It is said that if winning the game is the only reason you play, you’re playing for the wrong reason, but if you play for the pleasure of the game, you’ve figured out the key to happiness. The same could be said about project vehicles. If you build only for the end result rather than the process, you’re missing out on a key factor that makes your vehicle unique. Terry Ferda of Great Falls, Montana knows this all too well, and although his 1936 Plymouth Deluxe Business Coupe didn’t come along easily, it was Ferda’s passion and dedication that gave him the amazing hot rod he has today.

Where It All Began

Like many die-hard car guys, Ferda’s automotive passion started at a young age. “I have been into hot rods since I was a kid,” Freda told us during our interview, and he went on to say, “I started by interchanging the parts in plastic model car kits to make them look cooler.”

But, while Ferda certainly had the eye for cars like the 1936 Plymouth that ended up in his family’s garage, the Plymouth, which Ferda’s mother called “The Bomb,” came into the family prior to Ferda’s enthusiasm for hot rods. To his surprise his dad traded a boat for the car.

Sitting mostly untouched for years with a new wife and kids around (Ferda’s father had rebuilt the car’s Flat 6 and put on new brakes, etc. before the family began to grow), the Plymouth finally became Ferda’s project in high school when he took the car to his sophomore automotive class to do some work on it. Ferda rewired the car and got everything working. He then drove the car throughout the rest of high school.

Once out of school, Ferda joined the Navy and the car once again sat. Upon his return, Ferda reunited with the Plymouth and took it with him to Great Falls.

Although he moved several times, the car remained in his possession, sometimes stored at friends’ house and sometimes in his own garage if he had one at the time. Ferda eventually bought a house and settled down, but the car remained untouched as life changes continued.

It wasn’t until after he planned to buy another fun car (a ’69 Chevelle for sale online) that Ferda decided to start putting some serious work and money into The Bomb. After okaying plans to “modernize” the old rod a bit with his father, Ferda started out on a journey to turn the family steed into it’s current masterpiece.

The Start Of The Build

The first thing Ferda did was pick out his idea of a perfect engine – a Chevy 350 out of a 1969 Corvette that his friend had. The engine was then taken to Fran’s Machine for a full overhaul. Now the engine, which is bored 60 over, features Speed Pro pistons and chromoly rings, an Edelbrock intake manifold as well as an Edelbrock 650cfm carburetor, and a MSD ignition. This is topped off with Hugger headers and a Flowmaster exhaust system.

Attached to the modified Chevy 350 is a Turbo 400 transmission built by a friend of Ferda’s and controlled by a Lokar shifter, Ferda’s favorite part of the car. “I used the Lokar radical 32-inch because I wanted the Rat Fink look inside the car,” he told us.

While Ferda had the engine and transmission under control, the build on the remainder of the car began to present issues – not because the car was a particularly difficult case, but because those entrusted with the car proved to be lacking in the same work ethic and passion for the Plymouth that Ferda had.

Troubled Waters

Ferda, who is a construction contractor by trade, accepted offers from (so called) friends to help him with his car. Unfortunately, Ferda soon found out that trusting certain people to do a good job on his car was a mistake.

The first guy, who was going to trade work on the rearend, front end, and steering for some construction work ended up doing a botch job on the Plymouth. After two years, Ferda was stuck with a car with an old Pontiac steering column, an unattached front suspension out of a Cordoba, and a frame that was cut and welded so bad, it would have buckled under any load. Needless to say, all that “work” went into the trash.

Luckily, Ferda was able to find another front frame for his car in a junkyard for cheap. Taking it to another shop, the plan was to have the Mustang II front-end and frame piece installed on the car.

Two months after paying a deposit and dropping the car off, Ferda went back to the shop only to discover the building had been abandoned, the front-end taken and his car locked inside. After calling a realtor that had the property for sale, Ferda got his car back, but it returned home in the same amount of disarray as it was before.

From there the hot rod went to another of Ferda’s friends, who thankfully did the car some good by completing the front-end swap and repairing the frame. With a compromise unable to be worked out for some body work, the car then moved on to another local shop.

This shop, just like many of the previous ones, did a number on the Plymouth, putting on the brake booster with a flat tire, leveling the booster to an unleveled car, and caused brake fluid to leak all over the car’s custom painted valve covers. Oh the joys of project cars, sometimes when you want something done right… well you know the saying.

Most anyone would have given up at this point but with a bit of convincing from his wife Cindy, Ferda pushed forward with the car, entrusting it to Steve Rogers of Steve’s Repair to help him fix the damage done and get things back on track. Although skeptical at first, Ferda’s interaction with Rogers was pleasant and resulted in the body and mechanical work the car needed, as well as a great friendship.

With a trade for some remodeling work to his house, Rogers’ son Brian then painted Ferda’s car for the price of supplies, resulting in the Martin Senour Planet Color-sprayed car you see here.

“Brian the painter said that there is no name just numbers,” Ferda said of the car’s paint color. “So my wife Cindy calls it Mood Ring.” Dennis Sturuston added to the car with hand painted pinstriping on the car’s trunk lid for some more of that old-school hot rod flavor.

All That’s Left

Although Ferda’s Plymouth project was anything but easy to accomplish and took over 10 years to get to this point, the results are stellar – a clean driver that anyone would be proud of. Underneath the hot rod, you’ll find a Ford 9-inch rearend with 3.50 gears and a Mustang II front-end attached to 15×7-inch (front) and 15×8-inch (rear) Crager GT wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich radials.

Out back is a Frenched rear plate and even a power antenna. Inside, the interior has been touched up a bit, but not to the extent that Ferda wants. Auto Meter gauges accentuate the factory dash, which Ferda added a custom gauge cluster and wood grain to. The interior also features a chrome ididit steering column.

“It’s never complete,” Ferda told us. “I just keep working on it and driving it.”

Still the car has gone to a few car shows, won seven awards and makes for a nice cruise around town. While Ferda ties things up with the Plymouth’s interior, his next car is in the works- a 1970 Ford Torino. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this next build won’t be quite as frustrating.