Ken Kayser
A simple idea starts a look back.This puzzle and its many clues have been collected over the years from first admiring ’60s vehicles as a kid to assembling many model cars into my teens, and working around cars all my life with family and friends. It started back at a local hobby shop, to a body shop, to automobile dealers, to GM corporate, and back to many dealers over the years. I have always been involved with cars and being a part of car shows. Merchants and dealer sponsors always made the local shows special, and in return, the dealers were getting involved with the community they serviced. The car show invited many car and truck enthusiasts to show off their hard work, and these men and women are devoted to the car collector hobby. They always show their car with pride, but also become interactive with the people attending the event, sharing their ownership. This experience just makes you feel that conversation is still very alive and well in America, and if you have a chance, visit your local car shows.The knowledge I have acquired along the way, I believe, is vast, and time has come to put this information into an exercise to share with you. I have met many fellow car enthusiasts, collectors, repairmen, and builders through the years. As I walk through a car show or simply look at a ’60s classic, I remember it when it was new. A special friend’s memory may be triggered or a special date that was even impressed with my ride, and the conversation is always about cars and people. You can just smell the good time in the air.The car shows is where the idea came to me for this puzzle and was shown to friends and organizers as it grew over a five-year period. It has grown from the original 400 clues in its first showing to over 2,700 clues in the puzzle today. The intention was to always share the common and not-so-common automobile facts I have bouncing around in my head with interested patrons. This is what this puzzle does best. It is at times easy to solve a clue, and other times, the clue may drive you crazy until you have to look up the answer.This puzzle is fun and has been proven by car show exposure in the Delaware Valley, with many saying, “Kenny, when are you going to publish the puzzle?” Well, here it is, and I hope you can say as I have since this puzzle debuted: “This activity can bring back a memory, but it can also make a memory as you share it with a new generation at home, at school, at work, and even at your car show. I hope your family and friends that love ’60s automobiles as much as I do enjoy the puzzle, and I thank you for your purchase.”Good luck.
