What a delightful thread. A few years ago I put forward a theory of
Imperial ownership that was split into four phases. With some slight
modifications, it still holds true for me.
To understand my perspective, I should state that I was not a "car guy"
before the 1958, named by my daughter 'Mrs. Blueberry,' inveigled its way
into my life. My previous car, in Scotland was the ultimate Anti-Car, a
Citroen 2CV, a car about which I maintained the strictest ignorance and
adored passionately.
Phase 1. Delighted amusement. Here is this monstrous huge, huge, car that
I have never heard of and can hardly believe even exists. From the land of
Mini's to this leviathan. What a hoot. And, since next to nothing works,
what's the harm in just plunging in and seeing what I can do. If its broken
already I can hardly make it worse, right?
Phase 2. Getting serious. Like all avocations, this one too soon becomes a
form of madness. With al the original participants who said they'd help
moving on to other things, its time to . . hmm . . . can't use the toilet
orientated phrase that came to mind . . . it's time to get serious and do
the business. My learning curve begins to resemble a sheer cliff face.
Will I ever get to the top?
Phase 3. Fun, fun fun. I can't believe it. After four years of effort the
thing is finally street legal. I can take it out to play in cruises or for
way too high a speed runs on the freeway. I can take it to work. I can
take a kid and his date to their prom. I can cram in eight such kids from
the prom to a party afterwards. What a hoot. Oh, sure, its looks awful,
but, gosh darn it, it runs. Its alive, I tell you, its alive.
Phase 4. The negative side of lunacy - obsession. I postulated before that
this is when I would get zealous over the car, paying small fortunes on the
appearance and wanting to only take it to shows and other careful events.
Nothing would be too good for my other baby. This may still happen to me.
Who knows?
Maybe I'm in the early stages of phase four or I have regressed back to
phase two. Either way, I am now determined to work out all the bugs and get
the thing running properly in every respect. Its been two months since the
thing touched the ground. Who knows how many miles I have driven, phone
calls I have made, research I have completed and hours of labour I have put
into the car this year. I never want to have another disastrous trip like
the one I had to Dallas this spring. Seeing everyone was great. having the
car collapse system by system as the days went by was not.
Sigh.
Hugh
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