft high door, heated floors, etc.). We had discussed downsizing in passing, but I always thought it was a few years off. The big place was paid off, there was money in the bank, and my business was practically running itself with a couple of employees who loved me. I thought seriously of selling the business, and moving to the deep south or CA. I'm really tired of winter and the taxes here are the nation's worst (I'm not just complaining to complain. Click the link).
But at the heart of it, I'm a homeboy and this is home. I bought a 130 y/o home in the middle of an adjacent (slightly bigger) small town, tore it down, and began a process that has led me to be living in an 800 sq ft apt. while we build a "smaller" home. It's been a freakshow of cost and time overruns, and I have built what I believe to be the midwest's most expensive 3BR home. I'll never, ever got what I've put into this back. It's STILL not done (almost, but not yet).
But more to the point-- this is the second time in my life I have been without a "car shop" (for almost 2 years now), and I have worked (slowly) through the stages of grief. I think I might be on acceptance right now, but who knows. I designed and built the entire house around a garage with 10 ft doors, and a 12.5 ft ceiling so that I could install a Bendpak 2-post lift (which ironically I can't afford to purchase for a while). I tried really had to mask how big the garages are, but there's no hiding what it is. We're "the garage people" to the townsfolk. I can think of worse things to be.
Anyhow, I can't really imagine doing what Al is doing. We're all wired differently, but I'm really hoping to finish up my life laying on my back on some concrete, looking up at some greasy thing I can no longer figure out. If you ask my grandson who I am, he'd tell you, "That's g-pa. He's a fixer". I guess what I'm doing with real estate is proof enough that even if I had made the (much) better decision to sell and really downsize (instead of faking it), I am what I am, and can be no other. You can take the boy out of the shop, but you can't really take the shop out of the boy.
Al is a builder. I wish him nothing but success in his new life. I'll be waiting to see how it pans out. I've got my doubts as to whether or not this is the end of the line for "Dr. Clock."
To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, Alan did it his way. I know what Alan says: we can move on from one stage of our life to another, perhaps with a few regrets, but looking forward to what the next step brings.
Enjoy that well earned retirement, Alan. 
See you at Carlisle.
I'm living proof that life can and does hold surprises for all of us, no matter our age. Good health, a positive outlook, loved ones who still put up with us, and meaningful work, are all pieces of the puzzle.
We made a huge move as a family 15 years ago. On the whole, it has turned out extremely well. My experience is that friends and family are never ambivalent about one's intent to relocate. They either explode with outrage, or give the best "thumbs up" they can manage.
None of us know how many more turns lie in the road ahead. It helps if the road has turns and twisties, and we're in a cool ride.
Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans! 
Ah....."Downsizing"!
Been there, done that.
Had a nice 2,800 sq ft 3-BR "Cape" during the kid's grow-up years (with 3 acres of mow-able lawn) complete with a full shop AND lift, then retired to a 900 sq ft "Retirement Home" (with a lawn service). Pitched truckloads of perfectly good stuff just to downsize enough to fit, and then expanded it to a 2,200 sq ft dream home. Hit the house market exactly right to coincide with family issues and sold for a totally ridiculous amount - enough to buy TWO homes (one in no-snow country). THAT Place was 3,400 sq ft for the two of us and we stole it......but.......so, what? Two older people, bumbling around in a big house that they loved. But then.......Grandkids started happening and they were so far away...And then there were more family issues to deal with.
So later, hit the house market exactly right, again, and sold for another ridiculous amount that fueled our retirement fund and here we are in the other place, back home where it all started, where I'm 5'th generation here so I guess this is home for good. Got pretty much everything I want here except for the snow but good timing on vacations in the Caribbean and friends to visit there help with that as long as we can. Somehow, life will provide, sometimes in very interesting ways.
I've watched friends make good and bad investments, seen them through good and bad times, seen them through marriages and divorces (and more marriages) and yet, we just keep flowing along. Can't say that we've done everything right - far from it - but tended toward moderation and found very good friends along the way (a bunch of them on here).
It's been pretty good, thus far. A few bumps along the way that we've had to deal with, but nothing we couldn't handle and, lately, it looks pretty interesting on the road ahead as we continue to evolve.
Life IS the journey, after all, isn't it? We're making the most of it that we can!
"That's g-pa. He's a fixer"
That's also a pretty good picture of Alan up top. Thanks again, man—for everything. I've finally got most of the stuff sorted and stowed. And, as you predicted, there are a number of parts and things I have no idea what they are. You'll be getting some photos in your email, subject line "What the hell is this thing?"
I'll do everything I can to live up to your legacy.
Ok Ed, so when does Speedster #1 hit the market? You have 42 more after that. 
I think "Speedster #1" looks suspiciously like a Spyder, IINM.....
And after a few of those and maybe a Speedster thrown in, THEN, maybe, he can tackle a never-built Fiberfab Gazelle or something......
Or not.
I wonder what ever happened to that overgrown go-kart Alan was messing with once? - Had a Hayabusa motor on it or something??
Maybe it's some of the stuff Ed can't identify.
'
100 hp Yamaha Killer cart was sold to a guy here in WV I am going to look him up , if he is still alive
Alan, I'm kinda with Stan on this one: as I have posted previously about getting the the shop out of the boy. Of course, I don't really know you all that well, and the only side of you that I do know is Merklin The Magician, AKA Dr. Clock, uber wrencher and hot rod dude extraordinaire. So for me, it's hard to get a grip on this cold-turkey thing of which you speak. But, ya know, it ain't about what I think. Whether or not you ever do any serious wrenching again, you are a good and loyal friend to me and many others here. That will endure for ever. I am sure if any of us have a question, you will be ready and willing with the answer.
2 years me thinks, he'll get bored and a speedster will be reborn again By The Doctor!