Untitled Document

(previous page)From the photos, I couldn't tell which type it was. I could tell that it was a 1970 version, because the headlights were in the grill and there were only two-the '69 had four headlights. And the side vents, just forward of the rear tire opening, was filled.

Well, I decided to buy it. I asked if he would take $700 for it and he said yes. Next, all I had to do was ship it across country to Palm Beach, Florida. (That's another story. I ended up paying as much to ship it as I paid for the body.)

This is how the body looked when it arrived, photographed at the same angle as the magazine cover. The name on the side is "Infatuation." If you look closely you can count three beads on the aluminum under the windshield.

When it arrived, it had a certain smell about it…as though it had been in storage for a while. Kind of a stale fiberglass smell, like that old car smell. After I could see it up close, I poured over my magazines and determined that the body was built by Shedlik. I could tell by the front spoiler. Shedlik built bodies in the Detroit area and was a painter also. He painted Nicholson's Eliminator Cougar. Other Ford racers who ran his bodies were Tommy Grove, Bill Lawton, Gas Ronda, Jerry Camminito, Paul Stefansky, Wayne Gapp, Jack Chrisman, K&G Speed Assoc., Frank Ogelsby, and Ohio George. I have determined this list by countless hours of sifting through my magazines. I may have missed a few, but this is all that I could find in my archives.

I decided to find out more about the body, so I called Greg Anderson again, but he was unable to help. Turns out that he was getting rid of it for someone who had gotten the body in payment for a paint job when the owner died. But that's all he knew.

From the photos you can see that several different paint jobs had been applied over the lifespan of the car. I decided that I would sand each layer and take pictures of each step, so I got out my trusty sanding block and 100-grit wet or dry sandpaper and began the tedious task of hand sanding the car. I sanded each night after work and on weekends. A few beers and a couple of hours were all I could take at one time. At times I felt what it must be like to be an archeologist, peeling off the layers of time to reveal a lost artifact. Lost in time, thought lost forever. (next page)