ordered Marti Report

[roush235]

Little did I know how my simple original post would generate discussion. The discussion has been great, reaching beyond Marti's business practices into core issues such as the collectability of Fox Mustangs. I've learned quite a bit.

The idea of Matt at FMR helping with the issue is great. He is a big supporter of our cars.

[1985CapriGS]

Wow....I enjoyed all the comment and valid issues from all sides. I'll be attempting to order any and all reports for my Capri. Especially after talking with the 2nd owner who is friends with the original owner. Seems this Capri had some special items due to being a June '85 production car. I'll post what I find out. Thanks all for the rants and raves....

[8T6 SVO]

Back over 10 years ago, I had a 1969 Mach 1, 428 CJ, 4-speed car - 1 of 1 on a Marti elite report due to having F70-14 "Wide Oval" Whitewall tires. I asked on the 428CJ website "how can I tell what tires came on the car originally?". Kevin Marti responded to this post and stated that it was indiscriminate regarding what tires came on the car - even though he listed this on his elite report. All I was just trying to find out was if the car forsure came with Firestone "Wide Ovals" that was listed on his report. I knew that Goodyears came on most of the 1969 Mustangs.

He stated that the only way to REALLY tell was to see the car as it was the day it came from the factory.

His response kind of surprised me, thinking the elite report was the know all/end all, piece of information on the car. We all know that the documents CAN show one thing with "real life" inferring something else. I can tell you that Kevin is a man with great integrety - win or lose. The only reason Ford would think about releasing this information - is to a person like him. A person such as Kevin does not happen overnight.

I did receive a eminger invoice on my 1986 Mustang SVO.

[WHTLTHR79RS]

I am trying to read what info is on the sheet on the right half of the above thumbnail, and I can not read it on Kevin's site either. could you zoom in on the sheet with the yellow box so I can read what it says ? been wanting to order a report for the Capri... I have the window sticker, and other info already, but would like to know how many with my options were made.

[Blue86]

As I posted in the other thread, I had a great experience with Marti. All of my e-mail questions were answered quickly, and my phone call was returned the same day.

I received the Eminger invoice for my '86 LX. It only took 5 days from the time I ordered to get into my hands! Marti couldn't locate the invoice for my '86 GT, but I'm hopeful that they will eventually find it.

I spoke with a really nice lady there, and she explained to me that when they obtained the invoices from Lois Eminger, all the paperwork for every year was shipped in boxes and shrink wrapped on pallets. Most of the invoices were mixed up and it's taking a VERY long time to locate some of them. I was told that when they are looking through what they think is a set of invoices for a particular year, many times they will find different years mixed in among them. They are going to keep my info on file and notify me if they find anything.

So, I'm going to be patient and will wait and see if my GT invoice eventually shows up. Hopefully everyone who is still waiting will one day get their paperwork!

[FoxChassis]

Blue86: Have you posted an image of your LX's invoice? I haven't seen it if you have.

[Selcouth]

This was truely an interesting read and I can see both sides of the arguement. As far as foxbodies are concerned I do believe they will eventually hold a place in collector car history. However, I still believe it will take more time to get to that status. The market is huge, but as was stated earlier, mostly resto mods are created.

What I truly find funny is when I was at the Barriet Jackson auction this past October in Vegas. My father had gone with me and was shocked at the cars and their value. It wasn't uncommon for him to lean over and say. My God *insert family member* had that car when I was a little boy. We had a great laugh and I feel the Foxbody will be the same. It's just going to take time to get to that point, but rest assured it will come.

Haggerty insurance company did an article on collector cars of the future that currently cost 5K or less. The Foxbody was one of the top picks along with a few other shockers that made the list. I'll do some digging and post the article here brb.

[Selcouth]

Ah here it is.......

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/...cnn=yes&hpt=C2

[8T6 SVO]

I am trying to read what info is on the sheet on the right half of the above thumbnail, and I can not read it on Kevin's site either. could you zoom in on the sheet with the yellow box so I can read what it says ? been wanting to order a report for the Capri... I have the window sticker, and other info already, but would like to know how many with my options were made.

Sorry - 1999 digital camera technology won't allow me to see any clearer than what you can see on the posted image - I've been pretty upset that I can't see the detail of the report any better as well.

[Blue86]

Blue86: Have you posted an image of your LX's invoice? I haven't seen it if you have.

