Vince Ciganik's 1953 Ford Convertible

A photo of Vince with the Ford, his high school ride in 1958. Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

A photo of Vince's Convertible next to his buddy Jim Smith's Mercury. "Smitty and I had our cars both painted Sierra Gold with white tops," he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2020. Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

"The summer of 58 I took the flathead motor out and installed a 1957 hopped up 292 Y-block. I went drag racing, but it was not too fast. In 1959 we took the motor out and put in a roadster, now we were fast running 12:30's at 108 MPH." Vince put a stock Y block back into the convertible. Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

Vince was a member of the Rev-Masters, and he was in the club garage checking a leaking gas line with the trouble light on the floor. "I cracked the gas line and some of the gas went down my arm and hit the trouble light bulb. Now we had a fire. Did we have any fire extinguishers in the garage, "NO." I got into the car and two of my buddies pushed me out the door and I drifted down the ramp." The car burned up to the firewall. "Now I don't have a car!" Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

Another photo of the Ford taken after the fire. "The day after the fire, we had fire extinguishers in the garage. Lesson learned!" Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

A newspaper clipping that shows the Ford after the fire. "The guy in the fire picture is my best buddy Jim Smith who was my partner in the drag race roadster." Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

A rear end shot of the 1949 Chevrolet coupe that Vince bought after the convertible burned to the ground. Painted light green, the Chevy ran 1958 Chevrolet taillights. Photo courtesy of Vince Ciganik.

1953 Ford Convertible owned by Vince Ciganik of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Vince bought the Ford in the Summer of 1957. "It was nosed and decked," Vince told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2020. "It had Cadillac headlight rims, 1954 Pontiac taillights, and 1956 Mercury flipper hubcaps." It was painted Sierra Gold with a white top, and Vince drove it to school until he graduated in 1958. "The summer of 58 I took the flathead motor out and installed a 1957 hopped up 292 Y-block. I went drag racing, but it was not too fast. In 1959 we took the motor out and put in a roadster, now we were fast running 12:30's at 108 MPH." Vince put a stock Y block back into the convertible.

Vince was a member of the Rev-Masters, and he was in the club garage checking a leaking gas line with the trouble light on the floor. "I cracked the gas line and some of the gas went down my arm and hit the trouble light bulb. Now we had a fire. Did we have any fire extinguishers in the garage, "NO." I got into the car and two of my buddies pushed me out the door and I drifted down the ramp." The car burned up to the firewall. "Now I don't have a car!" Vince's brother told him about a 1949 Chevrolet coupe that was in a nice shape, but the motor was shot. "It's pained light green and has 58 Chevy taillights. I buy it and put a 57 Chevy 6 cylinder motor in it." Now Vince is back on the road. "The day after the fire, we had fire extinguishers in the garage. Lesson learned!"