Why Lola? Dad's Version

One of the tough things about story telling is deciding when/where to start telling a story .... which generally depends on the audience/listener. Since Lola's restoration has been a family project (with the help of quite a few friends), there are probably several versions that could be told. But where to start ...

From my perspective (Ron Hall - Shaelyn's dad). Lola would not be part of our family if it were not for our friend, Paul Smith. Paul is a true friend of many years. I describe him as "a character", Shaelyn says he is "scruffy". Among Paul's many talents are his "MacGyver-like" skills with anything mechanical. Given these talents it would not surprise one to hear that Paul had a close friend, Tony Diana, that ran a neighborhood recycling/junkyard on his property. The only "rule" for going out to visit Tony was that you "had to buy something".

Paul is a Mopar guy, mainly trucks. On a visit to Tony's almost 20 years ago, he saw Lola parked there, and found out that she had a 225 Slant 6. Paul bought the car from Tony, towed it home, and made plans to rehab it into a "ranch" car. Translation - something to take 4 people into town with ... most probably to a tavern. He parked her "up top" on his property (15 acres) - where you could see her from the road. That is where Shaelyn and I caught a glimpse of her over 15 years ago .... and where she sat until last January (2014).

Ever since Shaelyn first saw Lola (age 3 or 4) she thought she (Lola) looked great. Shaelyn ) adopted from China) loves older things (except her parents - whom she tolerates). She has "collected" older cameras, audio equipment, computers, typewriters, etc. They are not just to look at ... she has great mechanical reasoning skills, and she often fixes these old things ... and uses them. She once raised a bunch of money for a class project in elementary school by "selling" kids Poleroid pictures/letting them watch them develop. Ever since I can remember, Shaelyn has asked me about buying Lola.