What a bummer. :confused: :confused: :confused:

 

Thank you for the many moments of entertainment I had reading your posts and viewing the pictures as your project unfolded. Unbelievable!

Good luck! :cheers:

 

Seriously. I'm sure there is a way to word it so that it is legal.

$100 per ticket seems cool...

 

am i the only one who dosnt feel the least bit bad for him? I mean...when you're complaining that you have to sell you're $250k car, i think life is treating you pretty well.

Hate to sound off like an a-hole...but here we go.

I remember reading his posts out of mild curiosity: "god, what's this yuppie up to now?". I hate to say it....but i knew right from the start that he didnt "fit" in a car such as this. It takes a real special breed of people to drive machines like that...not just someone who signs the checks for it. I know people who have cars that are much badder than that, and paid about 1/3 the price he did. Of course, they built the cars themselves and they drive them AND hold onto them.

My friend Johnny C. He's a 55 year old mechanic. Owns a 1965 chevelle, 516 cubic inch blown engine in it pushing about 1500 hp, all behind a th400. He built it all himself: trans, engine, rear end, everything. He's never taken it to the track, he just cruises around town in it. That's a guy who belongs in that car.

I always got a huge chuckle when i read merlin's posts. Anything was done to the car: "we" did it. "we" meaning that he paid someone to do it, he stood around and took pictures, shot the bull a little bit, and went home. The biggest laugh was in has last "update" where he was test driving it. He had some sort of problem with it and "WE" had to add power steering fluid to it. Did you pay him hourly to add the fluid, or was it a flat rate sort of thing?

The sad fact is: you can't buy that sort of mystic, you have to live it.

Thats one lesson i learned in the marines. There's a whole lot of people who can pretend to be tough, but you'll only be tough when you have to live tough every day of your life.

It's the same thing with cars. Some people own a nice car, but only a very few can actually USE it. And it's the people who live cars that can use them.

but hey, it's america man. Dosnt really matter what a peon like me thinks, you got the cash, use it however you want. I believe they call that the american dream...

 

Steve, Good luck with all that you set out to accomplish. In your own way,you really have given all of us a ride in the beast with all of the updates and the web postings. I wish you the best of luck with the sale and becoming Dr. Steve.

:cheers: :thumbs: :cheers: :thumbs: :cheers:

 

you sir, are an idiot. :yesnod: this is fact, not opinion. if you knew anything about Steve you would know he isnt a yuppie. he may be loaded, but a yuppie is a type of person who is loaded that is usually born into wealth and therefore dont like people below their class, or anything without a high pricetag. Steve worked for his wealth. maybe you should get your story straight before bashing someone. and about you 55yo buddie with 1500 hp cruiser: :bs

one more thing, im glad all marines aren't like you, or this country would be going down in one flush. but you are right about one thing. you are pretty tough behind that keyboard. :smash:

[Modified by '79ProwlerOrange, 11:30 PM 12/11/2002]


[Modified by '79ProwlerOrange, 11:31 PM 12/11/2002]

 

Dear peon, I mean Rusty. You've been riding my butt every moment of your short existence here on the forum. I mean, you’ve been here like 2 years & have only 51 posts so I really have to wonder whazzup with that, but I’ll say it real slow so you can understand. Are your really that jealous of a person? Do you really have so little going for you in life? I find it baffling that you would make so many judgments about me having never met & knowing a total of zero about me. Being called a yuppie is truly comical to me. It proves how little you know about me. I’m the furthest thing from yuppie-dom as it gets. Everyone seems to think that all I do is write checks. I have no intrinsic value whatsoever. There’s not a single original idea that came out of my head. Of course I say “we”, you moron – “we” built it! It’s a team effort. If you took your head out of you butt & put yourself in my shoes, you would understand. If I came to you & offered you a job making $160 an hour & then said you could work unlimited hours – do you really mean to tell me you would rather do the work yourself than pay someone $40 an hour? If that is so, then you know absolutely nothing about finance. Yes, I took a bath & spent a fortune, but I made 4 times what I could have by NOT building it myself. I also got the benefit of some of the best builders in the area. Folks like Art Morrison who would put your 55 year old to shame in terms of experience. I have said it time and time again. I have built many vehicles from ground up in my day – most of them motorcycles. I DO NOT have the talent to build something like this & make it safe. You imply that somehow I haven’t “lived” this experience. You don’t have a clue. You then go on to imply that I’m not tough. How in god’s name would you know that? I’ve lived through 2 battles with cancer. I lost my wife & son to a drunk driving accident in 1990. I work 18 days 7 days a week for years on end. How the hell would you know if I’m tough or not. Yes, it is America & you are entitled to your opinion. As it is a free country I have to respect that. Now I will give you my opinion. You are a bitter, jealous man who drops his pants & shows us his teenie weenie every time you speak. Step off. Stand back. Re-evaluate. Ask Avery or any of the people who know me. I’m one of the more friendly & giving people you will ever meet. I make mistakes like everyone else, but I learn from them. I know that I have grown because I now find that I can tolerate people like you & not want to go ballistic. I have grown. I feel I have accomplished something I can be proud of. What do you have to be proud of that you can share with us. All you seem to be able to do is put others down & that doesn’t require any skills at all.


