1935-36 pickup restoration book

[wamnram]

Look on the bright side. Now you can finish the book without worrying about a deadline or having it edited to fit the clubs format. Take your time, put in it what you want, and do it your way! All of us will appreciate your efforts and a good many of us will buy your book regardless of whether we own a pickup or not.

[J & D]

I would buy one.

[Vic Piano]

Jerry, here's an idea, why don't you and Lawson publish it yourselves, like Dick said. You could put it out on a CD/DVD, right from the computer and offer it on the swap sites on all the related web sites. You could also offer it to all the Ford parts dealers to include in their catalogs. Just don’t hope to make a bunch of money with it, as others can attest, the market is limited. I’ve produced a number of “how to” as well as general information, informative/entertaining automotive videos relating to Flatheads in particular and over the years we’ve sold a good number of them but we have not really promoted them for the past several years except on the old FordBarn and now at Christmas time on the ChevyBarn. Good luck with the project, whatever you do. Vic

[36Bill]

What they should be looking at is why are so few of the pickup owners are members of the EFV8 club. I was a member but lost interest in the club, not my '36 pickup. I am still looking forward to the book as there is little published on these pickups. The Ford pickup book has a picture of the '36 and the '36 restoration book is about cars mostly. Keep up the good work and I hope to see your book one day. I don't care who prints it.

Bill

[Dick]

Very sorry to hear of this as I've been waiting for this book to be published. I have two pickups not on the registry. Hope you can find a way to get this published - I will buy a copy.
Dick

[oldandtired]

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I used to belong to the V-8 Club and dropped my membership in part because they did not seem interested in commercial vehicles. I own a 35 and a pair of 37 pickups, as well as a 39 panel. The vehicles are very different. Lawson and Jerry were well advised to restrict the book to two model years. There are large variations in just those two years. The 37 model year pickup was very different from the 35/6 years with very few parts interchanging with the 35/6. If Jerry and Lawson would be interested in just making copies of what they have gathered available, I would be very interested in purchasing a copy. It would be far more and better information than I now have.

[Cecil/WV]

I'm sorry that they pulled the plug. There is a real need for this type of info. Although my '40 pickup isn't built to concourse standards, I did try to follow originality as far as possible with the parts I had to work with and the only source of info I had was the now outdated '40 car book and what I could garner at national meets.

[V12Bill]

If there are not enough 35 - 36 pickups out there, I guess I will never see a (37) 38 - 38 authenticity manual. One of the reasons I joined the EFV8 club was to get information on my 39 Pickup. The car manual has very little on the chassis which is the same as the PU.

[ken ct]

How would the club feel if 236 club members suddenly dropped membership,i bet they wouldn't consider that a insignificant amount. There getting like DC polititions,do as i say not what i do. ken ct. Member for 25 yrs.Too many things are going by the wayside in this club. Its supposed to be for the members and a NON-PROFIT org. OMO

[TJ]

I don't know the specifics of why this project was stopped, but the V-8 Club has to consider projects on a cost -benefit analysis. Even though the Club is non-profit the BOD has an obligation to be frugal with the Club's money. Losing money on a project that may only benefit a few members is not good management of members money. I suspect that they looked at this project for some time and discovered that by the time the book was completed in draft, taken to a desktop publisher, and then to the printer, these related costs would far exceed the amount of projected sales. I would bet if they thought the project would break even on cost vs sales they would have proceeded. Breaking even is an option, losing money is not. It's better to stop a project than to move forward and lose more money.
In my opinion the narrrow scope (35-36 only) of this book would appeal only to a small number people. Had the book included the 37-39 pickups it would have appealed to a wider audience. As an example the Club's 38-39 book started out as a 38 book only. Obviously this book would not have sold enough books to break even. The BOD then included the 39 cars and the book became a good seller. Had they included the 37 cars it would have been a bigger seller. In the real world not every project becomes a reality.
If you are passionate about this book I would suggest that you publish it yourselves. Just be aware of the costs. If you are willing to take the gamble go for it. Just for info anything you publish concerning the Ford Motor Company has to be reviewed by the legal department at Ford Motor Company. This is a "must do" on your part or you will find yourself in court and all your efforts will go down in flames.
For those of you that want to see the book published you might consider helping these two out with some monetary donations. It's not cheap to bring a book to print and if you want the book to be a reality it will take a large sum of money to "get er done".

