Can’t Go Back to Memphis

As it is August 16, it would be appropriate for an Elvis post. I do remember the day he died. I was still a kid and not yet a fan but I knew that something important had transpired. I saw the funeral on TV in England. I was just starting to get interested in cars (especially) Cadillacs and music so naturally Elvis and I would be spending a lot of time together in the future.

A few years ago I attended the first ever Stutz (the seventies ones) meet in Memphis where we were allowed to drive our cars through the gates of Graceland and park right in front of the big house. Considering the last photo ever of Elvis is of him driving his Stutz Blackhawk through the music gates it was an amazing experience.

I have since sold my 76 Blackhawk and am restoring an even rarer 71 Blackhawk, just like Elvis first Stutz.

Check out my photos at Peter’s Madle’s (the dean of Stutz) great site, careful you could spend all day there, or develop an incurable desire to own one….it has happened before.

http://www.madle.org/

http://www.madle.org/epicadrian.htm

PS. Title of the post is a song on a rather forgotten Stray Cats album; see the photo from my last post for the title.

80’s Nostalgia

The Corvette is sidelined while I prepare to have the LH trailing arm assembly rebuilt. The 1972 Lincoln Mark IV has assumed the role of daily driver. So far the 38 year old socialite has performed very well indeed including a number of out of town business trips. Road and Track called the 72 Mark IV the best car to have parked in your driveway the year of its introduction.

Driving through the countryside on a cool early morning with all the windows open and the huge sunroof all the way back is a sublime automotive experience that makes me feel grateful for the chance to own such a beautiful car. Not a vehicle for arriving anywhere un-noticed.

The old AM/FM Philco died, well the FM stopped working. After a day with only AM I was ready to pull the radio. I had been using an FM modulator to play my iPod through the factory radio, no FM no good music.

I successfully installed an old twin post digital Alpine head unit I had picked up in the spring. Great sound which makes me think the original owner had new speakers installed.

The radio transplant was successfully accomplished over a Friday evening and Saturday morning. The radio came out much easier than the 76 Mark IV as it was smaller and required less under dash “stuff” to be moved out of the way.

I have been using a Panasonic tape adapter I stole from my spouses Chrysler Town & Country to play the iPod very quiet and good sound. However as I have to give it back I bought another adapter…crap…noisy little gears inside (Panasonic one seems to be a different design) and dreadful sound transfer. Needless to say I returned it and am looking for a better quality unit.

So with no iPod I dug out an old box of cassettes, this is the eighties nostalgia part of the post. See it does pay to never throw anything away. On my way to work I have been working my way through the tapes, mostly rockabilly so they are pretty timeless but it still brings back a lot of memories. Thought I had some tapes of my old radio show at university, “Solid Gold Cadillac” but they seem to be missing…perhaps that is a good thing.