To all of the normal people here. Yes, I am totally open to a lottery if the car does not sell. I would be proud to have Forum members get the chance to win it. If it is legal & there is enough interest, it’s a go. I will check with my attorneys & see what they say. Honestly, after all the amazing letters I have received – both from Forum members & non, I almost feel like it’s a crime to sell it. You guys have once again given me renewed vigor to tear out the interior & make it work. Let’s see what happens on ebay & we’ll take it from there.

 

Make that 18 "hours". Rusty had me all worked up there. Ben, thank you. I appreciate you sticking up for me & getting my back. I also like your ideas on the 800 Viper, but honestly I would just as soon leave it stock. I really love the C3 & that is what brought me here in the first place. Since I'm going back to school, I really want to concentrate on that, but if I don't recoup enough of my expenses on the car - I would rather just have it sit in the garage & then find a way to make the driver's seat more comfy at a later date. I really am selling it so that someone else can enjoy it. Rusty seems to think I'm not worthy of owning it. I'm not special enough. :rolleyes: Anyway, we'll see how this saga unfolds. The C3 Gods seem to have it ordained that I stick it out for good. If someone hands me a big sack of change for the car, I'm going to take it. If they don't, I keep it & find a way to make it work. After all, there are so many cars out there faster than this one so it should be a walk in the park, right? :lol:

 

no problem :cheers:
im pretty sure this guy is about 15. he goes by "Rusty" which is either a nickname or cruel punishment from his parents (could you ever take a Dr. seriously if they went by Rusty?) he is also set out to **** you off, and is very immature. does he know where the hell he is posting? this is corvette forum! how many people that own a corvette actually have the ability to work on it? and of those that do, how many would rather let someone else work on it? i would like to build my 572, but if it appeard in my vette one day, with a bill i could afford, i would doing backflips! im not sure why "Rusty" dosent think your good enough for your car. that makes him sound like the yuppie.

if your gonna tear out the interior and make it work, i would be all for it. i want nothing more than to see you driving it. actually thats not true. i want nothing more than to see ME driving it, but next on the list is you :lol: :jester

if you do a lottery, can i reserve 100 tickets? :D

 

I just want to say one more thing before I let it go. I have the UTMOST respect for those of you who build your cars yourself – at whatever level that may be. The most fun experience I had with this car was when I got to help Chris yank the blowers & change the water pump. I am a very intuitive, logical person. Give me a manual & I can figure ANYTHING out. I would love to hand Rusty some of the code I write at work & have him try to figure it out. Would you guys rather build a scaled application that can support 20,000 concurrent hits, web gardens, clusters etc or would you rather bring it someone like me that has done it before, knows the pitfalls & can build it faster? Sure – it’s fun to dink around & experiment, but when it comes time to being serious – you call in the pros. Some of you are those pros & my hat is off to you. I wish I had time to sit down & learn how to build a car like this, but I can tell you it isn’t going to happen the first time out. It comes from experience. I did not have the benefit of a father who taught me how to build cars. I did have the benefit of a father that pushed me to do well in school & think for myself. For that, I love him more that I can express. I hope everyone out there can learn to really appreciate what you have & go for it. I know I have had plenty of disagreements with folks on the forum, but it usually doesn’t end in a personal attack. I don’t respect this Rusty character because he attacks my principle. If he came to me & told me I was an idiot for spending $250K on a car & not making sure I fit in it, I would have to agree! When he calls me a worthless piece of yuppie scum, that’s just a bitter attack. Anyway, I hope to one day be 55, retired & sitting in my 25 car garage building a new 3,000HP car by hand every year. Nothing would give me greater pleasure! I’m not there yet, so I do the best I can with what I have.

 

i dont even like writing html :lol:

 

Hey Steve,

I don't know if his attention span will let him read and comprehend what you have written.

This may be more on his level......................



:lol: :lol: :lol:


If he STILL doesn't understand, feel free to use this..................



:lol: :lol: :lol:


[Modified by DaBo, 1:13 AM 12/12/2002]

 

I gotta say a word for Steve. I've never met the guy but he seems like a nice enough person. Rusty, your a rude bastard. Why would you even initiate such a personal attack is beyond me. Steve has never done anything to you. This country was put together by people who busted their butt to achieve something greater than mediocrity. It's called capitalism and Steve, and those like him, would never has made a penny more than what someone felt their work was worth. It's bad enough the damn communist liberals try to rob them of their wealth without those in the population suffering from class envy constantly trying to knock em down. Steve, you build all the ill-conceived, overpriced, and insane projects you want and feel proud that you've earned it. And, by god, if you want to drive everyone of them over a cliff, more power to ya. I only wish that I had the brainpower to achieve the way you have. Rusty, you should cheer Steve on as have the rest of us. He has done nothing wrong. If you don't teach your children any better it'll be Steve and those like him that will have to support your lazy good for nothing offspring. As for feeling sorry for him, It's all relative. As for me, I cried when I broke the bolt flang off of my pidally Holley 600. I must admit, Project Insane Asylum is a nice looking peice of work. I had my doubts early on but it turned out to be sweet. Just a short while ago it was nothing more than a dream. Now it's been brought to life. Steve should be commended for following his vision, damn the critics. Roosevelt, i believe it was, had something to say about critics. It'll take me five years to make what Steve spent on his project. I don't grudge him that, Rusty, neither should you. Good luck Steve, I hope everything works out for you.

