There are two guys in the parking lot with dark glasses and really long brown beards twirling their electric guitars as the sound of Thump, thump, thump, thump, rises in the air … “Clean shirt, new shoes, … and I don’t know where I’m going to-oo-oo…”

When this silver blue, polished chrome ride rolls past, the rumble of its hot exhaust pipes seems to thump out the bass line of ZZ Top’s “Sharp dressed Man.” Make no mistake about it, this is a ‘34 Ford that pumps out testosterone by the gallon, and whatever the cost of petrol is these days, it’s worth it just to slide down the road in this air conditioned custom ride.

Like a kid in a bicycle store window, Terry Daligdig used to travel to Mainland car shows and longed to own one of those gleaming cherry-pickin’ beauties for himself. One day his fantasy came true in the form of a phone call from an old friend in Honolulu who knew of Daligdig’s passion for the cold steel fashion.

After laying down a thousand bucks to keep the owner from selling it before he arrived, Daligdig flew over from Kaua‘i and laid claim to his lifelong dream. Once the car actually arrived home, Daligdig gave it a closer examination and decided to strip down and completely rebuild this classic rocker.

Fortunately for Daligdig, his father, a mechanic, taught him at a very young age the valuable skills needed to work on cars. At 15 years old, Daligdig did not have yet have his driver’s license, but he was able to save up and buy a ‘54 ford with a 239 block. Thus began his first experience of building cars for both work and play.

As the decades rolled by, Daligdig moved through a world of responsibilities. He joined the Army, served in Vietnam, then married his dream honey and raised a family. When the kids finally grew up and left home, Daligdig’s life finally began to settle down.

One day his wife said, “Honey, after all these years of taking care of the family, you deserve to have something special for yourself. I think it’s time you made your dream come true.”

Daligdig began his search for that lifelong vision of owning his own hot rod. He poured through volumes and volumes of hot rod magazines and traveled thousands of miles to custom car shows until the day he received the phone tip and clinched his gorgeous deal on wheels.

Daligdig’s ‘34 Ford is powered by a 355-cubic-inch Chevy engine with chrome polished Endurashine dual quad carburetors, automatic transmission, custom distributor, an air conditioning unit, custom upholstered doors and seats along with fully powered windows and a beautifully polished walnut dashboard.

This ‘34 cream machine has custom vacuum-sealed, remote-access doors providing a smooth and seamless entry into a silver blue and pink-flamed ride delivered direct from auto heaven.

Though one could say this car is just too good to take on the road, Daligdig believes in sharing his precious creation with his lovely wife and has no problem letting her take his baby out for a spin.

As the ‘34 rod Va-rooms down Kuhio highway, the custom stereo is blasting away and the air is filled with a 1980’s classic rock song.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!! …“cause every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man!”

Anyone wishing to share their classic auto may find out more information by contacting Richard Aki at 482-0688 or Harvey Maeda at 651-2813 or harveyskoi@juno.com

To view a short video of Terry Daligdig’s 1934 Ford, click on the “TGI video” link at kauaiworld.com.

Watch video

footage online

of this classic 1934 Ford in action as part of The Garden Island’s recurring series on Kaua‘i’s Classic Car Club and check back each week for a new classic.

• Leo DuBois, contributor, can be reached via news editor Nathan Eagle at 245-3681 (ext. 227) or via e-mail at neagle@kauaipubco.com