Auto Biography
Page 36
116 A quick CV of the car’s new owner: Ricketts and Sandy Wood interviews.
117 Church camp each summer: Rothgery interview.
117 New best friend: Vest interview and numerous email exchanges in the weeks after.
117 In 1967, Mary’s father died: Wood, Vest, Rothgery, and Clair interviews.
117 In the spring of 1969: Wood, Vest, and Clair interviews.
118 That summer, Wic Clements: Clair interview.
118 Mary shared the impending birth: Rothgery interview. The letter, which Rothgery shared with me, was dated Friday, November 7, 1969. The bit about the baby’s name is from the Vest interview.
118 As planned, she put Britton: Clair interview; Facebook exchange with Martha Clements, January 13, 2013.
118 Fast-forward to an evening: Billy Ricketts shared his recollection of seeing Mary for the first time in a May 10, 2012, email.
119 The band played: Mary Ricketts interview; Billy Ricketts emails; telephone interview with Barry Scott, June 8, 2012.
119 Impressions of the maturing Mary: Wood, Vest, Clair, Hill, and Ziegfeld interviews.
119 She answered an ad: Notes from May 2012 telephone interview with Sandy Tickle, owner of the boutique; May 8, 2012, interview with Norman Goodwin, who operated a fine-fashion place next door. The photo is in the collection of Sandy Wood.
119 Next door to the boutique: Mary Ricketts and Wood interviews; Billy Ricketts emails.
119 Still working at the Sunflower: Wood and Ziegfeld interviews.
120 The first time Mary Ricketts’s friend: Ziegfeld, Hill, and Rowe interviews.
120 And who could be impetuous: Billy Ricketts emails; Ziegfeld and Hill interviews.
121 Ricketts rented a converted garage: Ziegfeld and McKinley interviews.
121 Ricketts adored it: Mary Ricketts, Ziegfeld, and Hill interviews.
122 Ricketts imagined the Chevy: Ziegfeld interview.
122 Decay wasn’t the only force: Mary Ricketts interview.
122 Then, round about 1992: Ibid.
123 Worse, her long relationship: Hill and McKinley interviews.
124 Unfortunately, there wasn’t much: Mary Ricketts and Wood interviews.
124 One day in April 1994: Mary Ricketts interview; 2004 telephone interview with Joe Scalco.
124 Ricketts went over for a look: Mary Ricketts and Scalco interviews; 2004 interviews with Alan Wilson and Al Seely.
125 Tommy Arney was doing well: Arney interview of March 31, 2010.
125 He was surrounded by more: Ibid., and Klemstine interview.
125 The money rolled in: Arney’s discovery of the lump, along with his subsequent doctor visits, operation, and the 7-Eleven incident, are drawn from the Arney interview of March 31, 2010.
128 The biopsy came back: The passage on Arney’s chemo treatment is ibid.
129 It was down on that tile: Arney interview of May 12, 2011.
130 The answer, as demonstrated: Arney described the pool table fracas in a March 6, 2013, interview; I also found references to the charges he faced after the fight in a May 2, 2005, Norfolk police record check, prepared as part of Arney’s application for his record expungement. Skinhead described the flip-flop episode in our September 29, 2011, interview.
130 Meanwhile, Arney came to feel: Arney interview of March 31, 2010.
130 In court on September 14: Arney related this story in a March 6, 2013, telephone interview.
131 One Saturday morning Arney telephones: I witnessed this scene on March 12, 2011.
136 And another development: Arney described his radiation treatment in our March 31, 2010, interview.
137 Sure enough, the cancer was gone: Arney interview of April 27, 2010.
137 He took time to reflect: Arney’s self-diagnosis is from our interview of April 27, 2010.
137 The evolution was bumpy: Klemstine and Hammond interviews.
138 More such evidence: Hammond interviews of May 11 and 31, 2012; Arney interview of May 31, 2012.
139 Four months past that Christmas: Interviews with Al Seely on November 4, 2004, and Alan Wilson on November 5, 2004.
140 That Wilson and Seely were so charmed: BusinessWeek’s forecast is from “What to Do Until Turbine Comes,” in its October 22, 1955, issue. Also worthwhile is “What Car Designers Are Planning,” in the magazine’s January 21, 1956, edition.
140 GM executive John DeLorean: J. Patrick Wright, On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors (Grosse Point, MI: Wright Enterprises, 1979).
143 Change was coming: For more on the Toyopet’s anemic beginnings in America, see Jerry Garrett, “Fifty, Finned and Fabulous,” New York Times, May 20, 2007; and Paul Ingrassia and Joseph B. White, Comeback: The Fall and Rise of the American Automobile Industry (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995).
144 A few years before: Paul Ingrassia, Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005). See also John F. Katz, “1957 VW Beetle Cabriolet: Twice a Savior,” Autoweek, September 30, 1996.
144 But the fattening American auto: Ingrassia, Engines of Change. See also “A Place for Small Foreign Cars,” BusinessWeek, January 26, 1957.
145 In most respects, the new owners: Wilson and Seely interviews.
150 Overworked and broke: Wilson interview.
152 Jack’s Classic occupied: I interviewed Jack Reed at his plumbing supply store on December 18, 2004.
152 The Chevy’s ninth owner had joined: I interviewed Jeff Simmons at his home in North Carolina in December 2004.
155 Here begins some very strange business: I interviewed Dave Simon in October 2004 and March 2011.
156 Such a fixation: James MacPherson, “In Midwest, a Model Farm Where Failed Fords Grow,” Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2005.
158 Chris Simon was undaunted: I interviewed Chris Simon on October 30, 2004.
160 He was an attentive parent: Ashlee Arney described her father’s parenting style in a June 6, 2013, interview. Ryan’s friction with his father is from our interviews of August 31 and September 8, 2010.
161 As he rebuilt his financial affairs: McQuillen interview of September 29, 2011; Arney interview of September 16, 2011.
162 Unfortunately, the church’s owner: Arney related the classroom tale in an April 27, 2010, interview. Ashlee Arney said in June 2013 that she did not recall the incident; and ABC documents supplied by the agency via email in November 2013.
162 He tried to keep the Body Shop: Taliaferro interview of April 17, 2013; phone interview with Victoria Hammond on October 24, 2013.
164 Arney’s actual numbers: I drew Arney’s crime stats from a July 14, 2005, packet of documents related to Arney’s successful application to expunge his record, and a November 2012 presentence report prepared by Senior U.S. Probation Officer Jeffrey A. Noll as part of the government’s prosecution in the Bank of the Commonwealth affair.
166 That’s as far as consensus goes: Arney discussed the police dog incident with me on several occasions, including our interviews of March 31, 2010, and March 5, 2013.
166 Taliaferro verifies the story: Taliaferro interview of April 17, 2013.
167 Arney whipped up his hands: Arney described his courtroom comment—which he says occurred before Norfolk Circuit Court judge Lydia Taylor—in our March 5, 2013, interview.
167 Taliaferro seconds many aspects: Taliaferro interview of April 17, 2013.
167 He did “seem to remember”: I interviewed Peter G. Decker Jr. at his Norfolk office on November 17, 2011.
168 The cops I spoke with: Betty Whittington made her contribution through retired police lieutenant Harry Twiford, in a February 1, 2013, email. I interviewed Carmen Morganti by phone a few days later.
170 The work begins in earnest: I witnessed the project’s beginnings on March 5, 2011.
173 It was seven winters before: Dave Marcincuk described his first encounter with the Chevy in September 13, October 5, and October 25, 2004, interviews.
177 First thing,
Marcincuk decided: Ibid.
181 Then again, if he believed: Arney’s comment is from a July 1, 2010, interview.
182 Speaking of Ryan: Ryan Arney described his wayward period in a September 23, 2010, interview.
183 Arney owned the house: The quote about the horses is from my May 18, 2012, visit to Moyock.
184 By necessity, Arney was stingy: McQuillen interview of September 29, 2011; Arney interview of July 1, 2010. See also Walt Potter, “Man, 21, Shot, Then Tossed from Bridge,” Virginian-Pilot, November 19, 1977, which was accompanied by the photo of Skinhead on the sidewalk; “Crime Taking No Holiday in Norfolk This Weekend,” (Norfolk) Ledger-Star, November 19, 1977; “4 Men Shot, Robbed Him, Victim Says,” Virginian-Pilot, November 20, 1977; Bill Burke, “Shooting Suspect Surrenders,” Ledger-Star, November 22, 1977; “2nd Norfolk Man Charged in Abduction and Shooting, Virginian-Pilot, November 30, 1977; “1 Defendant Pleads Guilty to 4 Charges in Shooting,” Virginian-Pilot, May 18, 1978; Mike Hardy, “Man, 21, Gets 51 Years in Abduction, Shooting,” Virginian-Pilot, July 15, 1978; and Clifford Hubbard, “Plea Bargain Draws 10 Years,” Virginian-Pilot, July 18, 1978.
187 Bootleggers, he called it: Arney’s quote is from our interview of September 8, 2010.
189 Last candidate: a 1970 Olds: My first visit with Dave Marcincuk took place on September 13, 2004. My notes from that visit include this passage: “On M’s front door, taped over the oval glass, pages from a Sept 15 1966 newspaper. Ad for Ajax laundry detergent shows line drawing of couple waving from a 67 Pontiac Bonneville convertible full of cash. ‘Name the White Knight’ contest. Veal Sale! Cutlets $1.09 lb. Shoulder roast 39¢ lb. Veal loin chop 99¢ lb. Scott toilet tissue 4 rolls 45¢ Bread 23¢ a loaf.”
190 I drove him to Big Al’s Mufflers: The car is described in great detail in my notes of September 13, 2004, and augmented by my October 5, 2004, interview with Marcincuk.
193 It takes faith to buy an old rust bucket: Much of the section that follows was informed by my October 25, 2004, interview with Marcincuk.
195 Frank DeSimone had been busted: Shirley Bolinaga, “Man Pleads Guilty to 5 Counts of Selling Cocaine,” Virginian-Pilot, December 14, 1989; James L. Pate, “The ‘War’ on Drugs Just Costly Words,” Portsmouth Currents, September 9, 1990; Picot Savage interviews of September 24, 2004, and July 15, 2013.
195 Mary Ricketts was still working: Mary Ricketts, Wood, and Hill interviews.
198 Marcincuk had sold Dowdy: Bobby Dowdy interview of May 13, 2010, and Dave Marcincuk interview of July 19, 2013.
199 He’d built his sales pitch: Arney provided this account.
199 Route 168 narrowed: My visit to Moyock occurred on January 29, 2010.
PART III—OUT WITH THE OLD
205 The spring of 2010, a few months: I was present in Norfolk Circuit Court on February 18, 2010, when Arney lost his case against ODU. Afterward, as we stood in the hall, Arney delivered an angry soliloquy. “Lawyers like that, they should be executed,” he said. “I told [one of the opposition’s lawyers] that—I said it right in that courtroom, in front of the bailiff.
“I can’t stand that behind-your-back sneakiness, because I’m a man. If I don’t like you, I’ll walk right up to you and tell you, and if you don’t like it—well, in my younger days, I’d punch you. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to see there are better ways, maybe, to do things.” Emphasis his.
206 At roughly the same time: My description of Arney’s appearance before the Planning Commission is from a city transcript of the panel’s April 8, 2010, meeting, which I obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
207 The Planning Commission disagreed: Harry Minium, “Western Bar Sign No Longer a Bootleg . . . It’s Legit,” Virginian-Pilot, July 26, 2010.
207 Another man might have been: Arney interview of February 10, 2011.
208 Arney’s appearance before: I witnessed Arney’s City Council appearance on October 26, 2010. See also Harry Minium, “Owner Takes Verbal Shots at City’s Bar Task Force,” Virginian-Pilot, October 28, 2010.
209 Arney might have been able: The Bank of the Commonwealth’s faltering health, and the role that loans to Arney contributed to it, are detailed in the government’s “Statement of Facts” accompanying his indictment and in his plea agreement of August 24, 2013. See also the coverage of the bank’s failure by the Virginian-Pilot’s Tom Shean, including these stories: “As Losses Mount, Commonwealth Bankshares’ Future in Doubt,” April 2, 2011; “Feds Investigate Bank, Officials,” April 16, 2011; “Inquiry Hurts Bank’s Effort to Raise Cash,” April 19, 2011; “Community Banks Feel Pressure to Raise Capital,” April 24, 2011; “Commonwealth, Amid Asset Troubles, Postpones Meeting,” May 24, 2011; “Fed Gives Bank of Commonwealth 30 Days to Bolster Finances, or Sell,” July 8, 2011; “Commonwealth Bankshares Posts $26.22M Quarterly Loss,” August 16, 2011; “Commonwealth Bankshares’ Stock Price Slides 45 Percent,” August 17, 2011; “Va. Seizes Bank,” September 24, 2011; and “Failed Local Bank’s New Owner Fields Queries on the Future,” September 27, 2011.
210 Through Fields he’d come: The quote about Woodard is from my interview with Arney of April 1, 2011.
211 In the midst of his sharpening panic: Arney interview of July 1, 2010.
211 Arney appealed the decision: My description of the Board of Adjustment’s July 8, 2010, meeting is based on the minutes. See also Cindy Beamon, “Currituck, Classic Car Dealer Clash over Rules,” (Elizabeth City, NC) Daily Advance, July 12, 2010.
