Voodoo Magic: Jerry Gardner's Voodoo Special

35 Learning More About The Special His son Craig remembers that Jerry (his father) always wanted to finish the Voodoo and he kept it inside 50+ years to this end. His father used to tell him about how he made the full Plaster of Paris mock up and covered it with fiberglass. Jerry was going to glass in bulkheads to give the body strength and attach it to the chassis. However, he did not plan to have doors or a trunk – just a hood. Just jump right in – that ’ s what he must have thought to himself – like the design of many of the 1950s specials from the era. And that ’ s where Jerry stopped – November 1956 when he was 22 years old and went into the service. When he returned home in January 1959 the car was perfectly preserved and ready to go. And of course he brought home with him the custom - made stainless grille created in Germany for the car. But Jerry, like many men of the time, now had more options to drive and he bought himself a Jaguar XK120 and made it into his everyday car. But he never forgot his Voodoo Dream and kept it inside the garage – just as he left it in 1956 – until 2011 when we took over the reins of his dream of building a fiberglass bodied sports car. But learning about the car and the man is often an adventure in and of itself – and this one started at my home in Tampa Florida – the day I left to pick up Jerry Gardner ’ s Voodoo Special. On our way home in April, 2011…. somewhere in western Pennsylvania