CC’s COAL (Cars Of A Lifetime) Series has become a Sunday morning institution since quite early on. We’ve had a number of COALmen who shared with us all the cars they’ve ever owned; in the case of Jim Klein, that was forty one. Our current COALman, David Saunders, already has thirty under his belt, and has just a few more to come. So it’s time to enlist the services of a new COALperson. It’s not about how many cars you’ve had, or how unique they were; just sharing your experiences, which are always fascinating to the rest of us even if they might seem mundane to you.
And if you don’t have pictures, that’s no problem either (we know where to find them). It just takes a willingness to write one up per week, for the duration. I know there’s literally thousands of you out there whose stories we’d like to hear. And they’ll be recorded here for posterity. So let’s line up over here at the Contact Form, or send us an e-mail directly at curbsideclassic@gmail.com. It’s much more fun than actually hauling coal.
I’ve been meaning and wanting to do this.. So.. I’ll write up a couple today and see how they flow.
I definitely don’t have the volume that the others do, but I do have some quality in there. I think every single vehicle I’ve owned, aside from one, has had serious character. Good or bad is for each to tell their story about.. But they’ve all had it.
Good; I look forward to it. I’ve also had a couple of responses via e-mail, so it looks like we’re lining up a few new COALpersons.
Count me in, Paul! I have a few potentially interesting stories.
I encourage everyone to do it. It does not matter how many or how few cars there are. They all have a story and there is ALWAYS someone out there who has had the same or similar experience with it. It’s a lot of fun and extremely gratifying to read the comments. And Paul and Perry help a lot with the actual writing/editing as well as pictures if needed.
I was thinking of some of the stories today and.. they definitely need to be told. Especially the ones about powersliding full ton box trucks around gravel roads.
This is something that I definitely want to do as well. I will be retiring at the end of the year and will (should) have a lot more free time. I will send in the contact form shortly.
Count me in. I went through a stage from 205-2013 in which i swapped cars ofter so I have a bunch to write up. I will send an email shortly
Looking forward to more new talent and more great stories ! .
I wish I had writing talent as I have a few stories I can hardly believe are true but that’s life .
I have very few photos in any case .
-Nate
Nate, some of your scribblings are so frigging funny. I think you’re underestimating your abilities. Don’t forget, Paul and Perry can help and pics of the same models can be found. I love laughing at your stuff.
Thanks Don ;
I get so little feedback I’m never quite sure .
I came up the hard way and my life in The Auto Trade was by choice but being a stickler for doing the right thing has caused much friction from the Management over the decades .
I call ’em as I see ’em .
Life is far to short to waste being unhappy or pissed off IMO so I try to add lightness when / where I can .
If you think my Auto stores are funny , you oughta see the L.A.P.D. in action .
The L.A. County Sheriffs make a point of acting like angry clowns 90 % of the time , L.A.P.D. OTOH , is (IMO) a professional outfit that might need a little polish but when you dead in sh*t all day long , the humour inherent in life becomes a bit macabre .
Customers , no matter what , are always funny and strange .
-Nate
Don’t pressure yourself to write Pulitzer Prize standard prose. Just sit down and write a first draft that tells the story no matter how crappy it flows. Leave it for a day or two, then try a second draft. You’ll be surprised how coming back to it after a break helps you see what you can improve. Cheers.
Nate, that little blurb you wrote about bringing a suicide/bear-eaten corpse-filled VW down to L.A. was the greatest thing I’ve read in forever! Your writing is excellent regardless of whether it’s textbook perfect or not. “Then came summer, glorious and hot”, that line killed me!! I could see the whole wretched thing unfolding like I was watching it on a movie screen.
+100
Glad you liked it ~
I’m usually told to S.T.F.U. ! .
I only wish I could forget that particular one .
-Nate
I’ve got one in the can, just waiting on some photos from my Dad.
Unlike DS I actually haven’t owned thirty car in my middle-aged life. More like 7, including parts cars…
I’ve got a dozen or so stories to tell as well but darned if I never seem to get around to putting them down – (serious question here for any of the other writers) any ideas or suggestions on what has helped you to get focused to do so?
Adderall? 🙂 The fame and glory that comes from being published? 🙂 We know it’s not the money 🙁
Yeah, it’s definitely not the money!…I just decided that I had read so many interesting stories here that it would be cool to try and give back. When I started my series I was a bit bored with some other aspects of my life and it was a nice diversion, something new that I had not done before. Now anything I contribute is done out of fear that someone else here will beat me to the punch, especially what with all of the Cohort pictures being posted. I’m not the only weirdo walking around town with a camera in hand 🙂
The first one was the hardest, once I broke the ice with that one it got easier as I sort of established a formula that is easy to see if you read the first few of mine. (How I came to own it, the tech specs, some stories/memories about it, and how and why I disposed of it.) Writing it and letting it sit for a few days before finishing it helps too, as you will invariably recall more aspects as your brain churns subconsciously that you then want to fit in before submitting it.
In all seriousness I will caution one thing though. If you do a COAL and you have a dozen or less cars you can keep it going at a good clip no matter what. If however you have thirty or forty (or more) I recommend doing some up front to build up a bit of a “buffer”. The hardest part was keeping up the commitment about 2/3rds (6 months) of the way through when I had a TON of other stuff going on and saw the deadline looming, especially once Perry started and it became his job to edit my stuff. Wouldn’t be fair to jam it in and give him no time. I didn’t want to let anyone down by missing one and I did not want to just “phone one in” either so there were a few inconvenient late nights. I am fairly sure that Dave Saunders wrote a lot of them earlier than the week of publication which REALLY helps when you have another work issue, kids, or a family vacation looming…
What the vehicles are doesn’t matter, they are all interesting in their own way, even (maybe especially) the more mundane ones. Today’s Celebrity CL post by Tom illustrates this – let’s face it, none of us would have written a comment on a review of this car when it was new, it’s a pretty boring car on the face of it, however now many people can connect to it somehow, had one, or at least have a story about one. It brings back memories and there were a lot of them, hence more memories.
The most gratifying thing about writing COAL (or any other article really) is reading the comments, it’s cool to connect with others and really fun when you are able to further someone else’s knowledge. The first thing I did every Sunday even before getting out of bed was to turn on the iPad and see my story and read the five or six comments posted before 7am. Actually, I still do the same thing every Sunday because I love reading the COALs so much, even when written by others!
Thank you very much – this is helpful. Good point about putting material “into the can” ahead of time and then dribbling it out.
I also found a topic (somewhat new) that maybe Paul would consider as well that I am very interested in (and thus would be motivated to spend the time on) – I’ll email directly so as to not spoil the potential surprise.