Hi Allen,
Thanks for the clarification, and sorry if my response was a little loud. I
think my restoration preference is maybe closer to yours than Deve's but I
think I know where he's coming from, and I see something very spiritual
about a do it yourself Rust-to-Righteous.
[The following is a disclaimer for the speculatively challenged: I'm about
to try to analyze the deeper significance of old truck restoration. If this
makes you nervous, disgusted or irate, now would be a good time to hit the
delete button.]
It's pretty clear that the kind of effort Deve is making is about something
deeper than just building a fine truck. He could buy one finished, or
nearly so, for a lot less, or hire out all the work for results that would
look the same to most observers.
The point I really wanted to make was that what Deve is doing, and what most
of us do to some degree, is at least as much about the process as the
resulting truck. To that extent, the finished truck really represents
something beyond the truck, like a Japanese garden, which, pretty as it is,
is designed to lead you to think about the larger world. The truck is a
token for the effort and vision Deve put into bringing it back to life, and
perhaps for the idea that some things, if they are fine and people care
enough about them, don't necessarily have to decay and wear away.
Since Deve's whole effort is directed to overcoming the natural process of
truck(?) mortality, it makes sense for him to keep it from falling back into
decay as long as he can.
In the long term, the effort will undoubtedly be futile. I remember a story
about a 100 point 1953 Buick Skylark being trailered away from a show when
some drunk plowed into it and totalled it. All of our trucks, like their
owners, will eventually depart this world, it's just a question of time.
But I also know what it is like to own a car that my great grandmother
owned, and which was passed down through my family. The car isn't overly
special in itself, but it really makes her memory live for me so that she
isn't just a box of old photos. I drive it, but not a lot, because I want
it to last as long as possible, to go on for more generations in my family.
If Deve preserves the truck, he'll miss getting some thumbs up, but then
he's planning on building another to be a driver, so that'll work out. What
he might get in exchange is some great-grand kids who have a living
connection with him through the truck.
Anyway, that's my take on why Deve's idea is a good one, though as Allen
points out, not the only good approach.
Regards,
Grant S..
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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