You find some surprises gathering dust in the boonies

[Muley]

A currently running car thread inspired me to report the following.  Suzanne and I recently returned from our trip to the Little Switzerland, NC area where we rode the EV nearly every day, making our usual rounds to eateries, antique stores, and Mt. Mitchell.  I'm pleased to report that Mt. Mitchell was cloud, fog and rain free both days that we visited, and, had it not been for the curvature of the earth, I believe we could have seen our house from up there.  Anyway, one day we were headed to Roan Mountain and decided to take a circular route up through Unicoi, TN.  We walked into a junk/antique store where we were promptly interogated by two old ladies and a fifty something son of one.  The EV got this guy's attention so he led me out to an adjoining shop to show me his bikes.  One was an old panhead with kickstarter, a couple old Suzuki dirt bikes and another modern Harley that he had souped up and choppered out.  Try to imagine a mountain accent here if you can.  He said, "that there bike 'ill clean the sides of the tares, but them pipes is too low for the kind o' ridin' I like to do".  "Ya caint find top end on that bike".  After I pointed out that you can't outrun a radio, he said he'd done that a few times and "spent many nights in the pokey".

Then, as I was gawking at the '57 Chevy on the lift, he asked me if I knew what kind of car that was sitting beside it.  I glanced that way and just couldn't quite place the exotic looking ride under all the dust.  It was a Pantera and one of only two or three I've ever seen.  "It'll pull from a dead stop in fifth" he said.  It was painted flat black but was originally bright yellow.  Yep, you guessed it, he tried to disguise it from the local constabulary, but he admitted that didn't work.  It's a little hard to hide a Pantera in eastern Tennessee.

Then we went to another shed and, under a layer of dust, was an '86 Jag V-12, gorgeous in dark green with a cream colored leather interior.   He said it had 88K original miles, and he had bought it from a friend after much coaxing.  Then he just parked it to gather dust.  He said "I'll take $5500 for it" and I'm glad my checking account wasn't up to the job at that point.

You just never know what you'll find in the middle of nowhere

[azguzzirep]

Then we went to another shed and, under a layer of dust, was an '86 Jag V-12, gorgeous in dark green with a cream colored leather interior.   He said it had 88K original miles, and he had bought it from a friend after much coaxing.  Then he just parked it to gather dust.  He said "I'll take $5500 for it" and I'm glad my checking account wasn't up to the job at that point.

You just never know what you'll find in the middle of nowhere

That's what LOANS are for!
You should have given him a deposit.......Reall y.

Tom

[Bill929]

That's for sure...  I just received an email from a guy in Michigan who found a car (in a barn) I used to own in the early 80s.  1974 Lotus Europa JPS.  He tracked me down from some paperwork found in the car.  He's restoring it, so I can't wait to see it when he's finished...



This is what it looked like when I owned it...

[Lannis]

That's what LOANS are for!
You should have given him a deposit.......Reall y.

Tom

If Muley had got that Jag into his shed, it would have sucked every dollar he made away until he was an empty and hollow shell and the Jag STILL wasn't finished ... those cars absorb money like a black hole absorbs radiation, it goes to another universe or something ....

So it's a good thing he didn't go for that loan ..... !

Lannis

[Lannis]

That's for sure...  I just received an email from a guy in Michigan who found a car (in a barn) I used to own in the early 80s.  1974 Lotus Europa JPS.  He tracked me down from some paperwork found in the car.  He's restoring it, so I can't wait to see it when he's finished...



This is what it looked like when I owned it...

I'll bet owning and driving that thing was a fun experience.   I always liked the Lotus minimalist concept.

Use a Coventry-Climax fire pump engine to power the car, but make it so LIGHT that it'll fly no matter what .....

Lannis

[Cam3512]

Rather have that '57 Chevy on the lift!

[Bill929]

I'll bet owning and driving that thing was a fun experience.   I always liked the Lotus minimalist concept.

Use a Coventry-Climax fire pump engine to power the car, but make it so LIGHT that it'll fly no matter what .....

Lannis

A very fun car to drive, but only ran on high octane gas - pump gas wouldn't work, so I ran Aviation 100LL, which it loved.  Got about 40 mpg too.  It was supposed to have about 120bhp with the 1.6 liter twin cam engine, but I had it ported and it put out about 140bhp.  Not bad for a car that weighed about 3/4 of a ton!  Ownership was certainly an experience.  Not the most reliable thing on wheels, but truly a go-cart like experience. 

[Bill Hagan]

****

Try to imagine a mountain accent here if you can.

****

With your middle Georgia drawl and his nasal Scotch-Irish twang, did you need Suzanne to interpret? 

Oddly, suppose that all of you were really part of the great 18th and 19th century diaspora from Virginia, but accents morphed.  I grew up in western Kentucky and we sounded much like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03iwAY4KlIU

Still can when I'm back in Daviess County for a few hours.  And I drive Kathi nuts (NPI!) when I say "akern." 

****

He said, " ... Ya caint find top end on that bike ..."

****

Probably because you'd be shaken off before it stumbled to 85.   

As for those cars, Mike Craven here has a similar vintage Lotus and newer Jag in his garage.  He'll probably chime in, tho he's likely tired today.  He left Cross Junction yesterday morning and got home in Atlanta last evening on his Norge, and most of that was on back roads.

Bill