It Never Ends
by Eddie Buck
It never ends. No matter what they tell you....it never ends
I was sitting in my office one evening, just about ready to leave. A quick cruise of Facebook and I saw John Hale had shared a Craigslist ad. It was for something I had actively been seeking a couple years....a 69 Camaro funny car body. I've been trying to find one for the Chapman Automotive "Outa Site Too" I am restoring. Of all I have, it's actually the most complete and closest to being finished, relatively speaking.... technically... sorta.
But, that's not the real story here.
The guy wanted $2500 for it and I was a little reluctant to pay that much for it. Even though it is the genuine article, minted in 69, I wasn't jumping at the first I could find. I called an audible for a set of eyes to go look at it. It was a little north of Dallas and I'm a lot north of Dallas. To the rescue comes Rick Oldfield. He was down the road from it and volunteered to take a gander. A call to the owner and a few days later, Ricko gives her the nasal appraisal. He calls me and gives the audio tour, soumds good. After he hangs up, he snaps and sends me a few shots. With his report, I'm relieved to know that it is all intact and not in bad shape. I mull it over a couple days, check back with Rick a couple times, to float the idea of what a fair offer may be. He told me the owner seemed to be a good guy and,”all he could do is say no”. I put it off a couple days, then called the guy on a chilly night, while pumping gas into the Yukon.
I hate making offers on anything. Especially a low ball, several hundred less than what is being asked. But, it's the only one in the country, I am aware of and it's what I need.
The owner, Drew, answers, I make my offer. He doesn't even pause more than a couple seconds. He says,” Yeah, I think I could do it for that.” Whew. Arrangements to send him a deposit were made and I set a date to come down the weekend after Thanksgiving. Well, the life and times of yours truly being what it is, I put off the trip to get it for a week. No big deal, had a lot of work to do.
When I was sure I was going, I asked my boys if they wanted to go with me. Spence, the youngest, was up for it. The older one, was sick and needed the rest. Then, the day before we leave, Randy Liberman calls me asking what I was up to Saturday. He was going to be heading my way and had the notion to stop. I tell him about the trip south and he hatches a plan to meet up for breakfast somewhere around Joplin. Now, here is where the fun always begins. Planning on a time to leave.
Punctuality is the bane of my existence. There's something to be said for the life of the vagabond. Grab the keys, toss the paraphernalia in back, hook up the trailer and go.... Ah, the fantasies of a simpler flight on the Great Funny Car Quest. In reality, both of my boys had been sick the days leading up to this. Spence had been out almost a week and had just went back to school a couple days earlier. Kody, had just gotten it and spent the day out of school with me. I closed the shop Friday evening, hitched the trailer and pointed it in the direction of home. As I drove away, I thought to myself,” That chili I had for lunch was a bit rough on the old throat.” Not more than two miles down the road, I start sneezing, coughing and getting watery eyes. Damn. I know what this is and it's not an option to cancel this trip. The next few weekends were filled and I need to get it done. I took my Alka Seltzer Atomic Cold and Flu Killer about 8 and laid on the couch. Now, this stuff knocks me out and I had a plan of waking up about 1 am and getting on the road.
Nope.
Woke at midnight, had the chills, shook so bad I couldn't even hold a glass of water without spilling. Grab the coat off the chair, put it on, wrap in two heavy blankets and pass out on the couch. 3 am and I wake to sweating like a pig and a head in a fog. No chills and moderately able to find the way to the shower. 4 am.... got the kid in the Yuke, and heading down the road, on the way to get some things at the shop and load up on cold medicine at the nearest 24 hour pharmacy.
Continued on next page...
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