charlie8575

Nice save! Charlie Larkin

Wow...I got my information from my 7th grade vocabulary book that had a section explaining the rise of dialects. That more-or-less squares with what I remember. Charlie Larkin

:lol: Mean, malicious and evil! I love it! Charlie Larkin

The easiest way to describe it Lee, is a photo-sharing service. I personally view it primarily as a tool for a lot of teens and 20-somethings who can't even be bothered to read text-ease (if you can even call that a language) and want things as a visual-only, or pretty close to it. For some of these attention-span-less people, even a short caption on Photobucket makes their brains hurt. Or if they simply want to send annoying/risque/silly pictures to one another. With my personal opinion/body-slam articulated... It can be, if used properly, be a very effective marketing tool and a very effective way to promote causes and ideas. I've been taking some classes in social media in sales and marketing, and it does have some good possibilities for promoting the hobby to younger people. I personally have no use for it, but I'm actually glad Joshua took the initiative to do this, because if it is being done right (and it sounds like it is), this can only help us. Charlie Larkin

Okay...looks nice. So what do we need to do to make it U.S.-spec, and what year would be the closest we could get once fixed? Charlie Larkin

That sounds like a great project, Dan. Charlie Larkin

Actually, I do have a small update, but no really good pictures. I'll try to do something with that this week. The body is still WIP re: getting the decals off, although they're finally starting to loosen. I'm also still tinkering with the interior. If the glue doesn't become brittle and easy to separate, it's a nightmare. I think I'm going to have to mask the windows; I don't see any way around it. I also discovered the engine from the AMT 1962 Electra is an absolute, total exact fit. I'll be using the front cover, or at least the brackets, from the '66 Wildcat engine (which didn't fit because it was designed a little differently). This will allow a fairly conventional 401-powered car, although I did find a nice picture from a parts catalog of a repro of the air-cleaner decals. I'll have those printed out on photo paper and attach them. That's where things stand. Charlie Larkin

You know those annoying, silly stick-figure stickers so many families put on the back of their cars now? A great harpooning of those hideous things.... Charlie Larkin

It's been a while since I looked at mine, but I don't think mine had that problem. If you'd like, I did pick up a 2010-ish issue for parts. I needed the valve-covers and air-cleaner (which need to be stripped anyway for a stock 401), but I could probably be persuaded to part with any components you need. Let me know. Charlie Larkin

I was just thinking that myself... Well, they are a "hot" car! *rimshot* Charlie Larkin

Speaking as a non-techno under-40 something (don't believe how non-techno I am? Ask Mr. Duff or Mr. Geiger, they've actually met me!), I'm with you all the way, John. "Juke," at least in American parlance, by the way, is actually a word used in a dialect spoken in parts of the islands off the Carolinas, and means "confused" or "crazy," hence "jukebox," which, with the mechanical arm slinging records, albeit in a carefully-controlled manner, and the movement within the machine, it looked like it was going nuts. Come to think of it, given the definition of "juke" and the, ahem, styling of the Nissan sharing the name...yeah, it does kind of fit, doesn't it? Charlie Larkin

Jurgen, your models, especially your scratchbuilds, are a delight to us all. In looking at the engine, is that a flat engine (pictures 7 and 8)? Quite unusual for a big truck, or a diesel. Stunning, either way. Charlie Larkin

Make your travel plans. And if you've never been to the AACA Museum, I highly recommend it. It's beautiful, well-curated, and the exhibits are well done. Hershey Park (right next door) is fun, too. http://www.aacamuseum.org/exhibits/upcoming/tucker-automobiles-the-cammack-collection/ Charlie Larkin

End price- $1,349.79! I didn't pay that much for my last car! (Well, before I had to do all sorts of fixes over the last couple years, but still..) Kevin, I don't care where I fall in line, just please be sure to hold one for me. Charlie Larkin

That's looking really good, Dan. Such a screwball by today's standards, and that's what makes it extra cool. We had a '67 Coronet 440 (trim, not engine) wagon with the Slant Six when I was very little. The only reason we got rid of it was the body gave from all the salt and garbage on New England roads. It was pastel blue (might've been the metallic, but the paint was so oxidized by 1978-79...), it went well with my mother's 1970 Pontiac LeMans Safari. Two cars I'd love to have back. What colors did you use for the interior? That looks about right to me from the samples I've seen. Charlie Larkin

I liked the yellow-brown combo, as I think it's one that's under-used and looks nice with the right shades/tones. With all the foiling, etc., yours looks super, Rich. I'll enjoy seeing this one together. Charlie Larkin

You...built....stock?!? You should do it more often, Jim, that came out very nicely. Charlie Larkin

The white/tan with the ruby interior is a beautiful combination. That looks great, Bruce. Charlie Larkin