 

Steve - Hypothetically, if you get sick of looking at it in the garage at your home, would it be an unreasonable thought to keep it in the NCM and possibly make note somewhere it's for sale? I'd immagine you'd find lots of interest and the target market is deffinately there. Just a thought.

Hope to talk to you soon,
Steve

 

Ben - Neither do I :cheers:

David - That Yoda rocks!! I hope you don't mind, but I copied it to my funny pics folder. Seeing Yoda whoop azz in the most recent Star Wars was one of the funniest damn things I have EVER seen!

BubbaJJ - Thank you very much. You are good people. People are allowed to disagree with me. People may hate me. Whatever - we all have our opinions but I'm not just going to stand here & let someone fire pot shots at me. I wonder if Rusty was standing in front of me if he would be so bold. Ok, he's a marine - maybe. Most of the people I have met who are real bad-ashes are the most mellow, laid back folks you would ever meet. My Jeet Kune Do sifu trained under some Bruce Lee disciples here in Seattle. If I passed him on the street I wouldn't have the first clue. I outweigh him by 150 pounds, but he would drop me in seconds. Being "tough" is very relative. I feel pretty tough when I take my Desert Eagle 50 to the range & start firing it. That doesn't make me tough. I never even claimed to be tough. Good grief. Anyway, your words were really well spoken & appreciate it.

Steve - I'm not really sure what the NCM is, but if it's something you would like to do, I'm happy to do so. Sorry I didn't get to your IM. The eBay posting is pushing over a terabyte of data through my systems ever few hours. The IM tried to pop up & died. All I saw was your name. I am having my ISP bump the pipe up to 3 megs upstream tomorrow. If they take that down I will be amazed!! In the first 2 days of posting, the car has already had 10,300 hits to eBay. That floors me. We're going to set some kind of record for sure!!

 

Yes, you are! :lol:

Steve has brought new technologies, friendliness, helpfulness, and very interesting topics to the forum. What have you brought?

There is more to building a car like this than writing the checks. Have you given any thought to the commitment it takes to make that cash? Have you made that kind of commitment? I doubt it. If I can do something that I'm really good at, get paid for it, then use that cash to pay another expert to build what he's good at, that's a bad thing? You would do it too, but you would need a doctorate like Steve :lol:

-Joe

 

Steve , I hope you have considered the "out of towners" for the lottery idea.
There wouldn't be a C3 fan in the world that couldn't afford a reasonably priced ticket in Merlin.
This could become the first international auction instigated by CF.
Mark me down for a ticket , it would be the automotive equivalent of Aussies winning the America's Cup in 83 ( A high roller boat race for those not familiar )

Best of luck , sorry Merlin hasn't worked out for whatever reason, still an awesome project done.

:cheers:

 

I'm a seldom contributor but constant reader of CF and have followed your project with great respect and admiration for the dedication you have shown. I hope with all my heart that you can find a way to keep and enjoy Merlin as it is a part of who you are.
If ultimately must go to a "raffle" type sale, count me in. I would be proud to say I even met the guy that produced such an unusual pieco of living art.

 

Well here's my 2 cents, may not count for much, but...

Quote:

It doesn't take long to realize that one doesn't fit in a car. It takes even less time to really hurt yourself in this thing. Me not fitting & not being able to operate the car is downright dangerous

This I don't understand, you cannot tell me with all the times you have sat in the car that this situation didn't present itself.

Quote:

I'm heading back to school to become Dr. Steve & that is what I want to concentrate on at this point.

My hats off to ya :cheers:

Quote:

I think as a first effort this one was certainly impressive, just a little misguided in terms of it's practicality.

I think this one statement says it all, I followed it just like everyone else, and I always didn't agree with your view of things (ie: pro street cars). You lost the practicality of the project when it started gaining all the attention, you got caught up in "Merlin", the more outrageous it become the more it got, that's just my opinion... And it wasn't like some members attempted to bring you back to earth during the project.

Now you have a $250,000 car up for sale, for as much thought that went into the exhaust, wheels, tires, a 250 mph speedo, etc. Something so obvious as leg/headroom causes you to sell the car.

Before I wrote this I didn't feel sorry for ya Steve, but after writing this I guess I have to admit I do. Good Luck on selling the car.

 

From what i gather he ignored his inability to comfortably drive it, because of his love for the C3. i also think he believed that he thought the custom seats would do more than they did. i also questioned this, but i then thought, i would love the C3 if i was 4'5 and 75lbs... which is the other end of the spectrum. :cheers: