This will be post #4,699 for me since starting CC in 2011. And it may be a while before post #4,700 goes up, as I’m retiring from CC. This has been a long time coming, and it finally arrived. And I’m very happy to know that I leave CC in very capable hands: Jim Klein, assisted by Jim Cavanaugh, Jason Shafer and the rest of the CC regulars (and other Contributors).
There’s not really a whole lot to say except that I’m burned out and need a serious break from blogging after twelve years. Possibly a permanent one. We’ll see. When I feel truly motivated to post something, I will. But I’ve learned it’s not good to feel pressure to keep up at something when the enthusiasm is missing. I don’t work that way, literally.
It’s time to spend more time reading books to recharge the mental batteries, and more outdoor activities. But most of all, just not to feel the pressure to keep posting.
And after 17,263 comments, I’m going to be cutting that back too. I’ll be popping in and out as the mood hits, but without any pressure.
I’m extremely gratified that CC has developed such a strong group of regular and occasional Contributors who seem eager to keep the site going. Jim needed a new challenge in his life, and I was more than happy to give it to him. 🙂 He has a lot of passion and energy, which is what it takes.
Thank you all for this great long ride. It’s been absolutely wonderful; I’ve learned more about old cars and automotive history than I ever dreamed possible. And met a lot of wonderful like-minded fellow travelers. CC has become an institution, with an incredible storehouse of information in its archives. I feel a very strong sense of stewardship about that, and any changes at CC will be made with that in mind. Preserving the site for the public good is the key priority.
I want to thank those that have donated to the site; if you chose to continue to do so, please know that it will be used to keep paying for the server and related support services as needed. And of course all of you contributors who have shared your wonderful personal stories and automotive knowledge. I determined from the start that CC would be a collaborative effort, and it quickly became one. And that’s what will allow it to continue. There’s many of you out there that have stories and knowledge to share; please step forward at this time when Jim and the others could really use a hand, or two. Sharing is caring, and if you care about CC, that’s the best way to show it.
I feel like a proud parent seeing their kid drive off alone for the first time. Safe travels!
Well, we’ve known this day was coming sooner than later. We came for the cars, and stayed for the people. It’s been really great reading your work, and getting to know you personally and even meeting you in person.
I hope our paths cross again, enjoy your retirement
And the three J’s, couldn’t happen to a better trio. Can we renegotiate our CC company car allowance. Perhaps a 50% increase?
Well said, and I concur!
Ditto
Good for you, Paul. You’ve built something wonderful and sustainable here. Congrats!
Paul-
I’m both saddened and pleased to read this announcement. Saddened because you are Curbside Classics, but pleasesd because man should not stagnate, but always pursue the next challenge.
You can also take pride in the community you’ve created and am confident CC will live on.
As a once regular, now occasional contributor, I’m very familiar with the pressure of publication, and completely understand your desire to step away.
I’ll leave it at that, except to say you will be missed!
Thank you Paul for creating this site and allowing people like me to find other like minded individuals who appreciate all the “humdrum” cars out there as well as the truly exceptional ones. CC has been a part of my daily life for about 6 years now. You have brought some happiness to each of those days for me by starting this site. It’s nice to know there’s a place where other people get just as excited as I do about a late 80’s B-body wagon or a 560 SEL!
Good luck to you Paul!
This is a great website–interesting, informative, and friendly.
Jim Klein and company have big shoes to fill, and I’m confident they will continue the CC tradition of excellence, and providing a great place for car lovers to visit and learn and inform.
All the best to you, and good luck to the new crew!
Paul.
I’ve only been around on this site since 2015, so i don’t know alot of the old school. It’s a good thing you’re retiring for yourself to do more things. We will miss you man.
The other gentleman at CC will be just as good. I’m confindent in that.
Best of luck to you man.
Being the office drone that I am, someone retiring means one thing — cake in the conference room. 🙂 Enjoy your retirement, Paul!
Nice but it should be Stephanie’s Black Forest cake – I’m still drooling over Paul’s description of that cake, not too sweet, European style. Can’t seem to find it made that way here anymore.
I hope this means the two of them will be traveling more and maybe we’ll get some reports back; those are always fun.
Cheers!
Thank you for this wonderful site, and best wishes for your retirement.
Enjoy your retirement, you’ve done well to create a worthwhile, civil website that will be sustained. I’ve learned a great deal from all the posting and comments here, can’t say that for every automotive history site available.
Take your ease, recharge, chime in when the spirit moves. You truly have done well!
Thank you. This site has been a refuge and my happy place since its beginning; actually, even before that when it was a regular feature in its previous incarnation at the other site.
Thanks for everything. Wish you peace and comfort in your retirement.
Enjoy your retirement Paul, you have done a magnificent job here and we are all grateful for it.
And thanks for every time you helped me polishing my writings and every time you backed me up in my views.
Fair Winds and Following Seas.
Thanks and good luck Paul.
Sorry to see you go Paul, but I can well understand the rationale. You’ve created a unique site, one with consistently intelligent and interesting content, and ultimately that comes from your vision and direction. I hope we see the occasional piece from you in the future – a Paul Niedermeyer byline always guarantees an interesting, and often fascinating, read.
Thanks and best wishes.
I’m one of those readers who was in touch with Paul after he left TTAC and encouraged him to create this site. Here’s what he ever so kindly wrote me in 2011:
“Did I ever tell you that it was your comment on my farewell piece at TTAC that crystallized my decision to start CC? I’ve been wrestling with this on and off for years. As long as I own this little fleet of rental houses, it will always be an ongoing issue, but I’m done trying to pretend I don’t enjoy this a hundred times more. Thanks for helping to push me over the edge on that! :)”
Ever since Paul wrote that, I’ve been gratified, but also felt a little guilty for having landed him in all this. I’m happy knowing how everything turned out.
