Gephart’s Wild Rides
January 15, 2012
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
Not only is Thomas O. Gephart sending four cars to Barrett-Jackson for the first time, but he admitted that this is also “the first time I’ve done anything with an auctioneer.”
By the way, while Gephart may be new to the classic car auction action, he’s no newbie when it comes to car collecting. He has his own museum, and the four cars he’s selling this week at Barrett-Jackson are award winners built by Boyd Coddington.
“A very good friend of mine here in Orange County, who also has a showroom and sells maybe the best [classic] cars in the area, told me that if he owned these four cars, he would let Barrett-Jackson handle their sale because they do the best job,” Gephart explained.
“That Thomas reached out to us in trust, for him to take this leap of faith and to come to Barrett-Jackson and sell these cars — this is more than merely sticking your toes in the water,” said Gary Bennett, Barrett-Jackson’s vice president of consignment. “These cars are everything he said they would be. We’re honored to have them here.”
The four cars Gephart has consigned for the auction are:
Lot #1288: “Mere Image,” the 1934 Ford roadster that
was declared “Most Beautiful Roadster” at the Oakland
Roadster Show, Lot #1288.1: a 1941 Cadillac Deluxe coupe, Lot #1288.2: “The Magnificent ‘49 Ford Shoebox” custom convertible, Lot #1289: “The Togster,” a 1940 Ford custom Woody.
“We’ve had these cars in the museum now for 10 or 11 or maybe even 12 years,” said Gephart, who explained that he and his wife, Margie, are making a major move in conjunction with their 30th wedding anniversary.
Gephart is a lifelong car guy. He took a newspaper delivery route as a teenager so he could buy a bicycle and quickly upgraded to his first car, a 1947 Pontiac convertible he bought — with his own hard-earned money — when he turned 16.
He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California, joined Hughes Aircraft after college, and had begun an MBA program when he realized both his talent and his passion were in discovering new business ideas that had commercial potential. He left school to help one company develop its new products, and in 1974 he started his own venture capital investment and management firm.
Now, after 30 years of marriage — and six children and 15 grandchildren — the Gepharts are downsizing and likely moving to Asia. Their Orange County residence includes the main house, a 15,000-square-foot carriage house and their car collection — Packards, Rolls-Royces, Coddington Hot Rods and more, including a 1989 Saleen Mustang in USC colors.
“We’re thinking about opening a new office in China,” Gephart said. “If you take a look at the world, the real activity of entrepreneurship — it’s in India and Brazil and China. Five of my CEOs have been from India, but they came to the United States for schooling.”
He said, “I’m roaming around the globe,” and he’s providing someone else with the opportunity to roam around the roads and Hot Rod show circuit with four amazing automobiles.
Coddington created “Mere Image” as a world-class exhibition vehicle, and it was “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1986. Gephart went back through the car after he acquired it and did some extensive updating and additional modification.
The chassis comprises fully boxed rails with ground, smoothed and molded welds. The fully independent suspension includes numerous one-off components, all anodized or chromed. Disc brakes are by Wilwood.
Power comes from a 350cid Chevrolet small block V8 with its
4-bolt main block fully ground and deburred. A quartet of Weber downdraft carburetors sits atop a mirror-polished
intake manifold. Similar attention has been paid to the transmission case.
The body panels and running boards are hand formed. The cowl was highly modified, as were the windshield and doors.
The car has a one-of-a-kind grille insert.
The dash and console are hand-formed aluminum. Leather and trim are by Gabe’s Custom Interiors. Paint is rich black lacquer with House of Kolor Fuschia accent.
“America’s Most Beautiful Roadster is a huge deal,” said Bennett. “All of Tom’s cars are significant in their own way, but each is very different even though they were all touched by Boyd Coddington.
“We talk about the coachbuilt cars of the 1920s and ‘30s, and they are so important to the automotive world. Their place in history is undeniable, but these are the coachbuilt cars of today. These are the collectibles of the future on anybody’s radar screen,” Bennett said.
“The ‘41 Cadillac is my greatest driver,” Gephart said. “The car was built for a man who let Boyd spend as much money as he wanted to spend. I used to go once or twice a month to Boyd’s shop and watched this car being built over a period of two years. I told Boyd I’d be first in line if the guy wanted to sell the car.”
A blueprinted 502cid Chevy V8 with Lakes injection and a 700R4 automatic provide power for the Caddy, which has a boxed frame with a mid-‘80s Camaro front clip and a 9” Ford rear, 4-wheel disc brakes, custom Boyd billet wheels and a rear-mounted battery with remote terminals.
Gabe Lopez did the leather interior. The car also features Vintage Air, power seats, window and trunk, and dual television screens for rear passengers, which the original owner had installed for his grandchildren, Gephart said.
“They beefed up the frame, put in a bigger engine and it’s a Hot Rod,” he said. “It smokes the tires, but it looks so classy. You pull up alongside a guy in a Corvette, and he has no idea this gray-haired old man will smoke him.”
Gephart said Coddington bought the ‘49 Ford in the Midwest, where its restoration had stalled. “He drove it out here and finished it.” Gephart added, “He gave it his special touches.”
The “Magnificent” Ford rolled off an assembly line as a hardtop, a business coupe.
“He took the top off, extended the frame, modified Ford convertible doors,” Gephart noted.
The car is powered by a 350cid V8 connected to a 700R4 automatic. It has power steering, power disc brakes and air conditioning. The 8-way power seats are out of an Acura sedan. Ten coats of black paint and clear cover the sheet metal.
Gephart said the “Magnificent” has won “Best of Show” honors at numerous car shows.
“It just has this kind of magnetic appeal,” he said.
The ‘40 Ford Woody “Togster” is powered by a balanced and blueprinted Corvette LT1 350cid V8 with a Turbo Hydramatic 350 automatic. It has power steering, power disc brakes and air conditioning. Independent front and rear suspension were hand built. Wilwood brakes have polished calipers. Bolts and fasteners are stainless steel. The wheels are prototype Genesis wheels by Boyd.
The custom wood coachwork on it includes Birdseye Maple throughout.
The interior features handcrafted leather and tweed upholstery and a Birdseye Maple headliner, Pioneer audio components, Vintage Air and Specialty power windows.
Gephart said he has tweaked all of the cars to fit his own personality and tastes. For example, he had bumpers added to the Woody. He’s made sure the cars are as clean and beautiful underneath as they are from the wheels up.
“If you look underneath this car, it’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s chrome and yellow and powder coated. They’re all this way, done perfectly on the bottom. If you’re going to win trophies and do something special, the hood, the trunk, the bottom all have to be as good as the top or it’s not finished. A car needs to be done right or it’s not finished.”
– — By Larry Edsall