[Shotimes] Re: OT- Leno's new toy

MonsieurBoo@aol.com MonsieurBoo@aol.com
Mon, 13 Sep 2004 17:52:18 EDT


Kerby:  "A dealer would have to do the paperwork, but they wouldn't  have to 
actually touch the car." 
 
When I was a kid, in the 50s and 60s, that's basically how we  did it.  In 
the spring, my dad would take us around to the  dealers to pick up the brochures 
that listed color choices and optional  equipment.  (I recall sitting around 
Herbert Zukerkorn's Poncho dealership  for a whole afternoon while dad jawed 
him down on a '64 Goat, 389  TriPower.  You don't forget a car like that, or a 
name like Herbert  Zukerkorn!)  We'd customize everything on the build list 
and put in  the order via the dealer.  So, they did indeed take care of all the  
paperwork.  
 
The car would be scheduled to be built in July and we'd plan our vacation  
around going up to Detroit, Dearborn, or Lansing depending on what we were  
getting.  We definitely picked up the car straight from the factory, each  and 
every time.  We'd always take the factory tours while they  were final prepping 
the car for us.  They handed us the keys and away we  went.
 
Then we'd drive it back to the West Coast and ship it back to Hawaii, and  
that would be our summer vacation.  Last time we did it was with our '68  4-4-2, 
so if the unions put the kibosh on this practice, it must have been  during 
the 70s when they still had the muscle to cut those kinds of deals.
 
I dunno if we had to pay the delivery charges anyway, but I'll say  this.  If 
we did pay double, it cost us a shitpile because  shipping cars to HI has 
always been real expensive.  None of that stuff  mattered to me at the time, I 
was much more interested in CID and BHP than  $$$  ;-)  
 
Cheers,
Mark LaBarre
94 atx 125k