Confused looks, the mouthing of “what the heck?”, and the laughter are all normal, everyday reactions that Eric Voyles, a senior, gets every morning as he pulls into the school parking lot.


Eric drives a 1964 Dodge Polara that was recently refurbished. “I think it’s funny when I’m driving down the road and people just stop and stare,” Voyles said. Eric got this unique car when he was in South Dakota with his parents Larry and Shari Voyles and brother Darin. His parents were relieved when Eric finally picked something out. Eric was shown the car by Lloyd Wallace who is the father of Larry’s long time friend Lee. The car was in Lee’s field outside the small town of Belle Fouche, South Dakota. When Eric was given the price of $100 he accepted and the car came home on a UHAUL trailer. “I agreed on it because I thought it was gonna cost less money,” Shari said. Despite the initial cost of $100 dollars Eric and his parents have spent about $5,000 on the Polara. This total has been increasing due to more and more problems that Eric and Larry have been finding as they go, but it has proved to be well worth the investment. Larry has put in the majority of the work on the car but Eric often helps whenever he can as well as Darin. “The most rewarding thing is the family time that it’s created,” Shari said. The Polara is being restored with parts from all over the country. The ’94 360 magnum motor, transmission, wiring harness, and instrument cluster all came from a van that was bought in Dayton, Ohio. Many other parts came from car magazines that Larry gets.The paint and bodywork were done by Eric’s grandpa who has been a paint and body man for roughly 50 years. He has received many awards for show cars and has been featured 3 times in Kit Car magazine. “I’m really jealous of it now that it’s done,” says friend, Pat Flynn. Eric’s friends and family have all put much time and effort into his car and are all very proud of how far it has come.