213 But with a lot of effort: I witnessed this scene on or about March 14, 2011.
215 The blasting commences: I was present during this scene on March 25, 2011.
217 He and Bobby Tippit roll: My account of the floor pan’s installation is drawn from notes of my Moyock visit of July 6, 2011.
220 If you were so inclined: My discussion of the issues associated with restoration was informed by Stephan Wilkinson and Philip Herrera, “Restoration Drama,” Town & Country, June 1999; Richard S. Chang, “The Motivation Is Perfection,” New York Times, February 7, 2010; Joseph Siano, “Is It Real or a Replica? The Factory Knows All,” New York Times, October 30, 2008; Donald Osborne, “The Art of the Restoration,” New York Times, August 17, 2008; “Clones, Tributes, Reproductions, Recreations, Fakes,” Collector Car & Truck Market Guide, September 2000; and Marjorie Keyishian, “Cars of Yesterday Purr like New,” New York Times, March 24, 1991.
221 Answering such questions: Telephone interview with Patrick Krook, president and CEO of Show Your Auto Inc., of Grayslake, Illinois, on February 22, 2013.
221 The second reason: Telephone interview with Richard Todd on February 23, 2013.
222 This was demonstrated: The Hemi ’Cuda saga was related, more or less, in Paul Sontrop, “Rags to Riches,” Mopar Action, October 2011; and by Krook in our interview of February 22, 2013.
224 Outside the automotive world: For more on Fallingwater’s salvation, see Patricia Lowry, “Restoration of Drooping Fallingwater Uncovers Flaws Amid Genius,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 8, 2001. To the list of examples I offer, I can add one more, which was hard to miss while I wrote this book at the University of Virginia: Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village at UVa is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, yet its centerpiece—the Rotunda, Jefferson’s domed tribute to the Roman Pantheon—burned to the ground in 1895, and was rebuilt with an interior that veered substantially from the original. The changes were later undone, and Jefferson’s original vision reproduced—so that what we have now is a modern rehabilitation of a century-old reconstruction of a Jeffersonian reimagining.
225 As debates associated with restoration: My discussion in this and the following paragraph relies on Edward Ford, “The Theory and Practice of Impermanence,” Harvard Design Magazine 3 (Fall 1997); and Howard Mansfield, The Same Ax, Twice: Restoration and Renewal in a Throwaway Age (Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2001).
226 But what of that Hemi ’Cuda: Krook interview.
227 A few days aft
er the donor car’s: I witnessed this work on July 21, 2011.
229 The next day, having triumphed: I witnessed this work on July 22, 2011.
231 On a Sunday late in the month: I witnessed the several scenes that unfolded during the July 24, 2011, trip to Gloucester.
235 Over the next few days, Skinhead: The ’56 two-door wagon that gives up its tailgate is VIN B56T194191, a 210 six-cylinder built in Tarrytown, New York.
236 Late one breezeless and stifling summer night: This scene took place in Norfolk on June 1, 2011.
236 His relationship with the bank: Interview with Tommy Arney of May 31, 2011.
237 For the time being: I witnessed this scene on August 13, 2011.
239 Tippit has spent two hours: I witnessed this scene on August 14, 2011.
239 Over the next few days, Paul: I witnessed this work on August 17 and 26, 2011.
240 Late in August 2011: My account of post-storm Moyock Muscle is based on my visit of August 29, 2011.
240 But that changes: Chapman visited on September 8, 2011.
241 Ordered back to the wagon: I witnessed Paul’s mudding and sanding on my visits to Moyock of September 8, 16, and 21, 2011.
242 For the next ten days: The story I mention is “Car Dealer Faces $78K in Fines,” Daily Advance, September 13, 2011.
243 Over lunch, Arney assures me: I witnessed this exchange on September 16, 2011.
245 Painter Paul begins the process: I was present for this scene on October 28, 2011.
247 I find myself lying awake: The progress I note is drawn from notes of my visit to Moyock of October 31, 2011.
249 Grinding without goggles: Notes from my visit to Moyock of November 4, 2011.
250 Actually, I learn in speaking: Arney interview of November 9, 2011.
250 Besides, the original chassis: November 4, 2011 notes.
250 Arney is even more enthused: Ibid.
251 With the body coming along: Notes from my Moyock visit of October 31, 2011.
251 We suspend further discussion: November 4, 2011, notes.
253 Halfway through the second week: Notes from my Moyock visit of November 9,2011.