About Beatrice
A gentleman was browsing the internet and spotted an old antique car that caught his eye. He thought then that it would be fun to have a car such as that, so he placed a bid and won the auction. After receiving delivery of the car, he realized that he bought the car on impulse and didn’t really need or want the car after all. He is not really a “car guy”. This was March of 2023.
He gave his personal assistant the task of trying to sell the car. She did an internet search and found Smoky Mountain Model A Club and made a phone call to our President Bob to ask how she could sell the car. Bob told her that the club had a monthly newsletter that included a classified ad and she could place the ad there. The ad started running in April.
David Rose joined the club in May, attended his first meeting in May and volunteered to be the new newsletter editor during that first meeting. The ad ran for a couple more months until July when David realized that he should call all of the classified ads to be sure they are still for sale and to check on any updates for the ads.
David called Erika, the person listed about the 1930 Roadster, and asked if there are any changes to be made in her ad. She said, “Yes”, “I want to reduce the price from $20,000 to $13,000.” That is a significant drop in price. Erika was obviously highly motivated to sell this car. David asked Erika to send a picture of the car. Maybe the picture would help sell the car. When David saw the picture of this car, his jaw hit the floor. Realizing he could possibly buy this car for $13,000 himself, his blood pressure went up a notch or two. After seeing the picture, David called Erika back to ask if he could come up to Knoxville from Athens to see the car that next day.
David fell in love at first sight with the car. David and Erika conversed at length about the car while David was examining it. David realized that it is an older restoration with some dings and chips in the paint from driving it, but everything was there, and he thought it looked like the car for him. Especially for $13,000. David learned that he and the seller are both Vietnam War Veterans, thus the connection was made. David told Erika of all of the War Veteran volunteering and mentoring he does for Post War PTSD and how he tries to improve the lives of our veterans after war.
At one point, David worked up the courage to ask Erika if the seller would accept $10,000 for the car. Erika started laughing and said “Yes”. “In fact, just this morning as he was leaving the house for his office, he said to just sell the car for $10,000 to David if he wants it.” So, our price numbers matched up. At that point, David became emotional realizing that he could actually buy this car for $10,000. David cried in front of Erika. It was too overwhelming for David. David committed to buying the car for $10,000. David returned home thinking that he would need to scrounge up $10,000 to buy the car even if it meant going to the bank to borrow money. David was still in shock the rest of the day and did nothing to find the $10,000.
That next morning, Erika called David at 8:15. She said she told the seller of their conversation and that David was also a Vietnam War Veteran and he would have to go to the bank to borrow the money. The seller said to just give the car to David and charge him the $2,500 commission that the seller promised if she could sell the car for him. So, David ended up buying this car for $2,500 when it was just purchased for $23,000.
What an amazing moment that was when David learned that the car was being given to him by the seller and all he had the pay was the sales commission. David tried not to cry again this time.
Arrangements were made for David to travel to Knoxville to meet the seller and pay him for the car. During that meeting, David made a formal military presentation to the seller and awarded him a Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Medal with a framed certificate and lapel pin. The seller was moved and very appreciative. He said he got the best part of this deal.
Before the car was in David’s possession, he located 120 professional photographs of the car online from the auction. He used those pictures to write a book about the car and he designed a website for the car. http://30Bea.com The car is in David’s possession now. It needs a few minor TLC items, but before long, it will be on the road to enjoy and show.
David realized that the car is colored like a Bumble Bee. In considering a name for the car, he wanted to select a name with a “Bee” sound in it. The first name that David thought of was “Beatrice”, so he looked up the meaning of the word.
“Beatrice” means “She who makes one happy and blessed”. The predecessor name to Beatrice is a Latin name “Viatrix” which means “Voyager”. Both names are perfect for this car. David and Beverley refer to the car as “Bea” for a short nickname. Hence the Bumble Bee look alike.
Hopefully David and Beverley can debut the car to the club at the club picnic in September 2023. Beatrice has been invited and accepted to appear in the Concours d’ Elegance in the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival in October. Go here for details and dates: http://ChattanoogaMotorcarFestival.com
David has been working on building a Speedster, but that project car will be sold and replaced with this Roadster completed restoration. There is no room for two Model A’s. What an amazing story and gift.
