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. He knew this was a different kind of car that is not seen at car shows and we decided to build our first Hot Rod. We don't have a large bank account, so we sold parts off the car that we knew that we would never use and saved some money. We bought a Chevy 454 off eBay for 600.00, a Turbo 400 off Craig's list for 200.00, and a Ford 9-inch rear end from a wrecking yard for 150.00. We did the scariest thing by cutting the front of the frame and installing a 2500.00 Mustang II front end. We would always watch your show and say to ourselves that if Stacey can do it, so can we. This project became more important to me because I lost my father a couple of months ago to Agent Orange that he was exposed to during Vietnam as a U.S. Marine, and I want to keep the memory alive of the fun we had together while building this project.
I recently found out the history of the car. I was told that this was a staff car for the first Commanding Officer of Las Vegas Flexible Gunnery School (now known as Nellis AFB Las Vegas) Lt. Col. Martinus Stenseth and when he retired in 1950, he kept the car until his death in 1979. Then, it was stored in a barn until the mid-80s when it was bought but left abandoned in a field. We found it and bought it in the early 2000s and brought to Southern California. I was told that Burgess Meredith and a past President of the United States Ronald Reagan were in this car when they were filming "The Rear Gunner" in 1943. I was told also that actress Carole Lombard (Clark Gable’s wife) was driven to the Commanding Officer’s headquarters in this car after she was removed from the plane to seat a service member who was on the way to California for deployment. She was placed back on the plane and later killed when the plane hit the side of Potosi Mountain in Nevada. I just want to preserve the history and dedicate the car to our past and future military folks. We as the United States are indebted to you all and thank for you service.
