Hi,

You guys are great!!! I came to the forum 'cuz I'm getting a weird "Service Theft..." message on the DIC (and I am learning/posting in the 2000 area on that topic). There is so much info here that I decided to join.

Thanks for the comments on the cars (didn't show the 2002 GrandAm GT1, it is nice also). It just tells ya that growing old is mandatory (I'm 6, but growing up is optional.

Now if ya really want a shot in the arm, read the following. I posted it on the Vette Forum three weeks ago. Careful, it may make you want to be an ol' guy like me
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Been a great couple of weeks!

It started off with a visit to the plant to see my car on the line. Then this week, back to pick it up. Here is a recap

At 5:30 in the morning of Nov 12 we spent 20 minutes getting the frost off my buddy'* plane (a very fast, very small, two passenger job you wear ]http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/lancair.jpg. Took off at 6, landed in Bowling Green at 8:15. Grabbed the rental car and to the plant by 8:45. The 9:00 tour caught up with job 11254, a beautiful black coupe, just before the body descended onto the chassis. We had to stay with the group and missed the marriage, but Kevin came down and brought us back to the line to watch until lunch. Kevin and the line employees were absolutely great.

We went back for the 1:00 tour. Kevin sought us out and spent more time with us and the car in the afternoon until she finally rolled off the line at 3:25... five minutes earlier than I had calculated.

Here are some pix taken between 2:00 and 3:30 afternoon... (using a Bowling Green Assembly Plant camera, Kevin had them waiting in my EMail when I got home).

In the first one http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-vet-00.jpg she is still airborne.

Second one, http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-vet-01.jpg Stu and I rode in the car on the assembly line shortly after the body was joined to the chassis (engine and wheels), Note the car is still in the air, the wheels have not yet touched the ground.

Third one, http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-vet-02.jpg starting the car at first start, bringing her to life so to speak.

Fourth one, http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-vet-03.jpg I drove her off the assembly line, the first time she moved under her own power...

We squeezed back into the plane about 6 and we were back in the frosty northland by 8:30, what a day!

Then, at 7 am last Monday my son-in-law and I piled into a rental car and headed south. We added a hundred miles to the trip to stop at the Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Museum in Auburn, IN… great museum, ya gotta' stop there someday if it is anywhere near your route, here is a teaser pix http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/acd-01.jpg of Rich and a Dusey. We pulled into Bowling Green about 10 pm.

Tuesday dawned with rain (yuck). We arrived at the NCM at 7:45, dashed down to see the black machine http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-del-01.jpg , gave Ron (our NCM Delivery Team Member) the license plate, watched the Assembly Plant safety video, and piled into a Suburban. They drove us up to the door of the plant (no walking in the rain… hey the day is lookin' better).

Ron gave us a great tour. Rich is a real motor-head and peppered Ron with questions. The two of them were getting along so well I was ready to break in and yell… "Hey, remember who paid for this!!" Seriously, it was great, Rich asked questions I would have never dreamed of and I learned a bunch!!! I've probably been on the plant tour 10 times since my '98'* Museum Delivery and there is no comparison to this offering. We went way back onto the engine-drive train lines, spent lots of time on the standard route stopping, looking and talking at all the points ya just whiz by on the standard tour. I lost track of time, but we stopped for lunch on the way back to the museum, so we were there a long time (and it is still raining).

Back at the museum, a great tour… getting to be a bit of information overload. Then we did some paperwork. Then Ron went through the car with us and went over how things work. Later I found a lot of my family and friends were watching all of this on the cams… glad I didn't have the urge to scratch any uncouth areas… . Then it was time to pull her out of the museum (Ron drove, he was very good at maneuvering in very tight quarters). Outside, it had stopped raining!!!
http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-del-02.jpg .

A quick stop at the plant for a photo op http://webpages.charter.net/weshelton/a5-del-03.jpg and we were on our way home. We drove straight thru to keep ahead of the snow that socked our route 8 hours later and got home about 2 am.

One closing bit… Rich was driving as we neared home, we passed a State Patrol car sitting the median… once it was outta sight we hit 135… went by some poor Windstar like it was standing still… backed it down… mile later another blue and white in the median… geeesh.

All in all, spectacular couple of weeks.

Bill Shelton
Madison, WI

Not bad, not bad.








did i mention,

Madison Wisconsin, eh? Please, PLEASE tell me you have a winter beater and don't drive either one of those cars in the salt.

Well, errrr... the Vette doesn't see salt, but both the SSEi and the GrandAm do. On th positive side, the garage has its own (big) furnance, soft water and seven floor drains. The salt is never on any of them for more than 24 hours... It was 9 degrees outside tonight, I clicked on the furnace and was out there until 9 (note the wet floor on the pix above) getting the salt off the SSEi.

My wife thinks I'm nuts

Oh...my....**'cuse me* wow...

That is some incredible garage, and great entry you've made Mr H101 I can imagine there is still more room in that garage!

Beautiful teaser pics, but rest assured, you will read comments for more MORE MORE!

Guess I'd better explain H101. It is the racing number of my Escow, I'm a sailing addict... race the boat three times a week all summer. My family knows not to schedule anything for Sat morn, Sun morn or Wed afternoon... have I mentioned that I never grew up?

good god, i am incredibly jealous. Sounds like you've established quite the life there, well done man! Please do show more pics in the future.. i'm sure we'd all love to see.

What a Great Story that just goes to show you once a car guy always a car guy!
so of course we will be wanting to see and hear some more soon

great pics...

Great looking cars.

You're only as old as you feel and driving around in those cars with keep you feeling 25.
That is the secret to eternal youth.

....now let'* see some pics or vids of that speedo at about 4 o'clock.