<p>After slipping into the driver’s seat of a fully restored, burgundy 1970 Pontiac GTO at a car show in Greenwood, Dave Apple’s mind remembered a time nearly 50 years earlier when these models were new.</p>
<p>That day at The Suds drive-in restaurant in Greenwood, the Columbus man was reminded of the burgundy-colored muscle car he had purchased for $3,800 just days after his 1969 military discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he said.</p>
<p>Apple was given the wooden gearshift knob from his first car — and discovered it fit the restored Pontiac perfectly. As people began to cheer and applaud, Apple finally realized the beautiful restoration he was sitting in actually was his first car.</p>
<p>“It was just fantastic,” Apple said. “I got emotional. In fact, I’m getting emotional right now just thinking about it.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The surprise was the culmination of a year-long effort undertaken by Dan Hickey, Apple’s son, inspired by the reality television series “Overhaulin’,” where each episode ends with the surprise reunion of owner and newly made-over car, Hickey said.</p>
<p>While his parents were vacationing in France last year, Hickey removed what remained of the GTO from an outbuilding on his parent’s property, he said.</p>
<p>The old Pontiac had sunk so low into the ground that six inches of dirt had to be dug away just to open the doors, Hickey said. Hickey then had to keep the GTO hidden on his own property for nearly six months while waiting for a shop to be able to fix it.</p>
<p>The Pontiac was what he pretended to drive as a preschooler while sitting on Dave Apple’s lap after his mother married him 47 years ago, Hickey said. It was what his family drove on several vacations, as well as what his parents used to teach him how to drive, Hickey said.</p>
<p>“I mean, it was this GTO that really got me to start loving cars,” Hickey said.</p>
<p>When build shop owner Phil Riley, who owns Martinsville-based Riley Customs, got the GTO, he knew the work ahead was going to be extensive.</p>
<p>“It was rusted out from the door handles back,” Riley said. “Raccoons nesting under the hood had left behind a nest so large you couldn’t even see the size of the engine.”</p>
<p>In addition, the floors had completely rotted away, and the interior had been destroyed by mice and other vermin, Riley said.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Riley said he and others proceeded slowly with several stages of restoration over the next four months. While a few parts were found in stock, several had to be tooled from scratch. But whenever possible, original parts were salvaged, Riley said.</p>
<p>Riley and Hickey recruited The Suds restaurant owner Ron Harris into their plan for the big reveal, Riley said.</p>
<p>Hickey entered his own 1966 Corvette in the car show, and asked everyone to show up and vote for his vehicle in a popularity contest. But in truth, the entire group was in on the scheme, Hickey said.</p>
<p>“My father was in shock,” Hickey said. “His expression was priceless.”</p>