Everyone has their secrets, even grandmothers. They don’t like sharing their recipes for fear that someone will copy what took years to perfect. Grandmas also don’t want their kids and grandchildren to know the wild things they did back in the day that they now frown upon younger people doing.
Once you watch the following clip, you’ll see that Carol Compton isn’t your typical grandmother. True, she doesn’t want other 1940 Ford Business Coupe owners to know the exact combination of colors, including cinnamon, that were slathered thickly all over her streamlined, gleaming hot rod lovingly known as “Sweet Pea.”
However, she has no problem with letting the world know she hotwired the family car back in her youth to go cruising around with one of her gal pals. Now she goes on drives in her beautified Blue Oval with her grandchildren in the backseat. /DRIVE also reveals something that would remain a secret unless the hood was raised: Compton’s ’40 Ford is packing a 350-cid Chevy V8.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
