Straight Eight Trivia Question of the Week: 1. How many songs, if any, can you name off ZZ Top’s 1983 ‘Eliminator’ album? 2. What men’s necktie knot shares its name with a fifties Chrysler automobile? 3. What three speeds did turntables have in the mid twentieth century? 4. What do the letters ‘LP’ stand for in relation to the record ‘album’? 5. When was the LP format introduced? Was it A. 1942; B. 1948; C. 1953 or D. 1957? 6. What was the name of the popular record and tape chain which was prevalent in the Midwest and south during the seventies and eighties, that used (and sold) wooden crates for storing LPs? 7. How many synonyms can you name for the term ‘necktie’? 8. What was the name given to the under-dash record player option offered in fifties model Chrysler automobiles?
For the answers to this week’s trivia questions (and photos of some of my collection [after midnight Monday, Oct. 20th]) visit my web site at http://the_fin_man@msn.com. (Trivia answers available immediately.)
To e-mail me, click here > mailto:thefinman.com.
I was listening to the news today on my way to work, and the announcer said “we may be heading toward a recession!” Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling harder to keep my head above water for the past few years, than ever before in my adult life which spans four plus decades. I hate to use the ‘D’ word, but the description is beginning to feel more appropriate than the ‘R’ word. Recession, depression, dip or hiccup… whatever kind of spin you want to put on it... we’re in a financial fix unlike anything in recent history. So what do you do if, like me, you’ve been dreaming of having a garage that would give Jay Leno’s a run for the money? Creative Collecting may be the answer.
I started car collecting when I was a lad of nine. My first automobile (which I still own to this day) was a 1955 Buick Century Convertible… battleship gray (Buick called it Windsor Gray) with a white and yellow interior. This was the car that started it all… a lifelong obsession collecting model cars and a collection that, if they were real, would be valued in the millions of dollars. Anyone who has been there, knows the excitement and (cheap) thrill that can be achieved by acquiring that special, new model for your collection… the one you’ve been eyeing at Greg White’s Designs in Motion or on the internet at Kevin’s Hobbies. Yes, it’s a far cry from the real thing, but it can be very satisfying none the less. There’s nothing like a trip to Designs In Motion where you will find perhaps the largest display of die-cast models in the metro St. Louis area. And Greg has a lot of those special edition numbers and high end brands that will never see a shelf at the local Toys R Us. One bit of cautionary advice I can offer would-be collectors is this: do not alter your collectible models in any way. I learned this lesson the hard way when, as a young and foolish kid, I occasionally made minor alterations to some of my model cars, thinking it was ‘cool’ to customize them. In the case of my 1955 Buick Century convertible, for instance, I decided it would look really ‘neat’ if I was to remove the vent windows. So out came the Exacto knife and off came the vent windows. That alteration will cost me dearly down the road, if I ever decide to sell my little Century convertible. (More likely, this action will cost my kids when they liquidate my collectibles, hopefully a LONG WAY down the road.) Searching the internet, the closest model to my ‘55 Buick was a 1955 Pontiac rag top. It was listed at $180.00 in very good condition. My Buick would probably be valued near this figure if unaltered. Because I removed the vent windows, in a moment of bad judgement, the value of my car is probably about sixty to seventy-five percent of what it would be worth had it not been altered. Another factor that can significantly affect a model’s value, is having the original box. Although holding on to boxes can sometimes be a storage problem, if at all possible, keep the box on hand in case you ever want to sell your model sometime down the road. Better yet, if you can resist the temptation to open the box and remove the model for display, your collectible model will command a premium if it has never been opened.
