He built it one piece at a time

A frame here. A motor there. Finally, after 18 years of piecing together his 1931 Ford two-door sedan from the ground up, Jackson Thompson turned the engine over for the first time July 2.

"The first time we fired it up, it started and idled," Thompson said. "And we were just in shock."

The Lewiston resident has since entered it in two car shows and is one of many entrants who will be bringing their hot rods out to Lewiston's Hot August Nights car show this week, starting with the Rogers Motors Tune Up Show and Shine tonight.

"Rogers has always been an awesome show," Thompson said. "That's what it's all about when you're into cars; it doesn't matter what type of car you have."

Thompson started the project when he was 17 years old, with the help of his brother and father.

"This is what I learned how to weld on," Thompson said.

His brother, Jason Thompson, said cars are really a family thing.

"It's just spend a lot of time with dad and Jackson and good buddies that come over and give us a hand," Jason said. "It's just a family bonding type of experience."

The whole Thompson clan is a car family, he said. The brothers' grandfather owned a mechanic shop and their father owned Thompson Auto Sales in Lewiston for many years.

"So that's how we were raised," Jason said. "We don't hunt or fish or any of that stuff - we do cars."

Jason will enter a custom-built 1930 Ford Model A pickup truck in the show-and-shines this week.

Breanne Durham, executive director of Beautiful Downtown Lewiston, said the number of car entries at Hot August Nights this week looks higher this year than the past five, and organizers are hoping for as many as 350.

And for the first time, there will be a Cycle Corral, which is an area for motorcycles to park alongside the cars.

"We've been wanting more motorcycles at the event," Durham said, adding a new committee member this year was willing to help organize and promote the cycle corral.

Jason also builds custom motorcycles, although he said he's sticking with just entering his pickup truck this year. He completed the vehicle about 10 years ago after spending a decade building it. As for Jackson, he still isn't done building his hot rod - he still has to paint it (it's just in primer right now) and complete the interior.

"It's years from ever being done," he said. "I mean, it's a car so I don't think I'll ever truly be finished."

Jackson said there are purists out there who might not appreciate some of the custom features of the car that sits atop an Model A frame. Those features include suicide doors, 22-inch wheels and a Cadillac 500 big-block engine. But for Jackson, his car is a way of showing his personality.

"You put this up against any other Model A and it's completely different," he said.

But more than anything, Jackson said he's just excited to finally be able to drive it, which he'll be doing in the cruise Friday night.

"I still, every time I drive it, it doesn't matter if I pull it out of the garage or what, I get out and I'm just shaking," Jackson said. "It's an amazing feeling driving down the road and looking around and going 'This came from nothing.' So the feeling of just having a complete car that you know came from 50 different places for parts and to be able to say you put it together yourself is pretty awesome."

---

Moroney may be contacted at kmoroney@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2232.