Ford employees show off personal style at car show

You may think that a Ford employee car show would be a filled with Mustangs, Thunderbirds and Deuces--and you'd be right. But there was also a dazzling array of Chryslers, Chevys and even some Italian flair on display at the Ford Product Development Center in Dearborn, Mich for this year's event.

Kevin Bertram brought an original 1969 Dodge Charger, complete with Confederate flag on top. It wasn't used in the Dukes of Hazzard TV show or movie, but Bertram is surely a fanatic. He bought an orange '69 Charger trunk lid 10 years before he found the car. Bertram lugged the lid around to car shows and Comic-cons, anywhere he could see a few folks from Hazzard County. Now he has an autograph from all the main characters on the underside, along with a ton of guest stars and other people that worked on the show.

The Charger has the original 318-cubic-inch V8 and 115,000 miles on the odometer. Bertram drives it in the summer months and stores it during the winter, trying to find the time and money to upgrade the paint job and bodywork. Daisy Duke would be proud.

Gary Kohn, known as Mustang Gary to his friends, showed off a highly customized, bright yellow 2003 Cobra. The supercharged V8 delivers roughly 470 hp, though it was tested on a standard dyno, not a Mustang-specific one, which he says will give a more accurate reading. He picked up the pony car in 2002 and put about 86,000 miles on the engine. If the trick scissor doors don't tip off the special ride, then the sounds of a bucking bronco coming from the CD player will. Kohn picked the sound-effect disc up from another Mustang enthusiast.

Joining the late models on the lawn was something a little more antique. Bruce Book brought a 1936 Ford Tudor Deluxe.

“The Deluxe edition got a second taillight, second wiper blade and banjo steering wheel,” said Book.

That's luxury.

The Tudor has an 85-hp, eight-cylinder engine and was restored when Book bought it five years ago. The woman he bought it from said that the radio did work. After firing up the Ford and finding no sound, Book wiggled the knobs and tapped the gauge with no results. Then suddenly, ear piercing AM radio.

“It works with vacuum tubes, so it has to warm up before the radio works,” said Book.

Book owned a Tudor in 1951, similar to the one he owns now. He often jokes that as old as his car is, it's not as old as him, 78.

What unites these cars is that they don't spend all day sitting on a trailer. During the summer and on warm weekends you'll see Book's Tudor, Bertram's Charger and Kohn's Mustang cruising around metro Detroit. And they'll all be heading to the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in August.

It's really what unites us all. Ford guys, Mopar guys, Chevy guys, we can appreciate our home brand and the guy next door's home brand. Come August, don't be surprised if you see some sort of mutual appreciation society on the Woodward, car guy to car guy.

By Jake Lingeman