I’m sure you’ll be around here, Paul, as well as having many many years to enjoy your travels, so maybe it’s a bit somber to talk about “legacy.” But ever since 2011, this has been the Internet’s “must read” web site, the one I send friends links to, and the only one I know of with a long-lasting, non-contentious commentariat. And considering the nation’s political climate, have we ever needed that!
If I hadn’t been a car fanatic before, I probably would have become one after reading CC, just because!
It’s hard to build something. It’s harder to build a community of people.
It’s much harder still to moderate such a community to ensure that the backbone is respect and tolerance for the others. The contributors and commenters that feature their ideas in CC live up to that standard. And obviously, Paul set and monitored the path from the beginning. As DougD says in the first comment, we came for the cars, and stayed for the people. People is what everything humane is about.
Paul, I’m very grateful to you. You have been most courteous to me when I reached for questions. I’ve seen you weather tense situations with comments that were not easy at all. And, most of all, we must be grateful to those who give us their time to build things we learnf from and enjoy.
So long Paul, and thanks for all the fish.
Congrats! Let us know when you trade that Scion for a LeSabre Limited! 🙂
Paul, in your blog you say “Thank you all for this great long ride. It’s been absolutely wonderful; I’ve learned more about old cars and automotive history than I ever dreamed possible. And met a lot of wonder like-minded fellow travelers.”
In fact, we fellow travellers should be saying exactly that to you. Thanks for your efforts, in your blogs and helping others with their’s, in keeping CC as a quality source with relevant and varied content.
Enjoy your recharge, and I look forward to occasional inputs. I hope we contributors can keep the CC flag flying high.
thank you Paul.
It’s been said here many times before, but what you have created here is nothing short of amazing Paul, and everyone else. I have been unable to post lately due to work and family obligations, but CC is the one website I visit daily since I first discovered it. I have the highest respect for this place and everyone who keeps it going.
So Farewell, Paul, safe travels, and come visit us anytime!
Jim, Jim and Jason – off you are to a great start but wait, you have started a long time ago, so – keep those engines firing!
Thank you Paul for starting this wonderful site, one of my daily ‘go-tos’. I hope that you’ll still come back an enjoy it as both a visitor and occasional contributor, though with the added satisfaction of being able to say ‘I started that’.
Thank you Paul and good luck!
Paul, thank you very much for all the time and hard work you’ve put in this unique place on the web and for pulling me aboard the CCCC (Curbside Classic Contributors Club). That was in the spring of 2014, it has truly given an extra and very pleasant dimension to visiting museums, shows, events and my strolls through the neighborhood.
All the best to you and your family, I certainly hope your name keeps popping up here in the future!
Now let’s all do our best to keep this show on the road!
Best car site on the web Paul, you built something truly great, enjoy your retirement and hope to see you back occasionally. Churr.
Congratulations on your retirement!
I have already mentioned this to Paul but it was been a real growing journey for me to be a part of CC. I think in the early days my contributions required heavy editing but over the years I feel I have become better at writing. That impacted not just my material on the site but throughout many aspects of life.
Plus the opportunity to be exposed to some many of the good people that this site brings together has been an experience all to its self.
As an occasional contributor (less often than I would like), thank you, Paul, for building this forum for all of us with similar interests to get together.
From its humble origins, I believe Curbside Classic is now the single largest repository of automotive knowledge on the Internet. Any automotive Google search will bear this out – CC is almost always near the top.
You should be very proud of what you’ve built, and confident that it is in good hands.
It was an absolute honor to meet you last year in August. The Baltimore CC Meet-Up was a personal highlight of the summer for me last year, and I will remember it fondly.
We knew you were scaling back, but it somehow still seemed so far off. I’m both happy and sad at the same time! Happy for you that you will have more time for new adventures and happy that you created this amazing place on the web where we all can gather. Sad because, well… we’ll seriously miss you man! Please don’t be a stranger.
It’s good that the site has been left in very good hands with Jim, JPC, and Jason.
Take care and safe travels to you and Stephanie!
Best of luck, Paul. What you’ve built here is something that I check on periodically throughout my workday to break from the monotony and CC has been a wealth of knowledge for the 5 years since I discovered the site. You chose well with the 3 J’s, they’re proven capable.
THANK YOU PAUL for all these years of CC. What a wonderful community it is, and it is due to YOUR tireless efforts. I couldn’t have said it better – who knew that our collective knowledge about even the most ridiculous of automotive heaps could be shared like this, and for so many years.
It’s another milestone, I suppose, just like when you left TTAC to start this glorious machine, and when Robert Farago left TTAC (and that site was never the same BTW); and all I can say is what a huge debt of gratitude we all feel towards you for all these years.
Also, much much gratitude towards all of the others who have been so heavily involved – and are now running the show. Thank you Jim Klein, JPC, Jason Shafer, and many more.
Cheers!
And ditto to that too. No need for me to add more than my humble and heartfelt thanks.
Thanks, Paul, for starting CC and for your stewardship all these years..and for recruiting a talented cadre who will carry on!
Still, you’ll be missed and it will be great to see an occasional by-line from you!
Enjoy “retirement” though I suspect your real estate interests will keep you busy, hopefully not infringing on your much-deserved time in your Ram conversion van.
Paul, as others have said, many thanks to you for creating something unique and lasting here – great articles about cars and other topics, and a great community, including the occasional gathering! I started commenting here about 4 years ago, and it is still the only forum that I participate in, though I view many others.
In business today, it is becoming rare to give any thought to succession planning. I am most grateful that you have cultivated knowledge and passion in Jim, JPC, Jason and others so that the site may continue. You are a class act and will be missed, but those you leave to carry on your legacy are class acts in their own right. Best wishes on the road ahead, whatever it might hold!
Makes sense Paul.
CC is a tremendous achievement you can be very proud of. Not least its community, which will surely continue to keep things both lively and refreshingly good spirited. To have kept CC flying on top of your primary work must have been terribly demanding at times.
Thanks very much indeed for all you’ve done on CC. Enjoy!
