Chapter 25: Meanwhile...

7 March 2002 First, for all intents and purposes the Beast is done. No, that's a hideous lie. It's more or less exactly where it was the last chapter-- and that was back in July 2001. The exterior is more or less done, the interior is cleaned up and mostly primed but still unpainted.

The Beast, as of Fall 2001. The only change in appearance was the repainting of the hood emblem: from stock red-on-black to body-color-matching green-on-white. Very harmonious.

There are boxes of stuff languishing in the garage: bed strips, side windows, chassis rubber parts, the dual master brake cylinder, even the accessory fuse block. Most of it only makes sense to replace when the interior is painted. The boo-boo on the left rear corner is still unfixed. I dunno, it gives it character.

Why haven't I finished the job in the last 8 months?

Perhaps the reason I haven't gotten around to it is the incredible amount of positive feedback I get driving it around right now. I get a lot of thumbs up from people, a lot more than when it was all rusty and oyster-colored. I don't drive it all the time, even though I sold the Grand Cherokee and planned to do just that. But when I take it for a spin, I can't help but notice the slight turn of the head from pedestrians, the long glances, the occasional shout of "How much?"

Just last weekend, when I used The Beast to deliver a big TV to the office in Santa Cruz, I was in the process of making a left on a busy corner in Daly City. As I entered the box, a really old guy in a tiny Nissan was making a right at 9 o'clock. By his expression, he was delighted as all hell by The Beast, gesturing wildly and saying stuff. I couldn't hear a word. He continued on saying unheard praises, as traffic backed up behind him. In short order, the air was full of horn honking as justifiably irate people blasted him. I got the light and pulled away, as he chugged ahead, craning his head to see the truck go. It made me feel all weird.

Perhaps another reason I haven't finished her up inside is the fact The Beast is in steady demand as... well, as a panel delivery truck. I've owned pickup trucks before and believe you me, at the end of the month in an apartment city like San Francisco you're everyone's friend. A freeway-worthy delivery van with around 150 cubic feet of cargo space and half-ton load capacity is mighty useful regardless of vintage. And my friends and relations know that. A sample of stuff I've hauled around with it:

•Helped my sister-in-law move last fall in Oakland
•Helped a friend move two weeks ago from Sunnyvale to San Francisco
•Hauled carpet from my mom's place in Aptos to Stockton
•Moved a huge TV from San Francisco to Santa Cruz
•Was supposed to donate a couch to a poor family in South San Francisco (that fell through)
•Went to the dump a couple of times

Showcard I made to put on the truck for shows and such. Not the final version: That one correctly identifies the model number as 3105.

Next weekend, I'm picking up living room furniture in Santa Rosa, then letting my sister use the Beast so she can move out of her studio in Santa Cruz. I love keeping the Beast useful and helping people: I think she likes being more than a nostalgic ornament, and I like to think I provide a bit of style to the whole experience. I've got a few friends who are moving to places far, far away: I don't see driving it to Pasco, Washington, but Los Angeles is not out of the question. For the time being putting paint on the interior panels just to see them get all scraped up seems like a low priority.

But the best reason the interior is not finished yet is two-fold: I'm too broke (that dot-com bust landed square on my head) and far too busy with starting a business partnership. Surfin' Bird Graphic Design, banner-ad provider to the late dot-coms, is now Surfin' Bird Digital, in the business of making DVDs. (Put your movie on DVD for as little as $70! Click here to find out more!)

This also tidily explains why you haven't seen a new page in 8 months.

The unfinished interior, as well as the crunchy bit on the outside, also guarantees it won't win any car shows. Which is fine, but doesn't prevent me from driving it to the occasional old car meet. So far I've entered three shows, and generally had a marvelous time at each one.

SCOTTS VALLEY ANTIQUE CAR SHOW This was The Beast's coming-out event, her Cotillion, her Quinceñera, as it were. This competitive gathering, sponsored by the Lion's Club, is held several times each summer at King's Village Shopping Center in Scotts Valley, just north of Santa Cruz. This is where I first showed off the painted truck. I was parked between a Corvette and a 1973 Camaro, making a Chevy section. Lazlo Hakun, the dude who rebuilt the Beast's engine with his bare hands, came by the show after work and was positively giddy with excitement. He raised the hood, dragged everyone he knew over to look at it and reveled in the attention. He definitely has the right to be proud: his handiwork (and pink linkage) is clearly evident. All of my pals in the Santa Cruz area showed up.

