ASHEBORO — Doug Smith’s family paid tribute to him by displaying five antique vehicles at his funeral.
They weren’t just four cars and a truck he owned, pointed out his widow, they’re examples of his handicraft.
“It’s a tribute to him,” said Hilda Smith. “This was his hobby ... his life. He worked all day, then (came home and) did the restoration project he was working on at the time.”
Parked at the front of Pugh Funeral Home last Friday were Doug Smith’s 1965 Ford pickup, his 1938 Model A, 1922 Model T, and 1963 and 1964 Falcons.
All were vehicles he restored at his shop.
“It was my son’s idea to bring the cars,” said Hilda Smith. “It’s not something I thought about, but it was a great idea.”
Smith had been featured in The Randolph Guide on Aug. 19, 2009, prior to the annual antique car show of the Zooland Region of the Automobile Club of America, of which he was a member.
In that article he said Hilda “always wanted a Mustang, so I got her a 1966. That was 15 years ago or more.”
From then on, he said, he had gotten “deeper and deeper into it, but I enjoy it.”
Hilda Smith said having the antiques parked outside for the funeral was important “because he was the one who sanded, replaced parts or whatever was required” on the vehicles. “There’s lots of time and money involved, but I don’t regret it.
“A lot of people came over (to his shop) just to see the cars,” she said. “Some came back to see his (restoration) progress.”
She said her husband was planning to leave for the Daytona 500, but just days before his departure he suffered a massive heart attack.
He died Feb. 6.
“We’re so glad he wasn’t on the road (to Daytona when the attack came),” she said.
Last August Smith had said he wouldn’t take a car to a show unless he thought it could win a first-place prize.
“I like a first-place car,” he said. “If it doesn’t win, I take it back and fix it.”
His widow agreed: “His workmanship was totally unbelievable.”
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