Now, this is a really weird dilemma ....

[Thumper]

... well, for ME anyway.

I've been contacted and asked for my autograph. Yeah, I know ... but SOME people respect the Thump! :D

Seriously, I was contacted by a big car collector in California a few weeks ago who bought an old Cadillac pick-up "truck" that I helped build with my dad back in the 70's. He first emailed me, then we started talking by phone. He asked all sorts of questions about parts and building processes to aid with his restoration as he wants to show the car and wants it 100% correct. He got so hyped about our cars, he later called and said he'd located one of our station wagons for sale (in Kansas?), purchased it, sight unseen, and is having it shipped to California. He now wants to restore the pair and show both of them! I've heard of others on the show circuits, but I've never had any direct contact with their owners.

Anyway, during our conversations, I informed him that I still have some of the old sales brochures and company letter head around here someplace and promised to send him a few once I locate them. He was elated and plans to have them framed and integrate them into a display when he shows the cars. Well, yesterday I dug around and located the items, then contacted him to let him know I'd be mailing them today. Man-o-man, he was as excited as a kid on Christmas day! These are rare as hen's teeth and I guess he realizes that.

The "weird dilemma"? My "signature" is total garbage and the thought of having it displayed in public is starting to embarrass me. I'll explain ... back about 35 years ago, I moved into management on the dealership level. EVERY morning, I would arrive to find a mile-high stack of papers on my desk awaiting my signature. In time, my "signature" simply became my initials (less time-consuming). On down the road, those initials became no more than an unidentifiable scribble! I mean it's TERRIBLE and to this day, whenever I'm asked to sign anything ... even a simple credit card receipt at the grocery store ... well, I can't count the times I've been asked if I'm a doctor! People explain my "signature" looks like a doctor's hand-writing on a prescription! It's absolutely terrible and right now, for the first time ever, it's an embarrassment to me!

Last night I actually sat at my desk practicing ... errr, attempting to sign my name like I did 35-40 years ago where it actually LOOKED like a signature and you could half-way figure out what it said. I'm finding out, that's not so easy. The signature looks forced and deliberate ... more like a 3rd grader learning how to write in cursive. After all these years, I've just now learned I do not really HAVE a signature! Well, I've always known it's a mess, it just never really mattered before. I'm sure the general consensus here will be ... don't try to fake it, just do it ... or who cares(?), your signature is your signature, etc. etc. Then I'm SURE one of youse bozos will suggest I just sign it with an "X", but this is seriously bugging me. I'm almost to the point of having Lynn sign it for me!

I know there's nothing youse dufes can do about it ... but Bucky always says he's the only one here who writes about stupidity like this ... so I wanted to prove him wrong. :D

[BarryBobPosthole]

That's an easy one. Just sign 'Pelvis Ersley' and they'll be none the wiser. Or 'Larke Plyler'. That'd be even better.

BKB

[Booger]

Been there, still doing that. Used to have a readable signature but after years of signing 30 to 40 things at a time, 10 or 12 times a day, my signature is completely unreadable. My guys say it looks like I made a K and then sneezed......Still get asked for autographs all the time though, mostly from past girlfriends and such.....

[LJ3]

Mine is also completely unreadable. Wear that shit like a badge of honor!

[Thumper]

Ha! So I'm not alone? I "think" that makes me feel a little better. Funny how Booger can relate due to the same reason.

I just re-read my post and realize I forgot to mention, he asked me if I'd sign a couple of the brochures for him, so that's how all this started.

It's a done deal and they're ready to drop in the mail. I ain't proud of my penmanship, but it is what it is. :(

You know what else I realized? I've forgotten how to write cursive ... or longhand ... whatever you want to call it. In the car business, I wrote service for many years and it was standard practice to print all repair orders due to the fact they had to be read and understood by a shitload of people. The customer, the dispatcher, every mechanic who received the car, the cashier, the warranty clerk, the factory rep, the file clerk and prolly 20 other people I forgot who would come into contact with the order ... including people on down the line if the order had to be pulled in the future. In the military, I typed all day (on what we called a "mill" ... as I copied target radio transmissions). Then came the computer age and I've used nothing but a keyboard since. I was actually trying to write a note to this guy this morning and then sign it. What a mess ... half cursive and half printed. It really makes me feel stupid trying to actually write anything out. It's been a lot of years! Who WRITES anymore?

