Voodoo Magic: Jerry Gardner's Voodoo Special

75 Although Hacker has bought and sold dozens of cars, he doesn ’ t consider himself a dealer. He ’ s far more interested in uncovering history than in adding another car to his collection. However, there were a few cars that he REALLY wanted to find. The first was the Kurtis - Omohundro, one of two custom sports cars designed by Indy legend Frank Kurtis and built by his business partner Paul Omohundro in 1947. Hacker first heard of them in 2007, when friend Phil Fleming told him about a pair of lovely sports cars he had seen when he was in school. When Hacker saw Fleming ’ s old photos it set off an alarm in his memory …. He had recently heard about a similar “ mystery car ” from its owner, who didn ’ t know what it was. He put the two parts of the puzzle together and realized he had found the first Kurtis - Omohundro, quite possibly the first American postwar sports car! The owner was anxious for it to go to a good home, so Hacker soon took possession. In 2009 it won the “ Most Elegant Sports Car ” award at the Amelia Island Concours d ’ Elegance, cheered on by Phil Fleming, whom Hacker had brought along. The surviving Omohundro family members were in attendance later when the car was placed on exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum. It took another year to hunt down the second Kurtis - Omohundro. After protracted negotiations it, too, found its way to his house. They are the crown jewels of his collection. An unrequited love affair with Buckminster Fuller ’ s Dymaxion led to the purchase of a teardrop - shaped car built in the late 1930s by Ronald Gougeon in Bay City, Michigan. It had come up on eBay, but failed to meet even a modest reserve. Hacker jumped on it. Based on prewar Ford running gear, it fulfilled Hacker ’ s dream of owning a “ car of the future ” like the ones illustrated on the cover of 1930s magazines portraying their vision for the twenty - first century (when cities would be covered by giant bubbles and smiling commuters would be zinging along highways suspended in space). Hacker found the Gougeon in 2008 and is currently restoring it with the help of friends met on the Jalopy Journal (H.A.M.B.) website. Hacker is generous in his praise of the friends who have helped him find both cars and their automotive pioneers. In particular, he singles out Rick D ’ Louhy, who has ridden along on many of his endeavors and has even bought several of the cars Hacker has found in his travels. In particular, D ’ Louhy is proud of his prototype Warrior, a one - off mid - engine sports car built in Texas in 1964. It was patterned after the Ford Mustang show car and features a Ford V - 4 engine. D ’ Louhy also ended up with the Bearcage, an unfinished sports - racer started by Don Edmunds for Bill Stroppe. An aluminum - bodies beauty, many of the design concepts from the Bearcage were to be re - used when Edmunds later built the Cheetahs for Bill Thomas. Hacker has also been instrumental in putting kit car pioneers back into the cars they built so long ago. The Dawes family hadn ’ t thought about the LaDawri kit cars since father Les Dawes stopped building them in the mid - 1960s. But when Hacker contacted Les widow Joan, she was thrilled to know there was still LaDawris both running and much admired by their owners. Article Continued on Next Page