You Gotta Love My Dad!

My Dad is an amazing guy! You probably wouldn't think of him as a "Gear-Head", but he is knowledgeable about cars and things mechanical. As a little kid, I can remember my dad and my uncles overhauling the engine in one of the family cars (a Hudson I think), and when I was about 15, I helped my dad rebuild the 4 banger out of our '59 Volvo. I don't think he did this because he enjoyed it, it was just something that needed to be done. We did have some fun though in the '70's when my brother Rick and I decided to go dirt track racing. We built a '67 Le Mans and then a '66 4-4-2 and went racing at Ascot Park in Gardena, Ca. More often than not, Dad would be out in the garage wrenching on the cars with us, and he was at the track every weekend in the pits for us.

While Rick and I were into "Muscle Cars", Dad's tastes ran toward classics like the Packard roadsters or the Hollywood Graham (Google that one!) and he sometimes thought about restoring one or even building a replica. When we would visit "Kit-Car" shows, Dad would be scoping out a Mercedes 540K or boat-tail Auburn while I was drooling over Cobras and Grand Sport Corvettes. Ever the practical person that he was, dad's automotive dreams stayed on the back burner. This was to change though.

Some time around 2002, Rick, our brother-in-law and our nephew presented Dad with an unbuilt CMC (I think) Bugatti kit and a VW pan that someone had purchased years before and then left sitting in their garage. Working on a very spare time basis, Dad built his Bugatti in about 6 years. It sits on a Karmann-Ghia pan with disc brakes, IRS and a 1776 cc motor with dual Solex carbs. A few weeks shy of his 82nd birthday, dad had the car completed, licensed and headed off to Knotts Berry Farm for the Association of Handcrafted Automobiles "Fun In The Sun" car show. First crack out of the box and he comes home with a trophy. Several more trophies came from other shows since then, and Dad's still having fun with his little car. After one "Cruise Night" type gathering, Dad was stopped while leaving by none other than Jay Leno who wanted to get a closer look at the "Bugatti" replica.

I can only hope that when I'm in my 80's that I'm still having as much fun. Like I said, "You Gotta Love My Dad!"