The IronDog Chronicles

It’s always good to see one of your boys shine…

For my boy and fellow co-worker, Gavin Rhodes of Brooklyn, New York, he shined  big-time with his victory in the New York Times Collectible Car of the Year Contest.  Check out the NYTimes article by Richard Chang here.

(Photo: NYTimes)

A total of 558 cars were entered in the contest, and Gavin’s Triumph TR3A pulled away from other collectible Triumphs, British road cars, and a collectible Ferrari through an online poll result of 4,500 votes.  Check out the other collectible cars here.
Here is a clip of Richard Chang’s article on Gavin and his TR3A in yesterday’s Times.

“The TR3A, built from 1957 to 1961, was the most elegant of Triumphs, before they became boxy and, later, wedgelike. Mr. Rhodes got his more than 15 years ago for $4,200. It was his second.

His first was a 16th-birthday gift from his father, Jim, a gearhead with his own crazy way of souping up old cars. Past projects included a 1959 Jaguar Mark I sedan that used a Buick V-6, and a 1932 Ford pickup with a Corvette engine. Mr. Rhodes recalls that the first car he drove to high school was a Sunbeam Tiger, a British roadster powered by a factory-installed Ford V-8.

“There was a coolness factor,” Mr. Rhodes said about driving his father’s cars, but his birthday present was, he felt, more of a “loaded present.” “It was a wrecked car,” he explained. “It had like mice in the trunk.”"

(Photo: NYTimes)

Gavin is one of the coolest MFs that I’ve encountered.

He was chief IT guy at eGroups, and he started up his own grassroots marketing and publicity company for hip-hop, alternative, and indy music and pop culture called Audible Treats.  The start-up does great direct e-mail campaigns…Check them out.

Gavin always knew what was up in town, and he made a lot of the hipster poseurs in San Francisco drivel because he just didn’t fake the funk.

Simply stated, the guy has mad flavor, and he knows what’s up.

The cool thing is that he is using the prize money to look for place to store his prize winner. I hope that he grabs a garage near NYC soon. I need a tour of the BK in that thing.

Shine On,

BD