DON'T DELAY JOY
TIM WHITED • “THE MAYOR OF BARRETT-JACKSON”
1951–2024
Cars have been part of my life for decades. But when I look back, the cars aren't really what I remember most.
I remember the people.
The ones who taught me something. The ones who made me laugh. And the ones who reminded me that none of this is worth much if we don't enjoy it while we're here.
Tim was one of those people
His advice was simple: Don't Delay Joy.
THE MAYOR: MORE THAN THE CARS
Tim loved the cars, but he understood something bigger about the hobby.
The knowledge, the stories and the experience weren't supposed to stop with us. Somebody had taken the time to bring us into this world, and he believed we had an obligation to do the same for the next generation.
I learned that firsthand when I went to Barrett-Jackson without my son.
Tim made it very clear that I'd better bring him the next time — or I was going to pay for it.
He wasn't kidding.
The Mayor wasn't just interested in preserving cars. He wanted to preserve the joy that came with them.
PASSING IT ON
Tim understood that knowing these cars wasn't enough. Somebody had to teach the next guy why they mattered.
He pushed me to bring my son into it — not just to look at the cars, but to listen to the stories, ask questions and learn from people who had spent their lives around them.
What started as Tim giving me a hard time about bringing my son along became something much bigger.
Some things are worth knowing. The best of them are worth passing on.
AND THEN THERE WERE THE STOOGES...
Not every part of this story needs a serious explanation.
Somewhere along the way, Mark McCaddon, Tim Whited, the Three Stooges and a 1967 Oldsmobile 442 convertible became permanently connected to my automotive story.
There's a connection sitting right on the back of my 442 — the McCaddon Oldsmobile–Cadillac dealer badge. It's a small piece of dealership history, but it means considerably more to me because I know the name, the history and the man behind it.
Mark, Tim and I spent plenty of time talking cars, history and the business. We also spent plenty of time proving that grown men probably shouldn't be left unsupervised.
That's where the Three Stooges come in.
There really isn't a deeper explanation — and there doesn't need to be.
The badge, the Stooges and the inside jokes don't make any car faster or more valuable. They do something better. They remind me of the people, the laughs and the stories that came with the cars.
Cars can be serious business. Documentation matters. History matters. Getting the details right matters.
But if we ever get so serious about the cars that we forget why we loved them in the first place, we've missed the point.
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Some provenance doesn't come on a build sheet.
THE LESSON THAT STUCK
There were cars I wish I'd bought. Cars I wish I'd kept. Opportunities I should have taken. And probably a few things I would've done differently.
But The Mayor had a way of reducing all of that to a few words: DON'T DELAY JOY.
Those words were the mission of the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, where Tim served as Board President and passionate supporter. The words resonated deeply with him — enough that they became part of the way he lived.
With Mark and me, though, Tim usually put it a little differently: NEVER DELAY JOY. That was The Mayor’s version, and we knew exactly what he meant. Buy the car. Take the trip. Bring your son. Spend time with the people who matter. And every once in a while, apparently, bid on something you never intended to own.
I understand those words better today than I did when he first said them.
Don't Delay Joy. Never Delay Joy. Just don't miss it while it's here.
Tim Whited
“The Mayor of Barrett-Jackson”
June 10, 1951 – February 17, 2024
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