MY PRIVATE CAR : This " Auburn on steroids " started it's life as a 1950 Seagrave Firetruck which served in Miami Beach. More recently , it was " saved " from a local wreckyard by Wil Anders , who took out the burnt up engine , took it down to the frame , mounted the cowl further back etc. and slapped in a reliable 454 CU. GM V8 , coupled to a aut. trans. Having finished the mechanical part and the nose end , he eventually ran out of steam and money , and that's when I saw it at first , and immediately saw it's potential for the ultimate fun car. I must have stood for 2 hours with one eye closed , my hand in front of the rear end , and the other hand chopping down the windshield , and imagining a boattail rearend a la the 30's cars I love. Well , I was able to talk Will out of the car , and it sat for a year or so until I finally got to it. I knew a couple of fella's here in town , who had once helped me build a beautiful mahogany wood tail to my Duesenberg , and they were the perfect guys for the job I invisioned. It's been a work in progress for a few years now , and with the help of Bill Coffman and Bill Penzella of CF BOATS here in Ft.Lauderdale among others , we've been getting closer to our goal. It's been great re-designing this car " on the go " , something I like doing best. Hunting for special parts like fender lights and such at flee markets like Hershey and on eBay has been real rewarding and great mind yoga ! Still lots of things to do ,like fabricating a top ,steps to get in it etc. Ultimately , I'm thinking about installing TWO 454 cu. Supercharged V8'S under the hood, and the dash gauges and starter buttons are already set up for that. The push button trans works great , and it's a blast to drive around town ! ( including using the blast of my REAL trainhorn , haha )Now , I have owned plenty cool cars , but I've NEVER owned anything like this that gets people running out of their cars to take pictures and asking questions ; it's a great feeling knowing our creativity is paying off , and we're causing lots of smiles and looks of disbelief ! It's a great stress reliever after a week of hard work , and I always come home with a big grin on my face ! Is it for sale ? Hmmm.. really don't know , don't care..maybe , if you pay me enough..What's enough ? Well ,it would have to be $675,000. So , there you have it..I said it anyway ! And by the way , if people pay $95 k and more for a microcar , it REALLY makes my car a bargain at only $675 k !
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