Okay so lots of folks, young and not so young, collect model cars, but what about getting a little more creative? The internet, with sites like Ebay and others, has opened up great new opportunities for collectors of whatever possessions ‘float your boat.’ I’ve started two new auto-related collections, one about a year ago and the other more recently, which have been a lot of fun and very satisfying. My first new collecting idea was LP record albums with cars (or trucks) on the cover. There were hundreds, if not thousands, produced over the years and they can be had for a relatively small price from sources such as Vintage Vinyl in University City, Missouri where you can also find LP sized metal frames with real glass inserts for about nine bucks. (I’ve found that I can peruse about 2500 album covers in the racks at V.V. in about an hour.) The internet has also been a source for my collection, but be sure to check prices both on the internet AND locally as well. One of my favorite album covers is one which I found in a coffee table book about LP records which someone gave me a few years back. One day, while flipping through the pages looking for LP covers with cars on them, I came across an early album by Blind Faith bearing a title of the same name. Knowing nothing about the album, I learned that this particular album cover was produced in the UK and was banned in the United States because of the risque nature of the album cover art. On the cover is an artist’s rendering of a young lady standing in an open field, holding a chrome hood ornament which looks like one from a mid fifties Chevrolet. The girl is shown from the waist up wearing nothing but... well, nothing but the hood ornament which she is holding in her hands. When I saw it, I just had to have it, so I began searching the internet. I quickly found a number of them, still wrapped in plastic and was thrilled to pay the $19.995 price, plus $5.00 shipping and handling that the Ebay seller was asking. The album arrived safely within just a couple of days and I was delighted to discover that it was in new condition, just as the seller described it. I promptly put it in a frame and displayed it proudly on the wall with my other car-related LP covers. A few weeks later when I decided to make a trip to the U-City loop for a browsing session at Vintage Vinyl, I decided, just for the heck of it, to see if they might have the same LP. There, in the rack, was about six of these albums, all new and plastic wrapped, just as mine was, priced at $16.99! What’s the moral of the story? Never assume, as folks often do, that if you find it on the internet, it has to be a bargain. Such is not always the case. Along the same lines, my new found hobby of collecting album covers was inspired, in part, by accidentally stumbling across the album-size specific picture frame one day while browsing at a local WalMart Supercenter. I didn’t know such an item existed and finding these frames was what led me to start collecting LPs with automobile illustrations on the cover. I paid $12.95 for my frame at Walmart and was all excited about starting my new collection. My excitement was short lived, however, as the supply at Walmart was soon depleted and as I drove from one store to another looking for more frames, I was soon disappointed to find that I was unable to find more. Next I went to the internet and found the same frames available from a number of suppliers but the prices hovered around the twenty-five dollar level, putting a serious damper on my new hobby. A few months went by and I was discouraged about my newly found collectible collection. Then one day, when I went to Vintage Vinyl to browse the racks for additional LPs, I found that they offered the same frames as Walmart, but for the bargain price of just $8.95! My excitement returned and I have been perusing my collection again with renewed vigor. So what have we learned? Bargains may be found where you least expect them. Don’t assume that because it’s on the internet... OR offered by Walmart that it’s a bargain. Sometimes you’ll find bargains where you least expect to just as I did at Vintage Vinyl where the supply is not likely to run out in the near future as they are still replacing stock when these frames sell out. Thanks Vintage Vinyl for helping collectors like me who are on a limited budget due to a tough economy!
My second collection is men’s neckties with cars on them. One of my favorites is the Beatles ‘Drive My Car’ tie shown above, which I picked up for around ten dollars including shipping and handling. Now here’s a case where the internet has proven invaluable. Not only are tie ‘stores’ few and far between these days, as fewer and fewer offices require wearing of neckties, but finding such specific styles as ties with cars on them, is practically impossible. You could drive around St. Louis for days and never find the variety of ties that I have picked up on Ebay in just a few weeks. I found every one of the sellers to be reputable and the product was honestly described and delivery was prompt in every case. One tie even came from the far east and arrived in a cool envelope with some really great looking stamps on it, arriving in less than a week from the time I clicked the ‘buy’ button. Most of the ties were brand new. Some were slightly used, but honestly described by the sellers and in all cases could not be told from new. Most were under ten dollars, and due to their small size and light weight, ‘shipping and handling’ was insignificant. If you search Ebay, look under ‘clothing and accessories’ then ‘men’s accessories’ and ‘neckties’. Enter ‘cars’ or ‘ties with cars’... then try ‘automobiles’ and ‘ties with automobiles.’ Normally about forty to fifty items will come up and, happily, I’ve found that although many styles are new and available on a regular basis, some of the styles change regularly with new ones popping up on subsequent visits to the E retailer.
So don’t feel down and blue just because the economy is. Go out and find your automotive fix on the internet or at your local pre-owned platter dealer.

The FIN MAN is available for your group’s special occasion and is currently booking dates for October-December, 2008 and all of 2009. During his appearances, he presents an overview of the collector car hobby plus a detailed look at American cars from the fifties and sixties. His program includes a fascinating Power Point presentation with images of collectible automobiles and various associated nostalgia and Americana. Guests also have the opportunity to play “FINS for FUN,” the video game he produced in 1987 which inspired his nickname, in which players compete to identify the year, make and model of cars from tightly cropped photos of fins and taillights. Those who score the highest win auto-related prizes donated by supporting Fin Man sponsors. For more information, click on this link: http://groups.msn.com/the-fin-man/seminaragenda.msnw.

Bruce Kunz is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, the St. Louis Chapter of the Buick Club of America and the Monte Carlo Owners Association of America. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. To e-mail him, click here > mailto:the_fin_man@msn.com.