“I always tell people I was born with a Hot Wheels in one hand and a binky in the other.”

And I believed him too. Chandler is, for lack of a more elaborate adjective, a bona fide car enthusiast. Both of his grandfathers were passionate car guys, with one of his earliest memories being a ride in his late grandfather’s Dodge Viper and his genuine small-block Shelby Cobra at four years old. Quite an upbringing.

The flames of passion were further fanned when in 2009, that same late grandfather entrusted young Chandler as the caretaker his 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible: the quintessential American car.

“I tell people that the Bel Air is the car that raised me.”

The Bel Air was his golden ticket to car shows and clubs, and was later joined by a 1947 Chevy Stylemaster Coupe, Chandler’s first automotive purchase at the age of 14. That primer gray coupe, or “Rhino” as it was christened, was quite the statement in a high school parking lot packed with the lackluster “ughhhh” of mid to late 2000s econoboxes. In true first car fashion, this Stylemaster was anything but, with enough rust to give tetanus to an actual rhino yet a perfect platform to learn the delicate art of putting too much money into fixing a car.

High school would be a formative time for Chandler, with his senior year auto shop class leading to valuable connections, including his current mentor and best friend, Ralph Lux. Ralph knew of a small private collection in Natomas that was looking for a part-time apprentice to help manage the collection. After graduating from High School in June of 2015, he was granted an interview for the position.

The collection was the notable Ramshead Automobile Collection owned by renowned Sacramento businessman and classic car extraordinaire, the late John H. White. This apprenticeship would be the job that cemented his passion and started his journey as a collector in the high-end collector car arena when he was promoted to Collection Manager three years later.

His personal collection really kicked off with the acquisition of a 1953 Buick Special. It was followed by a couple of vintage Cadillacs, Studebakers, a Lincoln, and others. His family’s 1963 Buick Riviera kicked his collection up an echelon, as did the rare 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire from the Ramshead Collection that he so long pined for.

That said though, the hunt is never over, which brings us to our main event: his 1954 Woodill Wildfire Series II Roadster. To address the elephant in the room, the Woodill Wildfire was a passion project; a spirited story of post-war American optimism and the wild west of automotive manufacturing. It was a period when anyone with a dream and money by the cartful could say “damn it all” to the establishment and carve out their place in history with what they considered to be the public’s desire. Did they succeed? Hell no. Most fell by the wayside with little more than a few paragraphs in an enthusiast’s blog post and maybe a Wikipedia page but it sure didn’t stop them from trying.

It began when B.R. “Woody” Woodill, the owner of the largest Dodge and Willys dealership in Southern California set out to develop a lightweight sporty automobile that had the best of both worlds – European flair and American power. With the assistance of Bill Tritt at Glasspar, a company that had just begun producing fiberglass bodies for kit cars, the Wildfire was born.

The early Wildfires are hailed as the first American fiberglass sports car, preceding the Chevrolet Corvette that arrived in 1953. The car was almost adopted by Willys as a production model but changing tides in the Willys corporate structure due to Kaiser’s acquisition meant that the Willys Wildfire idea was quickly scrapped and Woody was left to produce the cars at his plant in Downey, CA.

This particular Wildfire came up for auction on Hemmings as a single-family owned car. Being familiar with the model’s story but with no intention to buy one, Chandler reached out to the seller to learn more. As fate would have it, he was the son of the original owner, one Richard Foster – a lifelong Lansing, MI resident who had passed away just a few months prior. The family decided that despite their decades-long attachment to the car, it was time to let it go to another home.

At some point in the Wildfire’s life, Mr. Foster decided that a Fuelie Corvette engine would be just the thing to wake up this fiberglass beast. Shortly after, the Chevy dealer that helped him source the unobtanium engine invited him to display the car in the town’s centennial parade. It was here that a young lady was asked to ride in the car. This young lady would go on to become Mrs. Foster and thus a 65 year-long marriage began.

Mr. Foster went on to successfully drag race and show off the Wildfire in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s, a growing family and business needs forced the car into a 50 year slumber until it was eventually pulled out of storage and restored by him in 2010, nearly 60 years after the original build.

By this point, Chandler’s curiosity had blossomed into a full-on desire to own the car so he bid, and he cursed, and he bid, until he ended up winning the auction.

“Firstly, the car is beautiful,” Chandler said. “When I initially saw the ad I thought ‘my gosh these pictures are horrible’ but after getting past the subpar photography, I quickly realized that this car had ‘the look’ or ‘eyeball’ as my late boss would say.”

Being a 1954 model, Chassis 9929 is a “Series II” Wildfire Roadster. The Wildfire was pretty unique as it was a matte fiberglass construction, making it pretty rigid while still having opening doors and a trunk.

It wore Mandarin Red paint and rolled down the road on custom straight-spoke Dayton wire wheels wrapped in “gum-dipped” Firestone Bias-Ply White Wall tires, a striking match for his 1953 Buick.

“An already intriguing car, the Wildfire was catching my attention as a gorgeous piece with a familiar feel.”

But let’s not forget about what’s under the little fiberglass bonnet: a 1957 Corvette 283 cu. In. “Ramjet” Fuel-Injected V8. This was a crate engine delivered to the original owner in 1957 by way of Mauri Rose, a retired Indy car driver turned GM exec. The odd serial number, “low-script” valve covers, and Duntov Cam with solid lifters indicates that this is the real deal and somehow managed to sneak out of the back door of GM (something that was also confirmed by a noted early Corvette fuel injection expert).

Despite the restoration work done fourteen years ago, the wiring leaves a bit to be desired. The car is currently being completely rewired from headlight to taillight along with an engine compartment refresh, new carpet and a tonneau cover. The interior is otherwise original and unrestored and shows quite well.

Once the Wildfire reaches Chandler’s level of perfection, it will be proudly paraded at any and all west coast concours. Its mixture of quaint provenance and ownership history add up to what Pebble Beach describes as “Automotive Excellence”, which also serves as a slight hint to what the endgoal show for this Woodill is.

It’s always such a unique experience talking to collectors like Chandler about their automotive finds. There is an unmatched energy and an unbreakable bond between enthusiasts and unique automotive landmarks like what B.R. “Woody” Woodill and other mid-century visionaries like him created. If you’ve read this far, then you will likely agree that Chandler and this Wildfire were destined to cross paths. Cars like this, with a story that could fill books and enough beauty to make Romeo turn a blind eye to Juliet, deserve to be shared and enjoyed. Their story must be preserved and what better way to achieve that, than by showing it at one of the most prestigious car shows on the planet? I’m rooting for it!