A BIG day

In the spring of 2013, Husband and I flew to Massachusetts, to visit something called Factory Five, where they manufacture and sell replica race car kits.  Husband was already on the waiting list for a model called the 818. 

But then, he saw .....

..... their replica of a 1965 Daytona Coupe.  Only six original models were built back then and it was the car that beat the Italian made Ferrari, in the 1965 FIA Manufacturers Road Racing Championship.  Ferrari had won ten times in the previous 12 years and dominated the racing world.  The Daytona was built by Carroll Shelby, who was subsequently hired by Ford to build the GT40, which also beat Ferrari, as portrayed in the movie, "Ford VS Ferrari".  (Great movie, by the way!)

Christmas happened in July at our house when the many boxes of car parts arrived and construction began soon after. 

The skeleton.

Towing it 150 miles to the new homestead.

 It can be quite loud, but we live very rurally so it's not much of a problem.  Once, during a test drive with the purpose of impressing our son, one of the neighbors called the sheriff.  There may have also been a tiny matter of excessive speed.  When the sheriff showed up to check on the complaint, he thought the car was "really cool".  "Just keep more to the back roads," he said.  

Freshly painted.  The color choice was a debate among the family, but in the end, he went with the classic colors of the original.  Many details left to do, but the finish line is in sight. 

Husband had started a blog to document the process, mrbradybuildsacar.blogspot.com. But life ... including selling our home, storing all belongings, moving into a motorhome, traveling, building a new home and shop, renovating a camper AND building a van ..... happened.  Not to mention the addition of a motorcycle and no lack of golfing, fishing, etc. etc.  (The guy has hobbies.)  Hence, nine years later, and a lot of work that only he can explain, Husband set his sights on a local car show in downtown Redmond, Oregon, at the end of April of this year, to be the Big Debut.  

We weren't expecting that big of a deal.  (At least I wasn't.)

He drove it over that morning and I showed up a little later, planning to stay only a short while.  But when I got there, I couldn't leave.  It was too much fun.

They blocked off several streets for the show.  We were in the parking lot of a church.

I can only tell about it from my perspective and I was beyond proud.  The show this year featured a record 400 cars and Husband's car was a hit.  I just sat in a lawn chair and watched the swarm.  Then he'd raise the hood, and they'd swarm some more.  This may be a bit of a biased exaggeration, but there was seldom a moment when someone wasn't checking it out.

The framed photo, displayed in the back window, shows the original Daytona, including the builder, Carroll Shelby.

One highlight of the day was when Tom, his best friend from high school, happened to be visiting the show.  It was an unexpected surprise for both.

This was a BIG day for Husband who finally realized his long awaited dream.  Several months earlier, when he found the right guy to paint the car, Husband told him to not do TOO good of a job, because he wanted to be able to race it without agonizing over the inevitable nicks and dings.  Well, that was a fail.  The painter did a great job.  Hence, I'm not sure how much actual racing will happen.  It's just too pretty.