BBTR - Boats by the River #6 - 2021

These pictures look like they could of been taken in the 70s due to the originality these cars are kept in. No Retarded scoops. High-Impact colors. Gaudy *** wheels. Etc. Most of them look like the day they rolled off the lot. Just perfection.
 
These pictures look like they could of been taken in the 70s due to the originality these cars are kept in. No retarded scoops. High-impact colors. Gaudy *** wheels. Etc. Most of them look like the day they rolled off the lot. Just perfection.
Indeed. It is really nice to see them cherished and that a lot of people (whether along the roads in person, or virtually here) are getting the pleasure of watching those fine pieces of American iron.
I almost forgot. Here is the Drone Video from the lunch break!

© Bernd Schäfer

Absolutely fantastic overview. Thank you for posting it!
 
here some pics from my buddy Mitch with c-bodies flying on a german highway at BBTR

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Especially that first picture could just as well have been taken in 1970 something, somewhere in the US :thumbsup:
 
The reality is that it is very difficult to put these vehicles into very nice condition and not lose a lot of money doing so - I know personally.

Unfortunately we have a society where most folks buy new cars on 7 or 8 years credit lines and have no extra cash. Also, wealth is too concentrated at the top and the middle class isn't as prosperous as it used to be when I was growing up and many parents could afford to send their kids to college (many of the students like my brother and I had to work some jobs but we made it). Not doable anymore for too many.

The Germans do not spend all their income doing credit buying so they have cash on hand. They also like cars that are well sorted out given the logistics and many other issues from being an ocean away.

I rarely can sell nice cars that I have spent a lot of time and money on here in the U.S. and not lose money. There are a few exceptions though and those U.S. guys I call first. For example, I have sold many nos parts and cars that I used to own are/were with the same guy that Dave sold his Polaras to because he is a good buyer.

I recognize many of those vehicles in this thread because I had a hand in them before they went over there.

I face hard realities in doing what I do (because I don't want to see these cars rot away and try to save them) and am just glad there is a good market in Germany for these cars and they are being saved and appreciated by very motivated owners. They are not sitting in someone's back yard waiting for the owner to get enough money together to be able to do anything with them besides watch them rot away.

Yes, I wish more of them had stayed over here but the realities these days are that we live in a society that has lost its way on many fronts - but I don't want to go deeper into that other than what I have said in generalities because I don't want to cross any forbidden lines in the sand that are here for good reason.

So I am fine with seeing these cars in very good hands and many folks greatly enjoying them with a passion, wherever they are.

Nearly all of the cars I have sold even in the U.S. I rarely ever see again in person anyway. So it doesn't matter where they are as long as they are being preserved, loved and displayed.

And it seems the Germans prefer the Chryslers as I do but I still love the other models very nearly as much and plan to yet restore some of them too.

I also do not want to harbor negative feelings/resentment in general as it makes one too old way too early. I like to find the positive in life and seek it instead. It makes life much more enjoyable.

I have pretty much stopped doing this anymore though because cars still out there generally require too much to make them nice even for upscale buyers so I am focusing more going forward on ME and gettng my restorations done instead.
 
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wealth is too concentrated at the top and the middle class isn't as prosperous as it used to be when I was growing up

The Germans do not spend all their income doing credit buying so they have cash on hand.

That´s 100% true. The reason is a historic one. England was the first country to introduce unionized jobs. Germany, France etc followed this. It´s a
thing the communists brought up around late 1800s. This union culture lived on until today, most people work in unionized jobs. That creates a whole
different job environment. Jobs are very secure in comparison to US job so companies are not very flexible.
In the US it´s hire or fire, if your company does well and they need qualified personal, they throw money at you, if they´re struggling you get fired.
Therefore average salary is way lower over here than it can be in the US. ( less than 5% of all employees are in the 6 figures)
That created a giant middle class about 75% of all people belong to. Then there´s like 10 % upper class and about 15% percent of people who
really struggle. That´s the recipe to a stable country by the way. Riots and looting we´ve seen last year in the US were not really about Reps vs. Dems, pro Trump vs. Antifa or whatsoever, it is because in the US exists a giant amount of people who have nothing and a big amount of people who have way more than they need. The more extremes you have the more explosive the whole society gets..
 
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