Bonded by the classics

COEUR d’ALENE — Keith Woodruff loves his deep-blue 1930 Ford Roadster, but not because it’s cool and worth a lot of money.

The Coeur d’Alene man loves it because his dad made it from scratch.

“It’s pretty special,” Woodruff said Saturday at the Car d’Lane show, which featured hundreds of classics gleaming in the sun.

Thousands filled downtown Coeur d'Alene for the second and final day of the event, which followed Friday evening's smile-filled, motors-revved cruise.

The show is a chance for those behind so many exceptional automobiles to sit back to share some stories.

Stories from their garages, their streets and their lives.

Car stories.

Rob Burns joined dad James Burns near the 1968 Pontiac Firebird powered by the 400 engine they worked on together. It has long been in the family and was once owned by Virginia Murphy.

“That was my grandmother’s grocery-getter,” Rob said. “She would come across the lake in a boat and run around town with it.”

The Firebird later sat in a barn for some 20 years while James and Rob debated what to do with her.

“We had many cocktails trying to figure out how to fix it,” Rob said.

Those cocktails must have helped, because they got her done.

Today, "The bird is a red beauty, perfect in every way. It was just a fun project,” Rob said.

Dad agreed.

“It just came natural to do it. We didn’t think about it. We got along pretty good on it,” he said. “We just kept working on it and talking about it and it evolved.”

Just up Sherman Avenue, Larry McNeil of Coeur d’Alene sat with grandson Jesse Durham near his red 1935 Ford three-window coupe, rolling into the car show for the first time.

Both share a love of older cars, which is what had them hanging out at Car d’Lane.

“We’re happy to be on Sherman,” Durham said.

Larry enjoyed the time together with his grandson.

"We just do a lot of talking," he said.

How one Keith Woodruff came to own the roadster with flames painted on the side is quite the tale.

His father, Ken Woodruff of Cayucos, Calif., spent 11 years in his garage rebuilding the car with a 392-hemi engine, finishing in 2008.

“The car has fulfilled every dream that I ever had about rebuilding a car,” he said.

Ken almost sold it in an auction three years ago, but when the bidding stopped at $45,000, he decided to hang onto it.

“I would have sold it for $65,000,” he said.

Keith was listening to the auction over the phone, hoping the roadster wouldn’t go anywhere.

“When it didn’t sell, I was very, very thrilled,” he said.

He told his father they needed to strike a deal so he could buy the car.

They did.

Ken figured out a way to gift both his children.

Keith got the roadster at a good price and his sister, to maintain family harmony, received traveling money.

“Everyone was happy,” Ken said, smiling.

Barb Woodruff, Keith’s wife, said the roadster means the world to her husband.

“Very sentimental because his dad built it,” she said.

Keith is pleased with how things turned out.

“I get to enjoy it for years and years to come,” he said.

Though father and son live far apart, they are close and talk often. Today, they’re headed to Elkins Resort at Priest Lake for a Father’s Day lunch.

Between the roadster and his dad, Keith expects a great day.

“Super special," Keith said. "I feel very blessed."