Keith Hunt's 1952 Ford

A photo of Keith with the Ford. This photo was taken before the side pipes had been installed. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

Keith's Ford as it appeared after side pipes had been installed. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

Keith's Ford at the Salt Lake City Car Show in June of 1958. Attending a car show in Yakima, Washington in 1957, Keith saw angel hair being used as display around a car. It looked like it was on a cloud. Keith liked it, and decided to use angel hair in his display as well. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

Keith's Falcon membership card. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

The back side of Keith's membership card. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

A Falcon business card. Photo courtesy of Keith Hunt.

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1952 Ford convertible owned by Keith Hunt of Salt Lake City, Utah. Our first contact with Keith was in 2015. Keith told us that in the winter of 1956-1957 he was a carpenters helper, working with his grandfather at Petty Ford when he first saw the already customized car on Petty's used car lot in a snow storm; "It's louvered hood had come unlatched and blown open. The fenders were dented where the hood had hit them, and the hood itself was bent. Modifications included a shaved hood, doors and trunk. The rear of the car featured a sectioned 1954 Cadillac bumper with 1955 Lincoln taillights. It was a diamond in the rough, and after spending time joking and bargaining with one of the senior salesmen who knew me, we finally agreed on a price of $550. We both thought we got a good deal. It really was a kind of sick looking car that only a custom crazed teenager could love." Keith was 18 years old when he bought the car.

In 1957, while the car was a work in progress, Keith was accepted as a member of the Falcons of Salt Lake City car club. "The finishing work on the car was done by Tanner Body Shop. Edward Tanner did the needed body work. New hood. Buick downward sweeping side chrome. He also opened up the fake air scoops in front of the rear wheels and put in chrome "teeth" from a newish Mercury hood. He refinished the work on the frenched headlights and taillights and smoothed out the bodywork. Then Wilford Tanner, the owner of the shop, did the painting, mixing a tan Buick color with Gold Metallic. Dual new style Appleton spots were installed before Jack at Jack's Top Shop did the interior in all white tuck and roll, with a half boot covering the rear seat when desired. I steam cleaned the flathead motor so the engine compartment was sort of clean, with a little tiger holding a sign for shows saying "Just as Henry left it." For shows I had a larger stuffed tiger holding the main sign introducing the car, with small tigers holding small signs at points of interest. I never found out who did the first work on the car. The taillight-bumper combination was excellent. The work was well done, and it was the dominant part of the car until the Tanners finished their work. " The build was completed in early 1957.

Keith had a job in Yakima, Washington the Summer the Ford was finished, so he drove the car there; "The car attended its first car show in Yakima. That is where the stripe work was done. The Yakima show was where I first saw the use of angel hair. A light blue 1955 Chevrolet convertible was top car in the show, and it was surrounded by angel hair as though it was on a cloud. A record player played the song "My Blue Heaven" over and over all day and evening. I came home that Fall and showed my car in the Salt Kings Review in Ogden, Utah. I found a source, bought lots of angel hair, and used that same presentation for my car, but without the reocrd playing." While staying in Yakima, Keith added long side pipes and cut a coil out of the front suspension. The last addition to the car was a "C section" frame rebuilt so the rear axle would not hit the frame and allowing the car to be lowered so the side pipes cleared the ground by an inch. "Yeah, it had to be driven very carefully." Keith told Kustomrama.

In late June of 1958, Keith moved to Colorado. When he moved, he gave the Ford to his younger brother. The brother eventually traded it for a 1952 MG TD, and Keith never saw or heard of the car again.