I didn’t think too many people would care whether or not I finished the Phoenix Project or not, but I found at least two who did.
The first was from the Phoenix area and an avid Toyota fan. He sent an e-mail through our website expressing that the project “had been cancelled for bogus reasons.” I contacted him and told him the rest of the back story, clarifying my logic in sending the Phoenix on down the trail to a new owner.
The next was a bombshell in an envelope from Florissant, Colorado. The writer, Bill Queen, had written previously to express his support for the first-generation, ’79-’85 solid axle Toyota 4x4 pickups, holding them up over virtually every other 4x4 ever made. Mr. Queen owns three of these ‘Yotas, and it’s obvious he takes pride in their ownership.
Anyway, this letter was more than a bit irate in its tone. It started out saying “I’ve got a bone to pick with you writers…”
Uh oh…this can’t be good. It wasn’t.
He continued: “In the April 2009 issue of 4WD &SUM there’s an article by Christian Lee about a high-modified $100,000 2007 Wrangler, an article by Phil Howell about a high dollar modified 2007 Wrangler, two excellent travel articles, another excellent and practical article by Howell on “Jen’s Jeep”, and then there’s the “I give up” article by Kevin Blumer titled, “The Phoenix Project Final”. Blumer’s article is mis-titled. It should have been, titled “I Gave Up on My Toy After My Sex Change Operation.”
There’s more: “You metro sexual types wallowing in fish-smelling estrogen in Californicated Anaheim ten to forget that most real or ‘wanna-be’ 4-Wheelers live in or regularly visit RURAL rough isolated country and consider it a form of torture to drive anywhere near any URBAN horror-setting where the speed limit is 80 miles per hour…”
Mr. Queen concluded his epistle by saying “… Consequently, highly capable and lowest maintenance 4x4’s are the gold standard…THE ‘WINNER’ IN ANY 4X4 ‘CONTEST’ IS NOT HOW MUCH MONEY ONE HAS SPENT ON UPGRADING A VEHICLE BUT THE CAPABILITY AND LEVEL OF RELIABLE PERFORMANCE THE VEHICLE HAS ACHIEVE PER EACH DOLLAR SPENT!!
Please keep us in mind…and thank you.
My first thought was to call him up (he provided his business card with his phone number) at 1 am and do some real-time bone-picking of my own.
My second thought was to craft a snarky letter to the tune of “How Do I Tell You to Take a Flying Leap? Let Me Count the Ways.”
I decided against either of these options, even though they seemed attractive at the time.
The best route is to reply with the missing parts of the back story.
The Phoenix wasn’t being built in a roomy shop by someone else while I stood around with the camera. The Phoenix was being built by ME in a driveway. Yes, I took the transfer case to PDC Motorsports for help installing the Inchworm Lefty adapter, but I got my hands dirty and worked right along with Jay Parodi as he lent expertise and special tools to my project.
Working in a driveway is something you do when you don’t have another good option. You can’t leave your project unattended and go grab a bite to eat because something might get stolen while you’re gone. You can’t leave your project out and exposed to the elements if you’re doing engine work. You have to put up with people staring at you, and you also have to put up with people stopping to ask you questions about it. You also leave yourself at the mercy of door-to-door salesmen; you’re in the driveway and can’t pretend to not be there behind a closed door.
There’s another disadvantage to working in a driveway: busybodies.
Someone finally called the City of Fullerton and complained that my project was an eyesore. I had to move it or pay a fine. I finally got the chassis so I could roll it, and enlisted some friends to help push it across the street into a neighbor’s side yard behind a gate (nice neighbors).
My project was off of the City’s radar, but it was also in a place I couldn’t work on it. Furthermore, I was concurrently busy with a Ford Ranger desert truck project for Off-Road Magazine. My time is limited.
One huge project by itself is a lot to take on. Two huge projects are well nigh impossible. I had to choose, and I chose to keep the Ranger and sell the Phoenix. If I had to make the same choice again, I’d still sell the Phoenix.
So Mr. Queen, I am still a fan of Toyota trucks and I do not debate their prowess as economical deliverers of backcountry fun. I don’t have endless time, nor do I have endless funds. I’ll dive back into a trail rig build in the future.
If that’s not good enough, I’ll just have to move on. Some people just like to have something to complain about. Life’s too short to try to keep these people happy.