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Editor's note: This is part of a series at KSL.com featuring some of Utah's coolest cars. If you own a customized vehicle — from sports cars to semitrucks — email fjolley@ksl.com with a photo of the vehicle and a brief description for consideration.LOGAN — If a classic car restoration is an investment, Tom Westre’s is a bad one.
As a driver’s education teacher in Grace, Idaho, Westre would take students on drives to Pocatello. On one of those trips in 2002, he saw two old cars on a hill. One was a 1964 ½ Ford Mustang that was in “horrible” shape. He bought the other, a 1960 Ford Thunderbird. It was $5,000 and driveable.
He worked on it off and on. His son, Aaron, took the Thunderbird to class with him at Idaho State University’s auto body program, getting it ready to paint. But, when Aaron joined the Navy in 2009, the work on the car stopped.
Westre retired and moved to Logan, bringing his unfinished project with him. He met hot-rod builder Bob Riggs after admiring his flame-painted pickup truck around town. Westre had to wait a few months for a slot to open up at Riggs' shop, but he said Riggs eventually fit his car in and kept it in the shop for about a year.
Riggs built the interior, and when the original 430 cubic-inch (7 liters) engine developed a cracked block, Westre said Riggs found him a nice 430 in Ogden for $750. Westre added fuel injection to it in 2016, which he says makes it much smoother to drive.
Westre watches prices for Square Birds (the nickname for the 1958-1960 car series), which he says typically run $10,000-$12,000, and top out at $15,000. However, he said his spending on restoring his model left that amount behind thousands of dollars ago.
If he were an investor hoping to get his money back, he made a big mistake. He’s not. He’s a guy who went way over his budget and doesn’t regret it.
Westre's Square Bird isn’t like the popular cars out there, but he said, “It is a hoot. I love it.” He called its styling "a work of art."
Westre has no plans to ever sell the vehicle and plans to pass it on to his son when the time comes since Aaron also did a lot of work on it. For now, Westre plans on taking in the return on his investment: Thumbs-up from people everywhere he goes.
Brian Champagne has reported on cars for more than nine years. He holds a master's degree in communications from the University of the Pacific and teaches at Utah State University. Contact him at iaabfl@yahoo.com.
