Kim Taylor’s 1952 FORD Customline Club Coupe

By Gary Osborne

Many of you might be asking, just who is Kim Taylor? Well, she is the daughter of Rick and Marisa Claybaugh from Oklahoma. She is now married to Benny Taylor, hence the name change. Because they are long distance members of our regional group, we normally do not see them until a National Meet comes along. Kim is the proud owner of this car and loves to drive it all around her hometown.

In 1952 there was a lot happening around the world, including the United States’ involvement in the Korean War. Europe was still in the rebuilding process from World War II, and the Cold War was beginning to take shape. Back here in the States the presidential election was of concern to many citizens looking to understand our role in these world affairs. The person elected would need to lead our nation not only on the world stage, but keep our economy growing. Automobile production was of high importance for a robust economy. Ford of course, was willing to help in this area by supplying jobs and cars for consumers.

Ford Motor Company was now in its 49th year of automobile manufacturing and they knew how to attract buyers. Make the product appealing and dependable! The former was always in the eye of the beholder, but the latter was not a problem because of the reliable flathead V-8 engine.

So, what did Ford do to make the new car appealing to car buyers? It added more car lines and models to allow for a bigger selection. The car lines were Mainline, Customline, and Crestline. Each line featured several models to give the buying public more choices. The bodies were streamlined to give them a low appearance. The front grill, headlights, and taillights were also enhanced for a sleeker look. Inside the interior was upgraded with a new instrument panel and the seats were made to give more comfort to the passengers.

Flathead V-8 engines were retained once again because of their reliability. They came with about 10 more horsepower than the previous model. But the big news in the engine department was the addition of an overhead valve inline six-cylinder engine. This might have been a signal that the end of the flathead V-8 was near. But for now, it gave buyers a choice of powerplants to meet their needs.

Let us get back to Kim’s 1952 Customline. This car has been around her life for several years through the previous owner. Approximately 13 years ago she met Alice Culhane who had been driving the car around the country to a lot of car shows. They began a relationship that grew over the years as they met up at the events. Alice had named the car Myrtle after the original owner, and that name has stuck. Myrtle has taken Alice and Kim on many tours as they worked on their friendship.

In 2017 Kim was about to graduate from college, and her parents had offered to get her a car that would be her own to drive at the Early Ford Club’s events. Alice was also thinking that it might be time to pass Myrtle on to a new owner. Kim’s parents made a deal with Alice to purchase Myrtle without Kim knowing about it. They surprised her with the car the night before she graduated.

The car is very original with just a few modifications previously made. Since Kim has owned it, she has put back in a stock radio, generator, and repaired some of the wiring. She really wants to keep it as it came off the assembly line. The next addition will be for seat belts to allow her to safely bring her growing family.

Kim has taken the car on a few Spring Flings, a Texas Tour, some parades, and many local tours. She has won several awards at many of these events. Kim and her car were also featured in the Wall Street Journal on September 13, 2017. A fun thing that she likes to do with Myrtle is to drive it to her job where she works at a private school with middle and high school kids. The kids really get excited about seeing Kim drive up in Myrtle, and it makes a great conversation starter. Who says young people do not like these old cars?

Hopefully, as our country gets back to “normal,” and the Early Ford V-8 Club of America begins to have national events again, we’ll be able to see this beautiful example of a 1952 Ford that Kim owns. I am sure that she and her husband Benny would be thrilled to share with us in the Northern Illinois Regional Group how much fun it is to drive this classic automobile.