My First Car: '40 Ford, Bill Johannes, 73, St. Petersburg

'40 Ford

In 1953, at age 16, my parents sold their farm in Damascus, Md. I received $300 of the proceeds as my cow was part of the sale. We relocated to Dade City and I got my driver's license soon thereafter. I found this 1940 Ford at Huckabee's Chevrolet's used car lot and purchased the vehicle. It had only 42,000 miles on it and was in very good condition. The original paint was a grayish green color, simply unacceptable to my young eyes.

My best buddy, Mel, and I "dechromed" it to make it a true hot rod. We removed the trunk handle and license plate bracket and most of the chrome detail running down each side of the car. Next, we lowered the rear end approximately 4 inches and then got some help painting the car for the very reasonable price of $25. The new color, Madeira Maroon, was quite fetching and all agreed that the changes resulted in a real beauty. I have many fond memories of "The Rod" and miss driving it all these many years later. Mel is still making hot rods here in Pinellas Park; he's just better at it.