IML: Update on '61 Convertible & Parts/ History

[Tony Lindsey <papatony@xxxxxxx>]

I'm sending this out to stay in communication with the nice folks who 
have contacted me, showing interest in Princess Hyacinth. Thanks for 
your wonderful correspondence. I've very carefully stored all such 
messages for later use.

I'm waiting to make decisions about selling the car until after I talk 
to my doctors, (my CAT scan and MRI are this week and next week) but I 
have to admit that I'm heading downhill fast.  Right now, the way that 
I'm feeling, I give it about a 99% chance that I WILL be selling her. I 
sure will miss her, though. We've been through a lot together.

I'm still unsure if I will have time to unload the acreage of Imperial 
parts on eBay, though.  I just did a visual once-over of the inventory, 
and it's a lot more than I remembered, just in terms of sheer bulk.

For instance:  I found a '61 LeBaron wheelcover ring in superb shape 
with its backing-plate (used to keep the heavy ring from distorting and 
breaking the thin aluminum on the wheelcover). These are the only 
things that distinguish a '61 LeBaron wheelcover from a standard 
Custom/Crown wheelcover.  I had no idea that I had such a thing, and it 
was the first item that fell to hand when I went out to the shed. I 
can't imagine what else is going to show up in the racks and racks of 
boxes, full of carefully-organized stuff that I have, and can't 
remember at all.

I was VERY greedy for '61 parts back in the 80's and early 90's.  My 
mentors in the hobby warned me to be aggressive while these cars were 
still appearing in junkyards. I used to go to swap meets and car shows 
wearing a fluorescent yellow sandwich-board sign on my front and back 
saying "I NEED '61 IMPERIAL PARTS". The vendors would say "What do you 
need?" and I'd say "What have you got?"  I wore the sign because there 
was zero interest in Imperials of ANY year at most automotive 
swap-meets.  '61 parts were rare, and I was utterly determined, so I 
would visit the vendors' homes and pick up the stuff there. I guess 
that I was showing the same mania for over-doing ANYTHING that has been 
one of my distinguishing features.

I was president of the local San Diego chapter of the WPC (Walter P. 
Chrysler) club for ten years, and every week brought more news of 
Imperials and other cars that had ended up in the local junkyards.  
These local yards are all owned by one Mexican family that has NO 
interest in selling cars, only parts, so the end effect was that if a 
car went IN, it never, ever got out again.  I've seen so many Imperial 
convertibles, sedans, coupes and limousines get crushed needlessly.  
Ick.  My buddies and I would network like CRAZY to let local folks know 
when a car like theirs was in the yards.  Folks probably thought I was 
bonkers for making such a big fuss, but I could see the writing on the 
wall - After all, they're not making these cars or parts any more 
(unlike '55-57 Chevies and others).

In the mid-1980's, 1961 Imperials were junk cars, worth only being 
crushed and turned into 10,000 TV trays.  Folks thought I was insane 
for wanting such a beast, much less owning one. They were "ugly, 
gas-hogs and had tailfins way past the time to have them", according to 
jerks in the car-history books and magazines.  I didn't care. I was 
completely in love with the look.  Pure artistry and glamour!

In the late 1980's, when Reaganomics reduced the American dollar to 
toilet paper, there was a massive transfer overseas of old American 
cars, motorcycles, juke-boxes, kitchenware, guitars and so forth 
(anything that spoke of American postwar boom years and Happy Days). 
There was enormous pressure on anybody with tailfinned convertibles to 
sell to Japanese and European buyers.  There were 300 cars a week and 
more, going out through the Long Beach shipping port.  I had one of my 
tailfinned convertibles stolen to be shipped overseas, but I was able 
to get it back, thanks to a friend's help.

Old car-parts at dealerships were bought in bulk and re-sold at massive 
mark-ups, as well as disappearing overseas.  The same thing happened 
with European and Japanese treasures after World War II, so it was our 
turn. Our community is getting more and more global, and I'm not as 
alarmed about this as I used to be, thanks to the friends I've met on 
the Internet.  They are NOT the skunks who screwed people over to sell 
at high markups in the late '80's. Nowadays, folks outside of the USA 
love their Imperials as much as anyone that I know! Their mania is 
exactly the same as mine, for the same reasons.

All of these past events changed the old-car hobby to a rich person's 
game.  I probably would have been financially wealthy too (and my '61 
convertible fully restored by now), but I got sidetracked into doing 
community-work in many areas.  I may not have made my first million 
yet, but I have been very blessed with large numbers of good, honorable 
friends that I could always depend on.  I can die happy someday, 
knowing that I did the right thing for my life's work. I have no 
regrets on that score alt ALL.

The Imperial Mailing List/Online Imperial Club is only one of many 
communities that I have created in the last 24 years, but it is the 
shining star.  Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to build upon 
a simple beginning, to make it a massive success, and to share so much 
solid wisdom with good hearts.

My goal in the creation of these communities has always been to create 
"safe spaces" where well-socialized, well-mannered folks could be as 
nice as they wanted to be, and to be rewarded for their kindness. The 
goal was to be the polar opposite of the phrase "Nice Guys Finish 
Last".  The Law of the Jungle doesn't apply here. I've always firmly 
believed that it's possible to be a Good Person and to succeed 
(especially if we band together for mutual support), and this Imperial 
community proves my theory was correct, over and over.

There are grownups present... We have a settling effect upon the wilder 
folks, who are usually repelled by the soft 'n squishy, sentimental 
pleasure we find in each others' company, and don't tend to stick 
around. The vast majority find the atmosphere rather congenial. That 
was the goal all along.

I promise to stay in touch throughout the process that I'm going 
through.  Judging from the messages I've received from every part of 
the world, there are many superb folks on the Imperial discussion list. 
 I'm very satisfied with my decision to come back home and to begin the 
process of offloading the tonnage...  :->

Enjoy your new year!



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