And not least, thanks to Jim Klein & Co.. for picking up the keys.
Thank you Paul, for a wonderful job. Good luck in whatever’s next.
Enjoy! Hopefully you’ll at least stop in and give us periodic updates on your travels in the Promaster and some of the things you see along the way, whether automotive or not.
Well just a short note from me. As a dedicated reader from the TTAC days, thank you for everything!
Thank You Paul for creating what I think is the best automotive site on the internet. I will miss reading your articles. Hopefully you drop in every once in a while.
Thank you so much Paul! I have been reading your stories since TTAC, and eagerly followed you here, but this is my first comment. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the site; it has given me great joy to reminisce about my own past car experiences while reading about yours and other’s. You are the only website that is whitelisted from my adblocker, that’s how much I love this site. I wish you all the best, and look forward to the new team carrying on your legacy.
Thank you,
Joe
Welcome to the commenters! Hope you make a habit of it!
Thanks for making this. I can’t believe I’ve been checking in here for 8 years! This has been the friendliest place to discuss cars that I’ve ever encountered and it has entirely to do with your diligent and often thankless moderation.
I’ve found in the last five years that this is the sweet spot of modern social media – islands of passion, disconnected from the ads and oft-toxic brigading of the gigantic entities like Facebook and Twitter, with regular comment pool sizes hovering around a medium-sized high school or business. It’s how we were built to talk.
I’m happy that Paul is giving himself a well-deserved change of pace. Curbside Classic looks like a huge amount of work. I’m also saddened about his retirement because Paul is a “purple squirrel.” This is an HR term that describes someone with an utterly unique mix of experience and talent.
Curbside Classic has been a breath of fresh air at a time when the rest of the automotive history media has been rather staid. To me Paul’s most important decision was to treat readers as thinking adults. Sure, Curbside Classic has been an entertaining way to get my automotive nostalgia fix. However, it has also offered a steady stream of provocative historical analysis. That’s surprisingly rare among the big-name websites and Facebook pages, which seem more focused on “What do you see here?” or “If you had to pick one” click bait.
Paul has never been afraid to call a spade a spade, such as with the “Deadly Sins” series. I hope that this part of Curbside Classic will survive his retirement. I could contribute some articles.
It’s good to see that a solid crew is picking up where Paul left off. Thank you, Jim and friends, for keeping a really good thing going.
You will be missed Paul. Your website is perhaps the most valuable source of anecdotal and biographical information on such an incredibly wide and diverse collection of automobile and transportation related topics on the web. Virtually every automotive subject is covered here.
Hopefully, you will continue to add you insight to the latest automotive news, as your expertise and insight is invaluable to all topics on your site.
I will admit, I used to wonder the past several months if there was anyone in the CC universe that could fill your shoes. The immediate answer is ‘no’ of course. There is no one with your breadth of knowledge, and balanced perspective on so much automotive information. Plus, your excellent editing and writing skills. And patience. Honestly, I thought your pace of pumping out 4 to 5 fresh topics every day, rain or shine, was herculean. While still living a life away from this labour of love. As well as professionally moderating the often lively comments. Grooming a consistently excellent comment section, worthy of the great stories.
You made a great choice choosing Jim as the new managing boss, with JC, and Jason completing the trio. Each are very knowledgeable, and people friendly like you. I wish you, Jim, JC, and Jason much success, and enjoyment in future endeavours!
Thanks, Paul, and good luck to you, Jim, JP and Jason.
Paul, your body of work and the thoughtfulness by which you’ve built it has enriched me time and time again. Thank you. I’ve enjoyed your creativity and candor, and especially stories about buses, Austria, your dad, boys, and wife. Every time I see a vintage recreational vehicle, I think of you. And we’ve never even met.
The internet is at its best with Curbside Classic. Grace and peace.
I fear Jim might admire and focus on 124s as much as Paul.
Thank you for this great site! Know that your Promaster updates will be missed. I am glad to see the site being led on by the very capable hands mentioned above.
-Bertolini
It sure has been a pleasure reading this website over the years and it sure was nice meeting you in person Paul. I wish you happy travels on your future voyages. I am sure the three Js will do a fine job of running the website.
Thanks for the ride, Paul. I was a late comer to CC and was immediately hooked when I saw the banner: Every car has a story.
Paul, congrats on the decision and good luck in your future endeavors.
To the Three J’s (which sounds like a Saturday night in my college years), the best of luck with this. I know you guys got this.
How odd it seems to have such a personal creation moving on sans creator! But it is an inevitable day, and you have hinted a bit at exhaustion. That is more than understandable.
Such an idiosyncratic place here, one that sets a high bar, but equally includes those who get things a bit wrong (politely, until that itself gets exhausted). These features alone make it unique. It’s like a club of kindly experts where the fact of that expertise is not lorded over others who aren’t. There isn’t any other car site where the bores and the aggressive don’t spoil the place at some point. That is a great product of the (occasionally startling) personal openness with which you have written here. I believe too that that has inspired such fine work from so many. Personal yet highly communal, which is also unique.
And ofcourse, endlessly, entertainingly informative.
I suspect, with a touch of sadness, that you won’t be back. You have have described that about yourself before. Since that same singularity has powered you do to do this, and much else as well, this day had to arrive. It was part of the price of having the place at all.
You leave it all in very fine hands.
Thanks for the site, Paul. It is not overblown to say that it is a proper, meaningful contribution to the world, and a daily reminder that generous folk are everywhere, despite what too much of the internet might seem to tell us.
Maybe time to divest the rentals now, and put up with some bank paying a modest return (and attending to the plumbing and wiring of finance), and get in that van and go west. And east, and all the other ways too.
Enjoy.
Thank you, Paul, and I hope this gives you more time to travel and see our wonderful country. We still need to meet in Dayton and tour the Air Force Museum and see the Packard Museum. If you do come, I’m sure we can also find an old John Deere for you to drive, or maybe even a Farmall Super M.
