... so I pick up the Garage Queen Friday afternoon, apparently a few
minutes after the work is done, and the guy hasn't had time to clean off the
accumulated dust from the shop; and he expressed concern about returning it
to me dusty. No prob, I reply, it's about 70 degrees (mid 60's elsewhere,
but we're downwind from Congress), so I would just as soon clean it myself.
The ride home is uneventful and I park the GQ just outside its
normal indoor residence. It's so nice out, and I'm basking in the glow that
can only radiate from the beauty of a Rootes product. :^) I'm sitting on the
garden wall next to the driveway, sipping a beer and reading a magazine
before starting on washing the car, when I hear this awful racket.
Down the street comes this mid-80's Civic wagon, one of the
short-but-tall ones. Scruffy, lower 4-5 inches, four mismatched hub caps,
and half of the trim is painted white on the blue car. Out back is one of
those Folger's-can exhaust tip, and there's clearly some big stereo speakers
inside. I try not to laugh as I watch it go by, and return to my magazine.
About 10 minutes later, I watch it return. I look up again, and the
driver watches me. A couple of hundred feet down the street he stops, and
starts to back up. Uh-oh; some kind of confrontation? Right in front of our
house he stops, and gets out. It's a young Hispanic boy, oh, about 4'10"
tall.
Coming down the driveway, he holds out his hand; there's a business
card in it; I start to read: "Millennium customs -- California style. Hub
caps, rocker panels, stripping (sic), fenderwell moldings." it goes on. I
look up, and he's walking around the GQ, pointing at various parts of the
car and speaking in what might be Spanish, or perhaps with my hearing it
could be a Boston accent. He wants to customize my Tiger!!!!!
Well, without laughing, I thank him for his interest, and explain
that, as a collectors' car, I really should change it too much from stock
(yeah, right). He smiled, said 'nice car', and got back in his car and drove
off. Whew! Just imagine a Tiger with the full-blown Pep-Boys / Auto Zone
look.
OK, just where had the GQ been for a couple of weeks? A few miles
away, where I got the frame worked on. I now have the reinforced exhaust
pass-throughs that will enable a larger exhaust, and beefed up forward rear
spring perches. Also, the Panhard rod bracket reattached, and some holes
were filled in, and others closed up, for new routing of the speedometer
cable. The factory holes are fine w/a Toploader, but not for a T-5 on the
slant. I think I picked up a full 1.5" of ground clearance on the speedo
cable alone.
Lawrence R. Wright, Purchasing Analyst
U S Office Products, Mid-Atlantic District
Formerly Andrews Office Products
larry.wright@usop.com
Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
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