The average American buys a new car every five years or so. With that kind of turnover, it can be hard to form an emotional attachment to an automobile. Yet us gearheads always tend to remember that first car that we really fell in love with. For Willy Oiumette, of Burrilville, Rhode Island, that car was a ’39 Ford hot rod. Alas, a young Willy sold his hot rod to buy a house for his growing family.

45 years later and ten miles down the road. Willy found his old ’39 Ford for sale on Craigslist reports the Providence Journal. Willy snagged the hot rod, finally getting back the car that got away.

The year was 1965 and Willy was married with a growing family. For $300 he bought himself a rusted, faded, engine-less ’39 Ford that had been built by Hank Fournier a few years later. The ’39 Ford had its roof chopped 4-inches, was sectioned 9-inches, and channeled six-inches, creating a low-slung rod that Willy was incredibly fond of. He dropped his own 283 engine into the car and drove it around for a while.

Willy sold the hot rod that same year to buy a house for his expanding family. Over the years he amassed a collected of 15 other cars, but never could find his hot rod again. Then one day he put an ad up on Craigslist looking for the car, and a friend managed to locate it for him. Though the car was in “sad shape” and the only thing salvageable was the basic body, Willy still traded a yellow ’57 Thunderbird for the car. He is currently rebuilding the car with a crate 350 engine and new, well, everything. It is up and running and he plans to have it on the road for the spring time. Willy is a true gearhead, and we salute a man so dedicated to his hot rod.