Dave Spear came back stateside in 1969 from a stint in Vietnam where he’d lost his left hand and most of his right. He met his wife Sandy in 1970 and settled down to raise a family. A couple of sons soon followed and in 1976 he picked up this sweet 1948 Fleetline boulevard bomber.
He got to work restoring it to stock over the next couple of years. As his sons grew, Dave enlisted their help more and more. They became his virtual hands and fingers as he schooled them on spinning wrenches, hammering out metal, and spreading Bondo. Once completed, the resto job Fleetline became a parade car.
The car took home two second-place trophies from its first show. Dave snapped a Polaroid of the car at the show’s grounds and as he watched it develop in his palm, he noticed that the car looked downright petulant from the show’s results. That’s how the car’s “Grumpy” moniker was hatched.
See the entire article in CKD #44
