For those from the Midwestern part of our country (Kansas City, Kansas, to be exact), as well as custom car fans from most any other regions, the name Doug Thompson brings to mind some of the finest works of automotive art ever. Take, for instance, the Bugatti-influenced styling on the '47 Packard built for long-time high school buddy Richard Ratty. Or the '49 Chevy owned by Larry Cochran that included arguably the cleanest chop on this body style ever-Caddy rear taillights and quarter-panel sections, a full-fade bodyline that stretched from the front wheelwells to the rear quarters that ended in scoops that actually funnel air directly to the rear brakes. (This may just be the only custom car with working side scoops.) Both the Chevy and Packard were treated to a fair share of heavy custom modifications, to say the least, but both of these cars, as well as all of Doug Thompson's creations, all seem to have the perfect balance of full custom work blended into the original factory design. Doug's philosophy of building the car the way he wanted to see it done, as well as a heavy influence on the personality and taste of each the cars' owners, kept Doug happy to be building cars for 45 years, and his customers coming back for more.
Like many of us, Doug's automotive career started from a basic need to be cruising a sled around town, but, being a youngster, he had no way to pay for his hobby. Doug was, however, very lucky to have a dad who, while not at all in agreement about chopping up cars, could see a certain sparkle in his son's eyes. And being somewhat of a car guy as well, he just couldn't deny his son's path in life. So to keep Doug from getting into teenage-type trouble, and to give him a push in the direction he knew Doug was headed, dear ol' Dad talked one of the local custom car shops into giving Doug an apprenticeship. In fact, the body shop owner didn't even want to hire anyone else at the time, but he had to relent when Doug's father offered to pay his son's wages if he could just come by every day and learn the trade. With that true stroke of fatherly love and support, Doug's career in building custom cars began.
After a few years working for a few local Kansas custom car shops, Doug had the skills and desire to venture out on his own. Starting out in the middle of the country when customs were just beginning to gain nationwide popularity gave Doug a unique perspective of the trend unfolding and blossoming right from his shop. Having the right kind of talent at the right time kept Doug improving with each ride that eventually drove Doug to superstar status with custom car elite.
These relationships led to some of his most memorable and unique creations of his career. One of these relationships was with a guy named Jack Walker. Jack has had a list of custom cars long enough to choke a horse, but it was the desire to own a perfect clone of the Barris-built Hirohata Mercury, mixed with the fact that Doug had been greatly influenced by the Merc that got the collaboration in motion. Once the clone was completed and making its rounds on the show car circuit, Doug said no less than 50 people, maybe more, contacted him about building them a clone of the Hirohata, as well.
Another important car to come out of Doug's friendship with Jack Walker was a beautifully sectioned and chopped '41 Ford. For the 1980s, this car was something of a style crossover that had a huge influence on how we build customs and street rods today. You see, the interesting thing about the pearl blue '41 is that, even though it looked like a traditional custom on the outside, the underside was all modern street rod. Remember, this was the '80s when there was virtually no one building crossover cars like this, and to top that off, it was a very expensive type of build for the time. This car eventually knocked the socks off of anyone who got up close to it, and set the stage for the movement toward utilizing street rod parts in cars other than street rods.
As of late, Doug has taken a new turn in life, giving up car building to enjoy life and all the great friends he has made over the years.