Mark II Forum Status

I rarely check in. The last time I did on a regular basis, the forum was highly restricted to me. Most areas were off limits so I stopped coming on the forum.

I decided to check in today as I was researching 1970's Lincolns. Lincolns, not Mark II Continentals. Same restrictions. I went to make a $20 donation so that I could access ALL sections of the website. It does not seem to give me that option, so I reached out to Shelly and her mailbox is full?

In a general review of the GENERAL DISCUSSION section I found 90% of the posts started by Barry Wolk, listed as the Historian. I remember Barry from his days posting on the AACA Forum and his accident in a car.

I don't know Barry personally. I feel he is an asset to the Mark II Forum and old car hobby. But what is going on? Why are virtually all of the posts started by Barry? Where have all of the "regulars" gone? Is Shelly on the "outs" as the forum administrator?

I can't tell if my donation of $20 to gain access to all sections is a one time donation of $20 or obligates me to $240. I know websites and forums cost money to operate but I feel generally giving $20 is about like a magazine subscription and when needed I am glad to donate / pay.

But I am curious what happened? Are most of the folks gone and basically it's just Barry posting daily with few replies? Have all of the Mark II questions been answered? Cars been located and documented?

I went away for a long time. I found FB to have a much higher feedback level, but information posted is fleeting and difficult to find. I "inherited" the collected works of Elmer Rohn, HVAC engineer on the Mark II project. He left behind nearly 300 photos that were taken by Ford photographers. I got Ford's permission to use them for educational purposes about the same time I was asked by Shelly (a guy) to come back to share what I've learned. In the interim I wrote for Hagerty and tried recovering from the crash of the red Zephyr.

Shelly is still the Administrator. It's his sandbox, so we've all tried to play nice. Pat Marshall has done a fabulous job building the database, always adding newly found cars. We've just recently convinced the Benson Ford Research Center to provide us with the missing invoices that were never really missing, they were just written after the introduction of the new car. We're waiting to get the specs on nearly 300 cars.

You aren't the first to notice little feedback to anyone's posts, probably a dozen regulars. We've lost a few to illness and age, plus, many Mark II owners, I've found, are cut from the end of the same bolt as original owners, somewhat a private lot, except me. :)

General Discussion is the best place for new information, that's why I post most of my new stuff there. Shelly likes things more organized. I fully expect that over time my posts will be segregated under appropriate headings.

In fact, about a week after I came back I asked the group if I was posting too much. No one complained.

I believe that Shelly is away for the holidays. If you're patient he'll fix you up when he gets back.