mat thewlit win

My days of contor ting to retri eve som ething a s s i m p l e a s a torqu e wrench from th e va st p il e of clut ter are, t h a n k f u l l y, coming to an end.

Bat tling the Bulge!

Contrary to what one might think, this has nothing to do with the intense combat armies endured within the Ardennes nearly eight decades ago, or the annual test of willpower against the tasty might of holiday snacks No, this has to do with the constant struggle to minimize the introduction of and/or maximize the purge of more outdated, too-good-to-throw-away, might-need-it-again objects of everyday life to the “Family Storage Center,” also known as “the garage ”

I’ll refrain from narrating every OSHA-violating trip hazard that exists in what was once my well-organized workspace for vintage cars Oh, the horrors verbally painted in prior monthly “State of the Space” addresses it makes me shiver like the animated version of Burl Ives in the 1964 holiday classic Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer Not anymore, though Spurred by the knowledge that another winter was going to diminish any level of ambition needed to resurrect the 1952 Buick (now nicknamed “Bu-Bu”), my days of contorting to retrieve something as simple as a torque wrench from the vast pile of clutter are, thankfully, coming to an end

To put it bluntly, the mess in my garage was a structurally unsound mess that broke not one, but two of my garage’s windows The temporary window screens I installed after the break to keep bugs and critters out did little to thwart the seasonal sub-zero wind chills from entering while I adjusted the idle screw on a Rochester carburetor, so I bought two brand new, noticeably smaller, replacement windows at an estate sale for a song Instead of installing them right away, I propped them against a wall alongside two sets of golf clubs, an automatic transmission (supposedly from a Sixties Pontiac) that landed at my door step, an array of folding tables, a 5-hp outboard motor, three boxes of cedar shakes, two boxes of miscellaneous junk, a pile of leftover prefinished interior trim, a Cornhole set, and eight storage bins labelled “to sell at Hershey ” The pile meant that I couldn’t access the right side of my car without fully pulling out of the garage In late summer I rented a 10-yard dumpster, but again the project stalled.

With a light snow falling from the heavens a long way from late summer I began to “battle the bulge” in earnest. I armed myself with a stack of 2 x 4 wall studs, two boxes of corrosion-defying screws, and some plywood I know what you’re thinking: More stuff went into the garage. Yes. H ow e ve r, t h e s e m a t e r i a l s w e r e n e e d e d t o c l e a n u p my mess

As I explained to my ever-supportive wife, I had to clean things up to clean up things. It was, perhaps, a vain attempt to articulate why it took me two afternoons over the weekend to extract a pair of busted windows and frame in what I dubbed new old stock replacements Of course, that meant the mining and proper filing and/or disposal of nearly everything along the wall, but hey, it was worth it. The feeling of accomplishment genuine progress for the first time in forever was only outdone by the noticeable increase in room temperature There will be no more shivering while I adjust the idle screw on a Rochester carburetor Best of all, I can see and access the right side of my car without contorting myself. By the way, does anyone want a free GM automatic transmission?

Switching gears, I’m excited at the opportunity to manage this revered title My career at Hemmings began in April 2006 and, although initially hired as a staff writer and photographer, my portfolio expanded to include key involvement in the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance and as a member of Hemmings’ Great Race team More recently, I’ve been assisting Terry McGean with the planning of each HCC issue since October 2020 although some may recall that my familiarity with Hemmings and its titles date back to the days of my youth, when I thought the Sears Christmas Wishbook merely complemented the treasures to be discovered within the issues of Hemmings Motor News my dad received each month.

Car shows were also part of growing up, a tradition that remained when I purchased my first antique car in 1996. When issue #1 of HCC was announced for an October 2004 release date, my dad and I both subscribed before making the trek to Hershey, and we added two extensions to those subscriptions during that year’s Meet Week I’ve been an avid reader of the title since I’m always captivated by the boundless stories this vast hobby offers, and this magazine will continue to celebrate these stories even as the masthead changes

Write to our Editor at mlitwin@hemmings.com and follow him on Instagram @matt litwin hemmings

BY TOM COMERRO