Bill Hindle and Sharon Brightwell share a passion for street rods

It’s not often that you see a 1932 Chevy, much less one turned into a street rod, but Sharon Brightwell has just such a car. Her significant other, Bill Hindle, built it for her.

Hindle, 77, of Independence, built his first stock car while he was in high school and he has been building race cars since. His credits include a Chevrolet Monza Funny Car, a Top Alcohol dragster and he is currently part of a team that runs a B Gas Ford Anglia in nostalgia races. Hindle was a TWA mechanic for 39 years so his skills are first-rate.

A couple of years ago a friend left the ’32 Chevy with Hindle to do some minor work on the firewall. Turns out the friend decided to sell the car, and it was perfect for Brightwell.

“I wanted my own car,” she said, “and there isn’t much he can’t build.”

The dark metallic brown Chevy has an all-steel body with fiberglass rear fenders. The running gear is all modern stuff: A TCI front suspension, a 350-cubic-inch Chevy V-8, a 700R4 automatic transmission, a Ford nine-inch rear end, disc brakes, power steering and air conditioning.

“People ask if I’m hesitant to drive an old car,” Brightwell said. “But I tell them it’s like a new car because everything is new.”

Hindle also has his own street rod, a 1934 Ford coupe. His car is mechanically similar to Brightwell’s, with a TCI front suspension, 383-cubic-inch Chevy V-8, a 700R4 automatic transmission and a Ford nine-inch rear end. The fiberglass body is part Downs Custom Performance and part Redneck Street Rods. The car was started in 1985 but never completed. Hindle is the sixth owner and he finished it in 2010. It, too, is fitted with modern items such as air conditioning, power steering and disc brakes. It even has a power deck lid.

Creative Classics of Independence did the paint.

Hindle and Brightwell enjoy taking their street rods to local cruise nights and car shows, but sometimes they venture as far as Indiana and Illinois.

“It’s fun to drive these,” Brightwell said. Hindle echoed that, and added that in his life he’s had the best of both worlds – working on airplanes and race cars.

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Bill Hindle and Sharon Brightwell share a passion for street rods."