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Something Wonderful: FabRats Takes a Roadtrip [UPDATED WITH PART 2 OF 3]


Yeah, it’s 20 minutes. And yeah, it’s an on-the-road trip so there are a lot — a lot — of mileage reports from the hardcore outer regions and rest stops of the Utah/Nevada/Oregon desert highway system. Just relax and roll with it to an unexpected destination and an even more surprising end.

A nice slice of ordinary life, somewhere out on the vast last sea of the American interior, Winter 2022.

UPDATE WITH WHAT WAS BEHIND DOOR #2

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  • Mike Austin February 5, 2022, 3:40 AM

    Real people. Real lives. Real places. America at her best.

  • ghostsniper February 5, 2022, 4:57 AM

    I’m getting ready to buy ($2k) a used trailer like that, dual axle, for a travel trailer I am designing and will build.

    • Rob Muir February 7, 2022, 5:28 PM

      Ghost, I just bought a 16’ two-axle, 2003 trailer here in AZ for $1000 and my friend said that up in UT he sees them for $900 or so. If you are paying $2k, I suppose that it’s close to new, a bit larger, or in incredible shape. Just sayin’

  • mmack February 5, 2022, 5:21 AM

    Ah, the “Project Car 🚗 “, aka “No I don’t wanna sell it. I’ll finish her ‘someday’”.

    If children bring home puppies and women bring home “rescue” cats, a subset of men bring home basket cases of cars and vow to modify them and bring them back to life.

    Some Dr. Frankensteins get further than others.

    I sped forward to see the find, car guy that I am. I’ll give the former owner/restorer credit, he got it further than most.

    When I were young, outta college, and with a little spending cash 💰 (not married, not dating, no mortgage) I thought of restoring a MOPAR Muscle Car from the 1960s or 1970s. Most cars I could afford were infinitely WORSE than the subject rod, and those that were better running and looking were out of my budget. Learned a lot of hard lessons, one of which is if you want a Cool Old Car, bring money, lots and lots of money.

    Didn’t watch the whole video, so I’ll watch later to see if it gets finished and sold.

  • BillH February 5, 2022, 6:44 AM

    I restored a ’67 Mustang GTA three or four times – four of my six kids drove it to high school in the ’70s. In the late ’90s, well after the kids had all left home, I blew the dust off the Mustang, had it profesionally restored, and shipped it to Las Vegas for my 16 year-old grandson to treasure. Shortly thereafter he totaled it and they junked it out.

    • JustMe February 5, 2022, 7:09 AM

      Let’s see, 67 Mustang GTA, check. 16 year-old grandson, check. He totaled it, check.

  • jwm February 5, 2022, 7:36 AM

    I know two guys who have actually completed project cars. One is my neighbor, who is now working on a 50’s vintage Chevy pickup. The other is a bicycle wizard out in El Segundo, the only guy I’ll let mess with my antique Schwinns.
    I’ve a known a lot of guys who got halfway through projects, and then, well, one of these days…

    JWM

    • Mike Austin February 5, 2022, 7:55 AM

      I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that phrase from men, “Well, one of these days!” Sadly, for most men those days never arrive. Excuses and reasons after excuses and reasons…until the arrival of the Grim Reaper. My advice to all men—especially older men—Carpe diem. You can have money, homes, cars, friends, status and all that. What you do not have is time. Words no man should say on the day of his death: “Would have…could have…should have”. Meet your end with no regrets.

      I knew a man once who spent much of his life explaining in great detail why he simply could not do something. His favorite phrase was, “I can’t.” Well, he didn’t. He met his end with bitterness and anger and envy—the same way he had spent most of his life.

      • Walt Gottesman February 5, 2022, 8:41 PM

        You’re right Mike.
        Reminds me of this epitaph poem by Edgar Lee Masters:

        George Gray

        I have studied many times
        The marble which was chiseled for me—
        A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
        In truth it pictures not my destination
        But my life.
        For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
        Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
        Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
        Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
        And now I know that we must lift the sail
        And catch the winds of destiny
        Wherever they drive the boat.
        To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
        But life without meaning is the torture
        Of restlessness and vague desire—
        It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

        I’ll be 77 next month and first read that poem more than 60 years ago in high school. At the time it gave me shivers up and down my spine. Took it as a warning. Still don’t have the “money, homes, cars,…status…” Never did. Am grateful to God though, that I didn’t become a “George Gray.” Have more that I want to accomplish but am encouraged by the old saying that “it’s never too late to become the person you were meant to be,” however brief a time there is for that. I also take inspiration from the example of James O’Keefe of Project Veritas and his recommendation to “Be brave. Do something.” Good motto. Even for us old-timers.

        • Mike Austin February 6, 2022, 1:30 AM

          That poem reminded me of sorrow, but not my own. Of the sorrow of so many I have known whose lives could boast of the most magnificent ships. But those ships never left the harbor. “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships were made for.”

          I sit here in a reasonably comfortable chair at 68. There are no children or grandchildren; no wife; no house; not even a car. There are no signs of the usual things a man my age is required to have. Yet the contentment I possess can scarcely be contained. My ship is old and battered, but still seaworthy. She beckons me for at least one more sail. Her one request is that when she goes down, that I go with her. Fair enough.