[Dave D]

Go to http://www.lulu.com/ or one of the other self publishers, print the book and tell me the cost, I'll buy one.

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by TJ

I don't know the specifics of why this project was stopped, but the V-8 Club has to consider projects on a cost -benefit analysis. Even though the Club is non-profit the BOD has an obligation to be frugal with the Club's money. Losing money on a project that may only benefit a few members is not good management of members money. I suspect that they looked at this project for some time and discovered that by the time the book was completed in draft, taken to a desktop publisher, and then to the printer, these related costs would far exceed the amount of projected sales. I would bet if they thought the project would break even on cost vs sales they would have proceeded. Breaking even is an option, losing money is not. It's better to stop a project than to move forward and lose more money.
In my opinion the narrrow scope (35-36 only) of this book would appeal only to a small number people. Had the book included the 37-39 pickups it would have appealed to a wider audience. As an example the Club's 38-39 book started out as a 38 book only. Obviously this book would not have sold enough books to break even. The BOD then included the 39 cars and the book became a good seller. Had they included the 37 cars it would have been a bigger seller. In the real world not every project becomes a reality.
If you are passionate about this book I would suggest that you publish it yourselves. Just be aware of the costs. If you are willing to take the gamble go for it. Just for info anything you publish concerning the Ford Motor Company has to be reviewed by the legal department at Ford Motor Company. This is a "must do" on your part or you will find yourself in court and all your efforts will go down in flames.
For those of you that want to see the book published you might consider helping these two out with some monetary donations. It's not cheap to bring a book to print and if you want the book to be a reality it will take a large sum of money to "get er done".

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I am no longer a member of the EFV8 Club, after 30+ years, I did not renew my membership, for reasons unrelated to this post.

I agree with most of what you said however, if (as was said) the BOD of the EFV8 Club gave the "go ahead" for the book, it would appear that they did not do their due diligence prior to giving the green light? I know that Lawson in particular has been working on this book for a long time and I doubt that he, or anyone else, would spend time and money with no expectation of having the information made available through the EFV8 Club, especially if that was the initial understanding. It’s too bad that this happened, whatever the reason(s), as it may serve to decrease the enthusiasm on the part of others that might have considered doing something similar that would benefit the clubs members in the future. Vic

[rotorwrench]

Clubs can be a sore subject to many antique machinery and vehicle owners, myself included. I've seen more than one end up a drama fest for the few rather than be for the benifit of all. I should think that at some point in the future that they would have in print books to cover every year model and type of early Ford whether V8, 4, or 6 cylinder. Otherwise, it should have been the early Ford convertible club or other such nonsense. I can see it if they simply postpone something till a later date. To shut it down with no recourse is ridiculous.

Kerby

[35 rancho]

I needed the book a few year's ago. I would have save me a lot of time and money. Are the V8 membership dues about the same price of a book?? Regardless I would still want the book!! Dave By the way has anyone put sunvisor's in their pickup? they show them in the car book???

[rich b]

I'm not sure going by the vehicles in their registry is best way to determine
the market.

I don't belong to the club; but that didn't stop me from buying the '32 book along with the '35-'36 book, I also plan to buy the '40 book, my father-in-law is not a member either; but he bought the '37 book.

The club seems geared toward passenger cars instead of trucks, maybe that's why the numbers are low.

[John R]

I doubt that the number of club-registered 35-36 trucks has changed significantly since the time the BOD gave the go-ahead on this project. Thus, this episode just demonstrates extremely poor management on the part of the club BOD. Furthermore, they apparently do not consider the huge amount of volunteer effort invested in the book so far to be sufficient to honor their implied commitment to publish it.

