At 9:28 pm on Tuesday October 19th Robert Laird Warburton, age 70, died in his sleep at his home in Monmouth Oregon. The cause of death was cancer brought on by a series of poor lifestyle choices. He was my father, and one of the sharpest old school hot rodders and stovebolters I've ever known.
My dad was a guy who believed that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, along with a good supply of coffee, a cutting torch, a welder, and a bottle of Seagrams 7, nothing shall be impossible for you! By way of tribute to him I'll just list some of the rigs I remember. I helped build some of them.
1937 Chevy Coupe with Buick Straight 8
41 chev coupe with 270 jimmy
47 chevy fleetline with 261 chev motor
54 merc with ? FAAAASSST ?
53 Belair Hardtop with 56 265 ( The Mustang Eater )
57 Belair Hardtop with 283
53 Burb that went through many
configurations ending with a
really hot 327.
Nearly perfect all original 54 AD
1/2 ton truck with 6 window cab.
1966 Chevy van that had many different
engines from the original 230 to the
4 bolt main 350 that is still in it.
This list is by no means all inclusive. It's just some of his favorites. It's amazing how you realize how often you think of someone after there gone. I keeping thinking I'm going to ask him this or that, or tell him about something, and then I remember he's gone. I'm gonna miss him for a long time to come.
Boo Radley