My bit to add is to express my wonderment at how you have been able to keep this such a positive site, dedicated to old vehicles and the people who love them, at a time our country and its digital airways have become filled with such acrimony. I do not know what kind of “hall monitoring” you have had to do behind the scenes, but I have learned from watching you immediately and directly challenge the negative voices as they have emerged. I hope that we can keep this aspect of the site going, it has been such a haven for those of us who need this pleasant beginning to our days. Happy Trails!
I thought nothing could top Collectible Automobile in writing the histories of great and not so great cars – then I found Curbside Classic. Paul, your contribution to auto history has been epic – whether stories like the Chrysler B-bodies, the Deadly Sin series or many one off articles, I have learned tremendously by the writings of yourself, your fellow authors and the many posters. I wish you the best of luck in the next chapter of your life and hope you will continue to drop in now and then.
Thank you Paul for the the best automotive blog bar none. The breadth and quality of the articles at CC are truly second to none. Without your encouragement I wouldn’t have started writing at CC, so I will forever be thankful to you. Wishing you all the best in a well deserved retirement.
To the three J’s, I am looking forward to continue to contribute to CC and helping in any way I can. Although summer is a very busy time for me, I have a few articles in the works, that I hope to get up and running soon.
Curbside Classic is a favourite read with my morning coffee on the weekend, and during the week as well. The stories and photos from everyone are always top-notch, and I always enjoy throwing in a comment or two from my own experiences with the cars I’ve owned, driven, and seen during my travels. Your articles in particular are always a pleasure to read, and they’ll be missed. Have a great retirement with your wife and family and your new camper van, and we’ll look forward to an occasional update on your post-CC activities. It sounds like you still have plenty to do, and though you’re retiring from the site, I can imagine that you and your ‘66 F-100 will still be well-occupied. Enjoy.
I’ve only posted some comments years ago but i keep checking this site almost daily as it is to me the best source of automotive culture on the web, and, as an italian with a deep passion for old american cars, it truly puts things on perspective ! You’ve done an amazing job, thanks for it !!!
Best wishes Paul! It’s been a classic trip!
Your articles have always been great fun to read; you are a master with words and observations.
Just like with a favorite TV show, Seinfeld for me, or Fawlty Towers, it’s always just as much fun to rewatch the whole run …
Have fun, with whatever you were about to do and many thanks.
Thanks Paul for the great job you’ve done, relax and enjoy.
And Jim, I’m sure that you’ll uphold the quality of a great site
Yes, sometimes it’s time to move on to other things. DO contribute when you feel the urge to do so, without pressure!
And thanks! You were very gracious to me about my one contribution (and I plead guilty to slacking; my intentions were to contribute posts regularly).
CC is on my short list of sites visited daily, without exception, thanks to your countless hours of effort, Paul.
A treasured memory is getting to meet you in Dearborn–you’d traveled far and were under the weather, but couldn’t have been nicer about everything.
I’ll keep an eye out for your “voice” now and then, and will try to contribute another something now that I’ve retired from my “day job.”
As to your closing comment, here’s the best little “handing over the keys” ad I could find. Sorry it’s not a ’53 model like the two of us.
Warmest regards—and in admiration…
I happened oppon this sight 6 or 7 yrs ago doing research on a car. I then became hooked to see that there was more out there like me who enjoyed the knowledge of cars. Thank you Paul for starting this wonderful space to share and learn about our passion for all things automotive.
Paul, it has been an honour to rub virtual shoulders with you on this exceptional creative effort that is Curbside Classic. You have created a global community of spirit and a repository of knowledge that shines brightly on the web – not merely a blog, but an institution. Few people have done this and fewer still know how and when to pass the tiller to a new generation.
I’m sure we will see you again in due course, though. You can take Paul out of CC, but you can’t take the CC out of Paul. In the meantime, enjoy the reading and the hiking. Bis später !
Bon voyage.
All of readers and the new leaders must work extra hard to keep CC the most civil site on the web.
Dear Paul,
A huge THANK YOU for the most enjoyable and informative automotive site on the web! I started reading your articles on TTAC and CC has become the only site I read daily.
Wishing you all the best for the future and success to Jim and the “new” team…..
Wow. This almost feels a bit like high school graduation and saying “bye, for now” to an influential teacher/mentor.
Good for you, though, Paul. Enjoy your various projects and travels, as you should.
I smile when I think about having discovered Curbside Classic five years ago, when I started posting pictures to the Cohort on Flickr, then hesitating for months and months before taking a stab at writing and submitting my own posts (and doing it wrong, initially – LOL), to making it a regular / semi-regular self-discipline.
Great community has been built here, and even if I don’t agree with everyone else’s opinions all the time (that’s why they’re opinions – by definition, they cannot be “wrong”), being here has been a mostly respectful, informative, and entertaining place most of the time.
I enjoy it immensely. I hope you drop by from time to time, even if not to comment, but just to see what’s going on. All the best from Chicago.
And to the Jims and Jason (and the others), I have 100% total faith in you dudes.
Thank you Paul!
One of my biggest fears when I found this site was someday you would retire and it would be no more.
Thank you for making sure it stays open and thank you for all the years of effort to make it what it is today.
Enjoy retirement and hopefully you will still update us once in a while on how life with the Neidermayers is going
Bill Shields
Thank you for all of the great work you have done here Paul. I cannot imagine how many hours I have spent on this site over the years. Enjoy your well deserved retirement.
Congratulations, Paul! Thank you for both creating this special place, and also for ensuring that we’ll move forward even after your retirement. I know that CC is in competent hands, and I’m looking forward to the future here.
I’m sure it’s satisfying to look back on all these years of hard work and see that you’ve created a forum quite unlike any other. I feel privileged to contribute my own little piece of what’s written about and discussed here, and I hope to contribute for many more years.