I'm in the process of scanning quite a few items. I'll be sure to post it as soon as it's done.

[KevinMarti]

I was told about this thread and thought I would respond for the sake of clarification. Unfortunately, I won't be able to spend time on this forum as I simply don't have time, given all of my responsibilities. I wish I had more time available to me, but that is a luxury that will have to wait until retirement.

Invoices: The invoices Lois originally received from Ford for the 79-86 Mustangs and Capris were poorly stored. Further, they were not organized. It is obvious Ford kept them because the IRS said they had to and when their 7-year record retention rule was fulfilled, they dumped them (and I mean dumped - see the attached picture). There is a reason Lois never sold them and that is simply because of the state they were in. There was no practical way to sell them. They are not in order. If you tell me your serial number, I have no way of knowing where to start looking for the invoice. I decided to invest some money to try to make them salable. Unfortunately, I have to say I regret having done that. On the one hand, I would like to help everyone I can practically. On the other hand, I am not independently wealthy. Like all of you here, I have to earn money to feed my family.

After spending tens of thousands of dollars, I have found I still don't have a practical way of locating your one invoice out of the batch of 700,000. It is literally like looking for a needle in a haystack. Further, I had no idea there would be so little interest in these invoices. We haven't even sold 20 invoices for the 79-86 cars. I'm glad we were able to get them into the hands of the few who ordered, but I've lost a lot of money. I just can't afford to do that a lot. No doubt I will continue to sink money in to pay employees to look for invoices, but I can't say I'm excited about it, which brings me to the next part . . .

Marti Reports: Some of the comments from some people on this forum seem to imply I owe them the reports. I hope you realize I don't. And in fact, nobody owes you anything. There does seem to be a trend whereby a significant number of people feel entitled to things. From reading the posts on this forum, I'm grateful most of you don't. And, in fact, I appreciate the understanding and support from those of you who realize this is no small task.

Ford Motor Company understands I run a business for profit and I pay them royalties on those profits. When they see that the reports for the 1979 Mustangs and Capris don't sell well at all, they are hardly clamoring for me to get the report generator working for the 1980 and newer vehicles. And I too find it difficult to say to my wife, "I need to sink tens of thousands of more dollars into computer programming because a handful of owners want reports." The 1979 owners lack of interest in buying reports (let's keep in mind that there are all those Pace Car owners out there for example), doesn't give me "warm fuzzies" to want to invest in creating reports for the 1980 and later vehicles.

This isn't sour grapes, its just business. When I read comments like this on the forum, "for "Marti" and the gang to get their act together and start pulling Mustang numbers past 1979? I think it's time we Mustang owners tell Marti and his crew they better shape up or they'll never get business from us ever," I would like to tell that person I'm sorry you feel that way, but if you would like to invest in my business, I need about $250,000 to finish this project. I'll be glad to accept your check and I'll mail you the return on your investment as it comes in.

For me, the economy has affected what I do. I'm presuming that the poster known as 85GTTops, who seems to be the most vocal about my "lazy" and "poor" practices, is very interested in getting his information. I welcome you to show up at my business and point out the employees I should "fire" and point out my poor work habits. I can use all the help I can get at self-improvement and it appears you are very passionate about your comments. Again, if you are interested in investing, I'm interested in receiving your investment. Your comments about me taking "4 years is about 3 years too many," is, I believe, based on a false understanding. It still takes money to get things done. I haven't had the 1979 crowd put up their money, so, especially in the current economic climate, I'm very reluctant to keep putting up money that I may never get back. I can't afford it.

If this was easy and cheap, I'm sure lots of people would be doing it. Thanks for your understanding. I hope I can make this happen some day. We will not give up on the dream . . .

Kevin Marti
Marti Auto Works
www.martiauto.com

[02Z06]

Thank you for the post, Kevin. Let me be the first (probably of many) to say that we appreciate everything you have done, are doing, and will do for the fox mustang community. There are a few sour grapes out there but don't let them be discouraging. 99% of us or better really appreciate your hard work. That reminds me, I have about 4 reports to order... I'll do that tomorrow.

*EDIT: Just ordered invoices for the '86 coupe and '86 Dominator. I hope I get lucky and you are able to find them

[escogt]

I did order reports for my cars but they were not found. I tried. Anyways, thanks for all you are doing Kevin. Contrary to popular belief, we do appreciate you.

