Car names; I worked on my badly deteriorated (previously abandoned and left for dead) Fiberfab for well over a year before it was worthy of any name at all besides “that damned piece of —- out back” but eventually my wife said “you have to give that poor guy a name”. She has always named her cars, including a few VW’s to which she is quite partial. Back when I was a hippie, I had this dog named Merlin, who lived 16 years and went through most of the major transitions of my life with me and is buried in my backyard. Merlin is also a figure from the lore of the British Isles and the name of a powerfull British motor, so it seemed the natural choice. Back in the sixties, when I worked on my first (and only other) auto restoration, a 1950 Chevy pickup, Merlin was with me for every knuckle bruising agonizing moment. I had neither tools, knowledge nor money, just a lot of time on my hands, determination and my dog to keep me company. I find myself thinking about him a lot when I work on this car, because the smells (did that truck mostly on the gravel in front of a friends shop who did fiberglass.) and the work remind me of that time. Now I have plenty of money for parts, a comfortable dry place to work, and a ton of tools, but I don’t have the dog. When Merlin is complete, I’ll remember my dog every time I drive his namesake.
Michael