1931 FORD MODEL A TWO-DOOR: Family rallies around Independence man, helps him restore car

Through the years, 80-year-old David Renshaw felt very fortunate he had a wife, son and daughter who enjoyed his hobby of restoring antique cars.

Those feelings really hit home earlier this year. On Dec. 12, 2014, Renshaw’s wife of 62 years died.

One thing that Renshaw’s family did to raise his spirits was to work on the 1931 Ford Model A two-door sedan he purchased in 1959 for a $5, .22-caliber rifle.

“It was a well-used .22 rifle,” said Renshaw’s son-in-law, Mike Butler. “It was nothing fancy.”

Renshaw purchased the car soon after he built his home in Independence. He still lives in it.

“I was married in 1953, bought the lot in 1954 and finished the house in 1956 or 1957,” Renshaw said.

With that project completed, Renshaw spotted another. But the 1931 Ford Model A he saw was not in working condition.

“It wouldn’t run,” he said. “Both fenders were smashed in. Today, I probably wouldn’t have brought it home.”

But in 1959, it reminded him of a car his father bought in 1946.

“They traded it off,” Renshaw said. “I wanted it. I was 13 at the time. They said I was too young.”

Renshaw said it took him three months to restore the car he bought in 1959. By the time the project was completed, it was in good enough condition to take his family on vacations. One of those trips was to the Ozarks in 1961.

In addition, the car appeared at grand openings for I-70 in 1963 and later for the grand opening at Worlds of Fun. The car also appeared in the movies “Kansas City” and “Truman.”

Over the years, Renshaw figures he had to do three major paint jobs on the car. The most recent one came this year when his family worked with him on restoring the car back to the way it was when he first refurbished it.

In late June and early July, he worked with his daughter and son and both of their spouses on it.

“It meant everything,” Renshaw said. “I can’t explain what it meant to me to have my family that close.”

Renshaw’s daughter, Denise Butler, said that her dad is not one to sit and mourn his loss or mope about his loneliness.

“Instead,” she said, “he has renewed his involvement in his neighborhood crime watch, church men’s group and his old cars.”

The stories and memories about the car flowed freely on those Saturday afternoons when the family repainted the car.

“It was an education because as we were working on the cars, the stories would come out,” Mike Butler said. “I heard them say, ‘I remember when I did this and I remember I did that.’

“It was an occasion where my wife, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and my father-in-law could work together on something.”

The car has been going around town the last seven weeks.

“He drives it a couple of times a day,” Butler said. “If he wants something from the store, he goes.”

Renshaw also has a 1928 Model A Delivery, which he restored in 1994 and a 1919 Model T Estate Wagon that he restored in 1972.

“I enjoy building things,” Renshaw said. “As long as I am doing something with my hands, I am happy.”

Mike Butler is impressed with what Renshaw has been able to do to preserve these cars.

“I have a strong respect for someone who can put a car together and work on it, and to keep them and to have such a display of history is very interesting.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "1931 FORD MODEL A TWO-DOOR: Family rallies around Independence man, helps him restore car."