I remember the first time I talked (typed) to Ray. August '98 as I was researching my next vehicle after tiring of my '96 S-10SS. Hum, SVT makes a Contour huh? Wonder if there are any aftermarket items for it... do de do de do... Searched the web... Found Atascadero Ford, called them up and talked with Gary Starr, head of Internet sales. "Well, sorry, we don't carry anything for the SVT in terms of upgrades... hold on a second. I met this guy last week talking of something similar... (shuffling around in the background)... they have a website.
WWW.contour.org, this guy's name was Ray McNairy." O.K., next stop contour.org. Hum... mailing list huh? Subscribe to something something american.edu. First mail from me, "Attn: Ray Mcnairy". I gave my background, thoughts on the SVT and regular Contours and received very insightful feedback from Ray concerning what mods worked, what didn't and what I could expect from each. I distinctly remember his comment "The only bad thing for a young pup like you is going to be your friends thinking you're turning into an O.F. like me. Don't let them talk you out of it until after you test drive one."
A couple of weeks later after hearing the "you're getting a four door?!?!?!?" from my friends, I made my deal on my "Silvie", '99 SE MTX and picked it up Oct. 6th. First mod via Ray?s insight, KKM. We went on to talk about dyno charts, exhaust mods, etc., etc., etc. We also talked about my other love at the time, a '74 Fiat spyder... His first comment? "I think Fiat means rust in Italian"
After meeting Ray at the KC '99 meet, I knew he truly was the very special person he seemed to be over the net. Kind, insightful, and always willing to share an experience with the group. We all kind of huddled around him like the little Chihuahua does to the bulldog in the WB cartoons... "What mods are we gonna do next Spike, huh Spike, huh? Come on Spike, lets do some mods today Spike..."
A great loss to our Contour community, Ray... we'll carry the torch for you from here.
From here on out, all BNM products will have some way of paying homage to one of our fallen leaders as my personal contribution to his remembrance.
------------------
Brad Noon
'99 SE MTX, many mods
http://www.bnmotorsports.com
