When the engine of 3987 was being rebuilt, I would often visit Sal's shop. I told myself it was to check on progress and offer to pick up parts as needed--the rebuild took about nine months and seemed to go on forever. In truth, I was probably visiting to make sure that I really did own a GTO and that it all wasn't some dream I'd concocted at the expense of my Lusso. Each time I dropped by, the GTO was still there and if I looked closely enough, some discernible progress had been made since my last visit.
With the engine and transmission out of the car, I decided it was a
good time to start multi-tasking--a term that had yet to come into use
in those days--and have the body and paint attended to. I enlisted my
father and we rented a flatbed trailer and hitched it to the family
Coupe de Ville. We pushed the GTO onto the trailer for the ride over to a
body shop in Burbank that came highly recommended. I think it was on W.
Magnolia for those keeping score.
:
My father and I had a propensity for doing things in our own manner which was, even at the time, a combination of Old School pioneering ingenuity and contemporary, daft, 'What the Hell are you thinking?' logic, which usually saw us right even if it was at the expense of a neighbor's rope. I remember prepping an MGB roadster for sale and my father sitting in the car hidden from view by the convertible top trying to use an uncooperative vacuum cleaner on the carpets. When he switched it off to make an adjustment, I disconnected the hose and blew into it thinking it might clear the passage--it did but I didn't realize that my father was about to attempt the same action and got a face full of dust for his trouble. I still break out laughing remembering the look on his face in reaction and Oliver Hardy couldn't have done it better.
All of this brings us to the moment that I realize that the GTO's handbrake has been disassembled and the trailer didn't come with chains, chocks or a block and tackle. I called out to Sal, "How are the brakes on the GTO?" and his answer gave me the solution I needed. As my father slowly drove the Cadillac in the direction of Burbank, I sat in 3987 on the trailer and rode the brakes so it wouldn't roll around, which worked a treat.
It was only a twenty minute drive but one I'll never forget, like so many others I enjoyed in that car!
:
My father and I had a propensity for doing things in our own manner which was, even at the time, a combination of Old School pioneering ingenuity and contemporary, daft, 'What the Hell are you thinking?' logic, which usually saw us right even if it was at the expense of a neighbor's rope. I remember prepping an MGB roadster for sale and my father sitting in the car hidden from view by the convertible top trying to use an uncooperative vacuum cleaner on the carpets. When he switched it off to make an adjustment, I disconnected the hose and blew into it thinking it might clear the passage--it did but I didn't realize that my father was about to attempt the same action and got a face full of dust for his trouble. I still break out laughing remembering the look on his face in reaction and Oliver Hardy couldn't have done it better.
All of this brings us to the moment that I realize that the GTO's handbrake has been disassembled and the trailer didn't come with chains, chocks or a block and tackle. I called out to Sal, "How are the brakes on the GTO?" and his answer gave me the solution I needed. As my father slowly drove the Cadillac in the direction of Burbank, I sat in 3987 on the trailer and rode the brakes so it wouldn't roll around, which worked a treat.
It was only a twenty minute drive but one I'll never forget, like so many others I enjoyed in that car!
.JPG)
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