Olathe man’s ’32 Ford Coupe is much more than a beautiful car to him

The memories of working under cars with his dad come easy to Kevin Mustain. It is even more poignant whenever he gets into his 1932 Ford Coupe that he bought in February.

The car has truly come full circle for him.

Back in the mid 1990s, Mustain’s dad, Pete, started building it. Mustain said his dad enjoyed working on and building cars and always had a number of car projects underway.

Before the car was completed, Pete traded it to his best friend of more than 40 years, who finished building the car three years ago.

The friend drove it to a car show, and a man pulled out his checkbook and bought it for $53,000.

Mustain, who lives in Olathe, figured he would never own the car that he and his dad worked on together in 1995.

“The ’32 is kind of the ultimate hot rod,” Mustain said. Everybody wants a ’32. It was always out of my price range as a young man.”

The car took on added meaning to Mustain last July when his dad died. At the time, he never thought he would own it less than a year later.

Sadly, the person who bought the car also died.

“His widow called me and wanted it to come back to our family,” Mustain said.

Circumstances changed for him. Mustain, owner of Mustain Concrete Construction in Spring Hill, was now in financial position where he could buy the car back.

“I was able to purchase the car and get it back in my family,” Mustain said. “It has a lot of sentimental value.”

Every time Mustain gets in the 1932 Ford Coupe, it will be a way to remember his dad and the passion he had for cars. Mustain plans to take the car to numerous car shows this spring and summer.

One of the car shows he plans to drive the 1932 Ford Coupe to is the Street Rod Nationals Aug. 6-9 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Mustain’s 1932 Ford Coupe has a small-box Chevy V-8 engine with an automatic transmission and air conditioning.

“It runs down the highway like a new car,” Mustain said. “It cruises at 70 to 75 miles per hour. My dad built them to drive He wanted to get in them and go. He didn’t want to trailer them.”

When Mustain is driving the car to shows, he hears honks and receives the “thumbs up” from admirers.

“It brings a lot of joy,” Mustain said. “I know for my dad, this was his passion. As far as I can remember, we were working on cars, I was handing him wrenches and waxing the cars.

“It is a thrill driving this car down the highway.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Olathe man’s ’32 Ford Coupe is much more than a beautiful car to him."