![]() Mom says the “ahh-olga” sound of the old horn made me laugh. I was four years old in 1969 when my dad finished the build. But, that is another story, for another time. The apple did not fall far from the tree, as I also enjoy having all that power at the pedal. Equipped with a V8, my mom said she loved having all that power under her foot, and she used it often. Next up was a beast of a Buick, a chocolate brown station wagon with faux wood siding. We had so many different cars growing up, but the one that stands out in my mind most is a bright sunshine yellow Pinto wagon. ![]() Through the sparks, there stood my dad, bent over the metal chassis in a full welding mask, gloves, and coveralls like a modern day Henry Ford. I stood in awe back then, as I do now, at the projects he takes on and teaches others - all designed in his mind and drafted on paper, and then brought to life with a drill press, jigsaw, and torch. I remember many nights standing near the garage after dinner, peeking around the corner as he welded the contraption together. ![]() He affectionately nicknamed it “Maybelline.” This 1934 Ford 3-Window Flathead Coupe was one of Bert’s favorite driver hot rods. It was not so much that he was a neat-freak as much as he was teaching us the value of organization and responsibility. This was a lesson we learned early in life - the garage was always meant to be kept tidy and ready for action. In our youth, black lines and the initial of our first names were painted on the concrete floor of the garage to show where our bicycles were to be parked - not on the side of the house, not next to the car, or in the center of the garage - but rather in our personalized parking slip. Dad was not kidding around we all lost our bikes at one point. While there was room in the garage for the things the rest of our family possessed, the garage was clearly my dad’s domain. The build took four years and was complete in 1965, the same year his first daughter was born. The fenders were also 20 coats deep, in black and lacquered, with Tacoma Cream wire wheels and matching pin striping he taught himself to do. He bought the chassis from a junkyard and did all of the bodywork himself, including the application of 20 coats of Washington Blue he hand-rubbed to a beautiful shine. As a 19-year old, and newly married,Bert started purchased a 1929 Ford Model A and built it up from existing parts, motor, transmission, body, and panels.
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