Residents feature their beauties in Autorama

It takes a lot of dedication, time, and often money to do what these guys do, but in the end there is always a beautiful masterpiece to come out of it.

Two residents from The Colony have entered their completely restored classic cars in the 51st Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Autorama, which will take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Dallas Market Hall, 2200 Stemmons Freeway.

The Colony resident Brian Thompson will be showing two 1962 Chevrolet Impalas in the show, which will be his first Autorama with the cars. Jack Hays, also of The Colony, will show “Vettezilla,” his dark green 1965 Corvette at the event.

Thompson got into Chevy Impalas because of his dad. During the 1960s, Thompson’s father used to drag race his ’62 409 Impala. His father bought another ’62 Impala to restore and remember his drag racing days during his later years. Unfortunately, Thompson’s father passed away before he could finish.

“Part of the way through the build I took it over and continued it, just for the fondness of him,” Thompson said. “I had never welded, done body work, or anything.”

Thompson began the restoration on his first Impala in September 2006. He replaced 90 percent of the rusted frame with sheet metal. The vehicle has a stock interior and is two-tone painted in Galaxy Gray and Orion Silver.

Under the hood, the car sports a full-blown Ford 409 race motor, stroked to 482 cubic inches and 650 horsepower. The Impala has a 700R4 transmission and 3.89 gears. It is complete with an air-ride technology street-challenge suspension system with a Moser M9 Fabricated Rear End.

“Pretty much what can be changed on it has been changed,” Thompson said.

He completed the restoration on May 31, 2008, after putting $100,000 into the vehicle. Two months later, on July 11, the car met with misfortune. With only 26 miles on the vehicle, Thompson’s Impala was totaled in an accident. A girl who was texting while driving ran a red light and wrecked his car, he said.

“Talk about devastation,” Thompson said. “$100,000 just gone.”

Thompson immediately began rebuilding it, costing his insurance $52,000.

“The whole frame, the engine, everything was trashed,” Thompson said.

He finished the work on the car on May 30, 2009, a year after he completed it the first time. He then started drag racing with it, but decided he put too much money into the car to let it get worn out from racing. Thompson then started to put his Impala in shows and driving it around the neighborhood instead.

Last year, Thompson entered his car in the 97.9 Car Show and won first place for his class. In one show, Thompson took home trophies for “First Place,” “Best in Show,” and “Mayor’s Pick.”

“Everybody loved [the car]. They say it’s a beautiful car, [especially] the color scheme,” Thompson said.

Last February, Thompson began rebuilding another ’62 Impala for his father-in-law, Jerry Anderson. He finished it on June 20, 2010. For this Impala, he put $65,000 into it.

“It’s not as custom-looking,” Thompson said. “From the outside, it’s an original car with some updated wheels on it. As far as underneath the hood, everything has changed.”

The second Impala, which has original color of Ermine White, features an original interior with the only interior modifications being an Ididit Steering Column and Billet Specialties Steering Wheel. Under the hood, the car has a 409 engine and 700R4 transmission.

Thompson plans on opening a classic auto restoration shop called “The Impala Shop.” Frame-off restorations will be his primary focus, but he also will offer engine swaps, repairing rusted panels, and installing air-ride suspensions.

“I’m still in the process,” Thompson said. “I just got my building. I haven’t even moved in yet. I’ve been trying to get the cars ready for the show.”

Thompson has March 1 as the date to open his shop, which will be located in Denton.

As for Hays, “Vettezilla” came into his possession on Aug. 24, 1967, when he was only 19 years old. Hays and his father saw an ad in the newspaper for a Corvette. The two went and looked at the car, which had been purchased from a dealer in McKinney only a year before. Hays talked his dad into buying the vehicle.

“I told him if he bought me that car, I would never sell it. He said he wanted to drive it to work one day a week. And that’s what he did,” Hays said.

When purchased, the car only had 3,121 miles on it. When Hays parked it in his garage 15 years ago, it had 260,000 miles. But starting 11 years ago, Hays and some of his friends decided to begin a complete restoration of the car.

About eight years into the 11-year-restoration project, Hays got his best friend, his brother, a guy from work, and three guys from the Corvette Legends of Texas Club, in which Hays is a member, to work on the car every week. His father’s health, who was a diabetic and blind, was deteriorating.

“I was trying to get it finished so I could take him for a ride in it,” Hays said, who finished the restoration project three years ago during the spring.

“[My dad] couldn’t see but he could feel and talked to me about what he heard,” Hays said.

During the ride, Hays said he asked his dad if he thought he would keep the car for as long as he had.

“He said, ‘Nah, I thought for sure you would sell it,'” Hays said.

Hays’ father passed away three months later.

“It was a good feeling to share that with him again, and I still think about it every time I go for a ride,” Hays said. “He gave me my love of things mechanical. [The Corvette] is a symbol of what we shared while I was growing up.

During the restoration, Hays rebuilt the body, the paint, the engine, the transmission, installed new wiring, replaced the entire interior, rebuilt the instrument cluster in the dash, and put in suspension.

“I had butchered some of the body work as a kid while racing it,” Hays said. “It was a total restoration.”

Hays dubbed his car with its nickname for good reason. He spent roughly five times the amount of his set budget during the restoration project.

“I called it ‘Vettezilla.’ Just like Godzilla conquered Tokyo, ‘Vettezilla’ conquered my checkbook,” Hays joked.

Only 400 of the 700 Corvettes made during 1965 in that model and make were the color of the dark green on Hays’ car, which is so dark it almost looks black. His Corvette also has air conditioning, another rare commodity for that time.

“People kid me all the time about my ‘black’ car because they know it’s a green car,” Hays said.

Hays has shown his car in several shows. He participates in big shows such as AER Classic Car Show and the Autorama show, in which the Corvette Legends Club sponsors entries every year. The club will have four Corvettes at the Autorama show this weekend.

Hays also does about six or seven smaller shows throughout the warmer months of the year.

“I don’t do it to win anything, just to show [the car] off. It’s a great way to socialize with everyone,” Hays said.

Hays also enjoys taking the Corvette out for a spin around town, participating in events such as the Lewisville Christmas Parade.

“I like to share the car, too, and I know how I was as a kid. If I see someone who likes it and shows respect to it, I let him sit in it. Sometimes I give them a ride,” Hays said.

Both Thompson’s and Hays’ vehicles will be on display at the Autorama show this weekend. The event runs from 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

General admission for ages 13 and older is $15 and tickets for children 6-12 will cost $5. Pre-sale tickets at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts will be $13 for general admission and $4 for children.

For information, visit www.autorama.com.

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