Wishing you, Stephanie and your whole family an enjoyable and relaxing retirement from blogging!
Paul, y’oughtta be proud of this what you’ve created. It’s usually the first and last site I look at every day. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed contributing, and I hope and plan to carry on. Happy trails and miles of smiles to you and yours, and I hope you won’t be a stranger around here.
Congratulations on your achievement and many thanks for all your hard work! It provided me and the community you’ve built a welcome, daily respite and indulgence.
I wish you blissful days ahead. Life is indeed change…
And all the best to the incoming leadership crew!
Thanks for everything, Paul.
You will be missed!
I have enjoyed being a reader since day one (or maybe it was day two) and a contributor for the last couple years. I hope to continue for a good while yet. Paul, you have created an excellent site that is not only about the cars, but has also become a community. The positive tone and the smart commenters who are almost always good about being agreeable even when they don’t agree are fantastic and all too rare in this online age. You have done a great job keeping it a mostly politics-free zone and I hope that will always be the case.
I wish you well in your CC retirement and hope we will see you here in whatever capacity you choose in the future!
Paul, I’ve been hooked on this site for a while now, to the extent of even having gone back through many of the early posted here and at TTAC. Thank you very much for the hours of pleasure you have provided me. Your voice will be missed around here, but I hope that the site you have established will continue to flourish.
Life is one darn thing after another.
The trick to doing life well is realizing when the scale of anything tips from enjoyment to drudgery and moving on to the next thing.
You created something unique and enjoyable for many of us. We’ve never met. I only occasionally comment, but common interests change strangers into friends.
Danke und viel Glück.
Paul, best wishes for a well-earned retirement. But more importantly, both congratulations and thanks are in order for the small miracle you have worked in creating this site. To echo many of the comments above, I have found Curbside Classic to be an oasis on the internet. The combination of knowledge, analysis, civil discussion, and downright interesting storytelling on display here is rare even among the best publications. What you’ve done here is inspiring, and I’m glad to see it has inspired not just one but several of your collaborators to keep the project going. Good luck in your future endeavors, and like everyone else I hope you do pop in now and again.
Yes, eight years dealing with a blog is certainly a long time when done daily. In dog years that would equal about 50 years for a large breed. Woof!!! Time to relax a little and do some reading which I can well appreciate as I would like to except I run my own practice and reading is pretty much medical related.
So, on a final note as per a well known reporter: Good night and good luck…
Paul:
Enjoy your Promaster and your emeritus status, and I personally look forward to your participation in the forum without pressure, like the majority of us. We’ve enjoyed your company and will continue to do so into the future as others continue to put forth great content for our mutual enjoyment and benefit.
I wish the best to the new leaders as they take up the daunting task of keeping up the high level of well-considered content within this rare, inclusive, and supportive environment tended by you until now, Paul, which engenders a multiplicity of perspectives, which I and many other here obviously value.
You are a human Wikipedia of things with wheels! Enjoy your new life. I might add, I just got back from exploring beautiful eastern Oregon!
Thank you, Paul, for your many years keeping the Curbside Classic fires going. You have kept this a place where all are welcome who have a love for cars as they serve us, and you have kept it a calm place away from drama, focused on the cars we love.
Enjoy your retirement, whatever form it may take!
Paul thank you for this great gift you have given us.
This site has been a daily go-to for me for about 4 years now. I have learned much about, well, far more than just cars. There have been so many interesting posts on subject matter only tangentially related to cars and the lively, civilized comments often contain some real nuggets that are a constant source of surprise and delight. I appreciate the personal histories, often depicted in startlingly clear and frank language that sets the tone for open and respectful discourse that is refreshing these days. It is a singular creation, so you leave behind some very large shoes to fill, which Messers Klein, Cavanaugh and Shafer are amply equipped to do. I truly enjoyed meeting all four of you in Detroit two years ago.
I wish you the very best in retirement, Paul, although something tells me that it will be mere moments before you find something else on which to focus your energies and intellect.
Several attempts to post my congrats and I keep getting teh “you are posting to quickly” message. Sigh.
Thanks for many a good read.
Well done Paul! Keeping this going day in day out for so long, and maintaining the level of quality – just amazing.
Paul, this feels like the end of an era, but I know you are handing the “reigns” to the right people. I know they, along with all the wonderful contributors, will continue your tradition of a civilized and well balanced place to share our love for all things automotive and then some. Thanks for all your hard work and passion as the father of Curbside Classic!
Paul:
Damn. As I drifted in and out of sleep early this morning, my subconsciousness was somehow imbued with a murky dream about CC. When I woke up my first instinct was to check the site. I used my phone to read CC this morning, at my bedside. I never do that. Something was different today. Almost like a sort of divine warning, if I believed in that sort of thing.
My first instinct was that the headline that flashed before me was some sort of April Fool’s joke. I didn’t believe my own eyes. If I’d’ve had half a sense in me, I would have read the warning signs; the hints you’ve dropped, the frequency of your posts decreasing. Maybe I was in denial. But I was blindsided this morning. Like a freight train to the temple.
I’ve had the rest of the day to digest this news; to mull it over and dissect it inside my mind. But it’s still a stranger to me. CC has been a bastion of continuity in my twisting and turning life; while the world changed around me, this site never did. Always fascinating, always thought-provoking, always entertaining.
And the thing is, I know deep down that it’ll stay that way; the editors and contributors here are second-to-none. But it feels like a bit of CC has died today. More than a bit, actually; quite a lot. It’s lost its heart. And it’ll get a new one; and the new one’s gonna work more-or-less like the old one did, and I have no doubt it will continue to be the best automotive website in the world. And I mean that, really. But it won’t ever be the same. How could it?
I’m a car guy. We all are, here. Car guys and car gals, and all sorts of car people inbetween. But I’m a strange sort of car guy. I don’t really give a damn about the usual suspects: about mechanical intricacies, about flashy new cars or perfectly-restored old ones. I don’t go to car shows, or to car museums. And each one of those is a strike against my ability to find a car community that I belong to.
