| jerry.grayson | -- 11-28-2011 @ 8:48 AM |
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The book has been killed by the Board of Directors of the EFV8 club. I posted this on another site and in all fairness I will post here. The BOD say that only 268 pickups are listed in the roster and the cost of publishing this book with this low sample is not a profitable project!! This is hanging Lawson Cox and me out to dry. We are about 2/3 finished with the raw data and rough outline. We have spent many days and hours researching, interviewing people and working in the Ford archives on this project. They did not consult us before making this decision, just met and did the deed. Could it be that some bias has driven this decision? The BOD has given the O K to a group to publish a 49-51 Mercury restoration book. I wonder how many of these are listed in the roster? The authors may be more well known or have more influence than we are. Just curious. We believe that there is a much greater interest in these pickups than units listed in the roster. Do they think that only people with vehicles listed in the roster will buy a book? I wonder how many of these pickups are in the hands of non-EFV8 members? A person can buy a cab, hood, radiator, and grill from a 1 1/2 ton truck, match it to a passenger chassis, bolt on a reproduction bed and have a PICKUP!! Look at Lawson Cox's pickup and several others and this is exactly how they came up with one. This may not be a concours unit but an enjoyable ride never less. We think that the EFV8 club has been shortsighted and has done a disservice to the hobby, not to mention to us with this decision. Do any of you have an opinion?
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| CharlieStephens | -- 11-28-2011 @ 11:54 AM |
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Since the number of pickups listed in the roster didn't change much since you began the project it seems they could have come to this decision a lot sooner. It seems they didn't place much value on your efforts since they were not doing the work. I think they at least owe you an apology for the way it was handled. Having said that I have a question since there are probably a lot of other low production vehicles with the same problem. Would it be possible for the club to host this information on the web site? Charlie Stephens
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| trjford8 | -- 11-28-2011 @ 12:56 PM |
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I don't know any of the background on this project, but the BOD has to consider the cost vs benefit when using club money. I do know that when the 1938 book was proposed there were very few '38 owners in the club. The board then required the addition of the '39 cars to the book to make it saleable and profitable. Book sales at least need to break even for a project to move forward. It sounds to me like the BOD determind that the project would not break even and stopped it before suffering a loss on the project. The Mercury book has been in the "hopper" for some time and I suspect that there a lot more 49-51 Mercs out there than 35-36 pickups. As a personal opinion I think a 35-36 pickup book should go further and cover the 37-39 pickups also, as they have a lot of similiarities. Here's a thought, why not publish the book on your own? You would need to clear the draft through Ford Motor Company and then find a publisher/printer. You then need a way to market the book. If you were that close why not go for it? You would soon know whether it was a profitable venture or not.
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| alanwoodieman | -- 11-28-2011 @ 3:50 PM |
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sorry for the loss of you efforts and Lawsons also. I know of 4 of the 35/36 trucks in our region alone, but I also thought that since the pick-ups are mostly cars with some changes that a strictly "truck" book be written as an addemdem to the car books, such a book would cover all the years from 35-41 or even from 32-41. I know that after that trucks really changed and grew away from cars. What do you guys think about that?
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| 1934 Ford | -- 11-28-2011 @ 4:16 PM |
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While I don't intend to restore my 35 Ford Pickup, a book on them would be a valuable asset. We're a small club and with limited funds, I can understand the postponement, but don't alienate the authors. We waited a long time for the 33-34 Book and the others too. I was surprised to hear we were so few 35-36 trucks in our midst. I know they make new fiberglass bodies for them, so I assumed they were very popular.
