This car of the day is one of a kind — here’s why

Car of the day: 1940 Ford Custom Convertible

This ride is mine: The car is owned by Ed and Kathy Schmidt of Delaware. “It takes us about three days to get here because we drive the car instead of pulling it,” Ed said.

Under the hood: V8 fuel-injected engine LT1 with an automatic transmission and air conditioning.

Well isn’t that special? “The outside of the car is all original except for the tear drop gas tank that Kathy wanted — no chop shop stuff, but on the inside I’ve added some seats out of a Cadillac,” Ed said.

It only cost $13,500, but... Ed said he bought the car in pieces about 24 years ago. “It’s the first car I’ve ever restored,” he said. “But I’ve spent more than $60,000 restoring it.”

Purple rain: “I was allowed to build it and Kathy got to pick the colors,” he said. And what color is it? The car is purple pearl metallic, which Ed said is a GM stock color.

Why do you come back? “We come every couple of years,” he said. “We love the show and Kathy has a brother who lives in Ocean Springs.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 5:26 PM with the headline "This car of the day is one of a kind — here’s why."