The Skyview at sunset.

SKYVIEW DRIVE-IN NOSTALGIA NIGHT Several weeks later, the Skyview, one of the last drive-ins on the West Coast, has an old car event. Dash plates are handed out, old cars are parked on the little humps between the still-functioning car window speakers, and after dark they screened the 1955 James Dean CinemaScope film Rebel Without a Cause. Saw a lot of really neat old cars, like a 70s era Bonneville hearse, a really cool '55 Chevy pickup, and the usual scad of Camaros and Bel Aires. Left before the movie started.

The handsome poster. I think it's a '51 Bel Aire.	Me and biz partner (and Bond Equípe owner) Chris at Jimmys with the Beast.
An interesting hood ornament. Note the Advance Design truck in the background.	'55 Caddy, with it's GMC truck inspired grille. Hee hee.

JIMMY'S OLD CAR PICNIC Held in October on the massive Speedway Meadow in San FranciscoÕs Golden Gate Park, this event is still my favorite. It is sponsored by Juxtapoz magazine, a sort of bleeding-edge art magazine that considers the Rat Fink the pinnacle of American Art and places Hot Rod era artists like Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Robert Williams, and Von Dutch in the pantheon of greats. In short, my kind of magazine. The event was recommended by my mechanic at Faxon Garage, so it's guaranteed cool.

Because the magazine gives it a sort of oddball sophistication, the event has the feeling of a relaxed picnic. Shows like the huge Good Guys events have a more competitive, gear-head bent, where people tend to give the hairy eyeball to cars that are (gasp!) driven occasionally, and the winning rods appear to have been painted the night before, at great expense. But at Jimmy's you're a part of some sort of big art event, where funky is good and offbeat attitude counts. Some of the nicest cars I've seen anywhere were there, like a 1965 Valiant Station Wagon restored to absolute showroom perfection (for some reason) and an asymmetrical, mysterious-looking Studebaker Avanti. Austin Minis and a BMW Isettas were in evidence. Still, some of the cars on display looked like they were painted with a whisk broom and then pushed to the park, but thatÕs part of the fun. Somebody even had the nerve to enter a 1999 Cadillac, ordinary in every way. I was parked between the inevitable Camaro and a green 1970 hemi 'Cuda. Some friends joined me, we got out the folding chairs and generally had a fine time.

Either they're hauling the Burbamaniac off to the laughing academy, or he's pleased with his latest find.	And this is how the resto is going so far.

Breakin' the Law! As an indication of how successful the rebuild has been , I actually got a speeding ticket in The Beast. Granted, I had an assist from Mr. Gravity-- it was going downhill on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway (the place where the famous high-speed car chase in Bullitt (1968) ended). That neck of the woods is also a notorious speedtrap ( I got a bogus speeding ticket there in September, which I successfully fought in court). This time, of course, I actually was speeding-- I think. The speedometer froze up a few weeks ago, so I have to take the officer's word for it. Anyway, the upshot is a visit to the judge, a reduction to $10 and traffic school. The judge actually said I was "barely" going over the speed limit. I shoulda fought it...

21 March 2002 I had contact with some hard-core Chevy truck devotees, one familiar, one new.

From the edge of the Sonora Desert, the Mother Trucker has chimed in again with his latest project truck-- a 1953 Suburban [" I gotta live up to the name of " suburbamaniac " ya know" --MT].

Bob's '57 3100, as it appeared when he bought it. The grill, a very rare item, looks like it's in perfect shape.	The latest photo, showing just how far in he is gotten into the work. this shows the rear part of the frame coated with POR-15.

I also heard from Bob, a reader from Southern California (what's up with that place?) who is restoring a 1957 3100 pickup. What makes this a unique contact is he has his very own online journal (15 chapters so far). It's excellent reading, with real hands-on detail into such stuff as patch panel welding, gas tank renovation, and such. Lavishly illustrated, too. Bob and I have a spooky amount of things in common (among the things he listed: "Doused plastic models with lighter fluid and set them on fire; Worked in dot com industry; Got nailed when the com industry went south."). But there are also some differences:is he is rebuilding, with his own hands, a heavily customized truck he bought from a stranger; I inherited a virtually stock vehicle, and hired people for a lot of the heavy sledding. The chapter on checking out people's old trucks for sale is totally funny. Just click here to check out his stuff!

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