My father - also named Ray Melton and an early member of the Chrysler 300 Club - contacted (snail mail and rotary dial phone!) young (~28) Gary Goers in 1973 about creating new seat upholstery and carpets for his recently acquired (but badly mistreated) 300C convertible based on Gary's already established reputation for recreating quality interior parts for our Letter cars. Dad drove his 300C from Albuquerque to Gary's home (then in Southern California), where Gary put him up in their home for three days while Gary cut and stitched all new leather for the F&R seats and made new black loop pile carpets. Dad came back home with a beautiful new interior and after another few years of restoration, went on to win over 3 dozen trophies at car shows across the country throughout the late 1970's and 1980's. After my Dad passed and I inherited his car around 2011, I set about rejuvenating the car that was very worn and wobbly from all its cross-country travels, relying heavily on Gary's catalog(s) of restoration parts that Gary had commissioned to replace the inevitably deteriorated original pieces. It was a delight to thumb through his catalog and find an obscure part that I didn't even know I needed until I looked and found it gone or ugly, so I placed at least a dozen sequential orders for parts as I discovered new needs during the five-year restoration process, finally ending in 2017. After corresponding and speaking with Gary for multiple orders during that time, we actually met at the 2014 Club meeting in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and although my car was not quite ready to take to that event, I showed Gary the 1973 invoice for his work on Dad's car over 40 years ago - it was handwritten for $980, including the parts and labor for the new seats and carpets! Gary remembered the occasion and remarked about what a nice guy my Dad was and chuckled at the cost of his work (would easily cost over $6,000 in 2024!) and said, "Yeah, that was pretty good money back then!" When the car needed a refresh of the interior during restoration in 2012-2017 we took it to an upholstery shop in El Paso, Texas where they fixed a couple broken springs in the front seat, replaced the foam padding and merely cleaned and reconditioned the 40-year-old leather - when they were done, it looked and even smelled almost as good as it was back in 1973!
All of us Club members are so fortunate to have had Gary and his inspiration, dedication and expertise in our lives as we continue our custodianship of these Beautiful Brutes for a succeeding generation. I just wish my Dad could be here to enjoy it.....!
Godspeed, Gary
Ray Melton Las Cruces, NM 1957 Chrysler 300C cvt white/Gauguin "Big Red" s/n 3N572517
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On 5/28/2024 11:46 AM, 'John R. Cote' via Chrysler 300 Club International wrote:
What sad news. I first met Gary in '97 at a 300 Club Inc meet when he drove his freshly restored black D on it's maiden trip from Montana to Daytona Beach! Then in '99 he drove his Dodge Dart to the Carlisle, PA Meet where he had to seek out a gas tank replacement as his was leaking much of the way from Montana. Gary did both my '56 NYer convertibles and 300B interiors and provided me with numerous reproduction parts over the years.
It was always a great and funny time when the dynamic duo auctioneers of Goers and Tony Bevacqua got together to get top dollar for Mopar parts at the meets.
I sent Gary this cartoon below, (slightly embellished with his name) that appeared in Old Cars Weekly some 20+ years ago. So fitting; an F convertible and talking about its interior! He contributed so much for all our Mopars.
Sincere condolences to all his family and friends,
John Cote
--On Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at 11:29:43 AM EDT, Bob Merritt <b...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
--Hello,
I wanted to pass along the news that my father, Gary Goers, passed away this morning. He had a stroke yesterday. Massive blood clot in the brain they could not operate on, and almost completely paralyzed. He was taken off life support early this morning. He was 79.
I know my dad meant a lot to those who restored Chrysler 300s. I’m not sure if he was part of this group on FB, but figure many people in here probably dealt with him.
If you have any questions Iet me know. I will pass on funeral information when we get things in order.
Thanks for your time.
Scott
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