To my friends and neighbors,
I am not going to re-hash the "bash Andrew" thread as that is
counter-productive. It serves no purpose.
Suffice it to say that it has been a long time since I have had any fun
pertaining to my car other than driving it. And for those of you who have a
hard time believing I would sell my car- you should know that I have other
assets I could sell. Although I love the car, it has not enriched my life as
much as I thought it would. I love driving it- it's a fun and fast car. But
it also has been a point of angst for me and for some resaon I seem to bring
out the bad in people on these discussion groups and in person at runs or
events. I have heard many things about me, that I am an asshole and a
braggart and that I didn't do any of the work on the car so therefore
haven't "earned it". I even heard a comment that my car would have won at
Solvang "if I wasn't such an asshole".
When I first got involved with roadsters I was as excited about them as
anything I have ever been excited about- I organized SoCalROC and set up
meets and runs, hosted barbecues at my home and gave away free parts to
people that needed them. I rescued my 67.5 from certain death and spent the
next 4 years of my life restoring it. Yes, I talked about what it cost-
mostly from people who wanted to know, but also just because I wanted people
to realize what they were getting themselves into if they ever intended to
completely restore a car.
For the record, I don't care about winning first place at Solvang or whether
Alvin's car is better than mine or anything like that. I have never said my
car was any better than anyone else's and it isn't- it's just another
roadster.
As to the seemingly endless bashing I receive just about every time I post
to this forum I guess I have myself to partly blame for that. I am
intolerant of certain things and when people post things I think are
innappropriate to this list I let them know about it in no uncertain terms,
but off list as I agree that bashing someone on the list accomplishes
nothing.
To that end, I am leaving the lists- this time for good. I am not angry at
anyone or doing it because I feel I have been "wronged", but just because it
is time for me to move on and let someone else assume the mantle of "asshole
roadster owner".
My car is not sold yet- I have had a few people show interest, but my price
is firm and I am not going to sell the car for nothing. If it ends up not
selling that is fine too- I will simply drive it and enjoy it. At least I
can enjoy the car without the politics of the list or shows. It still amazes
me that there are two shows in Mt. Shasta because the roadster people don't
get along the 510/truck/Z crowd. To that end, I may join some other car club
and try again, but I think my time in the roadster community is over- many
of you will be sad to me go, some won't. I may still show up for a local run
or two, but probably won't go to Solvang or anything like that.
I am sure I am to blame for most of my issues with the list and other
roadster members. If I have offended anyone or behaved badly or rashly I
publicly apologize for it. Maybe after I am gone the list will get back to
talking about cars- instead of each other.
So good luck to all of you. Enjoy your cars and if someone does decide to
restore a roadster- spend as much money as you can and brag about it a lot.
Just kidding...
Andrew Murphy
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