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35| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M ay 24,2018 theifp.ca @YOUR LEISURE Visit theifp.ca for more coverage Twelve years ago, when Paul Henderson started sketching out the drawings of the dream street rod he'd build in the garage of his Georgetown home, the re- tired offset printer quickly realized he'd have to throw them all out. "You have to understand there's no book on this. You can't just go to Canadian Tire and buy the parts for it," laughed Henderson, whose prize vehicle has won several awards since he began entering it in shows less than a year ago. "I'm not an internet guy. I'm the sort of person who builds something and then reads the instructions." To construct his 1941 Willy's Coupe almost en- tirely by himself, Hender- son would hearken back to his childhood, and call on his experience of building and racing vintage modi- fied stock cars to run at Flamboro Speedway, as well as his 45 years work- ing on printing presses. Such a perfectionist is Henderson that he spent nearly 10 meticulous years building Willy's Coupe from his initial vision to the finished product, which unlike many show cars of that calibre, is actu- ally driveable. Henderson fabricated any parts he couldn't get and repainted the vehicle's fibreglass body several times over a two-year period before he was happy with the result. "When I was five years old my mom would buy me car models and she'd ask me what I wanted and the Willy's Coupe '41 was al- ways my favourite car," he recalled. "I love them. They're iconic hot rods. Now I'm al- most 70 and I've got the real deal. It just took my whole life to get it." A neighbour in his hometown of Brampton who raced at Pinecrest Speedway let youngster Henderson sit at the wheel of the stock car parked in the driveway and he says that's where his interest in the hobby was sparked. Henderson began work- ing in the print business at age 16. On that birthday he got his driver's licence and hopped into a 1958 Austin A35 that he bought for $38. Despite losing two fin- gers on his right hand in a press accident at age 19, Henderson kept playing la- crosse and hockey as a goalie. A diehard Leaf fan, he was able to spend some time with his idol, the late Johnny Bower, during his visit to Georgetown last year. He went on to own a commercial print shop here and in his early 40s started to race the vintage modified cars at Flamboro and later at tracks across Ontario, accumulating a case full of trophies for his garage, which he built af- ter moving to Georgetown in 2001. A wreck at a Kawartha Speedway race in 2003 sig- nalled the end of his oval track racing career, from which he walked away with just a scratch on the back of his hand and a lot of good trackside memories with wife Flo and 23-year-old daughter Darian. "The racing was a lot of fun and a big family event. Sometimes you'd want to kill guys on the track, but you were still friends af- ter." As a youth Henderson had built several models of the 1941 Willy's Coupe and 1941 Willy's Coupe a labour of love for Georgetown man EAMONN MAHER emaher@theifp.ca Flo and Paul Henderson pose with the Best of Show trophy they won with their 1941 Willy's Coupe last year at the Northern Showdown competition held at Country Heritage Park in Milton. In just a few months on the show circuit the couple has enjoyed plenty of success, with several awards won, including two major trophies at the recent Motorama event in Mississauga. Paul Henderson photo l See A DECADE, page 36