My Car's talking to me.

[JimNolan]

Guys, Hope you enjoy this.
My 57?s Poem to me.
Redeemed
By Josh Helms ( plagiarized by Jim Nolan )
I am America, as are many things.
My prime is ended, taken from me by the bastard sons of tomorrow.
Shunned in favor of invaders from foreign lands. I loved the competition.
Yet now, I find my place of rest. The dirt rises to bury axel and caress undercarriage.
Behind barns, in garages, unsympathetic salvage yards, buried in dust and filth and broken promises.
I am become end, in myself I have felt finality. This, I accept.
But you, you are incapable of seeing an end.
Your sight reaches depths and times not seen for decades. In the spirit of a younger, proud America.
You see me as more than rust and ruin.
I am buried under so much more than physical rubble , despite this, you choose to dig.
You reach forth, seize and pull me to life... liberating me from defeat.
You clean, scrub, scrape, peel, wipe, sand, paint, polish, replace, drill, weld. It's hard. But you don't stop.
I lack the necessary heart... you put yours into me
You restore my luster anew, a shine far greater.
With craftsmanship unfathomable, you bathe me in precision.
I swill gasoline, you forgive me.
In my age, I struggle... you assist me.
I bend and break, with loving concern you mend my shame.
I am far from practical, you don't care.
All of these things you do for me, all of these things expecting nothing.
Your work, to you, is reward enough.
However, your unending kindness is not lost on me.
I will take you to speeds you only dream of.
Through my indebted service, highways will be cast at your feet.
I am old, but strong. I will protect you.
No man will contest your dominion over the road.
The road is mine. It always has been and ever shall be mine. And, I bestow it to you with pride.
You have delivered me into the future, through strife and fire.  I am grateful.
I trust you, and if you trust me.
I'll bring you that horizon.
We shall chase it together.
I have many names. Fairlane, Custom, Skyliner, Sunliner, Ranch Wagon, Courier, Del Rio and Ranchero are but a few.
My name is America.
I am the child of a forgotten age, swept up in the tides of progression.
And as the generations roll forward, they attempt to forget me completely.
I watch the masses pass me by, but you
You stop, turn to me
You lay your hands upon me and say, "Don't worry. You're safe."
"And I'm not leaving you."

[57AGIN]

Jim:

What a beautiful ode to our hobby and way of life.  As my 57 sits at the paint shop, awaiting a trip to the media blaster, your poem hits home and here is what my 57 had me put on it's "story board."



RESCUED

My owner saw me in an Auto Trader magazine in August 1998; he immediately drove out to San Bernardino and bought me.  I had just had my color changed from a dingy Colonial White to a vibrant Turquoise & White, but otherwise I was a very sad car.  He rescued me from being just another partially restored project car that had so much to be done that I might have wound up rusting in someone?s back yard, a junk yard or (gasp!) in a crusher.  I had no floor boards, tunnel or kick panels due a leak causing serious interior rust problems.  There was no upholstery and the seats couldn?t even be attached to the rusted floor. The engine, engine compartment, front suspension, brakes, transmission and much more needed to be re-built or replaced.  In 1999, I was taken off the road when one of my valve spring retainers broke just driving down the highway.  I spent the next four years in my owner?s garage being reconstructed, as I should have been forty years earlier.  Now 17,000 miles and 7 years later, I?m looking forward to another new color scheme and the beat goes on, and on, and on... 

Bob
57 AGIN

[iamflashman]

I showed a co-worker this poem and he replied with a haiku:

Wonderful Prius
Less Pollution in the World
Funny, Brakes Don't Work

[cool57]

Mine says take me home to Arizona!

[JimNolan]

Come on Sam, build some toughness into that 57. Remember, we build them Ford Tough in the North. LOL  My 57 is real tough. It's sitting on jackstands in a heated hanger waiting to get it's little wheels aligned as soon as the roads dry up. Besides that, I have a nickname for my car. I call her Sweetie. Now don't that sound tough to you. Jim

[Frankenstein57]

Beautiful stuff Jim, Beautiful.   Mark

[cool57]

Come on Sam, build some toughness into that 57. Remember, we build them Ford Tough in the North. LOL  My 57 is real tough. It's sitting on jackstands in a heated hanger waiting to get it's little wheels aligned as soon as the roads dry up. Besides that, I have a nickname for my car. I call her Sweetie. Now don't that sound tough to you. Jim

Mine is Maybelline. I met her in Tucson in 1980. I told her I loved her just the way she was. She moved back to my hometown with me. Then-the seven year itch (give or take) began and I began to demand she change. She has stuck with me, although the road has been bumpy at times.

[Bubba]

Well Bros: I call my 63A Rosinante, named her after Don Q's horse.
We call our 68 Mustang Eohippus.
BuBBa

[bossguy]

Beautifully done Jim, Great Post! I also have sent it to a few friends and my son. He wrote back that it almost moved him to tears, it exactly said how he feels about the hobby. One pic of his 70 Ranchero GT has the caption, "built with wrenches, not chopsticks".