Digging deep into the back of the closet below the stairs. Finding dusty boxes with desiccated cardboard, peeling tape and cryptic content descriptions. All indications of long hidden troves of who knows what.
The mystery contents of two boxes turned out to be part of my hoard of Co-Hog prototypes and maybe-finished pieces from the late 70's into the mid-80's. The first was full of semi-finished bodies and other bits and pieces of long ago projects.
Next up was a box full of tires and wheels from just about every Co-Hog project ever.
They ranged all the way from the original Co-Hogs to Special Editions and even a spare set for the commissioned set of five Trans Am Daytona 500 Pace Cars.
There are even some miniscule photo-etched BMW grilles from before they looked like giant baleen whale mouths about to swallow everything in their path.
Each tissue paper held an unknown surprise. Opening them was like unwrapping a Jack-in-the-Box of memories.
People and places, good times and tough ones - all reminders of projects once in the works and finished pieces that found good homes.
Some were iterations of the early Co-Hog line that morphed into “production” pieces, like the orange Ferrari in the upper right.
Race car #5 is one of several of the first Co-Hog F1 cars, along with versions that never made it past the prototype stage.
Many decades of cars are represented here from the curvaceous race car to the more planar DeLorean prototype. I never did make a finished DeLorean.
The refueling rig was a first shot at creating a more complete Porsche Racing Team. The finished ones ended up being part of a large order. The owner could pop the filler cap on his Co-Hog Porsche Racer, connect the hose and fill-er-up.
Here a plain-Jane sedan is mixed in with the bottom half of an early Datsun Z-car, a very early Porsche, a first go at the three Mercedes models in the Co-Hog line and even a 2CV!
There were plenty of smaller Co-Hogs made as well. You could get a ready-made race car, a 4x4 Pickup or even a removable camper.
A variety of trucks were always part of the mix as well. At their biggest, the trucks had tires 4” (10.1 cm) in diameter, but that post is still in the works.
By the time I unwrapped and taken it all in, I was overloaded with memories but still enjoying the time travel. Almost everything ended up back in boxes that were much more clearly labeled.
They’re ready for another adventure down the road a bit.