          “Be brave. Do something.” Fine words, and enough for any man.

  • Callmelennie February 5, 2022, 7:45 AM

    Having lived most of my life in a state filled with nothingness (AZ) I can vouch for the idea that there is no nothingness like Nevada nothingness. It is Gobiesque in its scope. It is a nothingness to rival the Gobi Desert’s nothingness

    Its why Nevada was chosen for nuclear testing .. because there’s nothing there that can be killed. Its why aliens landed in Area 51 .. because they knew that annoying humans wouldn’t spot them

    • Paddy February 5, 2022, 2:04 PM

      Highway 50 through Ely, NV is called “The Loneliest Road in America” for a darned good reason.

      • OneGuy February 5, 2022, 4:49 PM

        Some 50 years ago hwy 50 was indeed the loneliest road in the world but today it has quite a bit of traffic, I can remember driving from Las Vegas to Reno at night and not seeing any other cars. Today half the traffic on that route are 18 wheelers, a lot of them.

        • Jahaziel Maqqebet February 6, 2022, 7:54 PM

          UNR grad here to second and testify for Nevada. We could go on forever.
          a) Lamoille Canyon – go in winter, the ice and snow make the roads almost better.
          b) Elko and the Cowboy Poetry Convention.
          c) Gardnerville, last gasp until Yosemite and Tioga Pass.

        • Rob Muir February 7, 2022, 5:40 PM

          I’ve spent years driving all across the west from Montana up North down to the Mexican border. I agree that Nevada and Wyoming have some desolate roads, all states have some out here. I’ve devised a test for when driving those lonely stretches of road:
          – You duck out of work at about 8 because your boss made you work late.
          – You jump in the car with about 6 or 7 hours of driving ahead of you.
          – You put on Sammy Hagar and some Red Rider and jam out while knocking back some Jolt.
          – After midnight, the test begins when you start your Old Testament audio book at chapter 1 of Leviticus.
          – The test ends when you get to the end of Numbers, you reach your destination, or you fall asleep and die.

          Just a fun time.

    • jwm February 6, 2022, 8:51 PM

      Nevada does, indeed, have lots of nothing. But for remote, you can’t beat Wyoming. I was coming back from Sturgis in ’93. Pulled up in the tiny town of Newcastle, and learned that Highway 85 to Cheyenne was washed out. That meant a detour trip down Hwy 450 west to Hwy 59 south through the Thunder Basin grasslands, passing through the “towns” of Bill, and finally Douglas, where I could pick up Interstate 25 into Cheyenne. You know what else Wyoming has? Darkness. Night on I 25 is nothing like night on the LA freeways.
      Look it up. Find the town of Bill, Wyoming. I’ve been there.

      JWM

  • SoylentGreen February 5, 2022, 8:16 AM

    Aaaghhh! You killed me Gerard! I wanted so badly to see that next car in which she learned to drive.

    • James ONeil February 5, 2022, 9:44 AM

      Yep. I checked the fab rat’s channel to see if they’re posted it yet. Oh well….

    • Vanderleun February 5, 2022, 10:43 AM

      It’ll be there. Probably early next week.

  • sparkee February 5, 2022, 9:04 AM

    Nice truck (love the sound of the engine), but like SG, I really want to see the car!

  • Kerry February 5, 2022, 9:22 AM

    Had to pause the video to comment on the older gentlemen describing his big gulp cup as being “seasoned.” I’m dying! Maybe I’m too easily amused, but…holy cow!

  • James ONeil February 5, 2022, 9:52 AM

    The handicapped tag hanging off the rear view mirror surprised me.
    The Sports warehouse checkout clerk wearing her, as required by management, mask below her nose delighted me.

  • Terry February 5, 2022, 12:18 PM

    Damn cool. I have had a fair share of hot rods since 1958 or so. I have always done all the work on them myself.

    Current project is a 1940 Ford Deluxe Tudor, in original condition. Runs and is drivable. Tires are about 50 years old and shot. Needs paint and interior re-do. Original flathead V-8 engine. Car has never been restored. I started this project about 1990 or so. I work on it for a few days, stop and rest for a few years and repeat.

    I did a 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe in high school. I installed a 1949 Oldsmobile 88 “Rocket” engine in that car. Lowered, raked and nice original black paint. Reversed rim 15″ wheels, painted red with “Baby Moon” hub caps. Serious girl magnet car. Guys envied me.

  • ghostsniper February 5, 2022, 1:26 PM

    I bet “the car” is an early Mustang.

    • gwbnyc February 6, 2022, 1:07 AM

      -the early GT. in green.
      please please please

      • ghostsniper February 6, 2022, 4:34 AM

        You’re hurtin me man. The 66 I had in 72 was dark metallic green.

        • gwbnyc February 6, 2022, 7:20 PM

          great year, they were still sleek.

  • Anonymous February 5, 2022, 4:22 PM

    Gerard, you may enjoy the HAMB
    Its a forum about traditional hotrods
    https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/