11 Years and Counting.
In a hobby that celebrates the trendy and idolizes the old, where does
the middle aged Rod fit in? That question began cruising through my mind
this past year when my Model A passed it's tenth birthday and suffered
it's first major break down.
There have been small signs of the aging process over the last few years,
lights burning out, battery failure, paint chips and body fatigue (this
is an all steel roadster), but when the cam gear shattered this past spring
and the car lay dead….. Well, that's what brought it all home to me.
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Look around, at the Rods you know, or once knew. How old were they when
they disappeared? Many Rods get sold, rebuilt, or just go into storage
before they have a chance to age. Maybe it's just that we don't notice
them, sitting quietly in the back rows at the run, while this years metal,
or glass, garners the attention of the crowd. Oh sure, there are old-timey
Rods getting that attention, but they are either brand new constructions,
restorations or have suffered some form of "disappearance" from the scene
in the past.
The roadster hit the road in July 1985 in "nearly finished" form, no
season in primer for me. It's fresh coat of Cardinal red paint shone, the
leather upholstery greeted your nose as you approached, the canvas top
stretched tight like a drum. Inside the 2.8 litre V6 purred, the four speed
shifted smooth and the stereo pumped out ZZ Top and George Thorogood &
the Destroyers over the wind noise. We've had many a great cruise since
then, my roadster and I, and my family as it grew around us. The roadster
has its share of car show and rod run awards but it has more to its credit;
Courting car, wedding car, honeymoon car, bring the baby home from the
hospital car, the roadster has done it all. The roadster has taken us thousands
of miles for vacation rod runs, and around the corner for ice cream. It
has attended parades both winter and summer, provided transport to Boy
scout camps, rescued the broken down family car and more, much more. The
most important thing about all of this is that every mile has been fun!
Hot, cold, dry, wet, driving the roadster brings on an indescribable feeling
mixing pride, joy, accomplishment, and more into one big "kick in the seat"
bundle.
So I won't hide it away, and I won't rebuild it. I'll continue to drive
it, fix it and enjoy it. I put a plaque on the firewall the day I rolled
it out of the shop which reads "Better to wear out than to rust out" and
I mean to do just that. Besides this past fall I found a great location
to shoot some pictures of it, and in the pictures it looks brand new, just
like it does in my mind. So if you see us parked in the back, away from
the shiny, trendy stuff, we're not hiding, we probably took the long way
and arrived late.
Rods seldom get a chance to wear out, mine is getting its chance though,
and I'm proud of it.
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