He gave his personal assistant the task of trying to sell the car. She did an internet search and found Smoky Mountain Model A Club and made a phone call to our President Bob to ask how she could sell the car. Bob told her that the club had a monthly newsletter that included a classified ad and she could place the ad there. The ad started running in April.
David Rose joined the club in May, attended his first meeting in May and volunteered to be the new newsletter editor during that first meeting. The ad ran for a couple more months until July when David realized that he should call all of the classified ads to be sure they are still for sale and to check on any updates for the ads.
David called Erika, the person listed about the 1930 Roadster, and asked if there are any changes to be made in her ad. She said, “Yes”, “I want to reduce the price from $20,000 to $13,000.” That is a significant drop in price. Erika was obviously highly motivated to sell this car. David asked Erika to send a picture of the car. Maybe the picture would help sell the car. When David saw the picture of this car, his jaw hit the floor. Realizing he could possibly buy this car for $13,000 himself, his blood pressure went up a notch or two. After seeing the picture, David called Erika back to ask if he could come up to Knoxville from Athens to see the car that next day.
David fell in love at first sight with the car. David and Erika conversed at length about the car while David was examining it. David realized that it is an older restoration with some dings and chips in the paint from driving it, but everything was there, and he thought it looked like the car for him. Especially for $13,000. David learned that he and the seller are both Vietnam War Veterans, thus the connection was made. David told Erika of all of the War Veteran volunteering and mentoring he does for Post War PTSD and how he tries to improve the lives of our veterans after war.
At one point, David worked up the courage to ask Erika if the seller would accept $10,000 for the car. Erika started laughing and said “Yes”. “In fact, just this morning as he was leaving the house for his office, he said to just sell the car for $10,000 to David if he wants it.” So, our price numbers matched up. At that point, David became emotional realizing that he could actually buy this car for $10,000. David cried in front of Erika. It was too overwhelming for David. David committed to buying the car for $10,000. David returned home thinking that he would need to scrounge up $10,000 to buy the car even if it meant going to the bank to borrow money. David was still in shock the rest of the day and did nothing to find the $10,000.
That next morning, Erika called David at 8:15. She said she told the seller of their conversation and that David was also a Vietnam War Veteran and he would have to go to the bank to borrow the money. The seller said to just give the car to David and charge him the $2,500 commission that the seller promised if she could sell the car for him. So, David ended up buying this car for $2,500 when it was just purchased for $23,000.
What an amazing moment that was when David learned that the car was being given to him by the seller and all he had the pay was the sales commission. David tried not to cry again this time.
Arrangements were made for David to travel to Knoxville to meet the seller and pay him for the car. During that meeting, David made a formal military presentation to the seller and awarded him a Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Medal with a framed certificate and lapel pin. The seller was moved and very appreciative. He said he got the best part of this deal.
Before the car was in David’s possession, he located 120 professional photographs of the car online from the auction. He used those pictures to write a book about the car and he designed a website for the car. http://30Bea.com The car is in David’s possession now. It needs a few minor TLC items, but before long, it will be on the road to enjoy and show.
David realized that the car is colored like a Bumble Bee. In considering a name for the car, he wanted to select a name with a “Bee” sound in it. The first name that David thought of was “Beatrice”, so he looked up the meaning of the word.
“Beatrice” means “She who makes one happy and blessed”. The predecessor name to Beatrice is a Latin name “Viatrix” which means “Voyager”. Both names are perfect for this car. David and Beverley refer to the car as “Bea” for a short nickname. Hence the Bumble Bee look alike.
Hopefully David and Beverley can debut the car to the club at the club picnic in September 2023. Beatrice has been invited and accepted to appear in the Concours d’ Elegance in the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival in October. Go here for details and dates: http://ChattanoogaMotorcarFestival.com
David has been working on building a Speedster, but that project car will be sold and replaced with this Roadster completed restoration. There is no room for two Model A’s. What an amazing story and gift.