I care about the survivors. The obscure. The forgotten. The cars who, if they could speak, would have vibrant and eclectic stories to tell. About the things they’ve seen and the hard lives they’ve lived. I care about telling their stories, and preserving their image. And that’s exactly what Curbside Classic is all about. More specifically, it’s what you were all about.
That’s why I’m still struggling to come to terms with this. I feel like I’ve lost a mentor and a close friend, even though I’ve never met you. But every time I read one of your posts, I felt a kinship in the way we thought and the things we valued. And that’s rare, for me.
I haven’t engaged with this website enough over the years because, frankly, I usually don’t feel like I have anything to contribute. I’m not old enough to have experiences with these cars, I’m not wise enough to know more than superficial details about them, and I’m not confident enough to weigh in unless I’m completely sure that what I’m saying is worthwhile. I just take pictures, mostly. And read.
And I will continue to read. But starting tomorrow, it’ll feel like a different place for me.
Paul, I do hope you’ll drop by now and then; to read, to comment, and to remain a part of the community. If not, then farewell. Safe travels, and godspeed. We’ll miss you here more than you can know.
Thank you Paul for creating this site – totally in agreement with your view on retiring when the time is right, and looking forward to any articles written under “no pressure” mode.
Reading your post above, Paul, it sounds like you have a perfect reason to take a step back. But I sure do appreciate your time and effort. I have been a big fan of your approach to cars and to life – the bits of personal philosophy and political views that slipped in through the cracks at times differ quite a bit from many a car nut and that made it so much more interesting to come here.
This is my primary website to check out several times a day and I thank you for it.
I fully trust the new crew who all seem to have grasped the essence of what CC is about.
Enjoy the freed up time and make sure you and Stephanie put some miles on that van.
Good for you – but, you will be greatly missed.
Best wishes and thanks for a job well done!
It’s been a wild ride, Paul!! We all feel as if we know you and your pickup. Please check in on us from time to time, will you?
Thank you Paul. I haven’t always agreed, but I’ve always been informed.
Best wishes for your future.
Happy trails, Paul. I first found CC when it was on TTAC and it quickly became my favorite there. The move to its own space allowed me to completely avoid the drama and egos of TTAC and just read and discuss automotive subjects in a comfortable and interesting venue.
CC has been on my first-read list in the morning now for close to 10 years and I have learned so much along the way. Like so many others here, family and friends see me as the biggest car nerd that they know, but here there are so many others that fall into that category in their circles! This fascinates me, since each contributor and commentor here is ‘afflicted’ with this fascination with vehicles in their own unique way and so we get ‘nerd’ level insight into the most esoteric aspects of the subject.
Expressions of this type are only possible with close supervision and policing of the blog by Paul and others in order to keep it from devolving into politics and other forms of mean-ness and disrespect that squelch the free-sharing of ideas. This supervision is doubtlessly the most thankless but most essential part of moderating—GREAT JOB PAUL! I have seen that this mantle has been taken up by the new moderators and their job is made easier by the good habits that this community has developed under Paul.
Paul, I sure hope that you remain a frequent commentor here so that you can enjoy the group without the pressure of contributing and moderating. You bring a your own unique perspective to this group of vehicular nerds and I always look forward to hearing about what else and who else I should be tuning into across the internet on subjects related with transportation.
Lastly, I agree with the others that you should be proud of the stamp that you have left on the subject of transportation and the permanent hub of information that CC has become. The true promise and societal value of the internet is the ability for people from across the world to connect, share information and build communities that benefit everyone. It has taken a great deal of work and leadership on your part, but you have achieved this goal completely. Thank you.
It’s like I can separate the internet into two eras: pre-CC and post-CC. This site captured my imagination and I fell in love with this vast compendium of articles. Everything about it was just amazing: the articles themselves, the scope of the site, the civil and engaging comments sections.
You did this. We contributors have helped you over the years but you were the one that opened CC for business, that set the tone, that made this site what it is: my favourite website on the internet, the first thing I check when I wake up, my first proper experience writing.
That’s a big deal.
Thank you so much for all you’ve done. I remember “filling in” for you for one week a few years ago and it was exhausting enough but you’ve been doing it for YEARS. I don’t know how you’ve done it but you deserve a break. And I know this isn’t goodbye forever but I wanted to thank you for encouraging me and guiding me and giving me this tremendous opportunity to write for your site.
Jim and co. will keep the ship sailing and I will do my very best to support them.
I look forward to post #4700, whenever that may be.
Well, I can still vividly remember my first time navigating to CC in 2013 – was doing a little Google searching on buses and up pops this fascinating article titled; “Skiway, Mount Hood’s Fabulous Flying Buses”. I was hooked…
I could tell the author was very smart, erudite, and had a passion for all things transport. And he was kind enough to invite me into the club as a Contributor.
Best wishes as you pursue all those new passions…Jim B.
Godspeed as you move on to your next endeavor, Paul. I have thoroughly enjoyed this site since I first saw it in 2014 and look forward to the daily updates. You have left it in very capable hands. Live long and prosper!
Paul, I seemed to have noticed that you were a bit less “on line” on CC these past few weeks, and I feared this was coming. Very bittersweet, in the sense that it is great to see you will be hanging up the keyboard much more now, but we will miss your guidance, insights, and leadership on the site.
I came on board in 2015, quite innocently, looking for a picture of some car or another, while in some boring work telecon, and came to find this wonderful site chock full of info. From time to time I still go back and search the old articles from before I found CC, and read them over. What a great site, what an excellent thought to put this all together.
Enjoy what comes around the next corner for you, and hope to hear from you here again from time to time. Looking forward to collaborating with you JP, Jim, and Jason.
Paul, thank you for getting CC launched and rolling. I was one of the ones who read you over at the old site. I understand the feeling you’re experiencing and have been thru those seasons myself.
