Ready for pickup
Al,
By the time you'd posted this morning, I'd already been at RCR for two hours (!) and your car, which I looked for as soon as I walked through the door, is simply gorgeous. A wee bit of unsolicited advice: be careful how you look at your new baby when your wife is in the same room.
When you and I talked over the phone last week, you described the bodywork as being the finest you'd ever seen right out of a mold. Well, after having seen it for myself, no one, and I do mean NO ONE, could possibly arrive at a different conclusion. Of course, anyone reading this post who hadn't visited Fran at his shop would justifiably be wary as to the description (when you told me about the quality, Al, I have to confess that I found it more than just a little hard to believe).
Trust me, folks, this bodywork is stellar. Smooth as a baby's behind... no, more like Crown Royal on the rocks (actually, it's more like CR Special Reserve, but if I said that you'd think I was laying it on a bit thick. So I won't). AND it comes in different colors!
The bits to your car all all there. Fran gave me a guided tour of your car (and others including a certain Lola T70), pointing out some of the individual components while discussing the thought which had gone into the development of the chassis beforehand (chassis pics elsewhere on the forum are good, but they really don't do justice). He's one bright individual; the engineers I work with could learn a thing or twelve from him!
Any posting of pics will have to wait until next week; I'm here through Friday nite and then a non-stop home to Seattle followed by two days of working turns for vintage racers at Pacific Raceways. Monday, maybe. At the earliest.
Of the many victims of the sad RF saga, Fran told me that there have been only a handful who've not let what happened earlier this year get in the way of fulfilling the dream. You're among that group and, having seen both RF and RCR replicas, you ended up with a remarkable piece of gear.
After having seen Frans work, I'm confess to being envious of you, Ron, Bill, Sandy and many others who've made an RCR their GT of choice. One day I hope to add my name to that same list.