[Buckrub]

I can't spell my last name in handwriting anymore.

That's the truth.

Was this one built in Ft. Smith???

[Thumper]

Was this one built in Ft. Smith???

No sir, those were limousines built for our parent company in Beverly Hills. This was way back in the mid-70's in our own fledgling little company which we ran on a shoestring because we had no money! :crybaby

[Thumper]

I run across some of these things from time to time. All were sold to Cadillac dealers for sale to the general public, but many have been saved and restored as show cars now. I see them on the net and at some of the larger car auctions from time to time.

4979 4980

4981 4982


In fact, I even stumbled across a company making die cast models of these cars and selling them for $120 apiece! I wonder if I should be collecting some sort of royalty off those things? I never knew they existed until I stumbled across them on the net.

4983 4984

[Thumper]

Weird that the die cast metal truck has a sunroof. In fact, it appears to be retracted. We never built one with a sunroof as there is no place for it to go when it's retracted! Wagons yes, trucks no. Heck, the back glass is directly behind the driver's seat. I guess that's called "artistic license". ;)

[Buckrub]

I remember them well. AND the stretch limos. I remember the company in Ft. Smith.

At this age, I remember a lot.

And not.

[Chicken Dinner]

I've signed so many tax returns in my life that I prefer to think of my signature as making my "mark". I also quit writing cursive in the 6th grade and am not even sure they ever taught it to my 12 year old.

[Thumper]

I remember them well. AND the stretch limos. I remember the company in Ft. Smith.

The Ft. Smith plant was for limos only and was built/managed by my dad for the parent company in Beverly Hills ... we didn't own it. I worked in the Beverly Hills office and oversaw all 7-8 of our plants ... limos, custom cars, convertibles, etc. etc.

The trucks and station wagons production was my dad's idea and the reason I didn't re-inlist in the military. He told me about his vision and wanted me to return home to help him realize it. He built a prototype (the only 1974 model ever produced), sent me pics and I was hooked. (Evel Knievel bought that car and later, bought a regular production car ... a '76 I believe). I returned home and we buckled down and started building these things in 1975. Each car was hand-built. Cadillac completely changed their design in '77 and we simply didn't have the money to completely re-tool, so we shut 'er down. Other than the '74 prototype, all the cars were '75-'76 models.

That's when we decided it was easier to produce cars for someone else (who had money) and we started working "for the man", but were still in the business of building custom cars. I eventually went back to work for Cadillac, but my dad stayed on with the Beverly Hills company all the way up until the time he passed away a few years ago.

[Bwana]

Way cool story Thump and thanks for sharing. So do I understand right that it was your dad who dreamt up and produced the modified Caddies? Very cool!

As for the cursive writing, I am "write" there with you. The only cursive writing I can do now is to write my name and any other words I might try to write in cursive would be a slow, painstakingly thought out process as I print everything these days.

[Thumper]

Way cool story Thump and thanks for sharing. So do I understand right that it was your dad who dreamt up and produced the modified Caddies?

Yessir. Now there were a few other companies who did it over the years, but there are some real abortions out there. Ours were the only ones completely hand built (as far as the add-on is concerned). There were other companies building wagons, but they'd cut the back off a Buick/Chevy/Olds wagon and mate it to the Caddie. Not a very clean conversion. Some of the other pick-ups were a real mess and it's embarrassing when someone spots one and assumes it's one of ours. Now, there are also some ... what are called ... "flower cars" out there. Those are the cars that resemble a pick-up and haul all the flowers to the gravesite during a funeral. Many times people will think those are ours, but they're not true pick-ups (no tailgate, etc) ... and not very stylish.

We had a guy working in our metal shop who's very famous in the custom car world ... did a lot of the Hollywood stuff like Barris. I won't go into details about him or I could get slapped with a slander suit, but he was a crook. He had a little, young protege' with him who grew up to be an author and wrote a book about his idol and mentor. Problem is, he gave him the credit for designing and building the vehicles. Total b/s ... but what the hey? Long story but when he ended up leaving the company, it was basically a choice of him being slapped with a grand larceny charge ... or resigning. He resigned. THAT story has never been made public BTW. I just roll with it when I run across some of his b/s on the net.

[Bwana]

Dude,
You need to write a book.

[Buckrub]

I edit.