December 2019
When you meet Robert ‘Bob’ Napier it takes about 15 seconds to realize he has a military background with his polite yes sirs and no sirs. Yes, Bob was in the service as a Marine from 1974 to 1979.
Bob was born in Hephzibah, Georgia. Bob left Hephzibah to join the Marines before receiving his high school degree. However, he completed his degree while in the Marines during his tour in Hawaii.
Bob met his wife while stationed in California. He fondly remembers he met her on a blind date in November 1974 and married her in December 1975. They were married for 30 years before she passed in 2005.
I asked Bob how he came to live in Santa Fe. Pretty simple, his wife was a native of Santa Fe. He has been up in Santa Fe since moving there in 1979. They had two daughters and the family expanded to include a grandson and a granddaughter.
When Bob and his wife arrived in Santa Fe he worked at various auto repair shops until he opened his own shop in 1991. While in Santa Fe, Bob attended Santa Fe community college and took courses in business and computer and auto repair and got a degree in auto repair.
Bob says he and his wife saved $15,000 which wasn’t enough to buy a home in Santa Fe so they bought some land on the edge of Santa Fe. He told his wife he’d finish the house for the remaining funds and within one year. Oops, he finished the house after 17 years and a few more dollars than they had planned.
During his auto repair career he didn’t get to work on many Flatheads. He worked on more modern cars. Bob said he always admired the simplicity and soundness of the Flathead Ford V8. He especially likes the 1935 to 1940 Ford Coupe. He is just about finished restoring his 1952 pickup with the overhead valve 6 cylinder. He also has a 1951 Ford which he plans to restore while teaching his grandkids about cars. “It is nice that the Flathead is so simple, it will be a good learning experience.”
How did you hear about the Tumbleweed Club, I asked? Bob was at a Big O Tire Store getting an exhaust system for his 1952 pickup when he saw an ad for a 1948 Ford. He chased down the ad and met Roger Wilbur. Bob didn’t buy the 1948 but Roger convinced him to visit the Tumbleweed Club for the October meeting. Bob joined that night. He said it just felt right and he was impressed with our meeting and our speaker. Recall that was the night Will talked about the V8 National Meet. Good job, Will!
We welcome Bob to the club and he is bringing his world famous Green Chile Stew to the Christmas party. Note, it was the author’s statement that his chile is world famous, we’ll see at the party,