11/22/2020
You who are on the road
Must have a code
That you can live by, from "Teach Your Children," by Graham Nash.
Album: Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969. (Originally written for The Hollies).
Florida Pickers II, Day 5:
"Three Nash's and a Hupp."
Season 2 of Florida Pickers is now less about being out and about and more about being connected to the virtual market. I don't see that classic cars are ever going to go down in price because economically restorable discoveries are increasingly fewer thanks to the passage of time.
So riding the "gettin' while the gettin' is good" mode, at times, I will often feature multiple finds in the same day.
"You who are on the road Must have a code" is code, I'm hoping, for something prophetic or prolific that I am here to decipher/discover as it applies to today's entries.
Let's start by looking at the chronology of the song, "Teach Your Children."
The Hollies were formed in 1962 and Graham departed in late 1968. The song was written during that time, but it wasn't released until '69, after Nash's exit from The Hollies.
To place that into perspective, the most recent of the today's photo posts issue year is 1961.
So how does this fit into the current discussion?
Well, we're about to enter 2021 which is 60 years since the '61 Metropolitan was built.
If we look at the "middle aged vehicle" in this post, a 1949 Nash 600 Airflyte, and, say, you were 20 when you purchased one new you would presently be 92 years of age.
And you would be 112 if you bought the Hupp Hupmobile at twenty. 116, if the same scenario held true with the '26 Nash Ajax.
Taking this analogy a step further, and perhaps salvage some solace from where this line of thinking is taking us, if you were twenty when you drove out of the showroom of the AMC/Rambler dealership in your new 1957 Metropolitan you were born in 1937. Which means you are presently the ripe old age of 84.
(Sorry, that wasn't any consolation, I guess).
A century from now, in 2030-31, the pickin's won't be so plentiful so enjoy them while we have the opportunity.
The challenge, then, is for future generations to preserve, and more importantly, fall in love with these wonderful visual/functional vehicles from makers who aren't around to sell you missing parts and tell their fascinating tails.
..Teach your children well
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.
1926 Nash Ajax Touring Sedan... $13,500
1929 Hupmobile project... $ 7,500
1949 Nash 600 Airflyte project... $ 4,000
1957 & 1961 Metropolitans... $10,000 ea.
