'Flying Tiger' truck a local effort

"This has been my goal all year long, to get it ready to put in the show," said Dean Cooper.

The it he is referring to is a 1981 Toyota that he has renovated to mirror the look of the Flying Tigers, a squadron of combat pilots who flew some of the most recognizable aircraft in World War II with precision and success. The show it will go into is this weekend's Rumble in the Bay.

"I have always been fascinated with the Flying Tigers," Cooper said. "I've seen other people try to make cars that replicate them, but I've never liked the way they did it. So I thought I'd give it a try."

Cooper started the project about a year and a half ago when the first generation 4x4 had 400,000 miles on it. Since then he has taken apart every piece of the truck.

"The coolest part is that I've touched every nut and bolt in it and it is very reliable," Cooper said. "It will probably last someone for forever if they take care of it. It's beautiful. It's a piece of art."

He figures he put in about 400 hours on renovating the vehicle in his shop in Ferndale.

He put in a 22 R motor, a 20 R head, a RV Cam, a Weber Carburetor, K & N filters, exhaust by Exhaust Worx of Kalispell and a four inch Tough Country lift.

Cooper got most of his materials and help from Bigfork businesses. Ron's Ferndale Upholstery re-did the interior, nearly all of his parts and paint were purchased at Bigfork Auto Parts and he bought the 33-inch mud tires at Shaw's. Cooper is so thankful for the local support that he decided to list the names of those that helped him with the project underneath the back window of the truck.

He also added a few special features; a grenade shifter, the drive line is painted to look like a missile and an aerial gun sight hood ornament.

"I've always loved these trucks," Cooper said. "They'll go anywhere."

Cooper bought the truck from its original owner in Seattle in 2005, but it is originally from GMB Motors in Havre. Although the truck is from big sky country, Cooper is not. He came to the area four years ago on a camping trip from Seattle to spend time with his family and never left.

In Seattle he built hot rod suspensions at Craig Auto Springs Co. in Ballard and worked at a few other shops as well. His dad, Gary, owns an alignment shop in Seattle.

"My dad always said to me 'You have to be smarter than the car son. The car doesn't have a brain,'" Cooper said. "That just always stuck with me. I think I'm just fascinated because it was built by a man."

This isn't Cooper's first remodel. That was a 1967 Nova, and there have been many projects since then. He's currently reconstructing his second Chopper and is also working on a 1952 military Jeep that he is upgrading with Toyota high-performance running gear. Cooper is hoping to have the Jeep, which belongs to his friend Fletcher Anderson, ready for next year's car show.

"Cars to me are a piece of art," Cooper said. "So when I think about making cars like this I get really excited about it. George Barris (designer of custom vehicles including the Batmobile and The Munster Koach) is my hero."

Cooper plans to sell the truck to fund his next project, a custom hot dog vending cart.

Although he is good at it, Cooper prefers to keep his car tinkering as a hobby, not a profession.

"I don't like being a mechanic," he said. "I hate it. I just like building things. I do custom stuff for myself."

As for his newest creation, he is pretty pleased with the outcome.

"It is the most incredible car I've ever seen besides George Barris'. I think he'd be very proud. I never thought I'd pull it off."

Cooper's Flying Tiger wouldn't have turned out the way it did without the help of his artist friend Shana Smith who painted the vehicle for him.

"She has done an awesome job with it, even better than I ever expected," Cooper said.

He showed her a wall hanging that is a replica of the nose of a Flying Tiger and simply asked her to "make the truck look like that."

Smith, who is studying to be an art professor, began her part of the project in June and put in about 70 hours tolook like an oily fighter jet returning from combat.

"I've never gotten into a commissioned piece as mushc as I have this," Smith said. "My whole life I've wanted to paint a car, but I've never had an idea for a car that I wanted to paint. I never dreamed it would turn out like this. It opened up a whole new world for me."