Photos: Local detailers help restore historic 'Freedom One' airplane

(Courtesy of Cougar Elfervig)


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TUCSON, Ariz. — Decades after bringing American hostages home from Iran, the plane known as “Freedom One” was returned to its former glory with the help of detailers from Utah.

Cougar Elfervig, who runs Luxe Auto Spa in Murray, was part of a team of 20 volunteers who worked to restore the Boeing C-137 at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, in February. The plane carried the designation Air Force One while Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy were presidents, but it was notably given the title “Freedom One” after it brought Americans home at the end of the 444-day Iran hostage crisis in 1981.

The aircraft also transported American prisoners of war back to the U.S. after Operation Desert Storm, according to Elfervig. He took one of his shop managers, Miguel Robles, to Tucson to help with the project.

“The aircraft was really badly faded. It hadn’t been touched since probably about the mid-90s,” he said. “Sitting outside in the Tucson sun for all of those years did a number on it.”

The team put in 12 to 15 hours per day for five days, completing tasks like polishing out the plane’s heavily oxidized paint, according to Elfervig. Despite the long hours, he said it was a great opportunity to get out of the shop and work with other world-class detailers.

Courtesy of Cougar Elfervig
Courtesy of Cougar Elfervig

“Being able to restore a piece of history and being a part of a project like that was a lot of fun,” he said.

Elfervig has been in the detailing business for about 15 years. He was recently named the International Detailer of the Year by The International Detailing Association.

In addition to offering detail services and performing paint corrections, Elfervig said Luxe Auto Spa enjoys finding opportunities to give back to the community. Last year it started a foundation called Cars for Kids, and the shop recently finished a project with the Tyler Robinson Foundation for pediatric cancer.

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