2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign, Illinois 61821
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Parkland College
2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign, Illinois 61821 |
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Retirement Toys
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| This is the "fiberglass egg" travel trailer, brand name Casita. I got it in 2004 and it has traveled over 30,000 miles already -- two major trips out West, and a major trip East. It will go back east later this summer (2008), although not covering as much mileage because of gas prices. This picture is from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, in 2006, when I went to see a number of plays at the Shaw Festival. |
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| This is a West Wight Potter sailboat. It's concept is similar to the Casita -- high quality construction, but small and inexpensive to maintain (no slip fees, easy to tow, and it fits in the garage). No, it's not about "Harry Potter". "To potter around" is the English equivalent to the American "To putter around". We like golf analogies, I guess. The West Wight Potter design goes back to the 1960's, and the boat has been made continuously since, although not by the same manufacturer. I have not rigged or launched it yet -- that will be later this summer or in the fall. It may also go down to Florida this winter. |
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| This is a 1966 Mercury ParkLane convertible. It is classified as a restored driver / survivor collector car. That means it is not show quality, but it is good enough to get 'ohhs and ahhs' as you drive around, and it can be entered in small local collector car shows. It really has only 34,000 miles on it, with title documentation back to the original owner, and the interior is all original, except the carpets. However, it sat around for about 20 years during the 80's and 90's and deteriorated significantly. It obviously has been extensively restored by Ken's Classic Cars, the dealer I bought it from. Hopefully it will hold its value reasonably well if I garage it, maintain it, and drive it only about 1,000 miles a year. Driving only 1,000 miles a year will be easy, because it gets only 11 miles per gallon. Of Premium. It has the standard engine on the ParkLane back then -- a 410 cubic inch Ford big block FE series, with four barrel carbs. We'll see about holding its value, I guess. In the meantime, it is really, really fun to drive. I get to shout "Get a REAL convertible" at all the modern convertible cars I see. |
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| This is the smallest on-off road motorcycle you can buy that will do 55 mph and hold its own on most roads. It is legal on Interstates, but I hope I never have to use it on one. It also fits very nicely in the back of the truck. I really look silly riding it, but it is fun. Well, it's not fun at 55 mph, but it is fun at 35 mph, or 15 mph on dirt roads. I got it mainly as a safety item, to carry in the truck in case I get stuck in the wilds with the Casita. I was trying to find a really attractive, but out of the way lakeside campsite in the Moab, Utah area, and I was getting far out in the lonely wilds with my truck and Casita. I realized that if anything happened, I would not be able to just walk out as I used to when I was younger. I'll also use the motorcycle to go mountain riding out west. I was camping in Colorado, the same place that I took the pictures of Elliot retrieving, and there was a mountain road I would have loved to explore, but I was too old and fat to walk. Hence the motorcycle. |
| Below is a partially restored MG Midget that I bought on eBay as an experiment. I'm going to see how successful I will be continuing the restoration. I picked this one because the work I can't do, body work, has already been done. All I have to do is the mechanical restoration, which is what I want to try. I can hardly fit in a Midget, and it is not really a practical car for me, but that's not the point. The Midget is an absolutely wonderful car for restoration. There is nothing to it. It has a 1275 cc engine. You can pick it up. It never had anything complicated such as, oh say, automatic transmissions, air conditioning, or power windows. And because there are so many enthusiasts in the U.K., the parts are incredibly cheap and available. I'll see how far this project goes. If it doesn't work out, I'll just resell everything on eBay, and consider it an educational experience. These are the original pictures from the seller from eBay. Everything is in my garage now. |
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| And, of course, I have Elliot: |
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| "You're fat and boring, and I want to go to the Dog Park." |
| Scott Badman Phone: 217 979-1384 scottbadman@comcast.net |
| Parkland College, 2400 W. Bradley Avenue, Champaign, IL 61821 |