Frank Hawkes'
1936 Ford Cabriolet
|
|
Rescued From The Bottom of The
Thames River: Frank Hawkes’ 1936 Ford Cabriolet
 When
you talk to Frank Hawkes about the time back in 1965 when a young boy was
doing donuts (driving in circles around his backyard) that fronted on
the Thames River and how the boy lost control on an incline causing the car
to flip and roll down the embankment and splash into the river… Well.. you
say…lucky that the boy wasn’t hurt but too bad about the car.
The car was a 1936 Ford cabriolet with a rumble seat. Who would have
thought that a wonderful 30’s classic icon should meet such an ignominious
end. Off the car went, deeper
into the channel and down, down she slipped, slowly, with bubbles a-poppin'…gone…
never to be seen again. 
But this car and
this story did not end here. No
sir. For out of the blue in
1974 came an unlikely hero. Just
a plain spoken fellow named Frank Hawkes who worked hard for his money.
A guy who was asked to come help clear the channel of debris and
save the home owner the cost of doing it himself.
Now, Frank is not your ordinary back hoe operator.
The son of a surgeon in the British army during WW II, Frank’s dad
was posted to many different countries after the war, working with victims
of bomb disposal squads and innocent civilians injured by delayed ordnance explosions. As a result Frank
lived and went to school in many different western European countries.
He emigrated to Canada in 1965 after obtaining a degree in Chemistry
from Oxford University in England.
Just about the same time as the kid was doing donuts with the 36 Ford
in his backyard.
Fast forward nearly
10 years later and Frank hears about an old car that needs to be towed out
of the river near Thamesville. The
property owner knew exactly where the car was submerged. Frank and the owner paddled  out
about 20 feet into the river using a small canoe. Noticing that the
embankment was not very steep, Frank decided he would pull the car from the
river using his van instead of his backhoe.
On Easter Sunday, 1974 Frank dove down into the murky water and
groping about, managed to tie a rope onto the hulk buried upside down on the
muddy river bottom. Out of
breath, our man resurfaced, shivering with teeth chattering from the cold.
Long story short, Frank secured the tow rope to his van, and after
much frenzy, the 36 Ford began to rise from its watery grave, lurch by
lurch, ever so slowly. Frank
drove home, got his trailer and loaded up his surprise find .
Bad as it looked, this was a 36 Ford cabriolet and Frank thought that
he could bring this baby back to life.
Frank cleaned all
the mud from the car.. None of the glass was broken and all the clamps and
hardware for the convertible top were intact.
The soft top fabric had rotted away but all the top irons, oak wood,
and folding mechanism were still there.
Even the dash gauges were re-usable.
Frank found a worm living inside the speedometer, the same one used
on the car today. And the
owner’s manual, which was wrapped in plastic, was dry and perfectly
preserved. The tires still had
air in them. Can you believe
it?
Five years later,
Frank had finished a total restoration of this magnificent automobile.
The original powertrain along with many of the other mechanical parts
were refurbished and re-used to make this car a wonder to behold. The body
held up surprisingly well and it was all sanded down to bare metal, primed
and repainted.
I have trouble
lubricating my car’s door hinges and Frank Hawkes resurrects from the
dead, on Easter Sunday 1974 what would become a class winner at the
prestigious Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance in Oakland Hills Michigan.
What can I say? His flawless 1936 full classic Ford cabriolet would have
made even Henry Ford himself beam with pride and delight over how
indestructible this V8 beauty really was.
And of course we are all oh so proud of Frank and what he
accomplished. Well done ole
man. Well done indeed.
Come on out and
visit with Frank and his car at our new 50’s Diner at the Canadian
Transportation Museum.
Mickey Moulder
|
