Deep Pockets? Need to store cars?
Our Government seems set on deciding who will sell new cars, who will build them, what they will look like, what they will cost, how many mpg they will get and where they will be built. It means factories are shutting down and dealerships are closing. If you still have a job these days and have deep pockets there is a silver lining in all this.
If you are a real car nut you have more than one collector car. If you are insane you have multiple collector cars. Now, the question is; “Where do you store them?”
I have a solution. Your friends in the US Government just made it easier. You can now go just about anywhere in the Country and find a GM or Mopar dealership that is closing up. What is going to happen to all of these buildings? Some will stay around as used car lots and service facilities but more than likely the supply will far out run the demand for old dealerships.
Dream Garage
So, why not pick up a closed dealership and convert it into a car museum? If you’ve got deep pockets it would be a great place for your private collection plus a great play house and a furnished shop to work on your cars. If your pockets have holes in them like mine do then some thinking outside the box may be called for.
How about a local car club purchasing an old dealership for a museum/club house. Maybe a bunch of guys could go together and make a car condo out of an old dealership. If you know the elected officials in your community maybe you can talk them into making it an “Old Farts Center”! You know, like a “Teen Center” but for us Old Farts.
Just think of it:
- The Show Room would be for us to show off our cars;
- The Parts Room could become a place for pinball and pool tables;
- The Service Bay could be for more cars, cigar smoking and sipping of fine wine;
- A huge flat screen TV could be placed in the Body Shop with a bunch of recliners for viewing NASCAR races or movies like Bullet.
- All those little salesmans’ offices would be great reading rooms for all those repair manuals and data books we have.
This new use of an old Chevy Dealership may not bring in much sales tax revenue for the City Fathers but it sure would keep us off the street and participating in the hated illegal drag racing! Damn, this almost sounds like a good movie script. Remember all those 1950s movies with the teenagers raising hell on the streets with their Hot Rods; the City Fathers tried to stop them and then some guy comes along and builds a drag strip and all is well in Hooterville.
Let’s go out and raise a little hell and see if we can get an “Old Farts’ Center” made from a closed Mopar dealership! Come on guys let’s race!
Just my humble thoughts, what do you think?
If you have some ideas why not leave them in the comment section below?
I was in favor of the American people saving GM and Chrysler that summer. My admiration for the American cars built over the years and my sympathy for the workers combined with the always ready defense capability of these industrial giants convinced me that I would support saving them from themselves. That was yesterday and this is today (winter 2010). I would not do it today as they have not earned my support in any recent actions.
The closing of dealerships has been the choice of the automobile companies. They have twice the dealerships to sell the same number of cars as their Japanese competitors. It is probably a wise business decision to close “weak” dealerships. It is also a sad thing for us old creatures, but so was the closing of all of the full service gas stations.
AS far as interfering with product decisions, it has been very beneficial to both Americans and the companies to force reasonable gasoline mileage and safety requirements. The emissions requirements were forced upon the manufacturers to make places like LA livable. Pictures of La in the 60’s and today show a remarkable difference. The reliability and performance of automobiles also shows a remarkable and positive difference.
Without these government requirements the American manufacturers wouldn’t have been as ready as they are now for world competition. The Japanese would have swallowed them twenty years ago. The Americans fought every step of the way and now are fortunate to be in any kind of competitive position.
I admire American cars into the 70’s beyond any others and own several of them. The current world cars are much better cars, but I am attracted to the flamboyance of the design and performance of the older ones. No matter what it looked like in the past, the government made our collector cars much better and helped to save what we still have of the current cars.
A closed dealership would be a wonderful place for a club center but may be beyond most clubs to consider. Dreams are always running through our heads and should never be discouraged. Some come true to the delight of us all.