Happy Anniversary

...to us. This week, the CarPort celebrates two years in business. Our first feature was published on the last Wednesday of 2004, establishing a tradition to which we've adhered, with few exceptions, ever since. In that time there have been 103 "issues" of this cybermagazine (I don't call it a blog), usually uploaded shortly after midnight on Wednesdays. (The one "missing issue" was due to launching problems from an overseas location.) Occasionally the deadline slips a day or so, sometimes to commemorate a particular anniversary but sometimes just from publisher overload.

There are many people to thank, without whom we probably wouldn't have reached the toddling age of two. First and foremost is my son Nick, whom you've met before (seen here with Fuggle the feline oveseer). Nick, webmaster of wefunkradio.com and popular DJ "Professor Groove" on radio station CKUT in Montréal, insisted I learn to write html, a dictum for which I am now grateful though I was skeptical at first. My younger son Edward is a computer engineer and helps with all my system integration problems, and their sister Harriet, who can fix Subarus equally as well as VW Beetles, is ever on the lookout for new material. Jill, my Morgan-connected spouse, understands why I'm often up late on Tuesday nights (a special prize for the first CarPorter to identify her car by make and model).

I'm blessed with a cadre of faithful contributors, including St. Louis Bureau Chief Fred Summers, Wayne Graefen, our Texas Ranger, and Dennis David, who prowls the western Connecticut beat. Steve McManus, seen here with his family, is our Kentucky Colonel, and Gregg Merksamer serves as our Professional Car Consultant. Randy Poole (at right, with Joel Horne) is our Blue Ridge reporter-in-training. Without their regular supply of new ideas and photos the CarPort would be duller indeed.

There are two individuals who've earned the title "Godfather of the CarPort," having served as inspiration for this multifaceted medium. Joris Bergsma (at left, receiving award from yours truly), founder and editor of PreWarCar.com, furnished the muse for a website worth re-visiting. In 2003, PreWarCar became the first website to earn the E.P. Ingersoll Award from the Society of Automotive Historians for presentation of automotive history in other than print media. Joris does daily updates, a schedule I could not manage, but the CarPort regime of weekly installments has worked for me. Dave Duricy, creator and webmaster of DeSotoland.com, gave me the encouragement to take a concept that played well in print journalism and give it the additional depth that cyberspace can provide.

In the last two years, hopefully, the CarPort has told you something you didn't know about self-propelled vehicles and their history. I certainly have learned a lot from it. Interestingly, the feature that provoked the most comment was the item on Gravely tractors. Many regular CarPorters, it seems, have Gravelys and are very fond of them.

The celebration will continue through this weekend, when I'll pour Angus the Hudson a glass of Marvel Mystery Oil. Then we'll see the new year in together. I hope that 2007 imparts more inspiration and enjoyment to all of us.