[Chrysler300] John Hertog's Passing

["Bob Jasinski" <rpjasin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wow, I'm surprised and saddened to read of John's passing.  I think back to
all the enjoyable conversations we had and email correspondence in the 10
years that I knew him, and realize that our Club has lost a significant
member.  I wasn't expecting this, I felt confident he would get better and
return to the fold after his recovery.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
I thought I was a 300 enthusiast until I met John, he defined the meaning of
the words.  He was so dedicated to helping people enjoy their cars, was very
unselfish in doing so, always willing to lend a hand.  I remember one of my
last conversations with him.  After many years of procrastination I decided
to write to Gil to find out where my car was originally sold, because I had
heard from the previous owner that is was driven from New York to California
in the early '60s.  When I found out that my car was sold new in Staten
Island New York, I emailed John asking if he knew of the dealership.  I no
sooner sent the email off to him and my phone rang, it was John wanting to
chat about my G convert and its origins from a town he was very familiar
with.  "Sometimes it's best to talk", he said, "Email can only do so much".
 
Remember when John submitted an application to be on a reality TV show that
would pay for the cost of doing an activity based on the applicants wish,
that they would film it and put it on TV?  It was about 5-6 years back, and
as I recall he wanted to race his '62 300, and did a significant write up on
where he would race it, the amount it would cost, how it would be structured
etc.  His application was posted on the promoter's site, along with others,
and John encouraged the Club membership to vote for him to win the
sponsorship.  Unfortunately, he wasn't selected, although I'm sure most of
us voted for him, it sure would have been a great production. 
 
And then there are his 300 car projects.  Remember "Finless" the G he bought
that someone had cut the fins off of and he grafted replacements on?  How
about "Frankenmounts" the inexpensive way to fix bad motor mounts.  And who
could forget the story of "Golden"?  I remember talking to him about that
car right after he bought it, and discussing how odd it was that there was
no factory topcoat on places where there should have been one.  He was bound
and determined to find out the history of the car, and through his great
detective work, and some luck, we were all rewarded with a great Letter Car
story, not to mention that he restored the car to be exactly like it was
when new, rather than taking the easy way out and painting it a standard
color.     
 
I think we all need to keep in mind that our 300 Letter Cars are very
special.  They will (hopefully) all outlive us.  Even though we may "own"
the cars, we really are their caretakers.  Our 300s will be around to amaze
and delight future generations, and this is in no small part because of guys
like John Hertog.  God Bless John, I'll miss you.
 
Bob Jasinski
Danville, California 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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