This is a worthy cause, but unless things get rolling really quickly, I think we might be being too optomistic. Sorry, but I think that this has been discussed since at least January. Eleven months have gone buy, and still no car. Now we have roughly six months left, and we still have no car, and very little funds. Holidays are coming up, so people will be off doing family things for the next two months, and pending winter weather will just make things more complicated. Any car that we find, that is even remotely fixable, will probably take every penny that we have, leaving nothing for the restoration, which will cost many times the initial cost of the vehicle. I think everyones hearts are in the right places, but we're talking about doing a full restoration, with very little funds, organization, or manpower. Many people have offered to donate parts and time, but no one has considered the logistics of getting this done in a timely fashion. We're scattered all over the country, even the world, so no matter where the car winds up, success would wind up relying on the Herculean efforts of only a few. I'm not trying to be negative, but in my job, I have to tell people how it is, not what they want to hear. I think that unless we get some professional help and backing, or unless we can gather the funds to have a full restoration done, or to buy a ready vehicle, it's just not feasable in the established timeframe, with the available resources.
71challengher said that he is personal friends with the owners of Carlisle. Perhaps they can be approached as backers or sponsors. Since the presentation will be at their event, it could be quite a PR feather in their caps, as long as secrecy is maintained. They could, perhaps, capitalize on it as a mystery event dedicated to the troops in Iraq, or the family of Mopar owners, or something like that. In my opinion, if it were done correctly, it would generate enough extra revenue for them, to foot the entire bill. On the downside, I'm pretty sure that their advertising for the 2007 events is already cast in stone, and they may be unable or unwilling to alter it at this point. Also, they might not want to start a precedent, as every car club in the country would want them to do something for them next.
Once again, it's not my job to be negative, it's my job to offer realistic assessments so that others can make appropriate decisions. Personally, I'd love to see it happen, and I'll be happy to do whatever I can to see that it does.
