Giveaway car project... remember?

-
Bill Dedman

Bill Dedman

bill dedman
Legendary Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
3,987
Reaction score
140
Location
Conway, Arkansas
I am so OLD that my mind plays tricks on me, and I'm never quite sure if things I remember are true..... sad, but that's old age for you. :angry7:

I seem to remember some kind of giveaway project car from around 2 years ago wherein a lot of FABO members donated parts and some money to get a project car built so it could be given away; can't remember any of the particulars.... I think it was a Dart...
But, the guy doing the building was having a tough time finishing the car because of a lack of parts and money....

This went on for a while, and about that time, I went into the hospital for an extended stay (3 months) and that car never entered my mind again...
Was that project ever finished, and was the car in fact, donated to someone?

I am not dreaming this, am I????
 
I guess I should step up on this one since I was the person who initially invited Joe Wallace over here from 1320x.com. He wasn't getting much support from those racer guys -- not many Mopar owners on 1320x -- so I suggested he post his build info here on FABO.

He DID get quite a bit of support from our membership, and Billy and I knocked ourselves out for several months making literally hundreds of phone calls trying to drum up interest and get manufacturers to donate items for the Scamp build. We were somewhat successful too (take a look at the list of donations on the thread Inkjunkie posted).

The car was supposed to be built and auctioned off to benefit the Shriner's Children's Hospital in Massachusetts last August when they were having extreme financial difficulty and trying to keep their hospital open. The donated '73 Scamp turned out to be far worse than anticipated, and one of our members (I think Jason Renda) even donated a nice Dart body so all the parts for the Scamp could be converted over to it.

Although we couldn't afford it, we also bought and built up a big block 400 to donate to the cause since Joe encountered several problems with the guy who was supposedly building the engine.

The sad part is that August 16, the reveal date in conjunction with some car show that weekend in Massachusetts, came and went and the car was not ready. The last time I spoke with Joe (in late August), he told me he was going to have the car finished and debut it at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

All of the parts I was supposed to powder coat for the build never showed up.

I haven't heard a word from him since, and the whole experience has left a very bitter taste.

I really realllllly hate to use the word "scam," but I'm afraid that's what the whole thing turned out to be even though Joe's intentions seemed to be of the highest integrity. Mostly out of embarrassment, I haven't followed up with any of the manufacturers I recruited to see if the parts they donated were returned (I suspect not), but I've regretted exposing FABO to the guy ever since.

I don't know what else to say except I'm very sorry. I think we all got burned on this deal, and the Shriner's kids are unfortunately the ones who will suffer the most.

In almost five years of FABO membership, clicking on "Post Quick Reply" right now is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I hope to God I'm wrong in my assessment of the situation, but have a really sick feeling I'm not. I hope ya'll understand and don't hold it against me personally.
 
its not you cuda its the assholes who take advantage of good people like you. you trusted him and he burned us all. dont worry he may get away with it right now but wait til the big man upstairs gets ahold of him
 
If it was a dastardly deed, It can NOT go unpunished. There has to be some law somewhere that needs to be upheld. If anything else, we could just hold them down and kick em in the jewels.
 
Some of the biggest failures come from good intentions.

Unfortunately big hearted people like cudachick are usually the one's to get stepped on by the "takers" in this life.

I hate "takers", and do not like when people are taken advantage of.

I wish they would just spit in your face in the beginning and get it over with quickly instead of sticking the knife in and twisting it slowly.
 
Reading through the original thread it appears that Joe has both communication and health issues. I don't think it's time to jump on the "scammer" wagon just yet without further information. He could have dropped dead for all we know. In any case I don't think nyone on this site will blame you Leanna. If they do, they're just ignorant of the facts.
 
wow this guy sounds like a douche!i didnt read the thread about him, but in general i cant stand when people lie they are going to do something good for society...atleast if he was gonna scam use a different intention...the guy gets everyone riled up to do something good and then takes it and runs...bastards!

leanna its not your fault at all in my opinion...but who knows for sure what happened?
 
Leanna, it's not your fault.
It's the greedy s.o.b. that lied to everyone. If he was having health issues, he should have informed everyone and passed the car along so it would get finished.
In fact, cudos to you for updating the story for us. It took a lot of guts fo you to step up to the plate like that! :cheers:
Bill, i hope you are better now. I really like your 4 door Valiant!
 
Nobody here is going to hold anything against you..some might want to but that's a different story.lol..there was one post supposedly by Joe's wife apologizing for the project not being done due to health issues on Joe's part but that's the last I heard of it. He may be embarrassed as well and doesn't know how to handle the situation. One man to take on such a challenge was a long shot in the first place, maybe someday we'll find out the true story.
 
Leanna, if you were a guy, we'd all be saying, "He's a stand-up guy" for your post that explains, to the best of your ability, what happened in this ill-starred venture.

Thanks loads for writing that; I know it had to be very difficult for you.

Nobody with any common sense at all, could blame YOU for how this ended up. You did your best, of that I am sure.

Live and learn.... that's all we can do, in a case like this. Too bad.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dartnut, thanks for the kind words. Yes, I'm better and the Valiant is, too. It should pick up about .3 the next time out (new, wider, 9" slicks and a 4.10 gear to replace the winpy 3.55 I had in it the last time I ran it.)

Talk's cheap.... we'll see!!!:cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top