[Hoop]

" ... we are dedicated to the restoration and preservation of all Ford Motor Company vehicles built between 1932 and 1953." Early Ford V8 Club

TJ posted, "I don't know the specifics of why this project was stopped, but the V-8 Club has to consider projects on a cost -benefit analysis. Even though the Club is non-profit the BOD has an obligation to be frugal with the Club's money. Losing money on a project that may only benefit a few members is not good management of members money. I suspect that they looked at this project for some time and discovered that by the time the book was completed in draft, taken to a desktop publisher, and then to the printer, these related costs would far exceed the amount of projected sales. I would bet if they thought the project would break even on cost vs sales they would have proceeded. Breaking even is an option, losing money is not. It's better to stop a project than to move forward and lose more money."

Read it again and think about it.

A club that is DEDICATED to "restoration and preservation" is not willing (although we don't know the "specifics") to SPEND money without the prospect of "breaking even" in order to document a class of vehicles for posterity ...

Horse hockey. (TJ, aimed at your theory, not at you.)

A whole helluva lot of us spend a lot of money restoring and preserving early Fords without expecting to break even. Some things cost money/time and are worth doing. (Consider what Jerry and Lawson have already spent on the book, and I doubt they are expecting any money in return.)

The Early Ford V8 Club should take on the project ... BECAUSE that's what they claim they are dedicated to doing. I once asked a local architect neighbor why the city built such an over-the-top grand library costing a fortune. He replied, "Because beautiful buildings should be built."

Whether or not I agree with the cost of the library, there are some things that are "built" because they should be.

The Club needs to find a way to build this book ... or drop the "dedicated" nonsense.

[Cecil/WV]

I think one of the problems is that the club has almost a totally different BOD than it did when giving the nod for the book in the beginning. It should have recognized the wisdom and comittment of the previous BOD.

[jerry grayson]

Originally Posted by TJ

I don't know the specifics of why this project was stopped, but the V-8 Club has to consider projects on a cost -benefit analysis. Even though the Club is non-profit the BOD has an obligation to be frugal with the Club's money. Losing money on a project that may only benefit a few members is not good management of members money. I suspect that they looked at this project for some time and discovered that by the time the book was completed in draft, taken to a desktop publisher, and then to the printer, these related costs would far exceed the amount of projected sales. I would bet if they thought the project would break even on cost vs sales they would have proceeded. Breaking even is an option, losing money is not. It's better to stop a project than to move forward and lose more money.
In my opinion the narrrow scope (35-36 only) of this book would appeal only to a small number people. Had the book included the 37-39 pickups it would have appealed to a wider audience. As an example the Club's 38-39 book started out as a 38 book only. Obviously this book would not have sold enough books to break even. The BOD then included the 39 cars and the book became a good seller. Had they included the 37 cars it would have been a bigger seller. In the real world not every project becomes a reality.
If you are passionate about this book I would suggest that you publish it yourselves. Just be aware of the costs. If you are willing to take the gamble go for it. Just for info anything you publish concerning the Ford Motor Company has to be reviewed by the legal department at Ford Motor Company. This is a "must do" on your part or you will find yourself in court and all your efforts will go down in flames.
For those of you that want to see the book published you might consider helping these two out with some monetary donations. It's not cheap to bring a book to print and if you want the book to be a reality it will take a large sum of money to "get er done".

TJ, you may be right with some of what you say about V8 club projects, but they did not come to us and discuss cost cutting measures or anything else, just out of the blue; STOP THE PROJECT! The EFV8 club encourages authors to research and publish books and is this going to throw cold water on future would-be books?

[rotorwrench]

I don't know the best way to act in this matter but I can relate this situation to our own government since most clubs are based on parliamentary procedures. They are slow to act and don't always act in a logical manner but given time things usually have a way of working out. If club members are aware of the situation, I'm sure there will be some recourse in the matter of electing new officers at some point in time that will have a more logical approach to the publication of the necessary books to further the hobby as far as the given history can take it. These things should be done in a timely manner or more of the folks that remember what was what will be lost and things will be forgotten. The way I see it, it's the clubs purpose to answer the unanswered questions that any member may have no matter how mundane. Some folks overlook the old battle weary work horses that were the old Ford commercial vehicles. Many of them served on well after the passenger cars were in the scrap heep. To turn a blind eye to them is to forget a very important page in history.

I figure it is better to join the club and get involved in this process than it is to abandon it. I'm sure the sum of the members probably feel the same way.

Kerby