News: 16

I first fell in love with Subaru 360s after working on one as a mechanic’s apprentice in college. This car came up for sale on Facebook marketplace and I had to jump on it. A couple hour road trip later the car was home with me. It had a disassembled engine that could not be salvaged and was missing some parts. I made the decision to integrate a 36 volt Taylor Dunn utility truck and what was left of the original Subaru drive train together to make this an electric car. The electric motor from the Taylor Dunn was mounted above the crankshaft where the pistons and cylinders use to be.

Approximately nine years ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 43. I got to the point where I couldn’t even hold a wrench, but after taking medication I was able to control it a little bit – enough where I can at least work on cars. My wife said you need to build something nobody’s ever seen before you’re not able. So, my friend Nate, my wife, and I came up with an idea to build a gasser Bug since I’ve never seen one.

My Dad and I used to go out to the drag strip back home in Georgia all the time. When I was 14, I laid eyes on an original LO23 Hemi Dart, and I fell in love. As I got older, I started helping my dad in the garage and I still cherish those memories. Fast-forward to July 2020, I had the opportunity to buy the ‘68 Dart 270 that now sits in my garage. It started as an empty shell and my oldest daughter, Maddie, has been helping along the way.

I drove a 1954 Chevy truck to high school back in the 70’s, then married my HS sweetheart and started having kids. So, the truck was sold to buy a family car. For our 30th wedding anniversary my wife found a ‘54 Chevy project truck in Michigan and we went up and bought it. 9 months later it was on the road. For the last 10 years I’ve been buying new parts to do it the right way. We put over 87,000 miles on it during the 10 years and LMC truck featured it in their magazine.

I found this online and thought it would make an awesome family cruiser. I brought it home needing interior and engine work. The wife and I put all new interior in it except the headliner, which was in good shape. We rebuilt the 350 that was in it to make a low compression 383 stroker and added an old school RV turbo kit that has a Rayjay turbo on it that should have been on a small plane. It also has a built Powerglide, aluminum radiator, Lokar dipstick and kick down cables, Holley 750cfm double pumper, and MSD ignition.

Here’s something quite unique that you don’t see every day. This is a one-of-a-kind automobile from 1925 designed by French aeronautical engineer Jacque Gerin called the Aerodyne. When he was 24 years old, he decided to design an automobile and when he applied for the patents in 1922, he had a lot of innovations in automotive engineering that we now use today such as hydraulic shocks, hydraulic brakes, rack and pinion steering, adjustable steering column, conical valve springs, and roller rockers to name a few.

My husband, Ed, has worked hard his entire life, and at age 81 in 2021 he is still working part time. In 1971 we bought a new Blazer. Ed mounted a Western snowplow on it and started to plow. In 1975, in addition to the front plow, he also innovated a way to mount a rear plow. This worked extremely well for plowing driveways and loading docks. For 37 winters, he plowed with the same Blazer and finally retired his plowing business in 2008.

I am currently finishing my father’s project that we worked on together. It is a 1941 Cadillac Series 61 fastback. My dad and I picked this project because we had just finished a ‘29 Model A and would take it to shows along with twenty-plus other Model A’s. So, we sold the Model A and decided to find something out there that you just don't really see at car shows. Well, my dad was visiting my sister in Idaho and came across this car out in a field with a for sale sign on it.

This is a childhood dream of mine. Growing up in the late 70’s watching drag racing on tv, I loved to see Shirley Muldowney race and win! Then the movie heart like a wheel came out, I saw it and I knew I wanted to build and have a front engine dragster! A few years ago, I attended an estate sale where there was a basket case front engine dragster that was period correct for my recreation on Shirley’s first dragster.

I Saw It, I Knew I Had To Do It

It honestly was that simple. While visiting YouTube one evening I came across a Post about how a fellow cut two Volkswagen Beetle fenders in half, welded them together and then stuffed a minibike beneath them. So, with a tip of my cap to Brent Walter (Ultimate Rebuilds) our project began.

The project started when my brother got the VW by trading a golf cart for it. It is my brother’s project and I helped him with the work until my health issues stopped my participation. He keeps me up to date on what he has done and sends pictures. I am 78 years old, and my brother is 84 years old. We're both veterans and we always wanted to do a VW project. We have worked on cars together since my late teens, starting with a 1950 Ford and 1955 Chevrolet. The VW Combi Bus will be passed along to someone at some point after completion.

I was looking for a project that my son and I could work on and found this Ford coupe sitting next to a gas station near my house. I got all the cash I could get, and I went and looked at it. As I was looking at it two other guys came along with trailers, so I knew I had to get it. It's really neat because it's a 1947 - the same year my mom was born. Unfortunately, I didn't get it on the road before she passed. My dad was seven in 1947 and I have a picture of my grandpa playing baseball in 1947 for a minor league team.

My sons and I started with two 78 Corvettes. After working on one we were going to install the motor, but a few months later they lost interest since we all could not drive in it together. So, I sold them and bought my childhood dream muscle car, a '67 Firebird. I made the classic mistake and bought a car online without looking at it in person. The car was really bad with rust everywhere, non-matching '76 400 motor, not running. For the last 5 years, the sheet metal, frame rails, and subframe have been replaced.