A cruiser for Kruzer

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This article was published 18/06/2021 (1842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEEPAWA — While Tom Kruzer is known for his vibrant Christmas light display during the winter, the 55-year-old uses the spring and summer season to showcase other major projects, including his 1965 Ford Thunderbird.

This personal luxury car first came into Kruzer’s possession in 2015, and it serves as a callback to the 1967 Thunderbird he owned more than 20 years ago.

“I just always loved the body style and I loved the ride and the comfort that the car gives you,” he said on Monday. “I want something that I can be proud of.”

However, Kruzer told the Sun on Wednesday that the rebuild for this recent acquisition was far more comprehensive and in-depth compared to the Thunderbird he drove as a young man.

Rather than simply slapping some Bondo on the car and firing up its engine, Kruzer decided to completely redo the body and motor, putting his improved financial stability and decades of experience in the hobby to good use.

“This one I wanted to be able to be comfortable driving it and taking it out,” he said. “Like, if I want to hop in it and go to Winnipeg or Calgary I’m not going to be afraid to do that.”

After getting it safetied in 2017, Kruzer finally got behind the wheel of the Thunderbird the following year, using it to run the odd errand and attend some local car shows.

“But I haven’t been doing a whole lot with it lately because there’s nowhere to go and you can’t go see anybody anyways,” he said, referencing the restrictions brought about because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this summer being shrouded in uncertainty, Kruzer is still looking to make improvements to the Thunderbird, always viewing the car as a work in progress.

After all, Kruzer has been tinkering with classic vehicles since he was a kid, which allowed him to branch out and acquire other skills in areas such as construction and electrical engineering.

This experience has manifested in public projects such as Kruzer’s aforementioned Christmas light display, which has become bigger and more complex throughout the last decade that he has been putting it together.

But the Thunderbird still has a special place in Kruzer’s heart, so much so that he’s hoping to keep the car around to potentially spice up his golden years.

“Sometime when I retire, if I’m still running this car, I’d like to run Route 66 someday,” he said. “So that’ll be more of a bucket list-type thing.”

In the meantime, Kruzer is still looking to upgrade the Thunderbird’s interior, while also balancing the hobby with his responsibilities as the superintendent of concrete for Zenith Paving.

For anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps — whether than means getting involved in automotive repair or any other kind of hands-on project — Kruzer’s best piece of advice is to find someone who is experienced in this field and to learn under them.

“And don’t be afraid to get dirty,” he said. “The only way you’re going to learn is to try and do it. And the only way to get better at something is to fail at it.”

The Thunderbird first entered production in 1955, with Ford eventually deciding to discontinue the line in 2005.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson