Texas man repays kindness from city 30-plus years later
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Friday, Dec. 22, 2006  |
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| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| Ron Miller, Pinellas Park’s finance director, displays a 1951 Plymouth emblem and its original box. |
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PINELLAS PARK – A Texas man whose car broke down here in the early 1970s never forgot the kindness he received from local residents.
He repaid that benevolence recently by providing a coveted automobile emblem worth $150 to Ron Miller, finance director, who has been restoring an old 1951 Plymouth police car.
“He sent back our cashier’s check along with the emblem when he discovered we were restoring a police car,” Miller said.
George Taylor, an antique auto parts dealer from Pasadena, Texas, said he attended a swap meet in the early 1970s and was headed home when his car gave out.
“The people of Pinellas Park were just so kind,” Taylor said. “Giving the city that emblem for free is my way of returning that kindness.”
Taylor himself said he owns a restored 1968 Texas Highway Patrol cruiser and he is helping a neighbor restore a 1951 Ford patrol car.
Original car parts, he said, are difficult to locate because most have been bought up. Years ago Taylor would discover basements and attics filled with old automobile components. Now only “dead guy stuff” is available after people die and their relatives find hoarded products.
“I’ve traveled all over the country looking for parts,” Taylor said. “That Plymouth emblem was stored away here for about 25 years.”
Miller, meanwhile, was thrilled to get the emblem he’s been seeking for seven years. The original on the car became “crazed” or cracked and blurred. Miller searched old car magazines and flea markets for the emblem. Finally he looked on eBay, the Internet auction site, and found Taylor’s advertisement.
“It arrived in brand new condition and in its original 1951 package,” Miller said.
Miller, who recently purchased a radio antenna for his restored 1939 Buick, said the Internet allows people to sell items that they would have normally discarded.
He recently purchased an original radiator cap for the city’s 1927 Buick police paddy wagon.
“The Indian head cap is made of nickel and is removed to prevent theft when the wagon is not in use,” Miller said.
Miller said he is still searching for other parts, such as inside door and window crank handles.
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Article published on Friday, Dec. 22, 2006
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