Grandfather gives Bigham special gift
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Bill Lamb shows his grandson, Wyatt Bigham, how to hook up headlights on a car the two are restoring. (The Hesperian-Beacon/Teresa Bigham)
A boy’s dream
By Teresa Bigham/The Hesperian-Beacon—
FLOYDADA- Every little boy dreams of owning a muscle car one day and what grandson does not want to hang out with his Papa?
One young man had a dream come true when his grandfather turned the keys to his dream car over to him.
Bill Lamb, long time resident of Floydada, gave his youngest grandson, Wyatt Bigham of Lockney, the keys to his very own 1973 Plymouth Satellite. Okay, the car isn’t going home with Bigham just yet, but the car is officially his, a gift from his grandfather.
Lamb plans to leave the car in his shop, which is in Floydada, until Bigham is just a little bit older and has more than just a learner’s permit.
What makes this story even more special is the fact that this car, this very same car, was in the bull pen at Oden Chevrolet for years when Bigham, then eight years old, was visiting with his granddad noticed the car in the pen. From that moment, every single time Bigham came to visit his Papa, the two had to drive by the bull pen so that Bigham could admire his dream car from afar.
When Bigham was much younger, he would sit for hours next to his Papa looking through car magazines. “Oh, look Papa…look at this car,” Bigham would say over and over. Although Bigham is older now, the two can still sit and talk cars for hours.
Lamb is a self-taught mechanic. That’s something that he has always loved doing.
People have told Lamb that his family must have gasoline running through their veins because Bill and every one of his brothers have a love of working, racing and restoring cars.
Wyatt Bigham and his Papa, Bill Lamb, stand in front of the 1973 Plymouth Satellite that the two restored. (The Hesperian-Beacon/Teresa Bigham)
In late winter of 2016, Bigham was visiting with his Papa, and like hundreds of times before, when the two took a trip to look in the bull pens at the car that the two have bonded over. Absolutely shocked, they made the way back home because the car was gone.
Lamb later found out that a friend of his bought the car from Oden Chevrolet just before they sold out to Reagor Dykes Chevrolet. Even though the car was gone it was never far from their thoughts.
The old saying is, “If you love something set it free, if it comes back to you it was meant to be.” Well two years after Oden Chevrolet had sold “the car,” Lamb’s friend offered to sell it to him. “I knew I had to buy it,” Lamb said. “I wanted to surprise Wyatt with it. Since I had bought and restored a car with my two older grandkids, Christian and Sydney Chapman, I knew this was the car for me and Wyatt.”
Bill Lamb gets ready to paint his grandson’s 1973 Plymouth Satellite. (The Hesperian-Beacon/Teresa Bigham)
Later that week, Lamb surprised his grandson by opening the shop doors and there sat the old Plymouth Satellite, faded paint, flat tires and all its glory. This car needed some loving care and that’s just what it was about to get.
Lamb did most of the work, but when his grandson had time the two worked many hours together on this car. It was a labor of love, an exciting dream coming true for both a grandfather and his grandson.
During the summer of 2020 Bigham would go over to his Papa’s house, the duo would have breakfast and a cup of coffee, gearing up for some back breaking work. The two worked many hours taking chrome off the car, spending hours scraping off years of old window tint with a razor blade, and so much more.
“Being able to teach my grandson something that he is interested in is important to me. Plus, it gives us some great quality time together,” Lamb said. “Hopefully I have taught him something that he will always be able to use in years to come.”
In July, painting day had finally come. The color was chosen. But really, anyone who knows Bill Lamb or anyone who has even been in his shop knows that the color of that car was never an option. It was going to be red. The only question was what shade of red. Victor red was the shade that was selected. In late August, the top was finally put on and all the final touches were added.
“A summer spent with your Papa, what better way to spend your time. I’ll always remember this summer. The summer I learned so many things. Things that are important. Things about my Papa that I will always cherish and look back on. I love my Papa so much and it’s because of him, and some very special other people that have contributed to my love of cars,” Bigham said. “Raymond and Mary Poole for sure. Those two will always have a special place in my heart. Mrs. Poole has been like a grandma to me.”
“Then there’s Gerardo Luna in Lockney who sold me my next project, a 1971 short bed GMC. I am proud to say that I saved up and bought it myself. I could not have done that had Gerardo not taken payments from me. I hope my Papa will help me on that one, but I plan to do most of it myself,” Bigham said.
Lamb has restored several cars over the years. His first one was 1973 Corvette, then a 1968 Camaro, followed by a 1984 Chevy short bed pickup, then a 1965 SS El Camino. The last car Lamb has completed was the Satellite, but he doesn’t plan on stopping there.
