Restoration project reminiscent of young love
Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, the last thing Rich Schmidt thought he wanted was some sappy love letter. It proved to be just what he needed.
His high school sweetheart had just broke things off right before Schmidt was shipped overseas. "I went there with the biggest chip on my shoulder," Schmidt said.
Thankfully, a caring cousin, sensing his pain, had a cute young friend write this young Army specialist, though they had never met. Her first note arrived in May of '68 and forever changed Schmidt's life.
"I finished reading it and knew I had to meet this special girl," he said.
Much more correspondence followed before Schmidt arrived safely back home in October. The very day he was discharged from the service, Schmidt met the flirtatious writer, Kittie. It was love at first sight and soon the pair was wed.
They were driving a '68 Dodge Charger in March of 1970 when they decided they could afford a second car and to buy one new.
"Kittie wanted me to pick it out as a present for my 25th birthday, which was right around the corner," Schmidt said. They headed to Elmhurst Dodge to order a 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible.
"The first car we rode in together was a '63 Chevy convertible. She always loved drop tops."
The Challenger arrived in May and went into daily driving duties, including whisking the pair away on vacation trips to Daytona, Florida, and to Minnesota to surprise a military buddy on his wedding day.
Schmidt was a hands-on guy and in 1973 he decided to strip the vehicle down and repaint it in Steel City Gray. He finished the respray and drove the Challenger for three more years before deciding to store it on a long-term basis.
"It had some rust and had accumulated a fair amount of body chips," Schmidt said. Many more vehicles came and went but "none of them meant as much as this one."
Schmidt's grand plans of restoring the Challenger himself and cruising once again with his longtime love never came to fruition. In 2013, his wife Kittie passed away. In 2014, the Schmidts' son, Brian, finally convinced his dad to bring the Dodge out of hibernation and get it ready for the road.
They enlisted the help of the crew at Custom Classics in Island Lake, who embarked on a 15-month top-to-bottom overhaul of the iconic cruiser. Earlier this fall, Brian hatched a plan to surprise his dad, who was thinking the car wouldn't be finished until late spring.
The restoration was accelerated and completed in time for a grand unveiling at last weekend's Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, held in Rosemont. Surrounded by friends and family, Schmidt was speechless as the cover was pulled off.
"It's simply beautiful. So much of this car is my wife."