That did come out very nicely. Nice color combo. Charlie Larkin

I saw this post earlier, Wayne, and I wanted to consider how to word my response. By the way, I largely agree with you. Sales are indeed the bottom line, but, in order to maintain sales, you also need to attract new business. Doing one does not necessarily mean not doing the other. I refer back to my proposed business model for Lincoln Division on P. 2. Adopting something like that would work very well for Lincoln going forward, I believe. It attracts the younger more affluent buyers with cars like a Mark IX and a Zephyr that would go toe-to-toe with the 3-Series and ATS, a revived Continental for something a little bigger that serves as an engineering flagship, and a re-introduced Town Car, which, again, whether unit or frame construction, could be made to work very well. I was originally thinking the Mustang, but why not a well-designed frame? That's what people who want Town Cars generally want- especially livery companies, because the body-on-frame construction, good as unit construction has become, is still more durable in many respects. If they insist on unit body, why not use the Australian Falcon as the basis? That's a decent-sized car to start with, and with very little effort, could be made into a six-passenger sedan with appropriately-sized trunk. You are correct in that Lincoln must retain its existing customer base while cultivating new markets. I'm only 38 myself, but after bouts of sciatica and catching a piano coming down a moving truck ramp when I was in college, I care more about big, comfortable seats and a good ride than I do scalpel-precise handling and sports seats I usually don't fit in very well. That said, if someone came up with a car that offered Town Car size, room, seating comfort and ride with Corvette-like handling, I'd gladly take it, as that would be the best of all worlds. Right now, markets for a lot of products are shrinking. Without going into too much detail, it's a combination of shifting priorities of society, governmental policy, including spending, taxation and other social policy, and monetary policy, which has led to a devaluation of the dollar. My parents are in their 60s, and my mother always wanted a Cadillac. Until she saw what they're making now. With bad knees that can't be repaired due to other problems, and that she looked at them and said, "that's not a Cadillac," they are losing their older market, quite true. Although it's wise to capitalize on future markets, and it does seem to be working for Cadillac for now, I'll be very interested to see the long-term effects of the strategy and the effect of future sales, particularly as the now-young clientele ages and begins to experience some of the shifts in tastes and physical needs that might make a Cadillac, as presently offered, less attractive to them like it is now to their parents and grandparents. Charlie Larkin

It is indeed. A friend of mine has a very similar car, also a '34, but green. I'm not sure if the one this man has is a six or eight. Very nice either way. They're beautiful in-person. Jim's car is an eight, and it goes right along. Another friend of mine has a black '33 Hudson Greater Eight convertible, which will cruise at the lower end of interstate speeds (about 50-55) comfortably. Charlie Larkin

For those who make fun of us who say new cars don't inspire...well, here's some proof. This was a rather interesting article linked to it, too. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/22/six-cases-shocking-automotive-longevity/?intcmp=trending Charlie Larkin

I'd ditch the customs for some more stockers. The kiddie-plane is awesome. That stays. Add a paint booth and complete machine and wood shop (for the pre-war cars, of course, and other wood projects), and it'd be just about perfect. Charlie Larkin

That's due to several other cans of alphabet soup.... EPA, IIHS, DOT, NHTSA, etc., etc. These governmental bodies (and the IIHS, which is a private group of nannies funded by insurance companies) have decried that no, we can't have anything fun, potentially enjoyable, or comfortable, but instead must make do with ho-hum cookie-cutter-mobiles that protect us from ourselves and get great mileage, although in many cases, not as great as you'd expect. But, that's another story. Those factors, along with an American consumer that's been trained and stupefied to accept bland and unexceptional as the greatest thing since sliced bread- and Wonder Bread at that, not even decent stuff like Sunbeam or Arnold. Unfortunately, we've managed to focus-group everything to death and have killed our ability to produce things intelligently. Recall, if you will, my earlier post regarding the differences between smart and intelligent. We're making stuff smart now- no doubt about it. We have plenty of information, plenty of data and we can plan using logic and reason, with a small dash of creativity if so inclined. However, what made cars of the past, and many other products so endearing and iconic wasn't smart, it was intelligence. Intelligence was the creative power and force unleashed. It was the ability to say "we're not sure, but let's try this," and see what would happen. Successful? Not always, but always an opportunity to learn. You learn more from failures than successes. Now, between the "smart" people running things, many of whom are as robotic as they come, to the cans of alphabet soup, other nanny groups (example: the whining moonbats that got Chevrolet to pull the Corvette commercial with the two kids in it because some idiot parent might actually let their seven-year-old pilot a $60,000 car supposedly), to the cadre of lawyers, meddlers, "cosumer advocates" (frequent codeword for "control freak"), and a bunch of other nudniks, here we are. Yep, we've made progress. Charlie Larkin

Excellent. Charlie Larkin