SPORTS

Area man’s car featured on postage stamp

Rob Ristesund

A custom car owned by a Sioux Falls man is currently being featured on a stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

Mark Graham’s 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster was selected as one of two cars to be used as models for a two-stamp series commemorating Hot Rods. The 1932 Ford was one of the most popular cars used in early hot-rodding and remains an iconic and popular model today.

“I’m very honored to have my car selected as one of the models for the stamps,” said Graham, who is Chairman of the Board at Bell Inc. after retiring as the company’s CEO. “The Postal Service gets thousands of ideas for stamps and to have my car chosen to be on one is very special.”

“The Postal Service receives about 40,000 suggestions annually for stamp ideas, but only about 25 make the cut,” said USPS representative Mark Saunders of Washington, D.C. “The odds of having something you own on a stamp are extremely remote.”

Graham had his car shipped to Los Angeles last week and he later joined it there to take part in a special dedication ceremony yesterday at the famed Petersen Auto Museum, where the second car that modeled for a stamp is on display. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe was among those participating in the commemoration.

Graham purchased the car late in 2011 on eBay. It wasn’t so much the car that caught his attention, but rather its builder.

“I had read a lot about Vern Tardel (who built the car). He’s a highly respected builder,” said Graham. “I thought this was a rare opportunity to have a car built by him, so I decided to try to purchase it and was successful.”

When the Postal Service chose to commemorate hot rodding, a graphic artist was commissioned to design the stamps. The artist selected an image of Graham’s car that was found on the internet. The Postal Service was unable to identify Graham as the car’s owner until the day before the stamp was first issued in June.

While owning an iconic hot rod that was created by a master builder and featured on a stamp is a situation most auto enthusiasts would relish, it also presents some issues to its owner.

“I’ve hardly driven it. I keep it stored in a temperature-controlled storage area,” said Graham. “It has about 750 miles on it and about 90 percent of those were put on it by the builder.

“There’s a good news-bad news thing to owning a car like this. It’s great having a car that’s so unique and special. But because of its notoriety, I really can’t drive it much for fear of damaging it. And it’s more prone than other cars to things such as rock chips since it doesn’t have fenders.”

Sales of the 49-cent “Forever” stamps have been strong, with about 35 million of the 100 million stamps that were printed already sold in the first two months. The stamps can be purchased at the Post Office or online at www.usps.com.