[negusm]

Kevin, thanks for the reply. We appreciate everything you have done so far for us.

-Mike

[bluesfannoz]

Thanks Kevin for all that you have done for us! I very much appreciate the assistance you have given me as I try to document the Dominators!

[Hissing Cobra]

Kevin,

Thanks for your post. I know that I'm very happy with my Marti Auto Report and my reproduction door sticker for my '79 Cobra. In fact, I'm more than happy! When I first contacted you for the report, you had to call me back in regards to something on the report and reproduction door sticker. I had failed to list the weights of the front and rear of my car for the door sticker and with Tom's (tmann1257 on this site) help, I was able to get in touch with you for the missing information. My copy of the door sticker and the Marti Report are both top notch quality and I am very happy with them. I display the Marti Report with my car at the car shows and I've had a few people ask me about it. All I can say is that I hope you get a greater amount of interest and business for your hard work, dedication, and determination.

Thanks,

[KevinMarti]

I do appreciate all the nice responses, although I'm not seeking any pats on the back. I hope you all know I simply want to be able to provide (ultimately) for all the Mustangs for all years. Thanks for your business, thank you for the nice thoughts, I apologize to those who we haven't been able to satisfy, and we'll keep trying to make all this happen. Incidentally, we did recently add the ability to reproduce window stickers for the Fox-bodies. And, of course, we can make the door data stickers. With time, we want to make everything that is available for the 1st gen cars available for the Fox-bodies. Who knows what will happen? I've even had a kind offer already for someone to volunteer some of their expertise. Maybe that will pan out!

Kevin Marti
Marti Auto Works
www.martiauto.com

[Hissing Cobra]

Here's some of Kevin's work. Top notch for sure! I'll be ordering up a Window Sticker soon!

[plumkrazy]

Kevin

Thank you for all the Hard work. I too plan to order, living and working in MI has been tough. I also was waiting to hear that the 1985 and 1986 Capri stuff was done. Expect my order next month

Thanks again
Mark

[roush235]

Kevin, I want to thank you for taking the time to respond to this thread. I do have a much better appreciation for what you are dealing with.

I have to echo the other comments about what you have done for the hobby. We certainly do appreciate it.

[KCoker]

I have gotten door data stickers, eminger reports and the Marti reports. They were very helpful in proving the 84 comp prep svo's and my 5C blue 84 svo. I plan on getting more stuff in the near future. thanks Kendal

[Mike Croke]

Kevin,

Thanks for chiming in.

For those who are no good at math, here's what he's up against:

1.98 million records. If Kevin could drop all the records into a giant autofeeding scanner and if this magical Star Trek scanner took 10 seconds per record, it would take 5500 hours. Assuming a normal 40 hour work week with no holidays, sick days, vacation days, the job would take 2 years 7 months 25 days. An employee getting paid $8/hr would cost $44,000 not including federal taxes which the employer has to match. This is a Star Trek magic scanner that never misfeeds/jams and a perfect employee who is never busy texting or peeing.

Next is the software required to recognize the text on each scan and load that data into a custom built database to be sorted and organized.

The task is monumental. Please stop thinking everything should be Wal-Mart cheap and internet free/instant.

[ragtopjr]

Kevin
I cant imagine the monumental task you are up against with the mess that has been dumped in your lap.
The fact of the matter is that you have the answers, that we all want about our cars and I am happy you were able to get them for us.

I will be buying everything you can get on my 4 cars as I can afford, and as you are able to supply them.

I thank you for coming here and "Clearing the Air" even though I believe the majority of us understand that you are doing what you can for us as an enthusiast yourself but also as a business person who has to make a profit to keep the doors open in order to be able to answer all of our questions in time.
Thank You again for the time you have taken to respond here and the job you do!

I really appreciate it!

[rat-racing]

Kevin,

Thanks for all you do for all of us Mustang enthusiasts (regardless of the year model) I just ordered the Eminger Report today for my 1980 Mustang Cobra!!! I anxiously (but patiently) await the availability of a Marti Report.

[WHTLTHR79RS]

I always prefer first hand information, and Kevin's response was the best, many thanks sir !! I too would like to get the reports on my 79 Capri, but I need to pay off the $$$ to the atty. for his help fighting a few citations in 2009.

Neil