Back home in Honolulu, Hawaii, I grew up in the Kapahulu area in the early 1950s. I found my first car through a fellow cadet at the Civil Air Patrol. It was a 1936 Ford two-door sedan, humpback, left. It must have been a parts car as it was missing everything forward of the firewall. I paid $10 for it.
I then found a second 1936 Ford two-door sedan, slant back, shown at right. I decided to use parts from the slant back to get the humpback running. With the help of my twin brother Gene, we stripped the needed parts (engine, transmission etc.) and interior from one car to the other.
The whitewall tires were created by using a can of white rubberized paint. I couldn't afford to buy real whitewall tires. My friend at the gas station primed the car with black primer and it was ready to go. My proudest moment was when I took it to school for the first time in my senior year.
— Lou Dilda, Merlin