(Words and Photos by Scott Liggett) A relatively normal Saturday started out as just a fun day at a car show with a friend, and ended with the discovery of an amazing collection of cars and trucks as well as barn find gold. We hit up the Tri-City Street Rods Auto Exhibition in Grand Island, NE. On the way there, we saw some road side gold in the small town of Gibbon, specifically a ’56 Ford F100. It was definitely project material and looked like it had a ton of possibilities. We didn’t stop on the way to the show, but made a note to do so on the way home.
And, we did stop. While checking out the ’56 F100, there was also a ’53 F100, a ’39 Ford two door sedan, a ’51 Mercury coupe, a MGTD kit car body, and a ’31 Model A five window coupe. All just sitting on the side of the road in Gibbon at what used to be a service station decades ago. While there, we met a gentleman out walking his dog. This person turned out to be Dwight Bond, the owner of these old rides and the property we were standing on.
After looking at the cars in the yard, we asked about the bajillion Ford trucks, cabs and parts in the back yard. Dwight told he always liked those old Fords. Many of the cabs came from the bigger 1 and 2 ton farm trucks, not just pickups. Many of those old farm trucks also came with flathead V8’s too. Oh my. Then Dwight said, “So, you want to see what I have in the shop?” My buddy, John, and I looked at each other and immediately said sure. We don’t have to be anywhere. If we did, we had forgotten about it in the last 15 seconds.
Turns out we were stepping into the storage building and shop Gibbon Fiberglass Bodies by Bond. A company Dwight Bong started decades ago building fiberglass replicas of ’32 to ’34 Fords. That expanded into early Packards. Yes, I said Packards. Dwight also made other things like adapter plates to put T-5 five speeds behind flathead V8’s. Dwight is mostly retired now and the company is now run by his son, Kyle.
He first opened up an old building that used to be part of the company’s manufacturing. It hasn’t been used for that for some time and is just for storage now. The first thing we saw when we walked in was a cool traditional Duece Highboy roadster. Behind it, was a 1949 Mercury convertible that appeared to be all original. It was dusty and the hood was up, but it appeared very drivable. I have never seen a real convertible in person.
Dwight asked if we had seen the Model A Touring Sedan in the back of the room. We sure did and it appeared to be an unrestored survivor. All I could think of was completely molesting this thing into a hot rod tub and cruise with buddies until the tires fall off. I know, I am a bad person.
The other room had the jigs for building frames for the Fords and the Packards along with some tools that were made during WWII. John and I felt like some kind of automotive archeologists digging in the dust and old parts. Getting dirty was never so much fun.
Dwight then walked us over to the shop building where he still worked on cars. Inside was a ’53 F100 getting the full custom job with a chopped top, a forward opening hood and custom chassis. Lining the walls were dozens of gennie Ford wire wheels, intakes for flattys, bumpers, hoods, and other hot rodding gold collected over 50 years.
This old ’32 Ford five window coupe was found in the back room of a barber shop and had been there for 35 years. Dwight was turning it into a little hot rod complete a multi-carbed flathead. Giddy was taking over, but we still hadn’t seen the real treasures.
In the back of the shop, Dwight opened up another door. Once we stepped through and saw what was on the other side, John was agape, mouth hanging open trying to form the word “DAMN!”. I would have said something smart allecky, but my jaw was currently on the floor as well.
This beautiful ’36 Ford roadster was just staring us. Before either John or I could utter a compliment, Dwight hopped in and fired it up. That hopped up flathead under the hood roared to life instantly and settled into the unique idle lope that Henry’s V8’s are known for.
Up in the rafters I spotted the mold for one of the Gibbon ’34 Ford 3 window coupes along with fenders, more wire wheels, and other such hot rodding goodness. Below, was a sweet project Model A roadster.
Check out this hoard of flathead V8’s. One was sitting on a run stand, several on the floor. many with T-5 transmissions bolted and ready to power a project hot rod. There were also the very hard to find V8 60’s. A twinge of jealously started to take hold about this point.
Kind of hiding in the dark was this wonderful black ’64 Chevelle convertible. It is mostly stock and in great condition.
It’s hard to see in the dark, but that is a ’57 Chris Craft kit speed boat. Most of these were powered by little four cylinders. This one has a snotty little V8 60 connected to a V-drive that runs off the harmonic balancer. I so wanted to hear this little boat run.
Hiding under that old bed sheet is a ’39 Crosley convertible. The reason this one had a closed off grille is because these were powered by air cooled two cylinder engines at the time. A little bit of dusting and this one was ready for the Memorial Day parade.
A very rare Gibbon model was this scaled down ’34 Ford 3 window. Gibbon only made about 20-30 of these and the proportions were spot on. What do you power a 3/4 scale Ford coupe? A flathead V8 60 of course. John kind of gives this one scale in this picture.
This big black roadster is a ’32 Packard. Not a Gibbon reproduction, but a gennie complete with Packard’s famous straight 8 engine.
Dwight has owned this ’39 Ford Deluxe coupe since 1962. He and his wife dated in it! Wow! It has some neat custom touches including ’57 Vette tail lights frenched into the rear fenders. One side hides the fuel filler cap. Very cool. Under the hood is a ’60’s era Vette 327 backed by a T-5 five speed.
Dwight then directed back over by the boat to show us something that was lying under the homemade trailer. A mint pair of vintage Fenton small block Chevy headers. He hasn’t figured out what to use them on yet because the design has them hitting frames and suspension on most of what he has in his shop.
What gearhead doesn’t like cool tools, especially home made tools. This is probably the best engine stand I have ever seen. Dwight made out of a cart he once used to haul fiberglass around the shop. The steering wheel need very little effort to rotate that small block. After fighting to get my 454 rotated over when I was assembling it, I want this one.
On the walls of his shop are tons of pictures throughout the years and the cars he has built. Also, were vintage car club placards from around the Central Nebraska area. Some were very nicely made, while a couple looked like they were made in shop class. They were just as cool.
Finally, outside was this ’49 Mercury woody wagon that was bought for parts for another car being restored. They decided not to cut it up. As you can see the wood is completely gone, but Dwight told us there are kits available for a pretty penny. That is his black daily driver Model A pickup in the background.
What was supposed to be a 5 minute stop turned into over an hour of just plain coolness I can hardly describe. Not only did we get to see a great collection, but we also got a bit of a history lesson on hot rodding in this part of Nebraska. Thanks again to Dwight Bond for showing us around and his generosity. We had a great time and learned a lot too.
Sweet stuff Reb, thanks for sharing it !
Can’t talk now, tongue too hard.
Damn there is alot of good stuff
Now that’s my kind of road trip! You lucky bastards!
That ’39 Ford Deluxe is heaven on earth!