GlennCraven

A very pretty Falcon, Dan. My mother's first car was a light blue 1960 Falcon coupe.

I keep running out of daily "likes" on this site. I'll have to come back to "like" the rest of the grandkid pictures.

I got a Pizza Hut ad, and I'll guarantee I'm going to check THAT out.

This is such an encouraging post. ... Maybe someday we'll all be at this point. Until we start the next project.

I also want to welcome you and say "good luck with the car." That'll be a nice ride when you're finished, whether stock engine or the Jag.

What a beautiful car, Bill. ... Really nice work on your part. Enjoy that ride often!

I did speak with the president of the club, who said he was working on filing a ticketing manager's position first. The GM's job will be discussed among the board and filled later. BUT, after several minutes of telling him about myself and discussing what I've read about their situation already, he advised me to go ahead and send my résumé and such now, which I've done. I've given him three workplace references and two people who can vouch that I probably remember you run the bases counter-clockwise. I haven't heard back, but it looks like we'll be going to Janesville for my girlfriend's command performance at the church on Nov. 17, so I'll call him before then and offer to stop by ... even if he'd rather I didn't.

I didn't see any pre-WW2 Mopars here, but I'm going back and will also be visiting other yards in the region and will put this on my list of things to look for. Think I saw one old IHC pickup, but not that old. I'd guess it about a 1952. But I'll also add this to the "keep an eye out" list.

Sweet, Tim! (If you're watching.) I have a couple of other friends who are big A's fans, and I've started pulling for them some since "Moneyball." Yes, same league as the Timber Rattlers. When I was playing in high school and college the team there was the Appleton Foxes, a club and nickname that started in the 1950s. For the Midwest League, only the two clubs are in Wisconsin. The league has some pretty serious mileage to travel by bus. Most of the teams in the Snappers' and Timber Rattlers' division are scattered all over Iowa, with a couple in Illinois. The other division is populated by teams primarily from Michigan and Ohio, with a couple in Indiana. It's a league with a ton of history. Next year will be the Midwest League's 60th anniversary. A lot of great players have passed through. And the MWL has some of the best club nicknames in minor league baseball -- the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Lansing Lugnuts, Bowling Green Hot Rods, Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits being among my favorites. It used to be most of the minor league teams had distinctive, local nicknames. Then there was a stretch when some of the MLB franchises wanted all of their minor league affiliates to taken on the parent team's nickname. Now there's a bit of a trend back to being more localized and creative, which I think helps with fan interest and continuity. ... You might have a new franchise affiliation in 2015 (i.e., Royals instead of A's), but you can still be the Beloit Snappers -- which doesn't reset your brand identity, outdate a fan's game-going wardrobe and such. I really want to do this thing, so thanks for the well-wishes. All good vibes count!

They're Class A minors, an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, playing in the Midwest League. The Beloit Snappers did well on the field last year, but in the minors that doesn't always have much correlation to how well the club does in attendance and financially. They've been at the same field since 1982, basically in a residential neighborhood, and time has left the facility behind. Teams with new, commercially appealing stadiums in the 16-team league draw anywhere from about 2,700 fans (Cedar Rapids Kernels) to 8,400 (Dayton Dragons). After about a decade of consistently drawing around 1,200, last year Beloit was last in the league with 939 fans per game. From what I can see, the club has challenges beyond the older stadium. The September unemployment rate in Rock County, Wisc., was 7.4 percent, higher than the not-seasonally adjusted statewide rate of 6.2 percent. Across the line in Winnebago County, Ill., unemployment is even worse; I think August was 10.9 percent. ... So it isn't a wealthy market. Still, drawing 939 people per game in a two-county area with roughly 450,000 residents must be improved. Further, when the club recently went to county officials for about $100,000 in renovation funds for the ballpark, it got the money, but not without some dissent from the elected officials. So it seems their local support is weak, and weakening. Their general manager has resigned to take another job in town. I noticed that news online. I called and spoke with the president of the club (which is locally owned and operated by a board of directors, a bit like the Green Bay Packers) and he said they're trying to figure out what kind of person they need as a replacement, and the job is yet to be advertised as a result. I've never managed a sports organization, but I've managed a newspaper, worked in media relations for a state agency, have a degree in public relations, and played baseball in college. I don't really think there's anything the position could throw at me that I couldn't handle. I think they could benefit from new ideas, maybe an outsider's eye, and a lot of enthusiasm. I would love to have a job that gets me out of bed each morning absolutely stoked to go to work. And there'd be a lot of satisfaction in helping them turn everything around. So, that's what I'd like to see happen.

That would be great. Two summers ago when I moved the rest of my stuff back from North Carolina to Kansas, I turned it into a minor-league stadium vacation, though I managed only three. I saw a AA game at what was then Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn., (now I think just called Generals Park after the naming agreement ran out). I had a great time at a low-A game at Asheville, N.C.'s, historic McCormick Field, which was built in 1924 and was the site of some filming for "Bull Durham." And, I got to see a AAA game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which when built was arguably the finest stadium in minor-league sports. ... A lot of places are on its level now. It's remarkable how nice the newer stadiums are, and how much has been invested. I wanted to see another couple of games on the way home, but adopted the tiniest of stray kittens, who was lost and alone on the porch of my old house in Carolina. I didn't want to leave him alone in the vehicle during summertime for fear he'd die from the heat, even at night. He's a great cat, though. He will sit on a table and watch television, but only baseball or "Top Gear." ... Otherwise, he doesn't care much about TV. His name is Kismet, and I do think it was fate that he would be my cat.

