Aaaaaand here we go.

(Despite being in the web development field since before there was really a web development industry - this is my first blog. Be gentle.)

Back in the late 50s, my father was in the Air Force. He was stationed in Spain for two or three years. While over there, he and my mother bought a 1958 Mercedes 220S. When his assignment in Spain was done, they brought the Mercedes back with them to the U.S.

This was our "family car" for many years, though my parents quit driving it regularly when I was still very young. I have some vague childhood memories of riding around in this car.

Years later, when I was in my early 30s, my parents wanted to get rid of the Mercedes. It was taking up one of the two spots in their carport, which my mother really wanted back. *grin* They offered the car to me, but I was too young, I didn't have anywhere decent to store it, I didn't have the income to warrant fixing the car up or keeping it maintained, so I passed on it. Fortunately, one of my cousins said he would take the car, and he kept it running for a good many years.

Late in 2005, I moved back home for a while to take care of my mother, who was very ill; I got to spend her last month and a half with her. Two years ago, I again returned home, this time for my father, who had Alzheimer's; I had a year and a half with him.

After my father had passed, I contacted my cousin, who had the Mercedes. I told him that with my father's passing, I'd been thinking about that old car. He says "Yeah, you want it back?" "Well.. yeah, that's what I was calling about." It turns out he was well ready to be rid of the car as well.

I had decided that I would restore my old family Mercedes. I'm doing it partly as a memorial to my parents - the car will be a near-constant reminder of them when they were younger - and partly because, well dammit, it's a classic old car, and I want to see the looks on people's faces, checking it out when I take it on the road. *shrug*

My neighbor a couple of doors down, Frank, has been restoring a VW Karmann Ghia for the past three years. I'll be leaning on him a fair bit as I get my feet wet with this project; I don't know the first thing about cars, especially old cars, especially restoring old cars.

One of the first things Frank told me was, "Document EVERYTHING. Label EVERYTHING." And I figured, a blog would be one good way to document this project - I'll be able to go back and do searches whenever I wish. Plus, this is a way to share the whole experience.