I think we all have them to a certain extent.
Frankly it’s why I haven’t started my COAL yet. But I hope to do so. Usually when I write it’s a molasses-slow process, formulating my thoughts as I go within the larger context of what I want to say…if that makes any sense.
Also, I’ve appreciated your sharing your experiences in broadcast media, it’s given me a comfort level sharing from my perspective as a radio personality and voiceover artist.
My this new season be the best yet for you and Stephanie. I join the others who look forward to post #4700…if and when the time is right.
Even if it’s five years.
Thank you Paul, for this most enjoyable site. I particularly enjoyed learning about lesser known makes from the talented contributors. The friendly tone of most commentors is a refreshing contrast to many other sites. Let us know if your travels take you to western Canada. Calgary’s Vintage Sports Car Club hosts a fine (free) show usually the third week in July.
Thanks for everything you’ve done here Paul, enjoy retirement.
And thanks thanks to Jim, Jim, and Jason for taking the keys.
Paul, I just want to add my thanks to you for creating and overseeing one of the best, if not the best, websites on the Internet. The discourse here is almost always civil, even when people disagree, something that cannot be said about many other sites. I have enjoyed every minute I have spent here since discovering CC (2013 I think), after seeing a link to here from another site.
I wish you well in whatever you decide to do going forward. I can certainly understand being burned out; I reached that point after writing a half dozen COAL articles several years ago. I can’t imagine trying to come up with new content on an almost daily basis for 10-12 years. As many of us here can attest, writing is hard, much harder than it appears at a casual glance. May the future bring you much joy.
Paul, this is my favorite website. Ever since I discovered it, I have enjoyed lots of hours of knowledge, getting to know about interesting vehicles. Curbsideclassic.com has a big fan in Colombia.
Curbsideclassic.com is a refuge today for those of us who are fascinated with mechanical things, and who enjoy vehicles, but especially those which have enough character that their looks, mechanical intricacies, originality, and the fact that they are survivors make them far more interesting than today’s “Smartphones on wheels”, which sole most important aspect is the stupid infotainment system.
Again, thank you, and Godspeed.
It’s really not necessary to put down the new to build up the old.
“You never know what the new day will bring.”
The great thing about Curbside Classic is the jocular, occasionally irreverent sense of humor combined with the concept that “Every car has a story.” This is a reflection of the personality of its creator, whom I have not met personally, but is someone I respect greatly. CC is not just dull facts or typical reviews–it’s more “semiotic” (how cars make us FEEL and the spirit behind their designs). That’s an intellectual step above the ordinary.
We all know what can happen when an enterprise changes ownership (e.g. Hudson, Packard, et. al.)–it’s not quite what it was before. But I think the new management team has been well-taught in the Niedermeyer School. I trust they will continue the fine legacy that has been established.
Paul,
I’m new to this site but I’ve been enjoying every single post.
Thank you for creating thist treasure of information and a website ruled by politeness and respect.
Best wishes
Bruno
CC effect! I handed in my retirement notice yesterday as well.
Paul, thanks for everything you’ve done to make this the best automotive site on the web. Happy motoring.
Good for you Paul. Safe journeys.
Thank you all for your very kind words! They’re very touching and much appreciated.
Congratulations on your retirement, Paul. I’ve followed CC since its days at “the other site”, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. There are so many cars that I look at differently now because your perspective and knowledge have helped me understand why these cars came to market configured as they were. But what I will really miss is your sense of humor, featured prominently in the post on your dad’s 1961 Ford Starliner. Hopefully, some of these classic Niedermeyer posts will return in the future.
All the best to you in retirement. And it’s good to know that CC is left in the capable hands of Jim, Jim, and Jason.
Congratulations on your retirement from this site Paul. I will be sad to see you go but I can understand the need to move on and try something new and different. I have learned a tremendous amount of automotive (and other) history, and I’m sure your successors will continue with the high standard you set. I hope there will be some occasional Niedermeyer posts in the future.
Paul, I’ve started this several times and can only say, “Thanks for the hours and hours and hours of great reading and insight”.
Some rainy winter if you come down to hike the Superstitions, you have a place to stay, shower and talk about stuff. You have my email and I have your cell.
Dave
Great memories, many thanks!
Congratulations Paul and thank you for creating this wonderful site.
I have been around since the TTAC days as well but rarely comment. I have little doubt that CC will live on as it has been around so long due to the sheer size of its readership and the depth and breadth of its content.
You will be missed but I have no doubt that CC will live on!
🙏 Thank You 😊
Thanks, Paul.
Thanks, Paul for creating and contributing to and curating this site. You will be missed.
my yesterday post was consumed by “posting too fast” or something
anyway, I want to thank you for a superlative job and wish you and yours the best
I do hope you will continue to share your knowledge and especially that you give us updates on your van exploits. I hope you can relax and enjoy the beauty of the West. Any updates on your adventures will be well received.
Paul, I won’t rehash what everyone else has said, but I will say I agree, congrats on what you’ve made here, and enjoy your well-deserved retirement.
I do hope to see you again here in the comments, or even maybe at a CC meetup one of these days.
Thanks Paul for everything. You started your CC adventure about 6 months after I climbed to the top of my corporate ladder. Well after nearly 10 years of flinging it with the best,, 6 months ago I felt the same way you do now and said “I’m done – and it’s been grand”. As you know one get just gets to a point where you’ve what you can and wish them all the best. Retirement has been awesome and relaxing and detoxing although I am starting a little part time gig next week.
All said, thanks for your many years of blood, sweat and tears in your devotion to CC – truly one of the premier sites full of decency, respect and new knowledge. Thanks as well to Stephanie and your daughter for their tolerance. You’ve handed CC off to very capable hands. You’re a Renaissance Man and will easily fill any spare time with new quests. All the best!
Bon voyage and please make 4700 a comprehensive ProMaster post.
OK, he’s gone…can somebody redesign that logo in the upper left hand corner?
