Daran Rumbaugh: Builder

I started to get into cars, specifically classics and hotrods, when I was about 9 years old. My grandfather ran a small shop on the side in his western Pennsylvania 2 car garage as a second job. He did inspections, repairs, and rebuilt cars on a continuous basis. When I say rebuilt, I mean he bought wrecks from insurance company's and brought them back to as-new condition to sell. There were very few weekends when we would visit the grandparents and I would NOT see a car project in his garage. His work to completely rebuild a car was a part of my inspiration. At home I was able to see more details. I would watch my dad work on his cars through the years to make repairs and keep them tuned up for our family since we depended on the car for daily use. Then there were the stories. The stories that my dad would tell about his '60 Chevy Impala Convertible and how it was such a hot car that not many others in the area could touch. The high output 348 in it and the 4spd that he swapped into it to get rid of the sloppy powerglide. I rode in his blue Olds 98 for the last time the day that he drove it the last 10 feet to line it up with the flatbed before Phil Calandrella dragged it up onto the wrecker and hauled it off.

Through the years I started to learn to paint, did some mild restorations, and rebuilt a few motors (stock and hopped-up). I gained an appreciation for classics and restorations that I don't think that I can fully explain to anyone who hasn't been a part of it on their own. When I moved to NJ I built and entered my '72 Bronco Sport (one of the smaller early models) into several shows and learned about what kind of effort and details it takes to build a real show winning car.

So after the Bronco my father-in-law asked me if I wanted this old Ford convertible that he had and I said yes. A 1942 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible, no less (one of something like 2700 made). The car sat in a garage since 1962 so it needed some work, and it was in a wreck before it was parked so it had a '46 front end on it. I found all of the correct grill pieces to make it look like it did in '42, rebuilt the brakes, fuel system, and took care of some other safety items before putting it on the road for us to enjoy until the day that it can be restored properly, which is what this car "deserves".

It's because of that car that I met Vic Collins. He was passing by my house one day and saw the back of the Ford sticking out of my garage. He came over and introduced himself and we shared stories about the car and then his '48 Merc. A few months later he started to tell me about his idea for the Kopper Kart clone. It wasn't long before he took me to Mark's shop in Howell and I was able to see what a real shop looked like. The amount of effort required to get the truck together was inspiring, and I was anxious to help right away. Looking forward to Detroit in 2008!