[DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, need your help

Wed Jun 3 14:12:08 EDT 2009

Black Diamond and Buckley are both very small.  I'd go looking for my car myself...as well as filing with the police.

Michael

> From: charlesmccall at gmail.com
> To: michael at michaelshortt.com; chrisvkimball at msn.com
> Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 20:05:00 +0200
> CC: detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, need your help
> 
> Chris - I'd file a police report now. 
> 
> You've given him a fair chance to answer. 
> 
> I think everything will work out fine, but in case something really is
> afoot, the sooner it is reported, the more likely a happy outcome. 
> 
> Charles McCall
> 1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
> "Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe"
> http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323
> -----Mensaje original-----
> De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
> nombre de michael at michaelshortt.com
> Enviado el: miércoles, 03 de junio de 2009 19:59
> Para: Christopher Kimball
> CC: Pantera List Serve
> Asunto: Re: [DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, need your help
> 
> Chris,
> 
> Man, what a sad story, wish I could offer more help other than to suggest
> that you contact every car club in a 300 mile radius and put the word out,
> same for exotic car dealers and collectors.
> 
> I'm sure it will turn up somewhere,
> 
> Meanwhile to everyone else and me included, this makes a product like LoJack
> suddenly look more affordable, perhaps I'll be pricing a system as well.
> 
> Michael in Savannah
> 
> On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 1:47 PM, Christopher Kimball
> <chrisvkimball at msn.com>wrote:
> 
> >
> > I recently had a new engine built for my Pantera (dark green, #3846). It
> > leaked oil, so the engine builder said he'd have his mechanic take care of
> > it. I left the car with the engine builder, the mechanic apparently
> picked
> > it up from there, and I haven't seen the car since. It's been three
> weeks.
> >
> >
> >
> > If you see anything on Ebay or Craig's list that looks suspicious
> > (including a great deal on a '72 Pantera with a new engine), please let me
> > know.
> >
> >
> >
> > Also, if you know the location of the mechanic, Randy Norwood (possibly in
> > the Buckley area of Washington State), please let me know immediately.
> >
> >
> >
> > At this point, it looks as if I won't be driving my Pantera to Reno, which
> > is heartbreaking since my youngest son and I have been working on the car
> > all year, preparing for this trip.
> >
> >
> >
> > If you want the full details of this sordid story, feel free to read the
> > information below. It is a summary of what I sent my insurance company,
> > plus an update of events that have happened over the last few days.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> >
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: chrisvkimball at msn.com
> > To: auto at hagerty.com
> > Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 19:47:35 -0700
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear Hagerty,
> >
> > I recently increased the agreed value on my Pantera. The main reasons for
> > this were the frame repairs and reinforcements ($4000) and the new engine
> > ($9300) I just had completed on the car.
> >
> > After driving only 200 miles on the new engine, I noticed an oil leak. It
> > appeared to be a rear, main seal problem which is really a pain.
> Especially
> > since it took six guys all afternoon to install the new engine, and to
> > repair the rear seal would probably require another engine pull and
> > reinstallation.
> >
> > Fortunately, the engine builder stood behind his work and told me he would
> > take care of the repair, including the engine removal and reinstallation,
> if
> > necessary.
> >
> > The engine builder (Dale Green of DG Machine, in Auburn, WA) doesn't have
> > facilities at his engine shop to work on cars, so he told me he had
> mechanic
> > he's known for 30 years (Randy Norwood I think is his name), and he would
> > pay the mechanic to do the repairs. He said the mechanics shop was only a
> > block or two from his own.
> >
> > I dropped the car off at Dale's shop on Wednesday Morning, May 13th. He
> > was going to have Randy look at it and take it back to his mechanics shop,
> > ostensibly nearby. I told Dale, and he told the mechanic, I needed the
> car
> > ready for the monthly Panteras Northwest club meeting on the 21st. The
> > mechanic said he'd try to have it done by then.
> >
> > I spoke to Randy the mechanic once last week on the phone (5/12), and told
> > him to please be very careful with the paint, as I had just detailed the
> > entire car in preparation for the Pantera meeting and the POCA Fun Rally
> > (after all, showing off our Panteras is one of the main objectives of our
