Reflections of Detroit
John Maurice … had looked forward to this trip to Detroit for a long while. It was a culmination of efforts that lasted nearly ten years from his initial thoughts of, “I could build this thing” to the final “Wow, there is it!”
John said his good byes to his wife, Allyssa and son before heading for the airport terminal. After a minor “near breach of security” when he accidentally left his travel shampoo in his suitcase, he boarded the plane to Detroit.
John arrived in Detroit meeting up with the team. Once at Cobo Hall John found himself mesmerized at the site of the Kart, he could not stop looking at her. It was captivating, John thought of all the time he spent staring holes in those “little books” for so long years ago and now he was finally standing alongside of it, complete in all it’s glory.
There was another treat in store for John, like any other car-loving guy, he’s seen American Graffiti plenty of times. On Saturday he was alerted that Candy Clark was on hand signing autographs to which John promptly walked across Cobo towards the front entrance to find her sitting at her booth smiling and greeting passersby. They spoke briefly while she signed a picture and asked John if he was having a good time at the show. John mentioned that he was part of the Kopper Kart build team and gave her a business card, “stop by if you have a chance”, John told her and went back to the truck to show the new photo to his friends. Fifteen minutes later there was Candy standing at the truck marveling at the work. Again they chatted and she soon left. John mentioned to Vic that she had stopped by, to which he replied, “Did you get a picture?” John quickly crossed the hall again to find her back at her booth trying to work and eat some dinner. John asked her if she would be so kind to come back to take a photograph. She very sweetly said, “Could I finish my dinner first?” She walked back across Cobo Hall in John’s arm. John was certainly a hero when they arrived back at the truck.
Sunday was an emotional day, the time had come to say good-bye to the Chevy kustom that John had dreamed about for so long. John walked away proud of the accomplishment that he had played a part in. On his plane trip home he had time to reflect on the weekend and found himself smiling, pleased from within what had happened in spite of those who said it couldn’t be done, John was grateful for those who supported him.
Life is full of ups and downs, John said he has learned that over the years that he has been involved in this truck and that he would not trade any of those times for anything. The friendships forged will never be forgotten within the Kopper Kart team of builders.
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Reflections of Detroit
Mark Wojcik … After the many months of intense work on the Kopper Kart Klone, Mark had the pleasure of walking into Cobo Hall and seeing the Kopper Kart on the show floor waiting for the display to be set up around it. Seeing the Kart in a place outside the shop, under different lighting conditions was a jolt for Mark. Once again there sat the Kart which came alive before his eyes. It was almost hard to believe as Mark looked at the Kart that they actually had built it, what a thrill. The show was altogether intoxicating, spectators would come up to the build team and say, “you have to come over and see the Ridler cars!” someone from the team would reply that they were pretty busy by their truck. They would further explain that at the front of the hall there would be a handful of people looking at the Ridler cars, but when you came into the back of the hall you could see a crowd around the Kopper Kart. It seemed as though the Kopper Kart was stealing the thunder of the big time guys. The Kopper Kart continued to steal the show at times with crowds two and three deep around the truck.
Indeed Mark was very pleased with the reaction the Kart was receiving, but there was one man’s attention to the Kopper Kart Klone that Mark was very touched by. Mark told us about an 80 year old gentlemen, that has been into custom cars since he was a child. This particular gent’ went from building model cars to photographing them, drawing them and attended car shows with his dad. He began by telling Mark a story, “that he drew a picture of the Kart back in 1958 and explained that he still had it!” The man told Mark that he would send him a photo of the drawing, (as of to date, Mark has not received it, but is waiting patiently for it to arrive). He further went on to explain his passion for photographing cars at shows, rod runs, etc. Last year he photographed 72 shows.
This year the 80 year old gent’ was not planning on attending the 2008 Detroit Autorama, because he didn’t feel there would be enough custom cars to be of interest to him. But the Thursday night before the show a friend telephoned him from the show and told him the Kopper Kart was there. The next day, he packed up and drove to Detroit from Illinois, just to see the Kart. The man told Mark that he wanted to see the truck before he died!
There were a large number of folks who actually thanked Mark and the other builders for building the truck and bringing it to Detroit. Mark had to reassure at least 8 different people that the Kart they were looking at was in fact, a Klone. Many people wanted to know where the builders had found it, believing it was the original Kopper Kart. One man was so convinced it was the original that Mark had to take out the scrapbook showing the team building the Klone. There were many highlights for Mark, many of the great builders of our time who Mark looked up to came by and complimented the teams work. Mark experienced a roller coaster of emotions, but the one that is outstanding is the bond that has been built within the team of builders involved in this project and their personal achievements.
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