>Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 13:45:23 -0500 >From: RandalPark@xxxxxxx >Subject: Re: IML: .."everything else looks fine" >Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >It seems like there are one or two of those on Ebay all of the time. The first >>thing that I think is how lucky I am to have such nice cars (in comparison). >>The next thing that I think is how much someone would have to want one in >>order to start with something like that. As time goes on, there are fewer and >>fewer cars available. Many classic car restorations these days start out like >>that, while maybe 20 years ago cars in that shape would not have been >>considered for restoration. I have to agree with you Paul - every time I walk by Lucille I am so impressed with just what a lovely original car she still is. We have a few little things to attend to - under-hood cleanup, shocks, someday a brand-new set of pretty whitewalls to replace the Toyo LT tires she's sitting on now - but on the whole I would get in her and go cross-country with no qualms. Thirty years ago, I might have had the inclination to get into a restoration of the magnitude this poor critter represents, but now I can't even think of it without cringing! The rust, the crud, the embedded steel-eating organisms in every body seam..... You would have to tank every piece to get it all killed out! And I don't even want to think about the mildew colonies lurking in all the interior padding, with the glass gone for so long. These big cars just have so MUCH interior. I can almost see getting into, say, a 1953 Chevy 5-window pickup as a frame-out resto project, but one of these big beauties? I don't think so. Not enough lifetime left - I would much rather snuggle into Lucille, turn the key and drive off with that big s**t-eatin' grin she always pastes across my face! Kate Justet Triplett Kate's Custom Gunleather Monroe, Washington Proudly a member of NRA and owner of "Lucille" 1968 Crown 4 door HT