Lake County >> At Vern Tardel Hot Rods in Windsor, Ross Reed built vehicles for major Hollywood films like American Graffiti. He worked on a car that raced at Bonneville Speedway and nabbed three World Records. He was there when one of the garage’s cars landed on a U.S. Postage Stamp. Museum worthy, $250,000 builds came from his hands. “We take a rusty old piece of junk and turn it into a beautiful piece of art sometimes,” said Reed.
While the body shop specialized in cars from the 1920s-1950s, they built anything from 1906 to modern day. Every day for 43 years he built for other people.
He never minded,though. The best part of working for a world-known car shop was creating something for someone else. “I like to see the joy on a customer’s face when they actually get to get in it and sit in the seat and drive it and go down the road in it for the first time,” Reed said.
It wasn’t until fairly recently that Reed decided to do something for himself. First he acquired a ‘69 Ford Ranchero, which he did considerable damage to when pulling out of his driveway and running into a guardrail. Then he spotted a 1956 Ford F100 Pickup in a magazine, which four other men had already tried — a failed — to build.
But Reed knew he could do it. The truck was in parts in a field beside a house, and Reed traded labor for the truck — he would help build a house and when the Pickup was complete, he’d get to keep it.
In only three months, Reed had taken a pile of parts and turned them into a smoothly running truck, it’s vibrant blue hue — named Big Bad Baby Blue — claiming attention like a beacon. He’s been driving the Pickup ever since, including a trip to Hot August Nights in Reno last year, where he married his wife, Sheri Reed. They attached a “Just Married” sign and some tin cans to the tailgate and drove off after the vows. “Six thousand people congratulated us as we paraded through town,” Sheri Reed recalled.
The ‘56 Ford has quite the history, but Reed didn’t know that when he acquired it. After rebuilding the truck, he was driving it around the Santa Rosa area when one of the original owners spotted him. The man chased Reed down and the two got to talking about the truck. Turns out the engine was built by the Santa Rosa Junior College auto shop class. It was a high performance engine then, and Reed has kept it that way.
Before parting, the man pulled out a photo from 1961 of his son standing behind the wheel of Reed’s truck. “This truck itself has a lot of history with my area where I came from, little did I know,” said Reed.
There are no trailer queens in Reed’s life. If he’s going to own a classic car, he’s going to get behind the wheel. “Everything that I’ve ever built I have built it as a driver so that I get to enjoy it,” he said, “because why have something that you can’t enjoy?”
Reed built a truck from bumper to bumper in just a few months, a truck that four guys before him had failed to construct at all. But he brushed off any praise. He does have 43 years of experience with cars, he pointed out. “I have a wealth of information about building cars and creating hot rods,” he added.
At 12 years old, Reed began working at Vern Tardel Hot Rods as a shop boy, sweeping floors and generally tidying up. The men at the shop took Reed under their wing as a mentee, and it’s clear that they became a family, not just coworkers. “I’ve always worked for everything I have. I came from a poor family. He [Vern Tardel] just happened to be one of the guys that hired me,” Reed said, his voice growing thick as his eyes watered.
Though he’s spent over four decades working in a body shop, it took a move to Lake County for Reed to finally join a car club. When the Reeds decided to move here, they had no idea the area was home to many a car enthusiast. Then their first Sunday in town they headed to the Common Grounds Coffee House in Clearlake Riviera where they ran into a group of guys chatting over their to go cups. After a quick chat the Reeds discovered that the group belonged to a local car club. They were headed to The Spot in Clearlake for breakfast. Without hesitation, they invited the couple along. The Reeds joined up with a couple car clubs not long after.
Reed was also drawn to the car clubs due to their community-oriented attitudes. A portion of the initiation fees for the No Name Car Club go to high school auto shop classes, which are harder and harder to come by as those types of classes — metal working, wood working, home economics — are being cut from school curriculum. “I was in for all that because that’s how I was brought up,” Reed said. “I think every young person that is wanting to build cars should get a mentor.”
Now the Reeds head out for meals with their fellow car enthusiasts on the regular, like this last Saturday morning when Reed’s friend arrived in his ‘47 Pickup to cart them off to coffee and pancakes. “He pulls up in my driveway, we open up the four doors and we all jump in and we go off to breakfast,” Reed regaled. “Not everybody gets to do that every day.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
