{"id":517,"date":"2017-11-15T17:39:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T18:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2025-01-21T17:59:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:59:37","slug":"kustoms-never-die-the-49-ford-thunderball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/15\/kustoms-never-die-the-49-ford-thunderball\/","title":{"rendered":"Kustoms Never Die: The \u201949 Ford Thunderball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kustoms\u00a0Never Die<\/em>, those exact words adorn the inside cover of my own personal copy of the Jalopy Journal. Figuratively, that phrase means the art of customizing cars \u2013in the traditional custom with a \u2018K\u2019 sense\u2013 will never go out of style or fade from memory.<\/p>\n

Every kustom car, still with us or not, is remembered by someone, somewhere and it\u2019s usually these memories that keep cars alive long after they\u2019ve met their maker.<\/p>\n

On rare occasion \u2018Kustoms never die\u2019 literally applies to cars that by some miracle managed to avoid getting rebuilt, parted out, or scrapped entirely.\u00a0These cars are physical time capsules of build techniques and styles of days gone by.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Thunderball\u2019 is one of those cars.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I first laid eyes on the Thunderball I knew I was looking at something special. Presented, as it was found at the 2014 Jalopy Jam Up<\/a> the car drew an excited crowd.<\/p>\n

This wasnt a traditionally styled car built from NOS or reproduction parts, it was the real deal. It wasn\u2019t perfect but at the same time it was<\/em> perfect as an irreplaceable piece of Ontario hot rod history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At the time I wrongfully assumed the car would be trailered around\u00a0for a short while before being stuffed back into a barn or being torn apart for parts never to be seen again.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, my predictions for the car\u2019s future couldn\u2019t have been more wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To do this car\u2019s story justice we need to start at the beginning, or at least as close to the beginning as possible.<\/p>\n

First, the car is actually not<\/em>\u00a0a Ford but rather a Meteor.<\/p>\n

It was billed as a Ford because the Meteor nameplate was only used in Canada. When shown in the states calling the car a Ford just made things simpler and gave America\u2019s a mental point of reference.<\/p>\n

The car was\u00a0built in the early 60s by Louis Kovaks, a body man who owned two shops one in Mt Brydges Ontario and one in Strathroy Ontario.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ironically, when Louis started the build the car actually belonged to a customer.\u00a0At some point, using the \u2018it\u2019s easier to ask for forgiveness\u2019 approach Louis got out his tools and never looked back.<\/p>\n

How Louis handled the owner\u2019s reaction to his four door hard top becoming a two door permanent convertible no one quite seems to remember.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless one fact that there is no dispute is the cars intent. Louis built the Thunderball to win shows.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The car was one of the most heavily modified of its time, and naturally all of the traditional kustom styling modifications were employed.<\/p>\n

It has been chopped, channeled, shaved, flaked. There\u2019s stacked headlights, dual frenched antennas, polished wheels and porta white, white walls. When it comes to a true Kustom styling there\u2019s few modifications this car doesn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

However as cool and extensive as all the modifications are, they are not the most interesting part of this car\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the show circuit the car did quite well, evidence of the Thunderball\u2019s accolades are affixed to the center console of the car, along with the numerous trophies that managed to survive with the car.<\/p>\n

In its prime the car was incredibly successful before judges. Rumour has it the car also beat a Barris custom on one occasion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After retiring\u00a0from the show scene in 1969 the car was driven on the street until \u201975. At that point it was put into storage. Like many a show car as the years passed it got further from top of mind until it was forgotten.<\/p>\n

Eventually Louis passed away and the car became something his estate had to deal with. Not sure what to do with it, in its now state of disrepair, the car was destined for the crusher.<\/p>\n

It was only saved from this fate by Strathroy hot rodder Rick Copp who knew the car deserved better.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not in the position to take on such a project himself, Rick took the car to a local show with the intention of finding new caretakers.\u00a0 This is where Kevin Grasley and his then ten-year old son Dutch enter the Thunderball story.<\/p>\n

Like myself both realized the car was something unique. With its story thus far pasted to the window Kevin and Dutch tried to find the owner near the car but were unable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not ready to chalk things up to a missed opportunity Dutch persuaded his dad into one last trip past the car before they left.<\/p>\n

It was on this trip they managed to meet Rick Copp, who took a liking to\u00a0Dutch\u2019s enthusiasm over the car. (Trust me it is infectious)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>They exchanged information and two months later Copp decided to gift Dutch with the car making the Grasley men the vehicles new shepherds.<\/p>\n

Yes, this is the first car, of someone who isn\u2019t even old enough to drive yet. How cool is that?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Though nearly 100% complete upon re-discovery the car was quite a ways away from being a road worthy vehicle. The frame had suffered the most damage and was rotted beyond the point of no return.<\/p>\n

Undeterred Kevin, who is car builder with experience ranging from mini trucks to Volkswagen busses, was able to find a donor frame and shorten it the required 38 inches to fit underneath the Thunderball.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many ask, and no re-painting the car isn\u2019t something Kevin plans to do. Refinishing it would make it just another Kustom and not the storied car it is today.<\/p>\n

Sure a little more of the paint comes off each time he brushes past it in the shop, but that just adds to the vehicles character. After over 50 years it deserves to wear its patina with pride.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One area that Kevin did however give a complete make over was the engine bay. The 1955 Corvette 265 Corvette motor pictured above is the one that has been in the car since it was originally modified.<\/p>\n

Kevin pulled the motor giving it a visual and mechanical refresh. While it was out he redid the wheel wells, then cleaned up the engine bay and ran some of the cleanest wiring I\u2019ve ever seen.
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\nOutside of the chassis and running gear the rest of the car is virtually untouched.<\/p>\n

Considering it was in a barn for 40 years,\u00a0 largely un protected, the interior manged to hold up particularly well. Sure it\u2019s a little dirty, in the nooks and crannies, but it\u2019s all still there which is what is important.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is hard not to get a chuckle at the phone hanging off the center console. The first car phone came out in \u201946 so while it\u2019s feasible that a\u2019 working\u2019 unit could have been in this car, I don\u2019t believe that to be the case here.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But putting one in just for show makes perfect sense when you\u2019re building a show winner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With so many kustoms of the sixties lost to obscurity, words can\u2019t really stress just how fortunate it is that this car has managed to live on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Grasley\u2019s may have just been car enthusiasts before The Thunderball, but now they are hot rod preservationists.<\/p>\n

In their care we can all be relieved that this Kustom will never die!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you have information about the car Kevin can be reached on instagram @themaintenancedepartment<\/a>. He\u2019s trying to assemble as much history about the car as he can.<\/p>\n

Feel free to leave any information you might have in the comments as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kustoms\u00a0Never Die, those exact words adorn the inside cover of my own personal copy of the Jalopy Journal. Figuratively, that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-ride"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":551,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/howtokauai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}