So, are you a newbie when you join the site or a newbie only after you get your first car? Can you be a newbie and have a community rank under 100?
Regardless, you all know I started my search for the right speedster in mid December of 2013. I reached out to many members for advice. Troy, Alan, Bob G, Tom, Alb, Jane, MusbJim - etc; the list goes on and on. If I forgot any of you, it's nothing personal. You all helped me get where I am today. Each of you told me the same thing - "Be patient, you will find the right car...". You know the rest of the story... I spent the next couple of months running around like an a**... er... lunatic. I scoured craigslist and the samba, daily - trying to find a car. I think I asked poor Troy to sell me one of his cast offs, at least 3 times.
Musbjim and ALB were integral players in my search. Both volunteered to go look at several cars for me. Jim kept me from buying that clapped out car from Topanga Canyon. ALB risked deportation and drove across the border to check out a car in Norther Washington. That car turned out to be a solid project, but with the tiny motor and high asking price, I kept looking. Then there was the mystery owned white IM in Texas. Another SOC member offered to go have a look at that car for me, before we learned that it wasn't even in Texas. It was 600 miles North! This may have been my wake up call. About that time I wound up drinking a six pack of beer with Theron in his garage. All the while, trying to get him to let me drive one of his cars! BobG kept me from throwing in the towel on more than one occasion. I think I've called and/or emailed about no less than 10 cars. Man, there were a lot of frogs out there. The first car was that complete bucket in San Francisco. Then there was the clown car (blue IM with orange empi 5's.) - It's a wonder I didn't end up with that gray 'one of a kind' speedster that's listed as 'make offer' on the samba right now.
This was literally the second car I called about back in December. At the time, the seller told me he was tired of being low balled so he was going to pull the ad. He finally called me back in early January. We played phone tag and for a while. We locked own a meeting where Jim could once again take time to go check it out for me. Once we had a break in the weather, the car checked out to be a real solid prospect. I worked with the owner and we struck a deal. The car was delivered to Kirk today. Kirk is going to correct a few items and then ship it up North to me.
Here is the original ad:
Here is the car behind Sir Jim's car (I'm going to put in to have Jim knighted):
Here is the car, unhooked and sitting at the shop. It's inside now waiting for some minor adjustments:
Jim - no joke, you made this possible. If it weren't for the kindness of your heart and your extreme patience I wouldn't have been able to purchase this car. I owe you a lot for making this possible.
/me flashes Jim's trade mark 'hang loose' sign...
Let the madness begin!
Ted
