PT Woody

Big Mike has posted a comment that he cannot see where our PT Woody is Special Interest, and points out about a "factory woody" option.

While you are partly correct, Mike, here is where you are wrong:

1) Ours is not a factory woody option with a cost of $800. The factory option is little more than contact paper. Ours is a custom-made woody kit by California Cruisers and cost over $2400 for the woody kit, alone, and is 3-dimensional. The mahoghany inserts are real mahoghany, laminated and glossed with plasti-kote.

2) Our woody does have a specific theme - Surf Woody, depicting the surf woody craze of the Beach Boys era. The theme is followed throughout the car, right down to the "California Cruisin'" brakelight, etched dolphins on the windows and the surfboard air freshener. That is what is meant by "Theme". Not to mention the rather obvious piece - a large wooden surfboard that sticks out like a skunk in a church. And while we do not show them often, we also utilize a hatch display of over 30 die-cast surf woodies, woody blanket, woody books and assorted other surfing and woody memorabilia.

One gentleman has an army jeep. Ordinarily, it is just a jeep. But he created a theme by decking it out with military paraphenalia - guns, scabbards, ammo cans - the works. He even wears an army uniform. So, the ordinary jeep is special interest, because his vehicle is designed to support a specific theme.

If a vehicle follows a specific and unusual theme, as stated in the definition, it is a Special Interest. The PT Woody does follow a specific and unusual theme, of which there is little doubt. How many other surf woodies have you seen in shows lately? And a couple years ago I was about to buy a black PT, and deck it out as a Chicago 1930's mobster car, complete with running boards, lots of chrome, air vents on the hood, and a machine gun, which I still have - it is a movie prop that was used in "The Untouchables". I was even going to wear the mobster pinstripe suit with baggie pants, just like Legs Diamond. That, too, would be a themed vehicle, and therefore special interest. Unfortunately, Robin decided she wanted a PT turned into a 1940's panel truck, split rear window etc. Robin won.

It is also fairly unique, in that no other PT around has all the custom options, including lambo doors, chromed bumpers, vertical chrome grill, smoothie wheels with wide whites, and 27 other items that differentiate it.

But we do not play on the uniqueness. It is SI primarily because it is a themed vehicle.

For those who need to get a better grasp on what constitutes Special Interest, and why, here are several actual examples from shows right here in southern Maine.

Thanx, Mike, for offering the opportunity for me to clear this up - and congrats on your long overdue win today. And we often do enter 90's - present, when available. The exception is when the organizers suggest we put it in Special Interest, as they did today at Oxford, and yesterday at Andover. We did not choose the class. And we win more often in 80's and 90's to Present than we do in Special Interest. As for registering in Custom, that is not an option, since every item on our car is applied - nothing about the vehicle, itself, has been substantially or structurally altered. Even the lambo doors are mere bolt-ons. So the car simply does not qualify as a Custom.

Meanwhile, I am working on the pix for both Andover and Oxford. The show galleries are up - just working on the winners, and Best Of...Since my cam has been acting up, some shots in the "Best Of" sections are stock photos taken from my inventory of pix of the same vehicles.

Bill