Friday, July 13, 2012

Is it really ruining a good car???

I love old cars...  This is not a new thing.  The last couple of days, I have shared my love for the demolition derby.  Now, comes the debate..  In the past, I have been told..  "I can't believe you are going to wreck that perfectly good car.  You consider yourself a person that preserves the car hobby, yet you destroy these old cars."  Now, I guess on the surface, it would appear that I am a hypocrite.  However, here is an example of my defense..  Many years ago, I helped a good pal of mine build a derby car...

From the appearence of this photo, you see a very straight 64 Mercury, and indeed it was.  This car was a complete car, and even had the working power back window...  Before the hate mail comes in, let me finish.  This car was at a local wrecking yard with not one, but TWO cars on the roof.  It was slated for the crusher.  Instead, we got it and proceeded to modify it for the demolition derby.  This included completely stripping the car, building the cage, swapping all of the drivetrain, going through the brakes and so on.  If you factor the time a small group of us had in it, it would exceed 80 to 100 hours. 

Although the end result would be the same, I gave the car alot more love than the crusher would have given it.  And the parts removed from the car were sold to help another Mercury live...