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| 1932BB | -- 11-29-2011 @ 7:28 AM |
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I am sorry to hear that your efforts have not been appreciated by the BOD of this fine club. It is easy to understand their concern from a business point of view but it also seems clear that truck enthusiasts are not well represented by this club. For instance, there is no code in the Vehicle Legend for my truck a 1932 BB Platform Stake. One might think that the four cylinder trucks (and cars) did not exist as there is no code for them for 1932,1933,and 1934. This prevents me from listing my vehicle in the "Roster" leaving these trucks "out of the count" so to speak. You make a good point about the Mercury book as I would guess that there are more large and small trucks around than 49-51 Mercs. I suppose a club cannot be all things to all people, and the history of the club was most probably with V8 cars of course. I certainly hope that you will find an appreciative audience for your efforts. Gary Loehr oldbeemers@charter.net
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| TomO | -- 11-29-2011 @ 10:05 AM |
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The Board should have let Jerry and Lawson know that they were going to discuss the possibility of dropping the book, so that they could have had some input on the decision. Jerry, don't throw away all of your work, there may be another way to get it published I would think that a pickup addendum to the 35-36 book would be much better than a separate book on pickups or trucks.This could be published when a 3rd printing of the book becomes necessary. There is a lot of interest in pickups and trucks and it seems to be growing as the supply of cars to be restored dwindles. Back in the 70's, you saw very few commercial vehicles at the national meets, now it seems as every meet has quite a few. I think that the Directors should look into serving this growing segment and decide the best way to provide restoration material for these projects. I doubt that the authorization of the 49-51 book had any impact on the decision of the 35-36 pickup book's cancellation. Both of them are separate business decisions. Tom
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| v8teditor | -- 11-29-2011 @ 11:47 AM |
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Thanks to "1933BB" for pointing out the omission of the larger trucks in the VEHICLE LEGEND in the Membership Roster. The LEGEND was "updated 3-4 years ago and apparently that info was omitted. Checking the previous legend (1/2 page), I see these larger commercial vehicles were listed, i.e. 93A-Platform Stake. I'll incorporate the larger vehicle codes into the 2012 LEGEND. I also noted there were codes for the 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder and 60hp that were also NOT included in the latest version. I'll include those as well. My first V-8 was a 1935 Pickup and later a 1934 1 1/2 Ton Truck. I like trucks!
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| ford38v8 | -- 11-29-2011 @ 11:55 AM |
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Gary, You hit a nerve with your complaint that your BB truck is not listed in the Legend. The Legend was devised as a composite code to enable the listing of Members vehicles in the Roster. Having changed and evolved over the years, the Ford code wouldn't work for our purposes, so a composite code was adopted, based on the 1939 Ford Codes. Back in 1995, when I was a National Director, our V8 Times Editor Bob McCoppin posed the problem to the Directors of how to make the Legend more representative to the many vehicles in the Club. Being a novice Director, I was eager to please the ilustrious Greaspit Poet, and raised my hand. The ensuing five years was devoted to the project, and I did my best to include every model Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, and Commercial vehicle in the new Expanded Legend. Indeed, the Expanded Legend does accomplish the goal, but with some unavoidable overlap of codes: Some vehicles share a year or model code with another. Your truck is properly listed as an 18 93A. This is the best I could do, while working within the parameters set out by our Greasepit Poet. We did also want to identify the different engines, we tried it for a year in the Roster, and it was way too complicated to continue. We reasoned that if someone was interested in 1932 Flatbed Stake trucks, they could contact the owner directly and have a nice conversation about engine options. Alan
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| jerry.grayson | -- 11-29-2011 @ 1:57 PM |
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Tom Thanks for your suggestions on the 35-36 pickup book. Adding the pickup stuff to the 35-36 passenger book when it is reprinted would about double the size of it.(almost) I did not intend to suggest that the 49-51 Mercury book had anything to do with our book. I just wondered if the same rules applied to both books. That is; number of cars listed in the roster.
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| v8teditor | -- 11-29-2011 @ 3:13 PM |
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Thanks, Alan for the explanation. I was going to ask you the same question as I knew you had created the original LEGEND. I see your reasoning. It has been pointed out there are various codes for various model year trucks, but your listing made some sense out of it all. I'll probably use your table for Commercial vehicles and say it is "generic." At least that way members with Commercial vehicles can identify their V-8 in the roster to some degree.
