Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted Duke
I always thought the forum was a place to ask questions, maybe not? I always thought folks would respond with useful information to help the questioner, apparently not? I don't ask many questions, use the JUDGING standards although I have no intention of having my car judged. I have never understood the reply "use the STANDARDS". Why have a forum? to complain that the old car hobby is dying? Fortunately I belong to a great local club with great people who answer questions and even offer advice they thing might be helpful.
P.S. IMHO If everyone had to RESTORE (whatever that means) to the "perfect" Model A there would be few Model A's left. The average person doesn't have the time, facilities or talent to do it all themselves OR the funds to pay a professional to do it for them.
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Ted, this forum has definitely been thru an evolution. I was a member shortly after Gus invented it, -then after Pete bought it, -then when Shelly got it, and now Ryan. It used to be during the beginning that folks only posted an answer when they KNEW the proper answer. If someone chimed in with an opinion, there were more than several (-who are no longer here) that would quickly correct you and then seemingly throw-out 10 pages of documentation to prove you were wrong. What seemingly has changed is there was tremendous respect for those who provided advice by which they had personally obtained. With the focus changing from discussing originality to anything Model-A, many of the knowledgeable ones have left and many that post now do not speak from first-hand experience, --but mostly about what they have read others doing.
Now where this gets wild, is when you follow these social media sites catering to Model-As, there are so many answers posted, that it is difficult at best to keep up with, ...and then it is posters who just blurt out random answers whether there is validity to their answer or not. While I was not directly involved in any of Mr. Blanchard's dialogue, I did follow along as he was asking questions. IIRC, the turning point was that he was asking about the hood louvres being pinstriped and there was a discussion about if it was correct when some folks pointed him to the JS and told him to read about it there.
Ironically, when Bill Underwood made the post asking about the age of Model-A owners, and Dick made the follow-up about the synopsis of the future, it would appear to me the bigger struggle will not be about whether anyone will have any interest in purchasing our beloved Model-As in the future, ...but instead it seems it will be more difficult to find folks interested in the preservation of an authentic-looking Model-A, or purchasing a properly restored one. Ironically, clubs like AACA don't seem to struggle with this as a whole.