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SALT LAKE CITY -- A group of Utah men recently fulfilled the dream of one of their friends. That man never personally received the special gift on which his friends worked so hard, but his family did.
The 1970 SS Nova is a beauty. With a tricked out 454 engine and a shiny black and red paint job, it's a beautiful sight for muscle-car enthusiasts. But for the car's owner, it means even more.
Stacey Thornton's husband, John, bought the car in the '80s. After several years of racing it, he wanted to restore it but didn't get too far.
"He did manage to get the motor done," Stacey said, "but didn't get everything finished the way he wanted to."
In May of 2009, John died unexpectedly of a heart problem at age 45.
John's friend, Donnie Cain, said, "He meant a lot to us and he meant a lot to his family. His family was number one."
John's friends realized the best way to honor that family would be to fix up John's dream car.
"It meant so much to him that it was everything we could do just to finish it for him," Donnie said.
Several months ago his friends started meeting every Saturday and Sunday. "It was great. A lot of people stepped up and donated parts, donated paint, donated their time. It was just unbelievable how much time was spent doing this car," Donnie said.
They never lost sight of why they were there.
"A couple of times a couple of us would have to stop working and walk away and collect our thoughts and come back and just pound it out even harder," he said.
They repaired the body, put on new side panels, installed a new hood and gave it a race-car paint job. Once all the hard work was finished, John's friends wanted to present the car to his wife at the Autorama.
Stacey explained, "They made me put on a blindfold and walked down the aisle of the Autorama. Got to the car and all of our friends that had worked on it and family and everybody was there. Then we got to see it for the first time."
"It was amazing," she continued. "It's beautiful. It turned out better than I ever imagined it would."
Donnie said, "Her daughter started crying. (Stacey) started crying, I started crying. It was just a wonderful, wonderful moment."
A moment one of John's daughters, Mercedes Thorton, said was like having a piece of their dad back again. "He would absolutely love it if he could see it now."
The car isn't finished yet. John's friends still need to replace the interior. Then they plan to take it to several auto shows before returning it to John's wife. She says she can't wait to drive it.
E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com
