BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY — We’ve all seen little free pantry boxes and little free libraries — even art exchanges where visitors can take a piece and leave one they’ve created. Now, Beauregard has its own twist on the idea. Visit Mi Ranchito and check out Dead Pedal Motors’ new Car Library — a fun spot where children can trade toy cars and share in the joy of giving and collecting.
“I just kept seeing those blessing boxes around town, which we filled some of those before, but there’s really nothing for the kids,” said Dead Pedal Motor owner Hunter Goodlett. “You know, there’s not a lot of room for toys or anything. I wanted something to give back to the kids.”
After setting up the Car Library, Goodlett said he has enjoyed seeing community members work together to keep cars stocked for children.
“It’s been about a month or so since I put it up, and so far, I haven’t really had to add any more cars,” he said. “I got started with 50, and they’ve turned over a couple times now, so I don’t even recognize the cars that are in there, which is awesome. I know several people have chipped in and dropped off cars to kind of donate. It’s a bring one, take one. But also, they can just take one if they don’t have a car with them. My son is three. He absolutely loves it, because he can go take a car. I’ll just tell him, ‘Hey, go get a car you want to trade,’ and he will go into the room and grab one. And he looks forward to that. We usually do that about once a week.”
After opening the Car Library, Goodlett said the community responded positively overnight.
“When I initially posted [about the Car Library], it went nuts overnight,” he said. “I woke up and everybody was excited about it. I haven’t posted as much about it or spread it around as much. I was just trying to see how it did on its own — I went and bought the Dollar General and Family Dollar shelves out. I bought all their Hot Wheels that they had in there, and I don’t think any of those same cars are still in there. So people were trading. People were taking them. People are donating them.”
Dead Pedal Motors is Goodlett’s car restoration business, which paved the way for The Car Library.
“I’ve always enjoyed just taking things apart that didn’t work and putting them back together or trying to put them back together,” he said. “I’ve always been mechanically minded, and I’ve always loved cars, so I just kind of put it together. Not everybody can get a motor running that’s been sitting for 30 years. So, me getting [a vehicle fixed] to a certain point and then selling it allows somebody else to enjoy it and put their love into it to further it.”
For those interested in vehicle repair and maintenance, Goodlett said he is organizing a Southeast Alabama Fall Automotive/Motorcycle Parts Swap Meet & Cruise-In on Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the USA Town Center Outlet.
“I’ll probably have some more Hot Wheels and giveaways for the kids [at the Swap Meet],” he said. “It’s kind of a chaos of everything, [people will have] motorcycle parts, tools, sometimes one-off stuff, car parts, truck parts. It’s a bit of everything. And then, like tags, oil and gas stuff, it’s mostly car stuff.”
For more information, visit Dead Pedal Motors on Facebook.
Mi Ranchito is located at 7931 Alabama Highway 51 in the Beauregard community.