> > club gatherings!) He assured me he'd be careful and have it repaired as
> > soon as possible, and would keep me apprised of the progress.
> >
> > I heard nothing for several days, and tried to call the mechanic Thursday
> > and Friday of that week, but he never answered his phone (I believe it is
> a
> > cell phone) and the message informed me there was no room left for leaving
> > messages!
> >
> > I tried again to reach Randy on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last
> week
> > with the same result. Dale, the engine builder, was out of town until
> today
> > (5/26), so after another fruitless attempt at reaching Randy this morning,
> I
> > called Dale and told him of the situation. I said he should walk over to
> > Randy's shop and talk to him in person.
> >
> > At this point, Dale told me Randy had moved his shop to another location,
> > Buckley or Black Diamond (Washington) and was no longer located close to
> > Dale's shop. Black Diamond and Buckly are about 45 minutes away. I asked
> > Dale for the name of the shop, and he said he didn't know. I asked if he
> > would be kind enough to get in touch wih Randy to find out what was going
> on
> > with my car. Dale said he only had the same number I did, but he would
> > certainly try to contact Randy.
> >
> > Dale assured me he's known Randy for 30 years and all would work out fine.
> >
> > Well, all I know is the annual Pantera Fun Rally is taking place June 9-16
> > in Reno, and I was planning on driving to the event with 8 other Panteras
> > from the Northwest. After putting so much time and effort into the
> Pantera
> > in preparation only to miss the trip would be a huge disappointment for
> me.
> > What's worse, however, is that I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE MY PANTERA IS!!!
> >
> > I'm optimistic this will all work out, but I want to alert you to what's
> > going on for two reasons:
> >
> > 1) because as the insurer you have a vested interest in what happens to my
> > Pantera, and
> >
> > 2) I'm wondering if you can suggest an apapropriate course of action I
> > should take.
> >
> > Dale, the engine builder, and I have a good rapport and have always gotten
> > along well. I want to do everything possible to avoid souring the
> > relationship, but at this point, I must confess, I'm becoming concerned.
> >
> > Dale (the engine builder) said before he left for the weekend last week
> > (Tuesday) he reached what appeared to be Randy's (the mechanic)
> girlfriend.
> > Dale told her to have Randy call him asap.
> >
> > When Dale got back yesterday, he had no message from Randy.
> >
> > Meanwhile, I'd been trying to reach Randy several times per day with no
> > luck and continued to get the same stupid "voice mailbox is full" message
> > every time.
> >
> >
> >
> > UPDATE FROM THIS WEEKEND:
> >
> > Sunday morning Randy's voice mailbox was no longer full and I was able to
> > leave a voice mail, which I did, imploring Randy to call me back.
> >
> > I left another message Sunday night, and another this morning (6/1). Dale
> > also left a message yesterday, telling Randy I was talking with my
> insurance
> > company about filing a lost vehicle report. Dale and I both thought if
> > Randy heard that he'd respond for sure.
> >
> > Still nothing, so this morning I told Hagerty (the insurance company) to
> > get to work on finding my car. They are now going to start trying to
> track
> > down this mechanic guy.
> >
> >
> >
> > Today I again spoke to Dale (the engine builder) and he is very
> frustrated,
> > too, and has a friend looking for Randy's new location. I told him I'm
> > filing a police report on Monday, the day before I leave for Reno.
> >
> > At this point, I am pretty much (sadly) resigned to the fact I'll be
> > driving the Magnum to Reno. After a year of preparation, to be denied the
> > experience of a lifetime for my younger son and me because of some
> > mechanic's incompetence, is very difficult to swallow.
> >
> > The way I figure it, there are several possibilities for what's going on.
> >
> > 1) The mechanic is completely lackadaisical and hardly ever checks his
> > voice mail
> >
> > 2) The mechanic has screwed up the car so badly he doesn't want to face
> the
> > engine builder or me until he figures out how to fix what he's ruined
> (which
> > may be impossible if he doesn't have a clue about working on Panteras)
> >
> > 3) The mechanic is a charlatan who is selling my car piece by piece on
> > Craig's list
> >
> >
> >
> > 4) (and I hope this isn't the case) Randy has been injured or is sick and
> > in the hospital
> >
> > I think it's probably a combination of #1 and #2. I'll be very interested
> > to find out the real story when all of this is over.
> >
> > I would appreciate any help you could offer me. Thank you.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> >
> >
> > Christopher Kimball
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
> 
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