> My father, who's 85 (and still comes out to many of my races) ,
> bought a Model A in 1966 ( I was 10). It was his desire
> to restore the car. The Model A restoration craze had really taken off.
> (Hah... funny, I just realized he was only 3 or 4 years older than I am
> now...)
>
> Dad was never afraid to tackle almost anything, but usually shy on the
> financial commitment it took to do it right. After taking the paint down
to
> bare metal on one door with a grinding disk attached to a 3/8ths Black and
> Decker drill, and screwing something else up, he wisely realized he was
> overmatched, and shelved the project. The car sat for 35 years until
brother
> Don got a hankerin' to restore it while Dad might still have a chance to
> drive it. The chassis's done now (it's a '31 town sedan) and the body work
> has begun. So many of those that were into A's have just plain died off.
> There are a few guys in their 40's locally that are interested in keeping
> the passion alive, and the old guys that are left that know what they're
> doing are, for the most part, willing to pass on the collective wisdom's
of
> the cars.
>
> The biggest ultimate downfall of any of these collector cars is the cost
to
> restore properly vs. the market value of the car vs. the intrinsic value.
A
> restored Model A can go from $5000 to maybe $12,000 for the right car, and
> while back in the '60s they sold for about the same restored, it cost a
lot
> less to restore them back then. To correctly restore a Spite it'll take a
> fair amount more than you'll get for it in today's market. The intrinsic
> value of the A is slipping quickly... it has become a Sunday afternoon
"putt
> putt" or a parade car. For the time being, a Sprite still is a candidate
as
> a daily driver, and with the right mods, can keep up with today's
> traffic.But then, just about any stock rice rocket can blow it's doors
off,
> so, how long is it viable as true transportation? It's a tough call... 25
> years from now, will you still be able to drive that Sprite, or will there
> be a bunch of Mazda and Honda 2000 guys arguing about gun control, cats,
and
> getting together to fix stranger's cars? Or, maybe the Spridget prices
will
> skyrocket, and the Mazdas will be the $600 project cars....
>
> Each one of my daughters (14 & 16) will get a very nice Sprite someday...
> when they have a good place to keep it. Until then, they'll be welcome to
> drive them and maybe, someday, help with the maintenance. They're at the
> ages where there's a lot more important things to do that go watch Dad
open
> a can-o-whupass at the track... but they still come out from time to time.
>
> If there's a heaven, and I can sneak past the guard at the gate, I'll be
> drivin' a Sprite with a shit-eatin' grin, lookin' for a race.
>
> WST
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Frank Clarici" <spritenut@Exit109.com>
> To: "Ron Soave" <soavero@yahoo.com>
> Cc: <spridgets@autox.team.net>; <team-thicko@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 9:47 PM
> Subject: Re: Kids
>
>
> > > "Wm. Severin Thompson" <wsthompson@thicko.com>
> > > This is why it's so important to get your kids, your
> > > kid's kids, or the
> > > neighborhood kids interested in our sport.
> >
> > I tried this, I restored an LBC for both kids.
> > My son is into restoring old (1980 is old for him) VWs.
> > Like me, he buys parts cars and does weird things to them.
> > But they are the cars he knew or loved as a kid.
> > I like 60s british, he likes 80s german.
> > My old man liked 40s cars and would kil;l for a chopped and channeled 50
> > Merc today.
> > We are not into the cars our parents were into, and our kids will not be
> > into our cars. BUT at least my son is into cars. I can not condem him
> > for what he likes although I do bust on him every chance I get and vise
> > versa.
> > My daughter is into cars too. She replaces hers every 3-4 months.
> > she drives hard and does no maintainance until it's too late.
> > She does want to keep he A40 for a "toy" car when she gets married.
> > And if it sells, Dad will always make her a Sprite.
> >
> > Let's face it, do any of us really want a Model T?
> > --
> > Frank Clarici
> > Toms River, NJ
> > http://www.exit109.com/~spritenut
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