Classic recollections: Father's day special

When George Shirkey came across his red-hot 1939 Ford pickup, it was tattered and tired — better suited for barnyard hauling than blacktop cruising. But that didn't stop the automotive artisan from constructing a custom cruiser in his backyard workshop, and in the process, creating special memories with his daughter, Stephanie.

Stephanie had just turned 5 when her father's vehicle was finished.

“During my very first ride, dad got a speeding ticket!”

With the throttle backed off, she accompanied George to area cruise nights, cherishing the father/daughter time. “On hot days the whole family would squish in, and we'd go get ice cream together,” Stephanie said.

Over the years, the finished pickup became a treasured resident in the St. Charles household, always sure to bring the Shirkeys together. That all changed on April 27, 2006, when George, while riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, was struck and killed by a drunken driver.

Faced with the grieving process, Stephanie found solace in her dad's labor of love.

“To this day it still hurts that my father is no longer with us, but this truck is the one thing that subsides my pain,” she says.

In her quest for comfort is also the desire to honor her dad's creativity and craftsmanship by learning the finer points of the build. She discovered George had found the battered and bruised truck in 1978 and had started down the ‘all-original' path, but with high-octane in his veins, went the street-rod route instead. A small-block 350 V-8 was dropped between the fenders and the body was slathered in eye-searing Porsche Red paint, insuring this once farmer's market regular had some serious street sizzle.

A four-inch drop in the suspension garners a ground-hugging stance while custom Harley-sourced turn signals are a nod to his two-wheeled inclinations.

From the start of the build, George had three ultimate four-wheeled dreams with his truck. The first was a family pilgrimage to the Ohio Street Rod Nationals, and in 1993 the trek was made. His in-laws even tagged along for the momentous occasion. Dream No. 2 was a lap around the historic ‘Brickyard' racetrack in Indianapolis, and in '95 that unique opportunity occurred. The last ambition was to pilot his pickup in a quarter-mile drag race and in 2000 he headed to Bryon Dragway and blazed down the asphalt strip.

“This vehicle was such a big part of him and who he was. I felt it needed to be preserved as a special way to remember him,” Stephanie said.

She's done just that, sliding behind the well-worn steering wheel and taking it to the local shows, garnering a few trophies of her own. As the gear head gal enters another season of cruising, she continues to gain familiarity, and serenity, with her father's Ford.

“Driving it makes me so happy,” she says. “It's the one thing of him that is left and I never want to see it go.”