This month marks a year since I brought home a certain small, green car.  I had managed to put 10,000 miles on it never straying any further from Lincoln than Kansas City.  I don't consider KC a road trip, it takes me just a couple hours to get there.

It was about time the little green one got to go on a proper road trip.  Enter my friend Jim.  Jim lives in Colorado Springs and had a birthday this last weekend, so perfect opportunity to go west!  The picture above is from Thursday night.  I drove halfway Thursday then finished my drive on Friday.  No drowsy driving for me.  No sir.

I love long road trips.  They help clear and settle my mind and I get to see really cool things.  Like this wind farm I drove through.  The road laid out before me to the horizon is freeing and something that I think a lot of us enjoy.

The little microbe handled this trip very well.  Through high winds in eastern Colorado to massive traffic on the tollway by Denver to the road getting a bit bendy going into Colorado Springs the car handled it all.

Now to say I am enchanted with my Fiesta is an understatement.  Poor Jeff has to hear my whining the couple times I have had to take it in for a warranty repair and I am given a loaner Focus to drive.  But this trip made me love this car even more!  And we get to do it again next month!

So, who has road trips planned?


Carra McClelland
Voice of AutoRestoMod

From Jeff: 
I miss my all weather classic car. You know, the one that you drove  in any weather, any where...mostly because that was your ONLY ride? I can remember driving through rain swollen streets in Houston in my '71 Mach 1 to pick up a date, driving my '68 Cougar to a friends house in the snow in Houston; because I could. Now we tend to be afraid of rain and hide our rides because they might get dirty. When did that happen?

The picture I included is of a high school kid's '73 Mach 1. It was parked at Chickfila in the great snow of 2010 in Aiken, SC. Why? because he had to work and the Mach was his only mode. So, he drove it.

That said, how cool would it be to be able to jump in your classic car on a rainy day and take off; I like it. How about you?

Some times I have to make myself stop and smell the coffee. 

I have a friend that works at the local Ford dealership. I've known him for a few years and I try and stop by to see him when I can. Like today; I could have made an excuse to not go by: its out of the way, I have a headache, I have too much to do...all of which are true. 

But every time I go over there I get a lift. His sense of humor is fun (today he had made "baby feet" in the dust on the hood of a Town Car) and I'll generally spend an hour chatting with him while he works. And he is forever either restoring a car or looking for one to restore. So today we discussed a '65 Comet that he is hot on the trail of. And as usual I laughed, stayed longer than I intended and enjoyed his company.

Sometimes you need that: spring weather, a little break away, a few minutes of fun, some baby feet on a hood and talk of a car that you or a buddy may or may not buy to make you realize that life is good.

Jeff Ford
Producer

I was having a rough week. We all do. Even in the blissful Nirvana that is Autorestomod, I had figuratively been in the boat that was caught miles off sore when a storm broke. Nothing serious, just the typical doodaa that happens in video production. 

So Saturday I took a break from the normal filming hubbub and went to my favorite yard to pick up, of all things, a courtesy light harness--the price you pay for buying a basket case 1967 Mustang Fastback.

What I noticed was that while there finding the needful things, I was also decompressing. Enjoying the scenery--I know--odd. and musing over how cool it was that such a place existed for me to go to and hunt parts. Some folks don't have that luxury.

To me there is nothing better than bopping around in a old line yard on the cusp of spring and finding both the part and some peace.

Jeff Ford
Producer

The other day I was in Home Depot and I struck up a conversation with the young check clerk. he wanted to know what Autorestomod was all about (I was in one of our shirts). To which I gave the standard 30-second sound bite about us working on classic cars. 

"So you guys do stuff like '90s Monte Carlo and Cutlasses?" he asked with feigned interest.

Chuckling I shook my head and said, "No, we focus on stuff from the '60s, like Mustangs and Camaros."

He smiled slightly and said, "Cool so the really old stuff."

I nodded, smiled back and bid a fair adieu and sauntered out to the Vic feeling really old. At least he didn't say that they didn't build Mustangs before 1979. And yes, someone has actually uttered that to a member of the crew once. But that is a story for another time...

Jeff Ford
Producer

Last week we had the first GM to ever cross the doors of the Ford garage. Now I am no car snob, I can appreciate anything with a gas burning engine and some soul but I have to admit to being a Ford guy deep down. With my last name being what it is I will blame it on heritage. 

But that Camaro was...wow. 

So I felt a little guilty about liking it so much. You know, kinda like you feel when you are standing in the checkout with your wife and get caught looking at Cosmo magazine covers. OK maybe that one is just me...

Jeff

Its just a little fuse. For those of you that aren't working on the electrical system of your classic car this may come as a shock to you...but you can't get fuses in convenient car specific packs any more. 

I can go down to the auto parts store and grab $14.00 worth of five packs all day long. But back in the day ( and I swore I'd never utter that line) you could go to the store and get tube style fuses in brand specific packs. I can even remember buying a pack that was for the Mustang. No more. You now get to buy fuses enough for your next five restorations. 

Sigh. Maybe I'll just do like Dick Doofus did on a Cougar I once owned, wad up some tin foil shove it between the tabs and run with luck...can you say fire?

As many of you know, I have a rather large affinity for small, British classic cars.  I entertain inviting one that needs help into my spare garage stall from time to time.  Jeff talks me out of it every time, muttering things about wiring and rust.

Doesn't stop me looking though!  take for instance this little "gem".  This friends is an Austin Healey Frogeye/Bugeye Sprite. Or what's left of one.  I found this car, which had most of its bits and bobs in plastic totes, on Ebay.  It really needs all the help in the world.  And had a low price tag.  Danger!  Danger!

First I show it to Doug, thinking SURELY he will tell me I am smoking something and to forget about this car.  It is not an insurmountable task, but it would be a slog.  Does Doug rescue me from myself?

No, no he does not.  First words out of his mouth:

"Well, it looks about ready for media blasting, and I like doing rust hole repairs.  I'll help!"

D'oh!

So I text Micah, telling him about this poor little thing and how much help it needs (all the help in the world).  I don't know why I expected Micah to try and talk me out of this.  And the text that came back:

"How much do they want for it?"

I talk to Gina about it briefly and she agrees since it is totally lacking a wiring harness at this stage, that any arguments against getting it because of that are invalid.  So, enabler #3 has spoken.

So, armed with auction link, encouragement and a friend that for some odd reason likes doing rust hole repair, I show this poor little beast to Jeff.  This is Jeff Ford, of buying classic station wagon for camera car fame.  Jeff Ford who can look at a car that I would normally go "Really?" at and see it in its restored glory.  But also Jeff Ford who has talked me out of every Britcar I have presented to him to look at.

Honestly, I wish I could nave been in the room when he clicked on the link to the Ebay auction.  I wish I could have seen his face.  The reaction I got - PRICELESS!

He did sputter something about wiring, at which point I pointed out the total LACK of wiring harness.  Then he counters with rust and I tell him Doug likes doing rust repair.  The conversation ended with me realizing though that while I could PROBABLY restore this poor thing with a little help, I don't even have time to do half the stuff I actually NEED to do on a daily basis.  So another Britcar by the wayside for me.

One day though, I am dropping one in Jeff's driveway, I just am.


Carra McClelland
Voice of AutoRestoMod