Legacy
Bill Lunsford, aka “Wild Bill”, was born April 23, 1950, and passed away on September 8, 2024. He was known for his automotive painting skills and that talent drew people to his work. His work passion was the transformation of damaged but salvageable vehicles into shining, glimmering market ready show car classics.
His story and legacy as an automotive technician and paint artist begins in the 1970’s as a young man from Fall Rock, Kentucky, but prior to that stories are told and shared among friends and relatives of his school day hijinks and fun times at Pinhook Elementary School. Former classmate, Alma Finley, remarked that “Bill always kept us entertained”.
One story he shared with me, his son, Mike, was when he and some friends caught a wild green snake and brought it into the classroom as a “gift” for the teacher. The joke was not as funny to the teacher as they had assumed since it was not the day for “show and tell”. The boys were lined up and received a courtesy reminder from the teacher about bringing animals to class.
Bill began to hone his craft in the 1970’s working as a mechanic on cars and rebuilding wrecks for various garages in the community. He always kept a few projects on the side to work on at his personal garage. He worked at Robert’s Used Cars at Horse Creek (Delbert and Dalmas) throughout the early 1980’s and created many automotive masterpieces.
Some of the great classics he built and shared with his sons, Steve and Mike, over the 80’s were:
- A 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix, candy apple red with white interior, and the infamous Super Sport Cragar chrome wheels
- A 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo midnight blue with white interior and chevy custom wheels
- A 1969 Pontiac LeMans emerald green with landau top, a black interior, and those ever shiny Cragar wheels.
However, the most famous of all was the 1969 Chevrolet Panel Truck, Red Wine burgundy in color, schematic paint designs on the sliding side windows, one inch long gold toned shag carpet throughout the rear with side rail seating on both sides of the cargo area and two large gold tone crushed velour Cadillac seats up front with an overhead wooden stereo compartment to crank out the great rock tunes.
Bill worked 6-7 days per week as he was in great demand, but he also spent time on his projects, and made sure that his boys, Steve and Mike, always cruised in a sweet and stylish classic ride.
He also worked throughout the 1980’s with “Little George Duff” who operated a garage and used car lot just a short distance from the “Roberts Boys” garage. George and Bill were not only business associates but were great true friends. Friends don’t only work together, but they eat and recreate together and sometimes get into all sorts of shenanigans, some best untold, but left to the imagination of the readers.
They rebuilt and painted too many vehicles to count, but they were cranking out the vehicles for big dollar profits back in the day. George had a 1958 red Corvette that had been damaged in an accident but not completely totaled and who else but Wild Bill could be entrusted to rebuild and restore that priceless and iconic American muscle car.
This once crashed 1958 Corvette is a prime example of Wild Bill's talent
Bill not only painted cars and trucks but was also known to decorate several big rig trucks. He worked with the Bill Warren Garage of Burning Springs, the Hyden Garage in Oneida, on some special projects as well as for Buck Massey Trucking in London on some of their important jobs that could only have the paint splash and original work of “Wild Bill".
Thomas Hyden of Oneida, KY spoke of Bill, and his “touching many people and how he will be missed by family and friend alike”.
Mike Campbell of Burning Springs, KY said, “Bill was a Legend” and recounts his lifelong presence in the community.
Mrs. Ruby Roberts of Green Briar, KY spoke of how highly her father J.B. Massey, founder of Massey Trucking always said, “Bill is my best nephew”.
Kim Duff Glass, daughter of George Duff, expressed how funny and happy “Wild Bill” was and how he and her father were great friends for many years.
Ron Curry of Hollerwood, KY described his long-time friendship with “Wild Bill” as always interesting and engaging, and he was regularly humored by Bill’s slang use of language such as “slicker than snot on a doorknob” or “cooler than a mater in a fridgerator” as the essence of Bill’s good and fun nature on display.
After four decades of transforming mangled metal into functional works of art, Bill retired, and he spent his leisure years at his home on Pine Lick Branch where he enjoyed many visits from his friends and family. He was always up for a road trip to see something interesting especially in the big rig category with his best friend and cousin, Buck Massey.
Wild Bill, Michelle, Steve and Mike at the Rawlings Stinson Park in Manchester, KY
His nephews Ken Lunsford, Bill Gross, Ronnie Lunsford, Miles Cope, Jeff Russell, and James Clarkston will recount dozens of stories with Uncle Bill and all the pranks, family gatherings, and fishing trips.
Boys, do you want to catch a fish?
Mike describes his recollection of a fun story when they were fishing along the Jack’s Branch creek at Fall Rock, and the men, Bill’s brothers, Dook, Danny, and Ronnie were reeling them in, catching a fish a minute it seemed. The boys all being mostly 10-12 year old kids at the time were frustrated by not be getting anything but crawdads on their line. Bill in his infinite fishing wisdom, inquired “boys, do you want to catch a fish”, and in a collective roar of pre-teen boys, we emphatically said, yes. He called for us to bring our bait and line over, whereby he proceeded to spew and spit chewing tobacco juice over the night crawler worms. It was only moments after casting back out into the waters that we began to get bites and catch some “big” fish.
Skillet fried frog legs from a small hillside firepit at Pine Lick
Steve recounts a time in the early 1990’s at Uncle Dook’s pond at Fogertown when he, his brother Mike, and Bill all went frog gigging while Darlene, the matriarch of the family, along with Steve’s wife Susie and Mike’s wife Tammy sat on the shore as the three men went frog gigging. It was an adventure to say the least as we harvested many frogs and scared away even more due to our being loud and boisterous as we paddled along the shoreline on that wonderful summer night. We later enjoyed skillet fried frog legs from a small hillside firepit at Pine Lick.
Daughter, Billie Michelle's childhood memory
Billie Michelle, named for her father, “Wild Bill” speaks of the tremendous talent her dad displayed over forty years of automotive excellence, and how he always loved and provided for her, his precious daughter. Michelle speaks of her favorite picture of her and her daddy in a primer brown coated cabover Peterbilt truck tractor as the Quintessential memory of her childhood.
Gifted by God
Like many others, Bill experienced difficult and challenging life circumstances over the 74 years of his life. But because he was gifted by God with a special talent, he could take complex engineering principles from his mind and make something special happen with his hands to provide a living and enjoy a life full of friends, family, and some good fortune along the way! His love of cars, trucks, and big rigs will be fondly recalled and remarked about by many as "Wild Bill" Lunsford handcrafted an amazing legacy as an “Automotive Artist” that didn't take a backseat to anyone.
Photos provided by the family.
