Wednesday, July 10, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
Vintage car told a story at airport 4th of July show
By Jodi Schneider
Correspondent
If you asked Sisters
resident Bill Hall what he
remembers most about his
childhood, he9d say it was his
grandfather9s shop full of vin-
tage cars being readied for a
custom build.
His grandfather, Sid Hall,
was a legend among the pre-
war generation of hot-rod
builders and probably bought
his first steel car to customize
when he was only 13 years
old back in the early 1940s.
<My grandfather built
them, and I grew up around
them,= Hall said.
Hall is a fourth-generation
custom car builder.
He noted, <My great
grandfather was also into cars
and restored early to mid-
1920s cars and pickups.=
His grandfather, a brick
mason by trade, used all his
spare time restoring cars.
<They were mostly pre-
war cars 1932 through 1940,=
Hall told The Nugget. <He
was very particular about the
cars he picked. They had to
be good quality cars, and all
were made of steel. He was
a street rod guy and he9d hot
rod them out.=
Hall recalls that his
dad, also a brick mason,
and grandfather would get
together after work and beat
out the muscle cars they had
bought for next to nothing,
fix them up, and sell them for
a few bucks just to buy qual-
ity vintage cars to turn into
hot rods.
<My grandfather would
buy good stock cars and
strip them down to nothing.
Then he9d rework the frames,
maybe add independent sus-
pension, and add a V8 engine.
He would make them a little
bit more modern but keep the
appearance of the car as stock
looking as possible, where the
body and fenders would be
stock but re-chromed and add
wire wheels. The more he got
into his hobby the more he
began purchasing rare cars.=
He added, <My whole
family loves building vin-
tage cars so much, we call it a
disease, a sickness or a great
passion.=
Sid would give his souped-
up cars to family members.
He became recognized as a
custom car builder through
word of mouth and took on
clients and built approxi-
mately 57 hot rods before
passing away 10 years ago.
There was a signature look
to Sid9s vehicles.
Hall noted, <He started off
with all Fords from a 1932
coupe, 502 coupes and 1932
and 933 cabriolets, roadsters,
anything that he thought was
neat and looked good. He9d
have a certain color combina-
tion and a stance or a unique
look to his cars. They are
noticeable.=
After Sid9s passing Hall
took on a quest to track
down all his grandfather9s
cars across the nation and
has located over 15 of them
through vintage car shows,
hot rod magazines and a paper
trail kept by his grandmother.
<It9s exciting and a piece
of my history,= he said.
Recently, Hall acquired
his great uncle Fred9s car
built by his grandfather.
<My grandfather9s brother
had the 1932 Ford 3-Window
Coupe for 65 years. We
worked out a deal and now I
own one of my grandfather9s
rare and wonderful cars,= Hall
said tearing up. <My great
uncle still has another car that
my grandfather built him, a
1935 Pontiac convertible.=
Then on July 4, 2018
something surprising hap-
pened for Hall.
<Last year at Sisters
Eagle Airport9s Wings &
Wheels Fly-in & Car Show,
my wife, Karen, and I were
walking in and about 50
yards away I spotted one of
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PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER
Bill Leininger and Bill Hall displayed their Sid Hall cars at Sisters Eagle Airport on the Fourth of July.
my grandfather9s cars. I just
knew by the look of it. Sure
enough when we walked up
to the 1933 Chevy Coupe,
the sign said the builder was
Sid Hall! The owner is Bill
Leininger, a Sisters resident.=
Hall explained to
Leininger about his quest and
how incredible it was in find-
ing one of his grandfather9s
cars without looking for it.
<Bill and I have since
developed a special friendship
together,= he said.
This year at Sisters Eagle
Airport9s 7th annual Wings &
Wheels Fly-in & Car Show
Leininger and Hall9s vintage
vehicles 4 both made by Sid
Hall 4 sat side by side.
Hall brought photos to
share of Leininger9s car dur-
ing the restoration process
that his grandmother had
taken and saved all these
years.
Leininger noted, <I
purchased Sid Hall9s 33
Chevy in 2002 from a second
owner. And over 15 years ago
I had briefly met his grandfa-
ther at a car show in Tacoma,
Washington and spoke a little
bit to him. He was there as a
spectator and remembered the
car.=
Hall builds muscle cars
and builds about one a year,
with a little help from his son.
And an American tradition
continues.