Steve’s ‘41s

By Ken Bounds

This year, 2016, is the 75th Anniversary of the 1941 Ford Motor Company vehicles.  Although we have at least 10 of these cars, trucks, and even a tractor in our group, we have only featured one of them in the Road Chatter.  This was Scott & Nicole Gilday’s three-part series on the restoration of their beautiful ’41 Convertible that we featured five years ago and showed as the Car of the Month last month.  This year is already ¼ over, yet we hope to see a few more articles about our members’ 1941s before it comes to an end.

Since we are still waiting (hint, hint) we thought it would be a good time to feature the ‘41s of one of our members who had a real love for them, the late Steve O’Neill.  It is hard to believe that it is more than five years ago that we lost Steve to cancer.

Steve was born in St. Louis in 1944.  He lived most of his life in Palatine and was a project manager with Allstate.  We first heard from Steve when he contacted us in January 2007 after he came across our website.  He sent us an e-mail on January 11 telling us he had bought a 1941 Ford that day after a two-year search and was having it shipped from North Carolina the next week.  Steve told us that he knew Alan Wall through his membership in the Model A Club and that he still owned two Model As.  Steve joined the NIRG at the January 16 monthly meeting and actively participated in many events.  He drove the ’41 on his first driving tour with the group on May 6.

Steve had “a thing” for ’41 Tudor Sedans.  We will never really know what the attraction was, but coming from the Model A’s, maybe it was the power of the V-8.  Maybe it was the size.  The ’41 was a big car!  (See related story on Page 9).  Not only did it dwarf the Model A, the ’41 Ford was significantly larger that even the 1940 V-8s.   And one was not enough; by April Steve had acquired his second ’41 Tudor Sedan and drove it to our “Eggs & Eights” breakfast in Geneva on April 29.  Steve was really excited about this car.  He told me it had a “hot rod engine” with Offenhauser heads and dual carburetors.

But if one was not enough and two were fine, wouldn’t three be even better?  Steve was a real character and one memorable event played out on May 12 as members of our group gathered for a driving tour to Crystal Lake.  Here is an excerpt from the June 2007 Road Chatter.  Also arriving with a “new” car was Steve O’Neill with yet another ’41 Tudor; his third this year!  And when we say “arrived”, we mean he just arrived.  Steve bought the car in South Dakota the previous afternoon and drove it all the way back overnight, arriving just in time for the tour.

During the year Steve drove his ’41s on more tours, including a show we attended at the Volo Auto Museum in July as well as our 40th Anniversary boat cruise and the Sanfillipo Mansion tour in August.

After these tours, Steve’s participation suddenly dropped off and we did not know why.  I don’t think we saw him during all of 2008.  It wasn’t until the “Early Ford Day” at Volo Auto Museum on August 1, 2009, that we saw Steve again and learned that he had been quite ill after being diagnosed with cancer.

Steve drove his black ’41 Tudor Sedan to the Volo Show.  But something unusual happened there, as reported in the September Road Chatter: … it was a special treat to see Steve O’Neill again.  Steve has had serious health issues and had not been to a NIRG outing in a while.  A strange thing occurred on this tour, though.  Steve drove one of his ‘41Fords to Volo, sold it to them there, and needed a ride home!  No one could recall this happening before on a tour.

Steve still had two trusty ‘41’s.  He drove the maroon sedan to the August 9 picnic.  Over the next few months he began some restoration work on both it and the blue model.  Steve was feeling better and told us that his health was improving.  The next summer we would get to see the results of his efforts on both cars.

On June 14, 2010, Steve sent us the following message: Can you give me (the) phone number so that I can register for our Volo Days outing?  My Maroon 41 Ford has just undergone a $10,000 Dollar Restoration, and I am anxious to bring it to several Car Shows this summer.  We gave it the works.  ISKY Cam and rebuilt engine, rebuilt transmission, new brakes, new wiring, new horns, and new front seat.

On July 10, Steve drove the blue ‘41 to a cookout and Barrington Cruise night hosted by the Stacks.  Steve asked me to look over the car in Stan’s driveway and showed me the work he had done on the engine and wiring.  He was quite proud of it.  See the Photo of the Month.  On July 20, Steve drove the maroon ’41 to our monthly club meeting and showed everyone the restoration that he talked about in June.

We had no idea that August 14 would be the last time we would see Steve.  He came to our Early Ford show at Volo – with a ’66 Volkswagen.  Steve told us that he had come to the show to tell us goodbye; he was moving to Massachusetts to be close to his daughter.  We could tell that his cancer had returned.  Steve passed away just two months later on October 24 with his family by his side.

As quickly as Steve had arrived, he was gone.  We will remember his enthusiasm and participation in club events, as well as his passion for 1941 Ford Tudor Sedans.