Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Editor's note: This is part of a series at KSL.com featuring some of Utah's coolest cars. If you own a customized vehicle — from sports cars to semitrucks — email jormond@ksl.com with a photo of the vehicle and a brief description for consideration.
MANTI — Americans are now holding onto their cars for an average of 12 years, according to research from IHS Markit. For Manti's Bill Thompson, that's less than a fourth of the time he's had his vehicle.
It's the summer of 1961 in Orem, Utah, Thompson — then 15 — was delivering newspapers along 800 North and spotted a 1929 Ford Model A Special Coupe for sale for $100. His dad wanted to talk about it. His mom said, "No way."
Thompson later found out some friends bought the Model A for $85. He helped them work on it, outlasting their interest, and they sold it to him for what they paid for it. Just like that, he had his first car before he was old enough to drive it.
During the time Thompson was waiting to turn 16, the family moved to a ranch outside Aurora, in Sevier County. In 1962, the now-legal driver picked up his cousin for his first trip: dragging Main Street in Salina. He got a ticket for not having an inspection.
Thompson drove the Model A 10 miles a day to high school and back, plus the trip to the elementary school down the street for lunch. His buddies figured out they could pile on his running boards for a ride and be first in the lunch line. A local cop figured that was unsafe, so about five of them piled inside the two-seater.
Thompson also hauled hay his junior year, earning enough to paint the old car a metallic blue.
After graduation, Thompson commuted weekly to Snow College. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1965, dropping the car off with an uncle in Pocatello, Idaho, who wanted it for pharmacy deliveries.
When he came back to the Model A and Snow College, one very late night while driving home from a band concert, a man stopped him in the middle of the street and offered to buy the car.
Thompson transferred to BYU and often had business cards and offers left on the car. He had his first date with his wife, Colette, in it. Later, when they were expecting their first child, a doctor offered a baby delivery for the car. Thompson opted for cash.
A Vietnam War draft and student teaching later, Thompson got his first teaching job in Roosevelt. Driving between five schools to teach music, be enlisted a Toyota Corolla and Ford pickup to help with the miles. A few years later, he got a teaching job in Manti and the Model A ended up in a shed for 30 years.
When Thompson retired in 2009, the Model A got more of his attention. Things really picked up in 2012: He took body pieces to Provo one at a time for paint and body work. A welder worked on the frame. Thompson then found a replacement for the tired engine in Bountiful.
Living in Manti, Thompson knew legendary hot-rod builder and artist Ed Roth. Though the Model A wasn't ready when Roth was still alive, Roth's widow, Ilene, connected him with pinstriper "Coop," from Ohio, who gave the car period-correct lines. Even before the restoration was complete, Thompson and his Model A were winning awards at car shows.
Thompson said he has kept the car 62 years and counting because it is such a pleasure to drive. He is active in Model A clubs, taking drives all over the state and country.
Of course, the Model A is not Thompson's only car. He also has a Model T Ford pickup truck he's owned since the mid-1980s and a 1951 Mercury he bought in the early 1990s, but who's counting?
More Cool Cars:
