Larry and Kathy Birdman of Prescott, AZ showed a photo of an assembled Model T Ford he pieced together so he could get an Arizona tittle Friday. Originally he bought one door, a cab and frame he found in Norfolk, Nebraska. Their Model T truck is on display at the Cache Valley Cruise In.
LOGAN – This is the first visit for car enthusiasts Larry and Kathy Birdman of Prescott Valley Arizona. They brought their shiny black 1926 Model T Ford pickup to the Cache Valley Cruise In. He was approached a couple of years ago while at Salt Lake car show, but COVID put a wrench into his plans.
The show piece was housed in the Cache County Convention Center with some of the other high end automobiles.
“We were invited a couple of years ago, but COVID stopped the show last year,” he said. “This is a super event. It’s a good guys show.”
Birdman said it took him five years to design the truck and another 18 years to build it in his shop. He didn’t use any shops to build his prize. He built it himself.
“I’ve wanted a Ford Model T since I was 14 years-old,” he said. “I bought one door, a cab and frame I found in Norfolk, Nebraska. I had to find enough parts to put it together to get an Arizona title so I could build it.”
Birdman a retired mechanical engineer for the aerospace industry built most of the parts in his home shop.
“I did almost everything but the upholstery and paint,” he said. “You can’t go anywhere and buy parts for something like this. So I had to make them.”
Birdman’s wife Kathy was a supporter of the project and said he worked hard building it.
“He finished it in 2018 and we took it to Detroit Auto Rama,” she said. “He wanted to build it so unique no one else would have one.”
She said the car is drivable, but they rarely take it for a drive it because it is jus too hard to clean afterwards.
“We will take it out for a drive and then it takes two weeks to clean it,” Kathy said. “We built it to be a Saturday Night Special, but it is too nice to drive.”
Larry has another car in the works in his shop.
The Cache Valley Cruise-In attracted a lot of attention at the fairgrounds this year as crowds inspected the rides at the Cache County Fairgrounds.
Chris Garr, the treasure and front show director for the Cache Valley Cruising Association, said the event got busier by the hour.
“(Friday), we had over 600 cars registered,” she said. “(Saturday) there will be closer to 1,000 cars at the show.”
Garr didn’t have all of the information at her fingertips, but she knew there were some entries from as far away as Texas.
A couple of years ago they had people from as far away as Australia.
“We usually sell about 15,000 tickets and it seems like this year it could be more,” she said. “It seems like it is getting pretty busy. I think we are going to have more people this year.”
With COVID behind them they are expecting a record crowd because people are just looking for a place to go.
“This show is put together by a bunch of volunteers,” Garr said. “We are all just a bunch of crazy people that like cars and want people to have a good time.”