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| TomO | -- 11-30-2011 @ 8:14 AM |
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Jerry, That seems like a big hurdle to jump. Maybe Don Rogers can give you some ideas on how a supplement could work. Tom
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| 1932BB | -- 11-30-2011 @ 1:47 PM |
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Please accept my apologies Alan. I did not intend to hit a nerve! Perhaps my example wasn't a good one. I realize that efforts such as yours with the Roster are voluntary and I have some appreciation of the difficulty of such a project as well of the feeling of "ownership" when it is completed. I have been pleasantly surprised at the civility on the EFV-8 forum, having experienced the flipside in other such clubs. I wish my truck was a 18 93A! I'm sure not many of these trucks exist. In any event, I did not intent to derail this post with my complaint. The original post deserves much more attention. Happy trails!
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| JM | -- 12-02-2011 @ 7:43 AM |
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Maybe some of the board members will comment here on their rational for stopping progress on this book. It would be nice to hear their side of this story. I'm really hoping this decision was not made solely on potential for dollar profit. JM
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| 36ford pick-up | -- 12-03-2011 @ 3:56 PM |
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New to the board. Would be interested in the book. Purchased a 36 pick-up in Aug. /11 Latrobe,Pa. Karl Goblinger
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| TonyM | -- 12-10-2011 @ 7:05 AM |
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Quote -- trjford8: "As a personal opinion I think a 35-36 pickup book should go further and cover the 37-39 pickups also, as they have a lot of similiarities. Here's a thought, why not publish the book on your own? You would need to clear the draft through Ford Motor Company and then find a publisher/printer. You then need a way to market the book. If you were that close why not go for it? You would soon know whether it was a profitable venture or not." End Quote. Response: I agree, the authors should continue the project anyways (perhaps expanding the project to a book covering all pre-war V-8 pickups) and try and get a book deal. About Marketing and Book Deals: I have published books with real publishers, and I still have books in print that I get checks for. First: You need to tell the publisher who you are going to market the book to right up front. Most real publishing houses won't even give your book a sniff if you don't include marketing info in the initial book proposal. It is probably the most important part of your pitch. First, a publisher needs to know why your book is worth publishing. If there is no other book like it currently existing on the market, then you must tell them why it should be published and who to market it to. If a book like yours does already exist, then you must tell the publisher why your book is far superior. Marketing info must be solid or the publisher won't even consider your project. If a publisher comes to the conclusion that the book is not marketable, they won't publish it; it is that simple. If the material is too esoteric, then there won't be a big enough audience and it won't be published. I think that is the case here. You would increase your chances of a book deal by making the book attractive to more enthusiasts, thus making it more marketable. Only a multi-year treatment (rather than just 35-36) could do this. I say you should finish the project anyways. Maybe EFV8 will change their minds down the road. Or maybe you can get your own book deal with a real publishing house. Self publishing is not an option here (too expensive). Good luck TonyM Book Author RG69 This message was edited by TonyM on 12-10-11 @ 7:20 AM
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| 41-42fordadvisor | -- 12-10-2011 @ 8:07 PM |
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Concerning the current debate about the 1935-1936 pick-up book being canceled by the Early Ford V-8 club board of directors. Why couldn't the book be expanded to cover all Ford trucks from 1935-1936. This expansion would include sedan delivery, panel trucks and trucks over half ton. Adding these would attract a wider range of truck owners and also help to sell more of these books which in the end the profit would be a big boost for the Early Ford V-8 Club of America. I don't have a 35-36 Ford pick-up and probably never will. But I too was looking forward to this book and would have bought the book. Just my two cents worth.
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| 41-42fordadvisor | -- 12-10-2011 @ 8:41 PM |
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Concerning the current debate about the 1935-1936 pick-up book being canceled by the Early Ford V-8 Club Board of Directors. Why couldn't the book be expanded to cover all Ford trucks from 1935-1936. The expansion would cover sedan delivery, panel trucks and trucks over half ton. Adding these would attract a wider range of truck owners and also help to sell more of these books which in the end could help make profit for the Early Ford V-8 club. I don't have a 35-36 Ford pick-up and probably never will. But I too was looking forward to this book and would have bought the book. Just my two cents worth.
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