To my eyes Curbside Classic’s logo has been effective precisely because it doesn’t look fancy or corporate like those used by the big-time auto history websites. The logo is unpretentious and honest, just like Curbside Classic’s content.
What most matters in a logo is to be widely recognized. That’s why the world’s most iconic logos have been around for many years – and received only evolutionary changes.
If Curbside Classic did want to refine its logo, it really should be done by a graphic designer who specializes in website-based publication logos. That can be expensive. I’d be more inclined to prioritize making the body text bigger for us seniors or adding social-media share buttons to posts. However, this should be a conversation for another day.
thank you for far more hours of entertainment than I can count. Much appreciated Paul
I’d like to echo what everyone has been saying, not much more I can say other than best wishes Paul, and if inspiration does happen to strike I’m sure we’d welcome the chance to read another post.
Paul,
I raise a major salut to you! From the TTAC days onto the “new” CC; I’ve spent many hours reading and posting (and sometimes submitting!) material here, and have loved every minute. This site his been in my Opera shortcuts since it’s inception, and it’s not going anywhere. Muchas Gracias to you, and the same to all who continue this great tradition onward and upward.
All the best to you and Steph and yours,
Leon
Thanks for all the reading material over the years! Have a great retirement.
Thank you Paul, for all the joy you’ve brought over the years and for leaving the site in such capable hands. Wishing you the very best and hope to occasionally see you around in the posts and comments!
I’m one of these followers who comment very sparingly but reads Curbside Classic every single day, since the website first popped up in my screen after some car related google search way back in 2011 or 2012. What a wonderful journey it has been! With the number of articles growing every day (also thanks the fantastic work of contributors and commentators) the website quickly became what is probably the largest source of quality automotive information online.
Thank you very much Paul for creating this great community and this institution that is CC. I’ll be looking forward for your occasional appearances here and wish you the best with your current plans.
I’m confident Jim Klein will do a great job behind CC, and hopefully this website will continue to be this very special place for so many of us.
Thank you Paul for creating the world’s best automotive website, your original concept featuring ordinary cars parked kerbside and telling their story was a brilliant one.
Paul who?
Just kidding.
Thanks for my favorite car website.
It’s a good choice for you, keeping a constant flow of articles for individuals is a lot of stress over a long period of time and everyone deserves a break, or retirement. Wish you can have a good relief and enjoy what is coming next
Thank you Paul, for conceiving and maintaining this very informative website, of which I’m proud to say I’m one of its writers.
All the best to the new key-holder(s), may we all continue this important work.
Thank you, Paul, for all that you have done to build a site that manages to be both entertaining and informative. Even if I’ve been unable to comment, I still check this site on a daily basis. I wish you the best as you move on to another chapter in your life.
Paul, thank you for building and maintaining this wonderful site. On a personal level It has been enormously satisfying place to visit and leave an occasional comment. Best of luck with your future ventures.
Thanks for throwing the party and inviting all of us.
Tip of our hats to the Lou Gehrig of car blogging.
Aloha Paul,
Thanks for getting me hooked daily on this site. I am sure it will be in great hands.
Now you have more time to enjoy the Promaster, Happy Motoring!
I’ve been away for a few days and just saw this… Paul, you have created a legacy that is incredibly meaningful to so many. I’m so grateful. Best wishes.
Like a few other late commenters I’ve become more an occasional visitor here but even so this comes as no real surprise.
Happy trails Paul, and a huge *huge* thank you for creating this place for all of us.
Thanks for starting and growing the site, Paul! It looks like it’s in good hands. Once it’s no longer fun, it’s time to stop, you are making a wise decision. Enjoy your freedom, and post when the spirit moves you!
(Got the dreaded you are posting too quickly”!)
Helping a friend w/ some renovations, Imanaged to miss a couple of days, and upon checking this a.m. I get the news! Not to repeat the previous 140+ comments, I’ll just say that meeting you at the Lane Museum in Nashville was a great experience! May your roads be smooth, your journeys long, and your vistas clear!! 🙂
Thank you Paul, this site is a gem. Where else can you read about the history of taillights, city busses and the latest rental cars? Enjoy your freedom, but don’t leave us, just visit and interact, but without the pressure. And again, thanks for a great site!
Best Wishes, Paul, on your travels around the country as a newly-retired individual. I can’t imagine the countless hours of work it must’ve taken to keep this site up and running effectively for so long.
One more thing: Buy a Falcon! 🙂
A well deserved furlough Sir, and I look forward to your insights from time-to-time. Your pieces are always diligently crafted and have broadened my knowledge of all things auto. Your stewardship of CC is appreciated as well; your oversight and firm hand on the keel kept the comments civil on on topic, avoiding the fate of other sites which In many respects,denigrated into venues for ideological shouting bouts.
Been addicted to CC since 2010, thanks Paul for all your work keeping CC up and running. I hope the archives are preserved for as long as possible, what a treasure trove of articles this site is! I’m sure Jim and company will do a great job keeping CC up and running. Enjoy your retirement Paul, you’ve earned it!
Forgot to post the Beaver shot😁
I read this last week but didn’t have time to comment until now.
Paul: thank you for everything. I first found you at TTAC and followed you here, where I’ve watched the site mature into what it is today. And what it is, is magnificent.
Everyone above has said it all already and I concur – this is the only site I visit daily. Thank you for allowing me to contribute, the first time my name’s appeared in “print”! I wish I still had time to contribute (let alone comment!), but as you know, life gets very full at times.
Enjoy your retirement, and if you’re ever heading down here to New Zealand, let me know!
All the best Paul ! From am a regular follower and occasional commenter (about 5 years now). CC is the best place to find out about cars. Period.
Very late to the party (as usual lately, gradually getting caught up) but thanks so much for all your work here. I’m looking forward to reading the full Promaster build report! The site will be in good hands with J, J, & J. Enjoy your time, and best wishes!