Watch out on Doc's seats.
He does in fact have an enormous pile of seat skins.
I have not seen his story listed here lateley, so my
apologies if this repeats:
He has a ranch-house on a former (citrus?) plantation
in Silicon valley. He has a lot big enough for 4-8
houses that has a barn down at the back end. It looks
like the subdivision grew up around his property in
the last 40 years, just as Silicon Valley has boomed
everywhere on this fertile peninsula.
Dr. Mike liked Imperials plenty fine. Apparently, his
wife was not fond of fins and he wound up with mostly
62-68 cars. (-not that I listen to my wife all that
much on auto styling, so maybe it was just him)
Some time ago he found himself with a whole yard full
of cars. I think that I remember him saying something
about every year in every configuration, but it was
really some time ago and I dont recall whatever scheme
he had in his younger days about Imperial procurement.
One day he decided that the house needed a new
addition.
The city used this as a lever to make him get rid of
all of his cars in return for a building permit. I
guess that the neighbors complained too much or the
truant officer was concerned that a kid would lock
themself in a trunk or something.
Anyway, as anybody that tends to own large cars and do
mechanical work on them tends to be, Dr. Mike didn't
think much of the government or neighbors fiddling
with his cars. He decided that he didn't need the
bodies as badly as he needed the addition, so he hired
a number of seasonal from-south-of-the-border artisans
to do a little work for him in the back yard.
These guys dismantled every last one of these cars and
the parts all went into the barn in the rear. I
heard him swear several times that he had never been
able to find anything after his assistants had
finished, but I found what I needed in minutes.
Back to the point: Yes, there are 100 seat skins in
the upper reaches of the barn. When I was there 6
years ago, the entire pile was pretty much rotted,
matching pairs nowhere to be found (why only onseies?
are they like black socks in the wash?), and falling
apart or drier than a sun-baked chamois. I'm not one
to say that you won't find a gem there, but its the
hard parts in the boxes that you go to him for. Need
an alternator or radio for $25? He's got 30 of them
in a box. Pre-tested by thier original owners, no
less! The only thing that might be good there in the
seats is their patterns, but whatever you have is
probably better, even if shredded. It is a barn and
everything has a layer of dust and hay embedded in it.
He's a really nice guy, loves to chat, and I hung with
him up to the point where he went off on a tangent
about all sorts of foreigners moving into the state
and how it just wasn't right and all that jazz.
That's just not my kind of politics, so I left and
havn't been back. Mostly because I just don't need
parts from him in genral with my gorgeously-finned
196o, but I found Lowell's company a little easier on
the ear, even if he does charge a pretty penny. Dr.
Mike does not ship. He does not do telephone business
that I am aware of. You have to stop by, as far as I
know.
If you live in Northern California, a pilgrimmage is
definitely worthwhile. The man saw it coming before
most people on this list did and got in early. Polite
and fair, never hurried. Worthy of respect in this
Imperial world of ours, just not world famous for
useable seat fabric inventory.
Your upholsterer awaits you. Redoing with new skins
is almost inevitable 30-40 years later if the sun or
cats got to yours (IMHO).
Hope that helps, I thought him an intriguing fellow.
=====
Kenyon Wills
6o LeBaron - America's Most Carefully Built Car
73 LeBaron - Long Low & Luxurious
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