Oh, that's right, the Royal Lancer! ... We saw those the other day in the thread started by one of our European friends, who looked at a pink, black and white model.

I do believe Jay Leno's 1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe business coupe has the vacuum-assisted shifter.

Thanks, Merle. I'd look forward to that! We used to vacation every three or four years in central Wisconsin, around Green Lake. But that's as far as I've ever explored, and the last time I was there would have been 30 years ago.

I'm still kinda kicking myself over the '55 Fireflite with no engine/trans, though if it weren't for my frame problems I wouldn't feel so bad.

I may have to venture out of my field of expertise. I'd like to in many regards. I've put in over 20 years in the newspaper business, which is an awful place to be. Ridiculous hours at embarrassing pay. Even if I want a newspaper job, it can be hard to get hired with my kind of experience. I'm old enough with enough time put in that I don't want to work for recent-grad wages, but the recent grads also know things like shooting video for the website, which I've never done. I've done some media relations and enjoyed that a lot more; the opposite side of the coin, really, with the reporters and editors calling me for information rather than the other way around. That would be good. Unfortunately, what I really like are old cars, baseball and racehorses, not always in that order, and I'm still looking for a way to make a living in one of those. I actually do have my hat in the ring for an office job with a minor-league baseball club in Beloit, but it remains to be seen what sort of consideration I'll get for the role. ... "Venturing out" of one's field of expertise is a two-way street. One must be willing to "venture," but someone else must be willing to sell you a ticket on the ship.

And here I was thinking that would totally be my choice of color combo: Gay Admiral Blue with Sober Patrol Blue. I dunno about Dodge, but DeSoto sure did. The 1955 Fireflite Coronado was only available in three-tone, and only in three specific colors: Coronado Green, Black and Surf White. Mind you, the buyer could specify any combination of those three colors: Black roof, Coronado Green body, Surf White spear pictured first below, etc. But you WERE going to take all three colors, and no substitutions allowed. These are gorgeous and still very affordable cars, with Hagerty Insurance valuing them at $16,500 to $22,000 in No. 2 to No. 1 show condition. ... Among the many makes and models on my wish list, but near the top.

Well, Merle, I should probably trade my minivan for a '74 Dodge Monaco (which could be a good idea anyway) because we're on a mission from God. If hired, my girlfriend will be the new associate pastor at a large and growing church in the Janesville area. The committee liked her during "neutral pulpit" weekend last week. She was unanimously invited back in November to preach for the congregation, and they will vote on whether to call her. I need a job so we can make things official and set up house. Which would be a good move on my part because in a year's time since we met she's gone from just supporting the idea of old cars, to thinking she'd like to help with fabrics and interior restoration, to deciding she wants to learn how to weld. KEEPER.

I've been holding off mentioning anything because I didn't want to jinx the girlfriend, but it's starting to look pretty seriously like she -- and thus eventually I -- will be relocating from Kansas to the Janesville/Beloit area of southern Wisconsin. She'll be the one getting the new job and I'll be the one still looking. Meanwhile, I'm interested in knowing who on the forum might live in that general vicinity. Anyone here in a car club, Mopar-specific club, anything like that? Other than automotive stuff, what's important to know about the area? Thanks in advance to anyone who speaks up.

You may be onto something. I wasn't really thinking it was postwar, but there are strong clues you may be right: Low-mounted wipers (not above windshield); front vent window; high chrome strip on the body; cowl contours where the missing hood and fender would mate; and lower body contour very similar.

I didn't notice any Pontiacs that old, but I also wasn't looking for them. The one I pictured sort of jumped out at me from the line. I also didn't notice any Mopar overdrives, but I didn't get right up close to all the cars this time. Some of those pics are shot with a bit of zoom. Frankly, though it hasn't rained here for a few days and the ground in some photos looks bone dry, I wasn't prepared for how wet it would be in places. There were wide swaths of standing water ankle deep between me and some of these rows. I sort of took this walk on the spur of the moment after my doc told me earlier in the day that I needed to get more exercise. So I wasn't attired as I should be. I'll go back with jeans and boots next time. I'll be going back out there to walk the rest of the yard for exercise and will go back to these sections of the yard and get those answers. South Coffeyville is due north of Tulsa on U.S. 169, right on the Kansas line. It's a good four hours from Apache. As for the mystery primer car minus front clip, I was gonna guess late-1930s Chevy, but they seem to have more forward rake at the B-pillar. (This one has essentially none.)

That's about it for the Mopars. Mr. Collins said he had few or no Chryslers, a handful of Dodge cars and trucks, and a few more Plymouths. I saw no DeSotos on this run. He had a ton more Chevy and Ford vehicles there (duh, I guess), especially 1960s and 1970s F-Series trucks.

This old Dodge pickup is visible from the road. Almost none of the other stuff pictured is. It had some glass, trim and interesting clearance lights.

There's a crusher on-premises. (Not being used today.) It appears a hundred cars or more have been crushed and stacked. Why not hauled off for scrap? Waiting for a really big load? Have metal prices gone down that much? There might be $20,000 in scrap metal at this yard in two or three long stacks piled four- and five-deep like this.

Mr. Collins appears to have built two-story rodent condos out of Pintos. ... What I needed to bring was a .410 shotgun. I'd have had a lot of luck rabbit hunting!