DeTomaso Mailing List: May 98, Message #201

Ray wrote:

>I have an idea
which may boost attendance at the Vegas and Pocono events. Beleive it or 
not,
many of us on this list are only handy with a wrench and may not have 
the time
or talent to do major tooling on their cars. I gladly would drive my car 
to
more events if I knew there would be someone,(possibly a vendor) 
available to
assist or perform repairs to my car,( for a fee of course). I think many
people, myself included, are intimidated by the fact their car may break 
down
out of town. To date, it appears their are volunteers who have 
generoulsy
helped out fellow owners in the past  at track events. However, it is 
their
vacation too, and I feel funny about depending on the kindness of 
others, even
though pantera people are fantastic I just think if there was a more 
organized
garage service at these track events, more people would who are less
mechanically inclined would participate. Just my $0.02. I would be happy 
to
brainstorm this some more if anyone is interested.

>>>Interesting idea.  Larry Stock brings about $100K worth of parts to 
Vegas each year, burns $400 worth of fuel and makes about $400 profit 
the whole weekend.  We in PCNC all laugh at the folly of it (including 
him!), but you can be pretty well assured that if something breaks on 
your car, he'll likely have the parts to fix it.

The labor, on the other hand, is a different story.  While there is 
nothing formally arranged, I can tell you that nobody has ever been left 
stranded!  I've seen gearboxes rebuilt in the parking lot!  It's not 
unusual to see radiators swapped out, axles/bearings, the whole nine 
yards.  If you're wounded, word gets around and with 700 people there, 
there's always somebody not only willing, but actually HAPPY to help!

It's all part of the fellowship that makes these cars (and the Vegas 
event in particular) so great!

Mike

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