OCR Text |
Show TOM ARNOLD VW Mechanic/Economist/Philosopher/Troublemaker By Jim Stiles the fall or winter and pretty cold, so I went to work on it, but I didn’t even know who he was. They were renting an apartment above Miller’s Clothing Store (now the Slickrock Cafe’ Why do people from all over the world come to Moab? Most will insist that it’s the sheer beauty of our red rock canyons and sculpted arches and the mighty Colorado River which, after all, carved out this great sedimentary plateau. Others may argue that our major attraction is the way the sandstone provides an excellent recreational medium upon which to play out their extreme sports activities. Some perhaps come to Moab for the tremendous selection of espresso shops, Southwest jewelry, souvenir ash trays, and pre-fab plastic blue motels. Building at Main St. & Center St.). But we became friends before I ever knew. he was an author. I’d never read any of his books and then of The Monkey Wrench Gang. 1 was working long reading it at about midnight until four o’clock didn’t even go to work... finished it by noon. I one day, he came by and gave me a copy days then, but I took it home and started in the morning, then got up at eight and couldn’t put it down." People would come by. Nobody in town worked on Volkswagens then. ..soon they started asking me to work on theirs... The people here in Moab are who put me in business. And everyone visits Moab, of course, to bask in the spirit of brotherly love and affection that permeates the souls of all of us who live here in the Moab Valley. But there is so much more. For once in my life as a Moab "Leave it Alone" recluse, I’m taking this opportunity to promote...yes, to PROMOTE! one of the great scenic attractions of Moab, the Colorado Plateau, the Southwest and, indeed, the World! Tribute is long overdue. And I stand humbly in his presence to praise the man who made it all happen... A grateful community salutes Mr. Tom Arnold, the founder and curator of Tom Tom’s Volkswagen Museum--by his account, the most fantastic collection of VWs in the eu Some ignorant fools have the temerity to call it junk. The Museum is not easy to miss. Located at the intersection of Mill Creek Drive and Spanish Valley Drive, known to locals as Chicken Corners--the Gateway to Spanish Valley as it were--T.K. Arnold has managed to squeeze 250 vintage Volkswagens onto a two acre lot that he bought almost 30 years ago. It is his pride and joy. Others would like to kill him and scour his collection from the face of the earth, but Arnold takes all the criticism in good stride. "They just don’t know how to have a good time...I’m having a good time.” _ When Tom Arnold first came to Moab, in 1969, it wasn’t to fill an empty lot with German cars; he came here to start a college. T.K. taught business administration at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, but a tip from a fellow academician led him to Moab. Before Tom Arnold, there was no “higher education" in Grand County. But when he heard that Utah State in Logan was planning to open an extension office in Moab, Tom applied for the position without even seeing the town and was offered the job. A few days later he drove to Moab and found, "this little green oasis in the middle of all that desert. It was just beautiful." He walked the streets of Moab, talking to businesses, trying to stimulate interest in the new extension. He essentially started with ue and built a college. But even as he was unloading the moving truck, settling into his new digs, and throwing himself into the new job, his Volkswagen obsession was already well-established. T.K. moved to Moab with seven VWs; he rented a small shed across from the old cemetery to store them, and on weekends, he and his son spent hours doing to VWs whatever it is By now, not only had Tom Arnold become a good friend of Abbey’s, he also became a regular poker partner, the man Ed lost more money to than anyone else on Earth, except his ex-wives, and on many occasion, Ed Abbey’s personal pilot. Tom first learned to fly in World War II and flew just about everything; he later volunteered to fly transports in Vietnam. Now he was shuttling Ed... "I flew Abbey a lot. First we just flew to look at the scenery. Somebody would tell him about an arch and we'd fly around looking for it. Later, when his wife Renee wanted to go back to college, Ed paid to send her to Tucson and I’d fly him down there once a month. Talso flew him toa lot of his speeches and book signings. So at first, he really wasn’t a hero to me but just a buddy." To Tom, the private Ed Abbey "was completely different" from the man he was perceived to be from his books. "For one thing he didn’t give a damn about being rich. He didn’t even want anyone to know who he was. His ‘wealth’ was what he believed in and so he didn’t even want to go to book signings. People really had to force him to do those kinds of things." For years, Abbey didn’t have a phone at his house and would make the short drive to Tom Tom’s to make calls. In fact, Tom was Ed’s "clearing house" for potential house guests and visitors. “He-didn’t want anybody to know where he lived and I was his centerpoint. If somebody came in to my shop and asked where Abbey lived, I knew Ed had talked to him and I could give him directions. I used to see Ed get pretty exasperated dealing with the publishers, because of the money angle. They were always looking to make more money and he didn’t really give a damn. "As far as I was concerned Ed was very serious in what he was attempting to do with his writing. He was writing about what he believed in and as more and more time goes by, the more I appreciate his writing. I really wasn’t much of an environmentalist at first, but the longer you hang around here...you become one. But otherwise he was very unassuming-he just wanted to sit back and enjoy the scenery and write and dream." And play poker. The poker games were the stuff of legend. Although accounts differ, most recall that Tom was a frequent winner. For years men and women have speculated about the source -that VW aficionados do to VWs. The locals began to take notice... “People would come by. Nobody in town worked on Volkswagens at the time... VW was of Tom Arnold’s poker prowess. Now for the first time, T.K reveals his secret... disagreed and we decided to part company...that’s when I leaned across the desk and handed the Dean the finger...I was already set to start the shop and stay in Moab because Tom Arnold-pilot, poker king, tea-totaler. It doesn’t get any stranger... "I was the only guy at the table who didn’t drink. Everybody else would get drunk and a bad word then...but soon they started asking if we’d work on their Volkswagens. The . I'd have my glass of iced tea and they never really noticed that I-was sober. But that’s only people here in Moab are who put me in business. And then when the university and I because I’ve never needed to drink to have a good time. Don’t need it." I thought this was the greatest little spot in the country." That was in 1972. Out of that thrust finger came "Tom Tom’s Volkswagen Repair... You can’t beat him." Tom moved his operation to the present location and has been building the museum ever since. Business was brisk and Tom found himself working until midnight at times to keep up with the demand. Among the early customers was Ed Abbey. Abbey and his wife Renee had just bought a VW Thing, only to discover that the gas heater didn’t work. "It was in Abbey moved to Tucson in the late 1970s and the regularity of the poker games slowed. But Tom continued to repair VWs, flew shuttle flights for the airport from time to time and continued to fly Abbey around when Ed was in town. About ten years ago, T.K. was taking a plane to Hite and he almost didn’t make it... "I just got to 7000 feet, right over the Green River, when I heard a tremendous bang from the engine. I really thought I could land the plane, as long as the engine didn’t fall off. If it comes off, you lose your balance and you have a hell of a time landing. But it |