Allow me to take a moment to brag on my dad because he did this:
I wish I had pictures to show you what that car looked like, when he first hauled it home in 1985. It was the same basic shape as you see above, but it looked like it had been hanging out with the Titanic for the past twenty years. After two years of work, he painted it cherry red and presented it to me. That, a 1952 Jaguar XK120, was my first car. Don’t think I didn’t let that go to my head. Don’t think I didn’t use it shamelessly. Don’t think I didn’t get tired of cops pulling me over just to ask me questions about it.
I gave up custody of the car (because it was giving up the ghost) around my sophomore year of college, and Dad has had it in and out of working condition since. He has spent the past 8 years, or so, priming it once more. He’d like it to be Thor’s first car. Of course, that’s another near decade away, and Thor is going to have to pry the keys back out of my hands.
He didn’t do the paint work himself, and I think he had someone do the seats, but the dash, the doors, the body work, the engine work, and the chrome work are all my dad’s. He did that with his own two hands, and when he didn’t have the right tools, he built them.
That’s a gorgeous piece of work. Let’s look at some more of it.
I showed these pictures to Thor, and he said, “Peepaw did all that because he loves me.” And he’s right. And my dad did it the first time because he loves me.
Tom Hiddleston wishes.
The Outside Lane 