Jack Sheppard builds a car a year in his backyard shop. He didnt start building cars a decade ago with this goal in mind; it just sorta happened by itself. After building his first one (a 32 Ford three-window for his son Tommy) and winning an award with it, he was locked in. The rush I felt when we won that first award was indescribable; from that point on I was hooked, says Jack.
Then someone decided he had to have the Deuce and offered Tommy a reasonable sum to part with it. Since then, a pattern has developed in which Jack, his son Tommy, and good friend Charles Goen build a car every year, and every year someone comes alongusually before the car is even finishedand just has to own it. Jacks perfectly OK with the fact that he doesnt get to keep his creations for very long, as he gets most of his satisfaction from the process of designing and building each one.
However, Jack does get to drive his cars; he doesnt deliver a finished project until hes had a chance to debut it and show it a couple of times. This particular car debuted at Shades of the Past and followed up at Goodguys and the NSRA Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, where it won a Pros Pick and made an appearance in R&Cs 100 Best.
Jack does sometimes wish hed kept one car around for driving during those carless stretches between projects. He doesnt build on commission eitherthe cars he creates come from his own ideas, start to finish, and if the prospective buyer doesnt like something, he doesnt have to buy the car. I already have a job, says Jack. Im not doing this for the money. This is my hobby. Im just a guy who loves building rods.