The Story Behind The Site
In 1988, I needed to find a ride, fast and cheap. You see, my stunning 1983 Mercury Lynx (with the patented oil leaks) fell apart. I mean, everything needed replacing on that car! I knew old Chevys were solid cars, so I opened up the classified section of the newspaper and bought the first car I saw in my price range. That was Archie, though he didn't acquire the name until I got a second car many years later and needed to differentiate between the two cars. Archie was a 75,000 miler and cost a mere $650. For the first years that I owned Archie, he was "just a car" to me. He was disposable; if he died, I wouldn't care... I'd just buy another one. I couldn't understand how people could get attached to a car. Cars are vulnerable; they get scratched, vandalized, wrecked, etc. In fact, in the beginning, I looked forward to the day the car would finally kick the bucket. That's when I knew I'd finally get another car. Friends and co-workers always gave me a hard time. And this was when Archie wasn't all that beat up. They'd insist that I "needed" to get a new car. But as the months and then years unfolded, the same friends and co-workers went through several cars while I still drove ol' reliable. So who was it that needed a new car? The same people who thought that I did and pestered me constantly in hopes that I'd get one! Finally, in 1995, after learning how to make web pages, I created a fairly small web site. It attempted to glorify Archie and show him off to the world, as if he was something to behold. Of course, at the time, I still felt he was just an ugly old rust bucket, as did most of the civilized world. Hence the humor in the site...showing off my impressive vintage automobile, which was neither impressive nor truly vintage. I mean, if this car was so special, demo derbies and monster trucks wouldn't crush them by the dozen, right? Well, now that many of the cars have been crushed, in derbies, by monster trucks, in wrecking yards and in accidents, they are actually becoming a bit more rare and therefore a bit more special. When I finally decided that Archie deserved a complete restoration, 15 years after owning him and 30 years after he was built, I found that it would be cheaper and easier to just get another '72 Impala in better shape and have it painted. So that's just what I did. And along came Edith, and the desire to give the cars a name. I had no idea that yet another car would come along. But my daughter was about to start driving. And she would want her own car. When we saw the Malibu for sale for only $200, how could we turn that down? And along came Gloria. I thought it would be years away, but that it would be nice to have a car I could call Meathead. I thought about a '72 Impala wagon, or maybe a beat-up old pickup truck. But when a guy placed an ad on my site for his '72 Impala convertible, it was obviously written in the stars. So there you have it. Many other things have developed over the years, all of which you can learn by poking around my site. A few that stand out as worth checking out are: My trip to Mt. Rushmore, the time Archie got stolen, the time someone threw a rock through Gloria's rear window, some of the shows I took the cars to and many many other great adventures along the way. Too many to list here, so see the sitemap or just start clicking stuff! Now, just so you don't get too confused when surfing around, here's what to look out for... Archie years ago before doing anything to the car's appearance Archie with wheel covers Archie after waxing Archie's original vinyl roof in various stages of decay Archie with new duct tape vinyl roof Archie's duct tape roof 1 year later Edith as I got her, before custom plate Edith after custom plate, a little body work and new paint job Meathead before my mechanic crashed him Meathead after my mechanic crashed him Meathead after my mechanic's top notch repair to the crash damage Meathead after I spray painted the "new" door. Gloria always looked pretty much the same since we got her. [Home] - [Site Map] - [Donate] - [Car Shows] - [Multimedia] - [Photos] - [Links] - [Contact] Copyright© 2003 StillRuns.com
